HS2 has launched its fourth Innovation Accelerator programme as the company seeks fresh thinking on three aspects of the project’s delivery.

Working with the Connected Places Catapult, HS2 is seeking five innovative SMEs to develop digital solutions to:

• supply chain management
• risk management and decision making
• information exchange and insights

HS2 innovation manager, Jonathan Kelly, said: “Fourteen SMEs who graduated from HS2’s first three Accelerator programmes have since attracted over £50million in commercial trials, investments and grants following their four-month stint honing their products.

“HS2 is massive whichever way you look at it, be it duration, geography or workforce. We’re looking to build on this success with the Accelerator’s fourth cohort providing innovative solutions to the challenges of information sharing across this vast project.”

At the end of four months working inside HS2’s Accelerator the firms will present their innovations to the project’s tier one suppliers, as well as investors and wider industry, to take forward for further development and potential deployment to deliver the railway.   

The application portal opens on Tuesday 1st February and closes on Monday 28th February.