NORCAT’s Innovation Strategy group works with clients around the world on the development of innovation centres and collaboration networks, the creation of seed and venture capital funds, academic research / development and technology transfer strategies, intellectual property policies and frameworks, and incentive mechanisms to engage start-up and small / medium enterprises to grow and scale their businesses to support local and regional economic and social prosperity. Given our global customer base, we have an unrivaled perspective that serves to benefit our clients and expedite achievement of their desired outcomes.
In addition, NORCAT supports global clients by providing access to NORCAT Innovation as a start-up outpost. Included in this is a place within the NORCAT Centre where corporate partners can engage and share challenges / opportunities with qualified start-up ventures in the NORCAT Innovation tech portfolio. This premise of connecting bigger companies with tech start-ups to help solve problems / challenges follows a global trend of outsourced innovation and connecting start-up tech ventures with larger companies seeking to enhance their competitiveness and overall performance.
As part of this service offering, NORCAT offers innovation training workshops, tools, and resources to assist larger companies in harnessing their innovation potential by taking advantage of external start-up models and tools to supplement internal strategies. These workshops include, but are not limited to, understanding the principles of the lean start-up, using the business model canvas to effectively assess potential opportunities, risk assessment tools, and more. Ultimately these workshops will enable larger organizations to potentially think more like a start-up, tap into fresh talent and ideas, create new and unexpected connections, and reduce cost and risk associated with trying new things.
In partnership with McKinsey, NORCAT led the creation of a national strategy to drive innovation and to expedite the monetization of “home-grown” technology and intellectual property in order to create a sustainable and competitive mining industry, both now and in the future, for one of the largest economies in the Middle East.
This multi-year project involved the identification and evaluation of the structural enablers that would support a national innovation program, mechanisms to effectively and efficiently create a national ecosystem to expedite technology monetization, and defined roles for capital, government, and industry partners – both domestic and international.
In addition, a working operational model was developed including an over-arching national governance model, near-term and long-term revenue models, regulatory framework, foreign direct investment strategy and operating plans, and operating models / organizational designs for a series of integrated innovation centres and academic tech transfer departments throughout the country.
NORCAT engaged with a leading Latin American university to assist in the development of an academic / community innovation and entrepreneurship strategy. This initiative was part of a broader university mandate to enhance research and IP development opportunities for faculty while concurrently providing a “place” with entrepreneurship programs and services to support the university and community start-up tech ecosystem.
The project involved the creation of an accelerator program, organizational design, funding and operating model, mentorship program, and overall project plan and implementation tactics.
NORCAT was selected by one of the world’s leading mining companies to assist them in better understanding emerging technologies and relevant technology trends related to their innovation roadmap and strategy. As part of the program, NORCAT leveraged the NORCAT Underground Centre to provide a place for the client to “see and touch” / “try before you buy” technologies in an operating mine environment to better inform their buying / technology adoption decisions.
As part of the program, NORCAT became an outsourced trusted broker to assist the client filtering and supporting the testing of emerging technologies to qualify technologies / companies that are “worth ten minutes of client’s time”.