Innovate UK Accelerated Knowledge Transfer

**Accelerated Knowledge Transfer** Innovate UK Accelerated Knowledge Transfer (AKT) is jointly delivered by Innovate UK and Innovate UK Business Connect. **About AKT** Inspired by the successful Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) model, the AKT programme creates short-term collaborations between a Business Partner and a UK Knowledge Base\* to accelerate the progress of innovation projects. In the 2022/23 pilot competition, a total of 129 projects were funded, representing all kinds of businesses and third-sector organisations across the UK. You can find out more about the AKT2I pilot scheme projects below. *UK Higher Education (HE), Further Education (FE) institution, Research Organisation (RTO) or Catapult.* **Context** Improving productivity and innovating quickly are central to enabling business growth, resilience and sustainability. But achieving them often requires new knowledge and fresh thinking. Innovate UK Accelerated Knowledge Transfer forms a partnership between a business and a specialist academic team to deliver a short, targeted intervention. Over a two-to-four-month period, the teams work together to accelerate the progress of an innovation project. **Accelerating innovation** Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) has been delivering positive impacts for businesses for nearly 50 years, demonstrating the value of collaboration between businesses and academia. KTP is ideal for businesses with a clear strategic challenge. But for many, the real challenge is identifying their barriers to being truly innovative and knowing how to overcome them. For these businesses, a shorter-term, rapid intervention can be the solution. Innovate UK Accelerated Knowledge Transfer was launched to create these intensive collaborations that impart knowledge and help businesses to: - identify innovation blockers - evaluate an innovation concept - find solutions to immediate and long-term challenges - accelerate new thinking and processes - develop new business models and expand capacity