Member Article

Innovate Manchester Calls on SMEs to Tackle Challenges Faced by Local Businesses

The Innovate Manchester series, supported by the Business Growth Hub, MIDAS and business development consultancy, Elevate, has teamed up with musicMagpie to launch the first in its new series of workshops.

Funded through the European Regional Development Fund, the series of innovation workshops invite the business, academic and creative communities to come together to build a more collaborative regional business community. Held on 28th September, the next workshop will bring together SMEs who are open to collaborate and have significant expertise in AI and machine learning, and an understanding of consumer tech. The successful SME will be given the opportunity to work directly alongside musicMagpie to help develop a solution.

So, what’s the challenge? musicMagpie currently deploys numerous Smart Drop Kiosks in Asda stores nationwide, enabling customers to trade their mobile phone devices at a convenient location and receive instant payment.

The workshop will see SMEs tasked with improving the automatic valuation in the Smart Drop Kiosks, using AI and machine learning, to ensure customers receive the correct amount for their device. Once a solution has been successfully implemented, musicMagpie will look to roll the technology out across their other product lines.

The workshop will include a panel discussion and Q&A session, with the invaluable opportunity to learn more and speak directly to representatives from musicMagpie. Following the workshop, musicMagpie will shortlist SMEs to pitch for the project and those selected will receive pitch support from GC Business Growth Hub specialist Advisors and key academics in the field of AI and machine learning.

With plenty of support offered throughout, female powerhouse trio, Elevate, are set to bring their complementary skills to the table when hosting the workshops, which will encourage members to interrogate problems and work in collaboration to draw out potential solutions. Speaking on the workshop, Ilona Alcock, Co-Founder and Director of Elevate, said: “We can’t wait to bring together SMEs from a whole host of backgrounds to tackle this one – it’s so important to work collaboratively to spark creativity and we’re certain we’ll leave the session with plenty of innovative solutions. “It’s going to be a really valuable, one-of-a-kind experience for businesses, especially with the insight they will receive from musicMagpie - a true leader in the re-commerce of consumer technology.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Margaret Jones .