New Innovation Fund for Region’s Creative, Digital and IT Businesses Published on: 1 September 2017 Creative Fuse North East is looking for bright sparks to come up with exciting new ideas for its Innovation Pilot and Innovation Development Award scheme. Creative Fuse North East is looking for bright sparks to come up with exciting new ideas for its Innovation Pilot and Innovation Development Award scheme. Grants of up to £25,000 are available for SMEs and freelancers in the region’s creative, digital and IT (CDIT) sector to help them find ways to grow and innovate in their business. To qualify for the funding, they will need to team up with staff from two regional universities. Creative Fuse North East involves all five of the area’s universities. Its aim is to ensure the CDIT sector in the region becomes more resilient, grows fast and creates more and better jobs in a sustainable digital economy. Creative Fuse project lead Professor Eric Cross Opportunities and challenges , Dean of Cultural Affairs, Âé¶¹´«Ã½ is principal investigator on the £4m project. He said: “We want to hear ideas from businesses and freelancers which will help them to overcome challenges facing them, such as barriers to growth or developing new methods of working. “We’re particularly interested in applications which are ‘fused’ that is, combine ideas from creative design and technology. “The five university partners know just how important the CDIT sector is to our region and we are all looking forward to using our knowledge and expertise to help organisations achieve their goals.” North East Innovation Earlier this year, Creative Fuse North East carried out a survey of more than 500 firms to better understand the state of the CDIT sector in the North East. It found the turnover of more than half of businesses surveyed grew in 2015/16. It also highlighted that employment in the region’s creative industries grew faster than in the UK as a whole, with a 22.6% increase from 2001 and 2015, compared to 19.5% nationally. is a unique collaboration between Âé¶¹´«Ã½, Northumbria, Durham, Sunderland and Teesside universities and is funded jointly by the universities and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Arts Council England (ACE) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The deadline for Innovation Pilot and Innovation Development applications is Monday 16th October at 12pm. For more information about the application process, visit Latest News Local knowledge can improve early warnings of glacial lake floods Local knowledge, improved evacuation preparedness and resilient mobile phone-based communication channels can enhance Early Warning Systems to reduce loss of life during glacial lake outburst floods. published on: 3 August 2026 Funding boost moves landmark cancer research centre a step closer A £1.25 million grant from the Wolfson Foundation to Âé¶¹´«Ã½ has brought the Sir Bobby Robson Institute a significant step closer, giving a major boost to its fundraising campaign. published on: 3 August 2026 Statement on potential unauthorised data access Information about a potential unauthorised data access. published on: 30 July 2026 Facts and figures