Turing Innovation Catalyst Manchester (TIC).

The Turing Innovation Catalyst (Manchester) (TIC or TIC-M) aims to accelerate the commercial exploitation of productivity-enhancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital trust technologies in Greater Manchester (GM). The two-year Innovation Accelerator project will fund innovation activities with regional businesses and R&D stakeholders, as part of the Alan Turing Institute's national strategy to increase the benefit, and accelerate the impact, of the application of data science and AI across the UK economy and society.

The University of Manchester-led project builds on existing strengths in the city region by bringing together a consortium of leading AI-focused businesses (including Graphcore, BAE Systems, Matillion and Peak AI), regional R&D organisations (Manchester Metropolitan University, University of Salford, and the Hartree Centre), accelerators (Capital Enterprise and Conception X), investors, and specialist skills providers. It will provide businesses with access to cutting-edge R&D capabilities, high-specification premises for collaboration, innovation finance, skills training, and specialist support and advice.

TIC will create a pipeline of commercially exploitable deep digital technologies needed for the UK to realise its ambition to be a global AI research and innovation superpower. It will accelerate the use of AI in key GM growth sectors including health innovation, advanced materials and manufacturing, creative and net zero -- all of which are critical application areas for the technology. It will help create a resilient and trusted domestic AI sector and supply chain, growing exports and protecting the UK against future threats.

Headquartered on the new ID Manchester innovation district in Manchester city centre, TIC will catalyse a dynamic cluster of entrepreneurs, business leaders, scientists, engineers, investors, and creatives -- united by a culture of ethics, diversity, and openness -- at the heart of the north's digital economy. It will have spokes in town centre locations to help grow emerging digital clusters across the city region. It will connect local people to opportunities and create an inclusive and diverse pipeline of AI practitioners with the technical and commercial skills demanded by industry.

The TIC project is expected to directly stimulate £24 million of co-investment, create up to 200 jobs and give a GVA uplift of £35 million, generating 7:1 economic return to public investment over the medium term. It will have a long-term legacy by helping to establish the TIC as an independent and business-led digital deep tech centre of excellence.