FIRM seeks to tackle challenges facing the digital creative media in the coming decades through promoting and facilitating transdisciplinary research and development, bridging the communication gap between academics and businesses to produce national and global impacts in the domains of theory, practice and policy through:

• Driving major research initiatives that proactively transform the creative industry
• Creating greater opportunities to promote SME ventures
• Brokering cross-enterprise response to industry problems and opportunities
• Enhancing the talent pool
• And ultimately, providing value to the MediaCityUK’s host city of Salford and surrounding regions
  

With a dynamic and expanding network of research expertise and industry experts from the BBC; BT; Goldsmiths, University of London; Lancaster University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; University of Cambridge; University of Salford and Vision+Media FIRM has established a number of projects at varying degrees of development.

FIRM seek to lower the barriers to university research, making it easier for business to find appropriate expertise and gain access to world-class facilities. Once a business expresses interest a relationship is then brokered (where possible) within the appropriate network and opportunities are explored and support given from concept proposal through to commercialization.

FIRM has received:

• £2.63m grant from the UK Research Councils’ Digital Economy Programme, Jan 2010 - June 2013
• £439k grant from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) Jan 2010 – Dec 2011
  

While initial funding ends in June 2013, FIRM are actively involved in a number of bids and activity is expected to evolve and continue.