New Industrial Net Zero hub to be established in Cambridge by Digital Catapult and TWI

Digital Catapult and TWI Ltd. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to launch the new Industrial Net Zero Innovation Centre (INZIC) based in Cambridge.

Established as a joint initiative between two of the UK’s leading innovation organisations in the engineering and digital sectors, INZIC will target asset and energy intensive industries such as aerospace, utilities and energy. Advanced digital technologies have a key role to play in improving sustainability and efficiency in order to reduce both the carbon footprint of industrial processes and supply chain logistics, through better optimisation of resources.

Net zero is a requirement to balance any emissions by absorbing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere. To enable the global warming target in the Paris Agreement to be met, global carbon emissions should reach net zero around mid-century.

The new Centre will help organisations tackle industrial net zero challenges by exploiting advanced digital technologies and deep industrial domain expertise in areas such as digital twin and asset life extension, creating new market opportunities for UK tech startups and industrial businesses alike.

Jeremy Silver, CEO, Digital Catapult, said: “Expanding Digital Catapult’s footprint around the UK is fundamental to our ambition to boost regional research and technology innovation capabilities, and to exploit the potential of startups around the country. By working with TWI in Cambridge, we’re combining deep industry expertise with both of our nationwide networks to help companies more rapidly achieve the ambition of industrial net zero. We want the benefits of increased efficiencies and reduced emissions to be felt throughout the UK’s industrial supply chain and advanced digital tech ecosystem.”

Aamir Khalid, Chief Executive of TWI continued: “We are delighted to be partnering with Digital Catapult on this new venture and look forward to collaborating on achieving the Centre’s ambitions. These include driving new regional research and technology capability for the acceleration of digitally enabled industrial net zero, and reducing the UK’s CapEx by creating new business service models in maintenance, repair and overhaul to extend the life of industrial assets.”

Tat-Hean Gan, TWI’s Director of Innovation and Skills elaborated on the benefits explaining “INZIC will be an exciting new development for TWI’s Industrial Member companies in manufacturing who are seeking to reduce their carbon footprint, because the new Innovation Centre will help facilitate the digital transformation of traditional manufacturing processes with the introduction of new technologies and a move to smart manufacturing and factories.”

Digital Catapult is the UK’s leading innovation centre for advanced digital technologies and has built a network of thousands of startups and scaleups around the country that are using advanced digital technologies including immersive, artificial intelligence, 5G, IoT and blockchain to develop products and applications to solve major industrial challenges.

TWI is one of the world’s foremost independent engineering research and technology organisations, with expertise in solving problems in all aspects of manufacturing, fabrication and whole-life integrity management technologies. With facilities across the globe, the company employs more than 900 staff, serving 700 Member companies across 4500 sites in 80 countries. TWI also houses a professional institution, The Welding Institute, with a separate membership of over 6000 individuals.