Yesterday, the UK Innovation Districts Group convened a great roundtable event at Nexus Innovation Centre coinciding with a week-long MIT teaching visit hosted by Team Leeds who are participating in the MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Accelerator Programme (REAP)
The roundtable was a senior strategic discussion around the launch of a pilot REAP UK Lite programme, exploring place-based innovation and the importance of networks & soft assets in maximising success. This is the first time MIT have delivered a condensed version of the REAP programme (over 6-9 months) and across a national UK cohort - a really exciting prospect with potential for rich transferable learning.
The six REAP Lite regions (delivered through the LEPs) are:
1) Leicester and Leicestershire LEP
2) Cumbria, Lancashire; and Cheshire & Warrington LEPs
3) North East LEP
4) West Midlands Combined Authority
5) Sheffield City Region LEP
6) Heart of the South West LEP
Key voices in the discussion included BEIS, Arup, MIT, Research England, Team Leeds, Innovate UK and of course, UK IDG partners.