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  Building a Net Zero Innovation Ecosystem 

The Client

Innovate UK -- the UK's national innovation agency -- faced a strategic challenge within its Net Zero Living Digital programme.

Forty funded microbusinesses were working on telecoms and digital infrastructure projects with clear sustainability potential.

One problem: these businesses were progressing in isolation, missing opportunities for cross-sector collaboration that could accelerate Net Zero innovation.

Challenge

THE CHALLENGE

The microbusinesses inInnovate UK's Net Zero Living programme recognised practical barriers limiting impact:

  • Microbusinesses lacked the scale and connectivity to identify synergies across projects
  • 5G and digital technologies showed clear Net Zero potential but suffered from low uptake and weak business cases
  • Individual projects weren't connecting to broader policy priorities or funding landscapes
  • Without structured collaboration, valuable insights into telecoms sustainability were being lost
  • Programme planning needed better intelligence on where digital innovation could drive clean power transition

Pathway to progress

PATHWAY TO PROGRESS

We turned fragmentation into collaboration by:

  • Conducting stakeholder prebriefs with participating microbusinesses to map knowledge gaps and opportunities
  • Researching the intersection of telecoms, sustainability, and digital infrastructure to identify market dynamics
  • Designing and facilitating targeted workshops that brought leading businesses together with policy stakeholders
  • Applying ecosystem thinking to reduce collaboration barriers and build trust between participants
  • Delivering strategic analysis that connected workshop insights to broader ICT for Sustainability trends and clean power integration.
Results

RESULTS

Through focused engagement, the programme achieved measurable progress:

  • Delivered a successful workshop connecting 12 leading microbusinesses with policy stakeholders
  • Surfaced actionable insights into 5G adoption barriers and sustainability business cases across the sector
  • Identified and facilitated new cross-project synergies, including connections to initiatives like DAFNI and Hartree Centre
  • Created a stakeholder-informed strategic roadmap for enabling innovation ecosystems in support of Net Zero goals
  • Informed Innovate UK's approach to regional innovation, challenge-led funding, and data-sharing frameworks

The project has shifted how Innovate UK supports SME-led clean power innovation, creating a template for structured collaboration across technology domains.

Facing Similar Challenges? 
Turn them into Opportunities with our Support

At Cambium, we work alongside organisations that are ready to lead change---whether through new technologies, collaborative ecosystems, or sustainable innovation. If you're exploring a similar challenge, our support may include:

  • Designing and facilitating engagement with industry stakeholders
  • Gap and opportunity analysis across innovation portfolios
  • Aligning innovation capabilities with policy and funding landscapes
  • Innovation and collaboration development roadmaps
  • Ecosystem strategy that connects technical potential to commercial outcomes

If you’d like to discuss your goals or challenges with a member of the Cambium team, we’d be pleased to set up a short exploratory conversation.