Strategy to drive innovation and growth published.

A strategy to make Scotland one of the most innovative small countries in the world has been published.

The National Innovation Strategy sets out plans to align Scotland with European leaders such as Denmark, Finland and Norway over the next decade by placing innovation at the heart of the economy.

It outlines new approaches to develop world leading excellence in key sectors – turning research into successful products and businesses, encouraging more businesses to innovate, and improve productivity while maximising targeted investment from Government and industry.  

Key proposals include:

• encouraging European-style clusters of similar businesses by focusing on developing key strengths in advanced manufacturing, health and life sciences, net zero, and data and digital technologies

• adopting a new approach to investing in innovative companies by reviewing existing public sector funds and improving signposting towards other sources of finance

• supporting Scotland’s world class universities to become better at turning research into successful products and businesses

• taking a new approach to monitoring Scotland’s performance and benchmarking this against similar nations

The strategy has been developed in consultation and close collaboration with business and academia, including a steering group chaired by Sir Jim McDonald, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde.

More details here