Innovation in Scotland
Innovation can mean the difference between success and failure for a business. Scotland provides the perfect ecosystem for innovation – with the right skills and expertise, strong networks and commitments from universities.
A culture of innovation
From the telephone and penicillin to the ATM and the colour photograph, Scotland has claim to a lot of great inventions and discoveries over the years. Today, innovation is felt, taught and incorporated across the whole of Scottish life, work and play.
We’re working on ground-breaking innovative products and services – like thermal imaging that helps robots detect humans, flat-packed building blocks made from recycled plastic, molecular imaging technology, revolutionary malaria treatment and biofuel made from whisky by-products.
Giving the green light for spin outs
Scotland’s innovative culture means that more university spin outs are created here than anywhere else in the UK – including London. All 19 of our universities are committed to supporting spin outs, for example by motivating their academics to form spin outs, providing access to intellectual property and supporting activities across all sectors.
Scotland's Innovation Centres and Centres of Excellence
In Scotland, great ideas are nurtured. Across all industries and technologies, our innovation centres and centres of excellence exist to help businesses do incredible things. Here’s a flavour of the ways our centres can help you.
Digital Health Institute
Defining and designing the digital health and care future for a healthier Scotland.
Industrial Biotechnology Centre
Enabling the transition into industrial biotechnology by helping companies understand sector opportunities.
Stratified Medicine Scotland
Bringing together clinicians, researchers and industry innovators to develop patient-specific medical innovation.
Scottish Aquaculture
Ensuring that innovation helps growth in this sector to meet rising domestic and global demand.
Precision Medicine Living Lab
The Living Laboratory at the University of Glasgow’s Precision Medicine Living Lab has secured around £90 million funding and will set out to bring new science and innovation to a real-world clinical setting.
Based next to the city's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, it will foster cross-sector collaborations to exploit research for the benefit of patients.
It builds on Scotland's clinical and academic strengths within the life sciences community and Scotland’s reputation as a world leading centre of excellence in precision medicine.
Other centres of excellence improving health and care with data
- Precision Medicine Scotland Innovation Centre
- Bayes Centre – University of Edinburgh
- Usher Institute – Population Health Sciences & Informatics
- SISCA – Scottish Informatics & Computer Science Alliance
- Technology Enabled Care in Scotland
- Centre for Data Health Science
- Health Data Research UK Scotland
- Biomedical Informatics Systems Engineering Laboratory
- Health Informatics Centre
- Farr Institute of Health Informatics Research
- Health Economics Research Unit
Global Open Finance Centre of Excellence at the University of Edinburgh
This world-first Centre has secured £55 million funding to develop financial technology and education to deliver social and economic benefits around the world. This will include how best to use open finance, the sharing of consenting customers' data between different financial businesses.
The university will partner with the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) and FinTech Scotland and draw on expertise from academia, financial services and fintech businesses.
"The funding of the Global Open Finance Centre of Excellence reinforces the value of collaboration between the diverse range of entrepreneurial enterprises, academics, large institutions, government and citizen groups in embracing the role of data in driving financial innovation. With engagement across Scotland, UK and globally, the initiative will further reinforce the inclusive approach in developing the fintech cluster focused on delivering better consumer and citizen financial outcomes."
Stephen Ingledew, Chief Executive, FinTech Scotland
Edinburgh International Data Facility
The University of Edinburgh has teamed up with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to build Europe’s first region-wide data innovation hub that will offer R&D resources to unlock solutions to global problems across science, healthcare, climate change and more.
Centre for Sensors & Imaging System
Working to develop effective sensor technologies solutions by bridging the gap between industry and universities.
Urban Big Data Centre (UBDC)
Gives you access to data collections, tools, training and expertise from Scottish universities and other partners for improving cities worldwide.
Bayes Centre
Home to more than 600 experts in data science and artificial intelligence, dedicated to nurturing innovation by advancing digital technology, space and satellites, robotics and autonomous systems.
UK Astronomy Technology Centre
The UK's national centre for astronomical technology is based in Edinburgh and home to the Higgs Centre for Innovation - a facility that supports startups and SMEs working in the space and data-intensive sectors, and encourages collaboration between researchers, engineers and post-graduate students.
UK Astronomy Technology Centre
The Data Lab
Supporting the Scottish digital economy and the use and innovation of data science.
Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications (SoXSA)
The Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications, SoXSA, is bringing space down to Earth. SoXSA has an end-to-end focus on the use of satellite-derived data and services to challenge conventional ideas and develop new concepts in the exploitation of space to improve life on Earth. For investors, SoXSA can provide funding opportunities,
events and support for startups and high growth companies via incubator programmes.
ARCHER – national supercomputing service
Based in the University of Edinburgh, this £43 million service offers access the UK’s primary academic research supercomputer.
National Centre of Excellence for Computer Games
Based at Abertay university this centre of excellence is at the forefront of education and research. It offers cross-disciplinary Masters programmes rated Best in Europe by Princeton Review.
Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre
One of the leading supercomputing centres in Europe and provider of training in high performance computing. Internationally renowned for all aspects of data research.
Energy Technology Partnership
Scotland’s Energy Technology Partnership (ETP) is the largest most broad-based energy research partnership in Europe. The ETP is an autonomous alliance of 13 independent Scottish Higher Education Institutions providing world-class capability and resources in energy research, design and development.
European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC)
The EMEC in Orkney aims to reduce the time, cost, and risk associated with the development of marine energy technologies. It's the first and only centre of its kind in the world to provide developers of both wave and tidal energy converters (technologies that generate electricity by harnessing the power of waves and tidal streams) with purpose-built, accredited open-sea testing facilities.
National HVDC Centre
Based in Cumbernauld, Scotland, the National HVDC Centre is the UK's only simulation and training facility designed to support and de-risk projects for all High Voltage Direct Current schemes connecting to the UK grid. This state-of-the-art facility ensures the integrity and security of the grid network.
ORE Catapult
ORE Catapult plays a key role in delivering the UK’s largest clean growth opportunity, through their mission to speed the creation and growth of UK companies in the offshore renewable energy sector. They use their unique facilities and research and engineering capabilities to bring together industry and academia and drive innovation in renewable energy.
ORE Catapult Scotland has facilities in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Levenmouth.
Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC)
Based at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, this venture was founded by government, industrial and academic partners. It aims to speed up the adoption of innovative research and technologies from early stage research into business-as-usual adoption by the electricity industry.
Water Technology Innovation
Hydro Nation Water Innovation Service supports companies to test and commercialise water related technology and bring it to market. It's a partnership between Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Water and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).
Hydro Nation Water Innovation Service website
Water Test Network is an Interreg-funded project giving companies access to water test facilities across north-west Europe. Scotland is now the best supported place in Europe for companies to carry out research and demonstration of water related technology.
Construction Scotland
Building Scotland's exciting construction future through innovation and collaboration.
The Oil & Gas Technology Centre (OGTC)
The go-to technology centre for the oil and gas industry - both in the UK and internationally. Partnering with industry, government and academia to transform ideas into solutions.
UNESCO Centre of Water
Based at the University of Dundee, with a global reputation in research, trans-boundary water governance, integrated water and coastal zone management and climate adaptation.
Funding for innovation
Innovation, research and development is key to Scotland’s growth, and that’s why we offer generous funding for innovative projects and businesses via Scottish Enterprise. As well as grant funding, Scottish Enterprise can help you access other forms of finance, such as investors.
If you’re planning on doing research and development work, Scotland is the ideal place.
Find out more from Scottish Enterprise
How we can help your business
We help companies look for new business models, new products and services and new market opportunities. Our experienced and connected innovation advisers help businesses break new ground. We stay ahead of the game across all industry sectors, so you'll invest in a business infrastructure that's innovative and dynamic, forward-thinking and high-achieving.
Contact us to find out how we could help you
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