Transforming foundation industries ISCF challenge - 2nd deep dive workshop

The workshop was intended to scope key areas of interest from the industrial and academic community for cross-sector collaboration and to inform targetting of funding calls for the Transforming Foundation Industries Challenge (up to £66M available) of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF). The morning consisted of an introduction from Dr Robert Quarshie, an overview of the ISCF challenges from Dr Ben Walsh (Lead Technologist in Advanced Materials at Innovate UK) and then short summary presentations from representatives of the 6 foundation industries, Ceramics, Cements, Chemicals, Glass, Metals and Paper. The afternoon consisted of break out sessions based around 7 tables of 11 people with a facilitator for each group. The first session was an initial brain storming focused on the key challenges affecting the foundation industries and opportunities for cross-sector collaborations, followed by a feedback session. After the feedback, the groups were asked to prioritise three key challenges. The common themes identified across the 7 tables were, (i) Energy efficiency, (ii) Digitalisation, (iii) Efficient and sustainable use of materials including reuse of waste and (iv) Skill shortages. Attendees were then asked to vote on how important each challenge/opportunity was and when these would be expected to benefit the industries. The outputs from the day will be collated into a report to be circulated at a later date.