Healthy Ageing Challenge - Designed for Ageing

The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Healthy Ageing Challenge will work with Innovate UK to invest up to £14.4million in innovation projects.

These will be to deliver a clear game-changing service-led innovation to help people as they age, positively, actively, independently and with dignity.

The aims of this competition are to:

• address the under-provision of products and services which support people as they age to remain active, independent and socially connected
• support business-led, near-to-market innovations that have potential to scale
• enforce good people-centred design principles
• encourage applications from businesses across the UK, by working with devolved government administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Your project must:

• have total eligible costs between £500,000 and £2million
• start by 1 May 2022
• end by 30 April 2024
• last between 6 months and 24 months
• carry out all of its project work in the UK
• intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

To lead a project or work alone your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size. Academic institutions cannot lead or work alone.

To collaborate with the lead, your organisation must be one of the following, UK registered:

• business of any size
• academic institution
• charity
• not-for-profit
• public sector organisation
• research and technology organisation (RTO)

The aim of this competition is to:

• address the under-provision by markets of services which support people as they age, to remain active, independent and socially connected for longer
• support business-led, near-to-market innovations that have strong potential to scale
• provide support through grant-funding against eligible project costs
• enforce good people-centred design principles
• encourage applications from businesses across the UK, by working closely with devolved government administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

To enforce the aim of good people-centred design principles, your project will be subject to a ‘design stage gate review’ at the six-month point. Your project must pass the ‘design stage gate review’ to continue to receive funding.

The review will ensure that your organisation is better placed to realise optimal market share by working with users and customers, to feed into service development and commercialisation plans.

Your project must:

• deliver a clear game-changing service-led innovation, that has a significant impact on ageing positively in the UK
• help people as they age, allowing them to remain active, productive, independent and socially connected for as long as possible
• narrow the gap between the experience of the richest and poorest
• conduct industrial research to develop new and applied knowledge leading to a solution at high technology and market readiness

Your proposal must:

• be delivered as a 6 months to two-year, business-led project, with a strong emphasis on people-centred design, as tested by the design stage gate review, and an ambition to scale
• identify a solution that must be sufficiently well-defined to be shaped by the initial six-month design stage gate review

The design stage gate review will be informed by your first six months’ people-centred design activity. This must be backed up by a revised commercialisation plan. You must be available at this six-month point for the review, along with your revised business and commercialisation plans.

The five review criteria for the design stage gate, must be evidenced and are based on:

• evidence of user engagement, including the user feedback mechanisms you have deployed
• details of adaptions you have made to your service through deploying people-centred design, including references to any risks identified
• evidence of take-up and acceptance within your user community, which supports the anticipated demand for your service
• evidence from your user community that your solution is scalable, for example, is there now a wider interest in your offering
• evidence that your business and commercialisation plans have been updated to reflect this activity, and that these plans represent a fair view of the market opportunity

A webinar briefing event and collaboration networking opportunity will be held online, 2-4:30pm on Tuesday 21st September: click here to register to attend.

If you want help to find a project partner, contact KTN’s Health Team.