First ever 'enabling technologies' strategy aims to boost jobs and output in Scotland

Scotland’s Technology Advisory Group will launch the country’s first ever industry-driven strategy for Enabling Technologies today (Monday 23 November 2009).

The strategy focuses on technologies that underpin a number of Scotland’s key industry sectors and can help them become more productive.  It aims to increase the contribution that these sectors make to Scotland’s economy by almost nine per cent to more than £33.2 billion and help create 38,500 jobs

Officially launched today by Scotland’s Technology Advisory Group chair David Lockwood, managing director of Thales Optronics, the strategy sets out a blueprint for Scotland’s technology providers and users to enable long term direction and sustainable growth of the economy.

The Technology Advisory Group, appointed in January 2009, is a public and private partnership, created to develop a strategy for Scotland.  Its aim is to maximise the potential of the ‘cross-cutting technologies that support the key sectors’ of Food and Drink, Life Sciences, Financial Services, Creative Industries, Energy, Tourism and Universities as outlined in the Scottish Government’s Economic Strategy.

The strategy describes three steps to enhance Scotland’s national productivity through greater use of enabling technologies. These steps are:

·         Plant by identifying the key areas for investment and strengthening those creative networks between industry, universities and government which will stimulate economic growth across Scotland

·         Nurture by implementing a co-ordinated programme of strategic investments in projects designed to enhance and sustain the way Scotland innovates

·         Harvest by systematically exploiting the commercial benefits of the most promising innovations in global growth markets.

David Lockwood commented, “Scotland occupies a leading position in many technology areas, and we want this leadership and innovation to continue. This strategy aims to encourage the technology to be used and more importantly re-used across multiple key sectors. Embracing this enabling technologies strategy will help pave the way to future economic prosperity.

“As well as supporting technology companies and universities, we want to encourage many more companies in Scotland, across all sectors, to embrace enabling technologies.”

Since the mid-1970s, Scotland’s economic output has lagged behind the rest of the UK by 0.5-1.0%.  The wider application of enabling technologies across key sectors to develop new products and services has the potential to be a major contributor to reversing this trend by driving increased growth.

Terry Hurley, senior director of Digital Media and Enabling Technologies at Scottish Enterprise, said, “Scotland has areas of distinctive technology strengths, such as advanced engineering, informatics, optoelectronics and nanotechnology, which can increase the competitiveness of our key sectors.  By building on Scotland’s world-class science base and our existing 900 technology-led companies, we can achieve significant growth for Scotland’s economy. A key factor in achieving this will be through fostering greater, focused collaboration between our universities, our companies, both large businesses and SMEs, together with the government and public sector bodies who help to create a supportive environment for this activity. ”

Jim Mather, Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, Scottish Government, added, “The focus of the Scottish Government and its agencies is on supporting and developing the strengths of our businesses and universities to enable and encourage wider and more creative adoption of these technologies. I believe that the Enabling Technologies Strategy is a major step forward in helping us bring about a step change in performance.”

The Technology Advisory Group would like to hear from technology providers, users and other interested parties on any projects or other issues that can help support and develop the strategy so that it can have the maximum beneficial impact on Scotland.

Read the strategy here.