Interview with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
Rachel Martin caught up with The Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce to discuss their Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry experience and how it has impacted their business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Company
Providing first-class business support to companies of all shapes and sizes. Greater Manchester Chamber is an independent, not-for-profit company, working to create a better business environment for their members with their purpose to articulate the views and needs of their members whatever their size, sector or location
The innovation, the impact and the benefits
From participating in the Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry programme, the Greater Manchester Chamber developed a prototype tool that is used to rapidly analyse data. Subrah, has implemented the tool in research and data analysis carried out on large data sets from public sources. The tool has transformed what he describes as a ‘previously slightly tedious task’ into an automated process that can get quick results without any manual intervention. This automated tool now enables them to handle the data quickly and predict results in quick-time
The lightbulb moment
‘Realising that it’s not just about improving your cyber security, albeit it is an important step, but it is about using cyber technology in the broadest sense to improve business processes and double up and expand the business’.
The Greater Manchester Cyber Foundry experience
‘Extremely positive and pleasant, we built a great working relationship with Dr Fairchild and the delivery team.’ With the Greater Manchester Chamber not being a traditional R&D company, it was critical for them to work with a team that understood the requirements to be able to translate their ideas and concepts into a set of specifications and final prototype service that they could then use. Subrah said, ‘It was that collaborative approach that we benefitted the most from.’
‘What you get with the project is a team of experienced researchers and academics who understand a wide variety of sectors and who can help produce prototype solutions for you.’
The advice for future SMEs
‘Definitely recommend the course. Try to not approach the project with presumptions about what it is going to be. Approach the project with an open mind, with an idea that you are here to benefit from the wide range of technologies available today. These technologies can improve your business processes, double and grow your business, start new services or new products that you may not have considered’.
Get in touch
To find out more information on how to access the programme please contact:
Lorena Gomez, GM Cyber Foundry Project Manager
University of Salford
Joule House
Salford
M5 4WT
Email: l.gomez@salford.ac.uk