The QHubs Quality and Innovation Management Programme

The QHubs Quality and Innovation Management Programme is Ireland’s National Standard for the Hub Network

The Programme is grounded in a Strategic Framework and Growth Pathway which support the continuous improvement of enterprise centre and hub performance across the Network.

The Framework and Growth Pathway focus on the following elements –

• the development of a location-specific growth pathway
• the measurement of centre and hub performance
• the establishment of innovation and growth targets
• the promotion of a culture of continuous improvement, ongoing innovation, and best-in-class leadership across the National Hub Network –

and at the core of the Framework are six key pillars, underpinned by comparable principles drawn from relevant families of ISO Standards including –

• 9000 Series (Quality Management Systems)
• 14000 Series (Environmental Management)
• 27000 Series (Information Security Management)
• 44000 Series (Collaborative Business Relationship Management)
• 56000 Series (Innovation Management Systems)

The QHubs Programme Framework and Growth Pathway will support your hub to continually improve its capability to deliver services – consistently and to the highest standard – meeting the service needs and requirements of your clients, tenants companies, remote employees, stakeholders and the wider community.

The QHubs Programme is a world-first National Standard for enterprise centres and hubs and offers independent, third-party verification and certification from NSAI – the National Standards Authority of Ireland

The QHubs Programme is designed over a series of managed interactions between the participating location, the QHubs Secretariat and the Growth Programme delivery partners.

Participation in the QHubs Programme will demonstrate responsible, innovative, sustainable and ambitious business practices on the part of enterprise centres and hubs – key to underpinning Government’s ambition of promoting Ireland’s reputation as a global leader in centre and hub establishment, management, growth and innovation performance.

The QHubs Mark is awarded to locations that are verified and certified members of the QHubs Programme

Performance against pre-defined programme targets across the six key pillars is verified every two years, leading to independent verification and certification through the Programme.

The National Standards Authority of Ireland NSAI will act as the independent auditing body and will be responsible for conducting audits against the criteria of the Programme.

To achieve the QHubs Mark, enterprise centres and hubs will be subject to a rigorous audit-based process which underpins the integrity of the Programme.

As the Programme journey evolves and the performance measurement of the enterprise centre or  hub progresses, each performance milestone will set out different thresholds to achieve ongoing verification and certification, and will be recognised and rewarded accordingly.