This report sets out a number of recommendations for Transport for the North on how it can embed innovation throughout its work. The work was led by the NRIL Innovation Group following a series of workshop and engagement sessions with TfN over the last 18 months.

Executive Summary

The report identifies five key challenge areas for innovation at the transport body and set out recommendations for each area. These include:

• Awareness: Develop a plan for identifying, defining, and prioritising TfN challenge statements and communicating these widely to solution owners. 
• Funding: Define an innovation funding strategy for TfN that specifies sources and means of accessing funding for solution owners.
• People: Make innovation a key pillar of TfN’s people strategy, ensuring that the leadership and corporate behaviours support an organic culture of innovation.
• Procurement: Embed procurement and contracting approaches in TfN that support and drive innovation, its exploitation and commercialisation
• Supply Chain: Develop a plan to harness the inherent capability of northern SMEs, consultants and universities.