Driving improvement in the public sector is complex, but partnering with industry offers a powerful opportunity to co-deliver innovative solutions to complex problems
SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative), also known as Contracts for Innovation across the UK, uses pre-commercial procurement to help public sector organisations find innovative solutions to complex challenges. This approach supports the delivery of better public services and enhances efficiency and effectiveness.
In Northern Ireland, SBRI NI aims to stimulate economic growth by funding research and development to create innovative products and services. It opens up new business opportunities, offers companies a route to market for their ideas, and helps bridge the funding gap many early-stage businesses face.
Previously, the SBRI NI application and reporting process involved multiple tools, making it unnecessarily complex for the internal team, suppliers, and assessors to navigate and manage effectively.
Working closely with the SBRI NI team, we focused on three key areas to improve the end-to-end process. First, we streamlined and automated key stages to create a smoother journey for suppliers while reducing unnecessary administrative burden on the internal team.
Second, we introduced an interactive assessment and communication process to manage input from multiple external stakeholders. This included creating a clear audit trail to ensure all applications were assessed fairly and transparently.
Finally, we developed customisable, automated dashboards to report on the success of delivered SBRI challenges. This included a system for handling end-of-phase reports, enabling the team to easily capture and analyse the impact of each challenge for both suppliers and challenge owners in a consistent and meaningful way.
SimplyDo has streamlined the SBRI NI process, reducing documentation by 75% by automatically pulling key information into templates like cost and milestones. This has made Challenge briefs clearer and more accessible for suppliers.
Since implementation, over 1,000 assessments have been completed through the system, ensuring a fair, transparent process. Assessors’ scores are now tracked seamlessly, with detailed reports generated to support consistent, informed and auditable decision-making.
Data is now captured at the point of submission and reporting, enabling the creation of customised public and private dashboards. These dashboards allow the SBRI NI team to efficiently monitor and report on supplier engagement, funding distribution, and the overall impact of each challenge in real-time.
