London & Partners Innovation Fellowship

London and Partners Innovation Fellowshop

Empowering world-leading corporations to harness the full potential of open innovation.

Overview

Delivered in collaboration with London & Partners, the Innovation Fellowship is a cross-sector network of senior innovation leaders from more than 100 global corporations.

The three-month executive education programme runs twice per year in London, designed by RCA academic Dr Nick de Leon with Grow London to help Fellows develop their strategic approach to open innovation, sharing best practice, building their peer network and deepening their understanding of London’s ecosystem since 2020.

Course structure

Each cohort of 20 Fellows receives access to online content and attends hybrid sessions delivered in person in London and live-streamed online. Core modules range from open innovation strategy, operating models, culture and more, highlighting the importance of combining creative thinking, science and technology to tackle today’s global challenges.

Outcomes

During the course, Fellows overcome barriers to successful open innovation, utilising design-led techniques and research from the RCA. Following the programme, they join the wider Fellowship network, benefiting from ongoing fellowship meetings, access to startup connections and opportunities to raise the profile of their innovation activity.

Companies who have taken part include Google, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Unilever, HSBC, BP, AstraZeneca, Shell, Salesforce, Diageo, National Grid, Chanel, Lloyd’s, Fidelity Investments, Thales, PayPal, Schneider Electric, Reuters and Hitachi.

“The Fellowship helped me understand how to maximise my role and its potential to influence the direction of my organisation… as a result I am working to cultivate the innovative culture throughout the organisation, scoping partnerships within our ecosystem that go beyond transactional, and fostering more symbiotic relationships by outlining roadmaps that incorporate both my organisation's and our partners' evolutions.”
Adam Weir Senior Director of Innovation and Materials at New Balance

“Open innovation is the fuel for smaller businesses to grow and creates competitive advantage for larger businesses. London is a natural leader in open innovation - it has a booming tech scene, diversity of talent and ideas, and a culture of openness. We’ve launched the Innovation Fellowship to build on those strengths. I want London to be a city where the best ideas can scale, regardless of where they come from.”
Laura Citron CEO of London & Partners

School of Design
Executive Education

Expertise

Business model innovation

More information

Custom Executive Education

Custom Executive Education Masterclasses and Workshops

Through our portfolio of innovation masterclasses and workshops, the RCA provides senior-level professionals and business leaders with critical business skills. We deliver courses for businesses, organisations and universities on design thinking, service design, creative leadership, disruptive innovation, entrepreneurship, human-centred design, artificial Intelligence and healthcare design.

We can tailor the curriculum for a day, a week, or several weeks over the course of a year with interrelated projects. Courses can be delivered online, on-campus, hybrid or at partner organisations. Previous courses have been delivered in Dubai, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Germany and Mexico.

Find out more here.

Please get in contact with us if you would like to discuss developing a custom programme:

Peter Christian, Head of Executive Education
Hattie Allen, Executive Education Manager

Executive Education and Knowledge Exchange Lead

Nick is Executive Education and Knowledge Exchange Lead in the School of Design, where he leads the development of the School's research and knowledge exchange relations.

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