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Connected/Connected 2

Higher and Further Education Collaboration Fund - Connected

The aim of Connected is to enable the HE and FE sectors to identify and meet the knowledge transfer needs of businesses and the wider community in a coordinated and holistic fashion.

This pilot programme ran from 2007 to 2010 with a budget of £1 million per annum and was delivered by Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster, in partnership with the Association of Northern Ireland Colleges.

This funding initiative is the first of its kind in the UK and complements the existing Higher Education Innovation Fund under which the core knowledge transfer or “Third Stream” activities of the Universities are supported.

Collaboration between the FE sector and the universities is firmly grounded in the recommendations of the Regional Innovation Strategy as well as being in keeping with the Department`s Skills Strategy (Success through Skills). Making this three year old programme permanent is also one of the Department`s key commitments under the Programme for Government.

Evaluation of Connected pilot programme

In 2009, the Department undertook an Evaluation of the "Connected" Pilot Programme.

Following an open tender, the evaluation was undertaken by FGS McClure Watters, overseen by a Steering Group consisting of officials from the Department for Employment and Learning, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment and Invest NI.

The evaluation provides an objective assessment of the performance of the pilot programme and informs the development of a permanent programme per the Programme for Government commitment.

The final report was cleared for publication by the then Employment and Learning Minister, Sir Reg Empey, in September 2009.

The evaluation report was very positive regarding the performance of the programme, particularly in respect of the successful sectoral initiatives and the step change in coordinated interaction between the HE and FE sectors with respect to their business facing activities.

Ministerial approval was subsequently secured for the programme to continue for a further four years (April 2010 – March 2014) with a budget of £1 million per annum.

Connected 2

The objectives of Connected 2 are:

  • to develop and build upon the achievements of the pilot project; and
  • to continue to facilitate Northern Ireland’s two universities to extend the range and depth of their collaboration with the Further Education sector, with a primary focus on meeting needs of business innovation.

The overall aim of the Connected project remains unchanged.

The new programme will again be delivered by Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Ulster, in partnership with Colleges Northern Ireland (previously known as the Association of Northern Ireland Colleges). The programme will be further enhanced through the addition of strategic links to the Agri-Food and Bioscience Institute (AFBI) and the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) designed to strengthen the offering to the agri-food sector.

For further information, please visit the Connected web page external link or contact research.branch@delni.gov.uk external link  (tel: 02890 257 693).