A consortium led by Winning Moves has received funding from the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy to create a digital benchmarking tool and support process to assess business levels of performance and practice maturity. Bringing together contemporary research with leading edge technologies, the tool will also:
- Bring productivity to life for SMEs by helping them measure performance in a meaningful and understandable way, then compare against others to gain insight into where they stand against their peers
- Put the time and financial investment into technology adoption squarely in the context of potential financial return (or loss)
- Enable businesses to consider different digital products and approaches, with an understanding of the associated benefits and impact of each.
- Facilitate the process to provide trusted support where needed, including planning, taking first steps and maintaining momentum.
The consortium bid was one of 12 bids out of nearly 200 to be accepted through the Business Basics programme. In partnership with Aston Business School, Enterprise Research Centre, North East Local Enterprise Partnership, Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership and Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield Combined Authority, we will engage with 100 businesses based in the Northern Powerhouse and Midlands Engine areas.
Digital technology is well established as a key driver of business productivity and growth. Mastering its effective adoption and use in business is now an essential competence to achieve business success. Despite this, many businesses have yet to fully harness the power of technology. Our trial project will help businesses to overcome some of the main barriers to digital adoption:
- A general lack of awareness of the potential benefits and opportunities
- A lack of commitment from business leaders
- A lack of skills and knowledge.
- A lack of trust in solutions and/or providers.
“We are passionate about helping SMEs to develop and grow, so are delighted with this award,” said Mark Modena, Products Director at Winning Moves. “As a leader in business benchmarking, this project will enable us to utilise our unique platform, Benchmark Index, to create a next generation tool that harnesses artificial intelligence to yield even greater insight for businesses.”