Innovation Insights

We touched on the idea of intrapreneurship in our recent piece reflecting on ten years of SimplyDo. It's a concept worth unpacking properly, because we think it sits at the heart of what makes organisations genuinely innovative, and it's something most organisations are further from achieving than they'd like to admit.

There's a moment that almost every applicant to an innovation programme, grant round, or procurement opportunity has experienced. You've found an opportunity that looks relevant. You open the application form. And there it is: a long section asking for your organisation's registration number, trading address, key personnel, accreditations, company description, VAT number, and contact details, the same information you filled in somewhere else three months ago.

When organisations evaluate an enterprise SaaS platform, the integration checklist tends to get a lot of attention. Does it connect to Microsoft 365? Can we get data into Power BI? Does it support SSO and sync with our directory? These are legitimate questions, and for most enterprise buyers they're non-negotiable prerequisites.

The health sector has given a cautious welcome to the NHS's £10bn AI rollout. The reaction reveals a truth every innovator knows: getting people to adopt an idea is harder than having it.

A day after launching its five-year strategy, UKRI's chief executive faced the House of Lords. The scrutiny is a healthy reminder that innovation needs accountability too.

UKRI has pledged to cut research grant decision times by 50% by 2031. Faster funding sounds administrative — but it quietly reshapes how organisations innovate.

If you work anywhere near UK innovation policy, you'll know the Catapults. If you don't, they're one of the more quietly significant pieces of national infrastructure the UK has built over the past fifteen years, and they represent a fascinating model for how a country tries to turn research strength into industrial and economic advantage.

UKRI has published its five-year strategy, setting the direction for £38.6bn a year of R&D. Here's what it means for organisations trying to turn ideas into impact.

UK Defence Innovation has opened its latest space-tech competition, with up to £985,000 available. Here's what it funds, who it's for, and why the deadline matters.

If you've ever run an open call, a grant round, or a supplier due diligence process, you'll know that receiving applications is the easy part. What comes next (assessing them fairly, at scale, with multiple judges, under time pressure) is where things tend to get complicated.

If you work in local government, a combined authority, a university, or any organisation that sits at the intersection of civic life and innovation, you've probably heard of the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund. If you haven't, it's worth getting up to speed quickly because it's already shaping how public bodies will run innovation programmes for the next several years.

There's a report from 2023 that we keep coming back to. Published by Social Spider CIC and championed by the Enterprise Grants Taskforce, it made the case for something called enterprise grant-making, and even though it's a couple of years old now, the argument feels more relevant than ever.

UKRI and Ofgem announced last week that 18 projects have secured a combined £22.9 million through Cycle 5 of the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF), the latest round of a programme designed to drive transformation in the UK's energy networks. The projects span robotics, digital twins, AI, hydrogen storage, quantum cybersecurity and community energy models, spread across discovery, alpha and beta stages.

Your brand, your platform: how SimplyDo's white-labelling makes innovation feel like home.

Ten Years of SimplyDo: A Decade of Product Evolution, Security, and Enterprise Innovation

Caerphilly County Borough Council Sweeps the Wales GO Awards with Three Wins, Driven by Procurement Excellence

SimplyDo Secures the Prestigious Digital Business Award at the 2025 Wales Business Awards!

SimplyDo’s Stance on AI: Augmenting Human Innovation with Security and Choice

It has been just over a year since the Online Safety Act (2023) went into force in March 2025.

The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 is now law. Here's how SimplyDo is ready.

The world will never be the same after the COVID-19 pandemic and while many sectors were forced to adapt, the healthcare sector experienced the biggest impact of all. Healthcare has always needed innovation and the pandemic proved to be a significant catalyst of this change with the industry’s response demonstrating its resilience and ability to bring innovations to market quickly.

Innovation begins with an idea. However, it cannot be sustained when ideas and motivation are scarce. Leaders must recognise that their employees' creative input is crucial when it comes to innovation and ensuring employees feel valued in the process means they are more likely to contribute and share their ideas and solutions. An innovation challenge is a great way to spark new ideas or solve problems in your organisation. 

It's clear that remote working is going to be more than a temporary trend, but what effect does this have on how successfully organisations are continuing to innovate? Internal innovation can become harder to foster when the majority of the workforce is at home. While many employees find home-working to be more productive, in some cases, it can be harder to innovate. So, what is the solution? 

When it comes to sharing ideas and concerns, many feel uncomfortable sharing what's on their minds - which can cause the organisation to suffer. While extroverts are usually comfortable sharing their views and debating a concept, introverts typically prefer to gather their thoughts before engaging in a discussion. So how can leaders nurture their introvert employees to participate in innovation?

Creating a culture of innovation is an integral part of building a successful business. Although innovation is crucial to the successful development of an organisation — many are struggling to innovate. Here are five tips to create a culture of innovation within your organisation

In today’s world, modern innovators are still working hard to find solutions to common problems - whether it be inventing new products or bringing great business ideas to life. Here are ten brilliant British innovators that have created some game-changing products and services in recent years.

Powerful innovation is at the heart of all successful organisations. This article identifies the key traits to look for when it comes to identifying an innovator.

Innovation is a vital part of every organisation. It leads to significant and sustainable improvements across many areas and has the power to make things better, faster, or cheaper than the competition. Additionally, it can improve internal operations and boost employee morale. So, what hinders companies from taking action and making lasting change? 

Every organisation has access to thousands of ideas for organisational improvement. Here are four reasons why organisations should look at a smarter way to unlock the wisdom of the crowd to deliver innovation.

Generating sound ideas that are a right fit for implementation into any public sector service is challenging; executing them is even harder –– nowhere more so than in the emergency services. 

Frontline services in the UK are amongst some of the most respected in the world. The modern emergency services we recognise today started taking shape in the 19th century and have continued to evolve, setting the standard for a high level of emergency care and incident response globally.

The importance of supply chain innovation for both private and public sector organisations and how technology helps strategically connect people and organisations.

How technology can play a crucial role in the way organisations manage their supply chain.

How large organisations can benefit from working with small and medium-sized businesses to improve the supply chain.

The process of managing public sector grant applications is not without its challenges. In this article, we will delve into some of the key problems that arise in this complex landscape.