Welcome to the InterAct Network
InterAct was launched in November 2021 as part of UKRI’s £147m Made Smarter Innovation programme. It is an Economic and Social Research Council-led network that aims to bring together economic and social scientists, UK manufacturers, policymakers, and digital technology providers, with a shared goal of addressing the human issues resulting from the diffusion of new technologies in industry.
What is the purpose of InterAct?
Working alongside other partners within the wider Made Smarter Innovation programme, our initial objectives were to:
- Develop and support the creation of an effective digital innovation ecosystem to accelerate the innovation and diffusion of Industrial Digital Technologies (IDTs).
- Ensure that the full range and depth of social and economic science insights are accessed by the Made Smarter challenge and wider UK manufacturing sector.
- Explore the role of the UK in the future Global Manufacturing Ecosystem (GME) and determine how the adoption of IDTs can enable ‘the future we want’ by 2040 within the global landscape.
InterAct’s long-term vision was to build a strong, vibrant, interdisciplinary community to support UK manufacturing in the adoption and development of IDTs that will result in a stronger, more resilient, manufacturing base.
InterAct’s ethos of ‘pioneering human insight for industry’ emphasises the important role that humans play in the successful diffusion and adoption of IDTs. Drawing on the manufacturing adage, that ‘technology alone is not enough’, we are putting people back a the heart of the approach to digitalisation.
InterAct has funded 51 projects which have created a range of ‘actionable human insights’ to support the successful adoption of IDTs by manufacturers to improve resilience, productivity, sustainability and job quality.
Amplifying the impact of InterAct
InterAct has received almost £1 million of additional funding, for the period 1 April 2025 – 31 March 2026, to provide Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with the stepping stones to enable short-term energy and resource efficiency benefits. The findings of our work will support the adoption of IDTs within manufacturing processes and help organisations harness the benefits of new digitally enabled business models.
This extension will help us to amplify the impact of InterAct in three distinct ways:
- Providing further funding to InterAct projects that can be rapidly scaled or spun out.
- Focusing on interventions that support the rapid adoption of low cost, low risk IDTs by SMEs.
- Targeted, high impact research.
Explore our site to find out more about how you can get involved, interact with us, and make use of the latest resources from our ongoing research projects.