Midlands Enterprise Universities is a partnership to improve skills, productivity, and capacity for applied research and innovation. It comprises the universities of: Birmingham City, Coventry, Derby, De Montfort, Lincoln, Nottingham Trent and Wolverhampton.

Urban Foresight, in partnership with Hatch Regeneris, was appointed to conduct a digital capability audit of the universities.

Our digital capability audit appraised the specialisms and assets of the universities in four areas:

1. Data: working with personal data and trust, cybersecurity and smart contracts
2. Connected: IoT and 5G, and Low-Powered Wide Area Networks
3. Intelligent: artificial intelligence and machine learning
4. Immersive: augmented, virtual and mixed realities.

Our appraisal was also set in the context of the Midlands region. This identified strengths and weaknesses in relation to the local economy and labour market.

The outcome of the project was a report detailing strengths and capabilities of the universities and pathways to translate these into compelling proposals for upcoming funding opportunities.

Image credit: Mohammad Shahhosseini