skip to main content
Close
  • Students
  • Staff
  • Applicants
South West College logo
  • SWC
  • Find a course
    • Courses A-Z
    • School Leaver (16-18)
    • Higher Education
    • 14-16 Provision
    • Adult Learners (19+)
    • Parents & Carers
    • Employers
    • Subject Areas
    • International Programmes
    •  
    • Apprenticeships
    • Skills for Life
    • Traineeships
    • Mentor Connect
    •  
    • Higher Level Apprenticeships
    • I want to be a HLA
    • I want to employ a HLA
    • Course Help
    • How to Apply/Enrol
    • Course Fees
    • Qualifications Explained
    •  
    • Social Inclusion
    • Going Places
    • College Connect
    • SUSE+
    • Sectoral Employability Academies
    This image (Swc 061221 057) is a link that points to the Download a Prospectus page
    View All Prospectuses

    Need Help Applying for a course?

    Contact admissions@swc.ac.uk and a member of our admissions team will get back to you
    How to Apply
    • Student Support
    • Careers Guidance
    • Career Builder
    • Health & Wellbeing
    • Learning Support
    • Carers
    • Student Finance
    • Student Handbook
    •  
    •  
    • Student Life
    • Meet Our Students
    • Term Dates
    • Events
    • Way Out West
    • Turing Scheme
    •  
    • Digital Learning
    This image (Swc 061221 057) is a link that points to the Student Handbook page

    Student Handbook

    Download

    Funding Support for Students

    As a student there are a several funding opportunities you can apply to for help with your course related costs.
    More Info
    • Explore Our Campuses
    • Erne Campus
    • Dungannon
    • Omagh
    • Cookstown
    • Technology & Skills
    • Automotive Centre
    • The Workhouse
    •  
    • Enterprise Action Hub
    • Business Services
    • Skill Up
    • Skills Focus and InnovateUs
    • Innovation Vouchers
    • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)
    •  
    • Community
    • Recruitment
    • News
    • Corporate
    • Policies & Procedures
    • Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
    • Financial Statements
    • College Development Plan
    • Sustainability
    • Privacy & Data Protection
    • Governance
    • Publication Scheme
    • Principals Welcome
    Play video This image (Collage made up of three photos depicting students engaged in photography, art, and IT.) is a link that points to the About page
  • Contact
  • Your List
  • SWC
      • Courses A-Z
      • School Leaver (16-18)
      • Higher Education
      • 14-16 Provision
      • Adult Learners (19+)
      • Parents & Carers
      • Employers
      • Subject Areas
      • International Programmes
      • Apprenticeships
      • Skills for Life
      • Traineeships
      • Mentor Connect
      • Higher Level Apprenticeships
      • I want to be a HLA
      • I want to employ a HLA
      • Course Help
      • How to Apply/Enrol
      • Course Fees
      • Qualifications Explained
      • Social Inclusion
      • Going Places
      • College Connect
      • SUSE+
      • Sectoral Employability Academies
      • Student Support
      • Careers Guidance
      • Career Builder
      • Health & Wellbeing
      • Learning Support
      • Carers
      • Student Finance
      • Student Handbook
      • Student Life
      • Meet Our Students
      • Term Dates
      • Events
      • Way Out West
      • Turing Scheme
    • Digital Learning
      • Explore Our Campuses
      • Erne Campus
      • Dungannon
      • Omagh
      • Cookstown
      • Technology & Skills
      • Automotive Centre
      • The Workhouse
      • Business Services
      • Skill Up
      • Skills Focus and InnovateUs
      • Innovation Vouchers
      • Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP)
    • Community
    • Recruitment
    • News
      • Corporate
      • Policies & Procedures
      • Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
      • Financial Statements
      • College Development Plan
      • Sustainability
      • Privacy & Data Protection
      • Governance
      • Publication Scheme
      • Principals Welcome
    • Enterprise Action Hub
  • Contact
  • Students
  • Staff
  • Applicants

FE Sector at the forefront of innovation leadership in Northern Ireland

On Tuesday 4th April senior leaders from across Northern Ireland’s Further Education (FE) sector and the Department for the Economy (DfE) came together with key stakeholders from Invest NI, Innovate UK, and InterTrade Ireland, to strengthen the sectors focus on innovation development and growth.  This collaborative event was organised to support DfE’s Innovation Strategy that clearly sets out the key long term actions necessary to ensure that innovation plays its full part in realising the vision of Northern Ireland’s draft Industrial Strategy. 
 
The event, hosted by South West College Dungannon Campus, focused on addressing key innovation policy decisions spearheaded by DfE, innovation growth to support SME’s and ingredients for innovation success in Northern Ireland.  One of the key outputs for this type of collaborative approach was to create a focused innovation network that can design, implement, and strategically manage innovation developments across the sector.
 
Gerry Campbell, Chief Executive of Colleges Northern Ireland, the membership body for Northern Ireland’s six Further Education Colleges said:
 
“We know that innovation is clearly linked to economic growth, competitiveness and productivity. The more innovation amongst our indigenous companies - the stronger the prospects for growth. Today’s workshop highlights the role that FE Colleges play in stimulating innovation through their close links to business and industry, particularly small and medium sized enterprises. Colleges encourage and support businesses to become innovative and help them develop new products and processes.  Overall this results in local companies being better positioned to compete within the global market-place. ” 
 
“For example, the InnovateUS Programme harnesses FE expertise to provide tailored solutions to Northern Ireland’s small businesses to acquire the necessary skills to be able to grow through innovation and develop new products and services. As a key driver of the Northern Ireland economy, the FE Colleges partnership with business and the success of the InnovateUS Programme will develop business confidence and expertise and increase the overall economic competitiveness of Northern Ireland.”
 
Interactive workshops took place to showcase new and emerging technologies including; the ‘Internet of Things Widget’ that explored ideation and prototyping of an ‘IOT Widget’, and ‘Innovation Stakeholders’ that examined the College’s support for SMEs through Innovation Vouchers, TechStartNI, and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs).
 
Dr Jill Cush, Head of Business and Innovation South West College, said;
 
“The FE sector as a whole recognises that innovation is a crucial driver of growth in the region’s economy and a collaborative approach is needed to boost Northern Ireland’s global outreach going forward.  On an annual basis Colleges provide hands-on innovation support to over 400 companies across Northern Ireland in areas including product design and prototyping. This leads directly to new job creation and business growth.”

Share

Subscribe
for all stuff Way Out West

graphics-top-left-blue
graphics-top-right-yellow

Footer

Quick Links
  • Track Your Application
  • Vacancies
  • Download a Prospectus
  • Download Our App
  • Contact Us
  • Policies & Procedures
  • Term Dates
  • Status of Key Services
  • Privacy & Data Protection
  • SWC YouTube
  • SWC LinkedIn
  • SWC Instagram
  • SWC Facebook
  • SWC Twitter
Tel: 028 8225 0109
AccessAble Department for the Economy
Payments powered by WorldPay
Payments powered by WorldPay
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy & Data Protection
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
South West College © 2023
Green17 - Web design Belfast, Northern Ireland
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Privacy & Data Protection
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
South West College © 2023 Green17 - Web design Belfast, Northern Ireland