TECHNOLOGY ADVISORY GROUP
ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES STRATEGY
FOR SCOTLAND
Towards a brighter future
Jim Mather
Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism
The Government Economic Strategy, published in
2007, underlined our purpose of achieving increased
sustainable economic growth. The competitiveness of
Scotland’s businesses, and their commitment to improving
productivity through continuous innovation, will be
critical to delivering that goal. The adoption of existing
and new technologies can help our companies become
more innovative and competitive.
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.
Enabling Technologies provide a platform to transform
our economy: they are the areas of distinctive technology
strength, such as Advanced Engineering, Informatics,
Optoelectronics and Nanotechnology, which can increase
the competitiveness of all our key sectors and of our
industrial partners and customers in the longer-term. By
building on Scotland’s world-class science base and worldleading companies, we can close the ‘growth gap’ which
has seen Scotland’s GDP lag behind comparable small
European countries and the rest of the UK for all of three
decades.
New technologies will drive demand. They will also
transform existing products, and are likely to force
businesses right across the supply chain to develop new
business models and adopt new, innovative ways of
delivering services. This is clearly an evolving process –
the strategy will be refined and refreshed going forward,
to accommodate technological advances and to take
advantage of emerging market opportunities.
Of course, we cannot escape the impact of the current
economic climate. But what we can do is equip ourselves
to withstand the immediate reverses of this serious global
downturn, and to exploit the strength of our considerable
business and research assets as our markets begin to
recover.
The Technology Advisory Group is undertaking the
essential task of achieving these aspirations with a
Strategy which aims to:
• increaseourassetbaseofhighlysuccessful,competitive
businesses with responsive and focused enterprise
support
• encourageourmostambitiousenterprisestoexploit
opportunities outside of Scotland by becoming more
internationally competitive
• popularisebusinessinnovationbeyondthedomainof
scientific research laboratories and technological testbeds
• focusourresourcesandinfrastructuretosupport
selected key sectors with the greatest growth potential
and capacity to boost productivity
These are the ambitions of the three-way partnership
we are creating between business, academia and
government. I congratulate the Technology Advisory
Group on producing this strategy. They have brought
their considerable experience and expertise from all of
the partners, across Scotland and world-wide, to create
a compelling vision that will help us all move towards a
brighter future.
Jim Mather
Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism
Contents:
4-5.
OUR VISION:
Chairman David Lockwood
6.
OUR TEAM:
Profiles of the Technology
Advisory Group’s members
7-8.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Key-point business synopsis
9-11.
OUR STRATEGY:
Case study: Pyreos
12-13. PLANT: Drivers of change
Transformational
technologies
Case study: L&S Fluids
14-15. NURTURE: Our strengths
Companies and universities
Case study: DuPont Teijin
Films
20-21. NEXT STEPS: Pathways to
change
9-stage Implementation Plan
22.
The Pathway
23.
Glossary
16-17. NURTURE: Our
collaborators
Co-ordination for success
Case study: Amor Group
18-19. HARVEST: Our
opportunities
Global growth markets
Case study: Mobile Acuity
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
3
An EnAbling TEchnologiEs
sTrATEgy for scoTlAnd:
OuR vISION
Our starting point is the Government’s strategic aim
to see Scotland’s economy develop as one of the best
performers among the small nations of Europe. Achieving
that goal, set in the growth conditions of 2007, requires a
new level of endeavour and co-operation by our business
leaders, research community and policymakers.
Now, as we emerge from the world’s most serious
post-war recession, it’s clear that the task facing this
transforming partnership is even more challenging
and more urgent. Scotland’s markets face fundamental
change in the next 5-10 years: the recession is one force
for change; another is the growing global transition
to sustainable low carbon economies. We must aim
for a significant transformation of our own economy,
underpinned by technological innovation, to respond to
this challenge and ensure that Scotland is advantageously
positioned for growth.
David Lockwood – MD, Thales Optronics and TAG Chairman
We’ll innovate faster, become
more agile and reach further
into new markets. That’s our aim.
We want to help transform the
way we do business in Scotland.
That’s our vision for industry,
universities and government.
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
It is our conviction that technological prowess is the key
to driving competitiveness and productivity, which will
deliver greater growth. Fulfilling our ambition for growth
depends on the speed, energy and imagination with
which Scottish companies adopt the critical Enabling
Technologies which will support our key sectors.
These Enabling Technologies are existing or emerging
technologies that can provide competitive advantage
in one or more sectors. They are the transferable
technologies that, either alone or in combination, ‘make
things happen’ in marketplaces, and can facilitate giant
leaps in performance and capabilities. By using them, we’ll
innovate faster, become more agile and reach further into
new marketplaces.
Appointed in January 2009 to formulate an Enabling
Technologies Strategy for Scotland, the members of
this Technology Advisory Group have embarked on this
journey with a real sense of excitement for three reasons:
First, we’re building on a strong foundation. There are
already over 900 Scottish-based Enabling Technology
companies and organisations, including some world
leaders in many key sectors. We have a fine research
capability, an excellent graduate and university base and
a highly innovative research-pooling approach. There is a
powerful and growing partnership between our policymakers, our businesses and our academic communities.
Second, it is widely accepted that investment in research
and development is the key to economic growth. The
Scottish Government Economic Strategy emphasises the
importance of innovation across all sectors. “Increasing the
level of research and development activity and knowledge
transfer, between the research community and industry,
are key drivers of innovative activity, particularly in
science and technology related sectors, helping to boost
productivity and sustainable growth.”
Third, the potential benefits are significant. Research*
shows that the vigour with which we adopt new
technologies is critical if we’re to close the output
‘growth gap’ that has characterised Scotland’s economic
performance against the rest of the UK for more than
three decades. Growing the economic output of the
Government’s key sectors by just one per cent more in the
next ten years, will create over 38,500 new jobs and add
almost £2.8bn to our national earnings.
This report describes the three steps we can take to
enhance our 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 we innovate.
Harvest by systematically exploiting the commercial
benefits of the most promising innovations in global
growth markets.
It’s a strategy, we believe, to transform the way we
do business in Scotland. That’s our vision for industry,
universities and government.
David Lockwood
Chairman
*Source: First Annual Report of
the Scottish Council of Economic Advisers
December 2008
Title bar image: Soldering a radar board
5
ThE TEchnology Advisory group:
OuR TEAM
The Technology Advisory Group (TAG)
is a public and private partnership,
established in January 2009, to develop
a Technology Strategy for Scotland.
Its aim is to maximise the potential of
the “cross-cutting technologies that
support the key sectors,” Food and
Drink, Life Sciences, Financial Services,
Creative Industries, Energy, Tourism and
Universities, as outlined in the Scottish
Government’s Economic Strategy.
DAVID LOCKWOOD (Chairman)
Managing Director of the electro­
optic and night vision equipment
manufacturer, Thales Optronics
Ltd, part of Thales UK. He is a non
executive Director of WFEL Ltd,
the world’s leading military tactical
bridging company, a visiting professor
at Glasgow University and was the
2005 Scottish Entrepreneur of the Year
for Technology.
STEVE BOYLE
Chief Executive of Sutherland
Consulting since 2000 and of Altran
CIS UK since 2002. He has over
25 years’ experience in financial
services including with NatWest and
Deutsche Bank. Sutherland Consulting
specialises in the governance and
control of change programmes.
Professor DAVID GANI
Director of Research Policy and
Strategy at the Scottish Funding
Council since 2002. He leads the effort
to develop higher education research
policies and to promote knowledge
transfer and commercialisation.
ADRIAN GILLESPIE
Appointed Director of Energy and
Low Carbon Technologies for Scottish
Enterprise in August 2009, he also
assumed responsibility for ITI Energy’s
operations from October 2009.
He was previously Director for
SE’s Digital Markets and Enabling
Technologies team.
Professor ANNE GLOVER
Chair of Molecular and Cell Biology
at Aberdeen University and, since
2006, she has been the Scottish
Government’s Chief Scientific
Adviser for Scotland. She has
launched Remedios, a University
spin-out, to commercialise her
biosensor technology.
ALEX PATERSON
Regional Competitiveness Director
for Highlands and Islands Enterprise,
he has a wide remit including
international activities, Innovation
Transport, Learning and Key Growth
Sectors. Alex previously worked in the
private sector and in management
consultancy.
CHRIS LEEBETTER
Previously Director of Programmes
at ITI Techmedia, he continues
the role in SE’s Digital Markets
and Enabling Technologies team
following the integration of ITI into
Scottish Enterprise.
STEPHANE SALLMARD
A private investor, he was for five
years Chief Executive of Optos plc, a
leading medical technology company
for the design, development,
manufacturing and marketing of
retinal imaging devices.
Professor JIM McDONALD
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
of Strathclyde University since
February 2009, he is also Director of
the Glasgow Research Partnership
in Engineering, Chairman of the
Energy Technology Partnership
and a board member of Scottish
Enterprise.
Dr SIAN McGRATH
Head of Commercial Development
of Edinburgh-based Aquamarine
Power, a global marine energy
leader. Before joining the company
in 2005, she led a UN-sponsored
forestry network based in Indonesia.
AILEEN McKECHNIE
Head of Innovation and Industries
Division within the Scottish
Government’s Business, Enterprise
& Energy Directorate. Her remit
covers early stage investment and
innovation, as well as some key
and core sectors of the Scottish
economy. She is also responsible
for progressing the Government’s
approach to achieving the
productivity purpose target and for
our wider approach to key sectors.
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
CHRIS van der KUYL
One of Scotland’s leading
entrepreneurs, he is Chief Executive
Officer of Dundee-based internet
service provider, brightsolid Ltd, and
the founder of computer games
company VIS Interactive.
LAURENCE WARD
A Senior Partner in law firm Dundas
& Wilson, he heads its intellectual
property and information technology
practice. His experience includes
advising on the commercialisation of
the technology behind the cloning
breakthrough with Dolly the Sheep,
various high profile clinical trials, and
the procurement by HPCX of the
world’s sixth largest supercomputer.
Supported by:
GRAEME MCGREGOR
Manufacturing Team Leader
Thales Optronics Ltd
JAN REID
Senior Manager
Enabling Technologies
Scottish Enterprise
EXECuTIvE SuMMARY
Vision
Objectives
The aim of the strategy for Enabling Technologies is
to generate a thriving, innovative Scottish economy,
based on the development of key Enabling Technology
applications, that will lead Scotland into the next stages of
technological advance.
The strategy will be achieved through:
Scotland’s world-leading companies will retain and
increase competitive advantage through targeted
investment in the technologies and applications, based on
opportunities for maximum economic return, represented
by industry demand. This will be supported through
increased use of collaborative support at a national, UK
and international level.
Scotland’s company base will be strengthened across
the key sectors through collaborative projects and
programmes aimed at increasing the adoption and
exploitation of Enabling Technologies.
Scotland will attract increasing high value jobs in research
and development through international company
investment in the capabilities and competencies of our
people.
Plant
Identification of the key Scottish capabilities, matched
against future industry demands, where we need to target
our investments. We will undertake frequent reviews
of Scottish capabilities at university and industry level,
guided by sector and technology road maps, to ensure a
continuing match with changing industry demand and
the development of disruptive technologies. This will be
completed at least every two years and developed at
sector level by market foresighting.
Nurture
Our business and academic strengths in these key
capabilities will be developed by ensuring greater
collaboration across industry and universities. Focused
and targeted support for the adoption of Enabling
Technologies by our companies will ensure they become
more innovative and competitive. We will utilise all
available funding for the most innovative cross-industry
and industry-to-university projects and programmes, to
drive the adoption and development of the Enabling
Technologies and their applications.
We will ensure the environment is developed to support
this adoption and development of Enabling Technologies
to provide competitive advantage for Scotland’s
technology capability.
Harvest
The benefits of Enabling Technologies will be maximised
by supporting, developing and delivering transformational
projects to exploit Scotland’s continuing worldleading excellence, and ensuring that the commercial
opportunities are systematically exploited in global
markets.
Internet blog map – Science Photo Library
7
EXECuTIvE SuMMARY
The case for action
Drivers of change (p12-13)
• CombinedEnablingTechnologies
offer striking transformational
opportunities across apparently
unconnected markets.
• Cross-applicationoftechnologies
generates change across industrial
frontiers.
• ‘Disruptive’technologiesdrive
change in ways that markets don’t expect by being cheaper or designed for entirely new consumers.
• Technologyrespondsto
contemporary social and economic
needs – climate change, energy
and transport are muscular drivers
of change for innovators.
Our strengths (p14-15)
• Morethan900Scottish-based
technology-led companies have
world-class competence and
growth potential.
• Ourfourmostpromising
Enabling Technology Groups
are in Advanced Engineering,
Communications & Networks,
Informatics & Computing, and
Devices & Systems.
• CrossingtheseGroups,wehave
identified three specific areas
where Scotland has global
expertise with potential for
application across a number of key
sectors – in Sensors, Modelling &
Simulation and Informatics.
• Thereisimpressivecalibreanda
growing international reputation
for research in 30 top-rated
university departments and their
successful ‘research pools’.
Our collaborators (p16-17)
• ThisStrategycanbedeliveredonly
by an active partnership of players
in the public sector, the business
community and universities.
• Theuniversitieswillrespondtothe
needs of industries and focus their
technology research on market
needs and opportunities.
• TheGovernmentwillsupportthe
promotion of innovation, and will
aim to address gaps in capabilities
and funding support. Through its
economic development agencies
and others it will bring together
private and public sector players
and monitor progress.
Our opportunities (p18-19)
• Manyrewardsbeckon,including
the opportunity to significantly
increase productivity and to win
more business in international
markets.
• Verysubstantialgrowth
opportunities exist in the key sectors for the Enabling Technologies developed in Scotland.
• Thebusinesscommunitywill
encourage alliances to access and
adopt those technologies offering
potential advantage for their
operations, products and services.
• Interestinlow-carbontechnologies
is also producing growth markets
in carbon capture and storage and
renewable energy generation, in
which Scotland has significant
strengths.
• Increasedcostbenefitratios
• Increasedhighvaluejobs
• Increasedopportunityfor
successful commercialisation
• Attractionof‘newmoney’intothe
Scottish economy
• Developmentofnewintellectual
assets and processes
Long-Term
To help eliminate the ‘growth gap’ in
Scotland’s productivity compared
with the rest of the UK, we will
regularly showcase the technology
and capability of our companies
and research base to both local
and international audiences, to
demonstrate the strategy in action
and stimulate greater participation.
We will support, develop and deliver
transformational projects.
Goals
Short-Term
To increase the Business Enterprise
Research and Development (BERD) in
Scotland by promotion, development
and delivery of innovative
programmes. Focused expenditure
in research and development will
generate significant and short-term
economic benefits including:
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
OuR STRATEGY
Enabling Technologies will
help to close Scotland’s
historic ‘growth gap’ and
win thousands of new
jobs. Scotland has a quite
remarkable potential to
exploit its international
strengths in Enabling
Technologies.
Scotland is now the home to some world-leading
technologies that can – and already do – give our
businesses a significant competitive advantage.
The purpose of this Strategy is to focus policy and
resource to further develop our competitive strength.
We aim to encourage and enable the use of these
technologies across the seven key sectors identified in the
Government’s Scottish Economic Strategy 2007 – Creative
Industries, Energy, Financial Services, Food & Drink, Life
Sciences, Tourism and Universities.
Over the next ten years, we will assist the key sectors
to reverse the trend of Scotland’s historic legacy of
comparative low growth. Since the mid-1970s, economic
output has lagged behind the rest of the UK by 0.5-1.0%.
The wider application of Enabling Technologies, to assist
the key sectors to develop new products and services, has
the potential to be a major contributor to reversing this
trend by driving increased growth.
Based on a 1% per annum change in output, bridging
this ‘growth gap’ would create over 38,500 more jobs in
the industry sectors above. The gross value added of our
production in these sectors would grow by nearly 9% to
more than £33.2bn.
There would be a benefit to Scotland’s industrial economy
as a whole with a proportionate increase in employment
and output value.
Openhydro turbine at EMEC
Title bar image: Communication networks – Science Photo Library
9
OuR STRATEGY
Technology: The Growth Impact.
Eliminating the ‘growth gap’ in Scotland’s productivity performance would boost the wider economy:
Key Sectors*
Total employment
Gross value Added
2006
2016
2006
2016
461,789
505,052
£30.4bn
£33.2bn
*Source: Scottish Economic Strategy Nov 2007 identifies the Priority Sectors as: Creative Industries, Energy, Financial Services, Food & Drink,
Life Sciences, Tourism and Universities. Employment and GVA forecasts researched by PricewaterhouseCoopers
Analysis by the Scottish Council of Economic Advisers**
strongly suggests that the best way to achieve the
economic growth required is through a development
policy dedicated to encouraging a far wider adoption of
new technologies.
Recent research undertaken by Scottish Enterprise
suggests that investment in research and development,
led by industry, is one of its most effective interventions,
generating significant returns in terms of potential
economic impact, contribution to the Business
Expenditure on Research & Development rate and creation
of high value jobs. This makes a considerable contribution
to the ability to attract investment internationally, as well
as having a major impact on the future growth of the key
sectors.
Humanoid robot – Science Photo Library
This Strategy is therefore built around Scotland’s
industrial and university research base, in particular in
the established physical, information, and mathematical
and engineering sciences. The technological capability
has been defined as four Enabling Technology themes
– Advanced Engineering, Communications & Networks,
Devices & Systems and Informatics & Computing. They
comprise some 17 core product and service sub-sectors
and have been selected because they have a strong
business base here, a powerful hinterland of academic
and commercial research, and a demonstrable potential to
thrive in international growth markets.
**Source: First Annual Report of
the Scottish Council of Economic
Advisers, December 2008
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
Analysis was undertaken of the long-term technology
road maps of the key sectors.
Matching Scotland’s technological capability with the
future technology requirements of the key sectors has
highlighted three specific business capabilities which we
think are likely to have most economic impact. These three
business capabilities are in:
• Sensors
• Modelling&Simulation
• Informatics
(see also Our Opportunities p18-19)
In a rapidly changing world, our ability to be agile and to
remain opportunistic will be vital. It is the intention of the
Technology Advisory Group that our analysis and research
will be updated at least every two years to take account of
the changing direction of markets. This will help to target
funding to the areas of greatest return.
Leaders in Key Technologies
Companies & University researchers
Technology
group
**Number of
companies
*World-ranked
research depts.
Advanced
Engineering
427
7
Devices &
Systems
265
9
Communications 272
& Networks
10
Informatics &
Computing
4
170
CASE STUDY
PYREOS
Multi-industry routes to a
£1bn market
Formed two years ago, Pyreos aims
to be a leader in a £1bn global sensor
market by 2013. The Edinburgh firm
develops and produces infra-red
components for a range of applications
including energy saving door & light
sensors, gas and flame sensors for
safety uses, and high resolution line
sensors for analytical equipment.
Located at the Incubation Facility
at Scottish Microelectronics Centre,
Pyreos recently won £8m of orders for
components in commercial products,
and theres’ worldwide interest in its
mid infra-red products for use in the
security, medical and petrochemical
industries. These developments
helped Pyreos to secure a further
£1m in public and private investment
from backers, including Braveheart
and Siemens, to drive towards global
commercialisation.
*Source: 2008 Government-sponsored Research Assessment Exercise on the
research quality of all UK Universities.
**Source: Scottish Enterprise Enabling Technologies Company Sourcebook
Jeff Wright – CEO, Pyreos
Title bar image: Industrial laser cutting, close-up
11
drivErs of chAngE:
PLANT
Technology holds pole position in our race for economic advance.
More people now appreciate its exciting power for change
Technology is our main growth driver. It’s not just for commercial
leaders and academic researchers. It is everybody’s business.
Enabling Technologies can reach out across the key
sectors and plant innovations that can drive economic
growth.
That’s why Enabling Technologies are of such central
importance to the development of Scotland’s economy.
The Government’s Economic Strategy 2007 points out
that most gains “are likely to come from raising capital
productivity and from making businesses organise
production, and run their affairs, more effectively”. There
are three main ways this can happen.
Combined innovations: Combining the use of worldleading technologies in new ways can be transformational.
In the market for sensors, for example, this offers some
striking avenues for near-term advance in healthcare,
where remote health is recognised as a new and
emerging market. Combining our existing technology
strengths could put Scotland at the forefront of this new
market area.
It’s possible for optical, chemical and biological
components to be integrated with electronic logic and
memory components on the same chip at marginal
cost. This means that drug discovery, genetic research,
chemical assays and chemical synthesis are all likely to be
substantially improved. And the market for this medical
technology is huge: it’s currently estimated to be about
$11.5bn with anticipated cumulative annual growth rates
of over 18%.
Cross-applications: Another platform for change is
offered by applying Enabling Technologies across several
industrial frontiers. Modelling and simulation, for instance,
can test the best approaches to the production process
of any sector – in design, manufacturing, construction,
operation, maintenance, dismantling and recycling.
As a component of overall business planning and
operations, it’s sometimes difficult to isolate the resources
devoted to modelling and simulation. However it was
estimated in 2004 that process industries in Europe alone
invested €300m in modelling and simulation, and that
global cost savings and other efficiencies could amount to
some €40bn.
‘Disruptive’ change: Enabling Technologies can also
create a ‘disruptive’ change in a marketplace – that’s to say,
an improvement to a product or service in ways that the
market does not expect, by being significantly cheaper
or creating a new market by addressing the needs of an
entirely new group of consumers.
For example, in the area of sensors, photonic devices
using optical signals can be used to manipulate signals
with very high bandwidth (high information content) and
so provide many operational benefits across a variety of
sectors. This has impacted on entertainment, information
and commerce and has been ‘disruptive’. The UK photonics
market is currently worth more than £20bn, and the world
market is estimated to grow to about £500bn by 2015.
We need to create the right climate for identifying the
potential for using our Enabling Technologies to generate
‘disruptive’ change in existing markets.
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
Technology also responds to contemporary social and
economic needs. Nowhere is this clearer than in the
challenge posed by climate change and the need to
transform our energy and transport infrastructures.
Identifying key Scottish capabilities, matched against
future industry demands, will enable investments to
be targeted on Enabling Technologies which offer the
greatest potential to be disruptive or transformational
across sectors. Informed by market foresighting, Scottish
capabilities at university and industry level need to be
regularly reviewed to ensure a continuing match with
changing industry demand and the development of
disruptive technologies.
And there’s a wider benefit for our community as a whole.
We believe that greater understanding of technology, and
its importance across all key sectors, will promote a much
greater popular appreciation of technology’s positive and
exciting power for change. Our hope is that technology’s
importance to our future – particularly for our young
people – comes to be celebrated as the very heartbeat of
our economy.
Technology depends on the graduates from our
universities. The skills base of Scotland is our unique
advantage. To ensure our long term economic prosperity,
promotion of Enabling Technologies to future graduates
will foster a new generation of science and engineering
talent, ready to be entrepreneurs or to strengthen our
established businesses.
CASE STUDY
L&S Fluids Ltd
Disruption can be good for your
sector
Production processes include moving
parts, notably chains, which need
lubrication. In industrial ovens this can
cause a problem when conventional
lubricants may contaminate food and,
at high temperatures and volumes,
tend to leave unwanted deposits of
carbon or varnishes on chain and track
surfaces.
L&S Fluids - based in Dumfries, has
developed a food-grade lubricant
that overcomes these problems.
The product, Dri-Coat Ultra WR220
or DCU, can operate at up to 2,200
degrees centigrade, leaves no deposits
whatsoever and it out-performs and
outlasts its rivals in criteria like coefficient friction and load-carrying
capabilities.
Technology is not just for our commercial leaders and
academic researchers. It is everybody’s business.
Steven Reid – MD, L&S Fluids Ltd
Title bar image: Database structure planning
13
our sTrEngThs:
NuRTuRE
This Strategy is built around a Scottish community of
over 900 organisations that have one or more of the core
characteristics we consider to be essential for success:
• aworldclasstechnologycompetence
• aworldclassindustrialandacademiccapability
• aworld-classpotentialtobeattheforefrontofa
‘disruptive’ technology
Our research highlighted the potential in technological
areas of Advanced Engineering, Communications &
Networks, Informatics & Computing, and Devices &
Systems.
There is now a baseline of these technologies in which
Scotland has a strong capability with the potential to exert
a progressive influence and generate a positive impact
throughout key sectors of the economy.
Scotland has striking
strengths in existing and
Enabling Technologies,
each capable of providing
significant growth impetus.
There is an impressive calibre
and growing reputation in
the research and development
behind our key technologies.
Microelectromechanical device – Science Photo Library
It is clear from the responses to our wide-ranging
consultations that significant benefit is likely to be
obtained by focusing on these Enabling Technologies: this
is where Scotland has a real competitive advantage that
can be exploited through collaborative developments.
In mapping Scotland’s competencies, we also identified
striking strengths in some specific existing and emerging
technology areas. All have the potential to generate
significant growth impetus across Scotland’s key sectors
(see also p9 Our Strategy).
World leading competitive advantage can be provided
through the wider adoption of Sensors, Modelling &
Simulation and Informatics.
Other technologies were also identified as specific
strengths in Scotland, with the capability for further
development:
Short and medium term benefit would be derived
through the greater deployment of intelligent systems
and wireless communication.
Longer term competitive advantage capabilities exist
in advanced robotics, embedded adaptive systems, micro
systems and nano-technology.
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
The environment needs to continue to be developed to support
these strengths, driving the adoption and development of
Enabling Technologies to provide competitive advantage for
Scotland’s technology capability.
In addition, there are now 30 university departments top-rated
for their research and eleven of Scotland’s fourteen universities
participate in successful ‘research pools’ (several in more than
one). They aim for stronger collaboration, between each other
and with industry, in their drive to create a critical-mass of
research activity. We must build on the demonstrable benefits
of research pooling by creating extensive collaborative research
and development with companies in Scotland.
These developments – with the typical aims of “attracting
the research stars” and “creating a target for major funding
agencies worldwide” – bolster what is already a remarkably
strong academic research base: with 9% of the UK’s population,
Scotland already attracts 12% of research funding. These are big
bricks which represent a very strong foundation on which
to build.
Research Pool
Participants Investment
Physics
Scottish Universities Physics
Alliance
Dumfries-based DuPont Teijin Films
(DTF) applies itself in the highly
innovative and ever-changing market
for polyester films technology. Two
of its brands, Mylar and Melinex, are
industry leaders and known world­
wide. They are used in industrial,
packaging, imaging, printing, technical
and consumer products.
One of its pioneering products is a light
blocking film that has revolutionised
the way images are prepared for
displays. This was recognised nationally
when the company was granted
the Queens’ Award for Enterprise:
Innovation in 2008.
6
£24m
7
Engineering
£154m
Glasgow Research Partnership
4
Edinburgh Research Partnership
in Engineering
2
Northern Research Partnership
3
Informatics
Scottish Informatics and
Computer Science Alliance
A light-blocker to
revolutionise imaging
£14m
Chemicals
ScotCHEM
CASE STUDY
DuPONT TEIJIN FILMS
£29m
Dr Moray MacKenzie – Technical & Engineering Manager
11
Life Sciences
£77m
Scottish Universities Life Sciences 6
Alliance
Source: Scottish Funding Council
Title bar image: Network hub
15
our collAborATors:
NuRTuRE
We will achieve our goals
only with an active
partnership of players in
the public sector, business
and the academic world.
This is not a Strategy for a single organisation. It can only
be delivered by an active partnership of players in the
business community, academic world and the public
sector. To ensure that Scotland fully realises the growth
potential, we envisage a future where:
The business community will encourage alliances to
access, adopt and develop those technologies offering
greatest potential advantage for their operations, products
and services. The business community is critical in
exploiting new markets and in securing transformational
productivity gains across our economy. Alliances can
support this and drive greater benefits through supply
chains and complementary product development based
on Enabling Technologies. The Industry Advisory Groups
and Industry Trade Associations have a key role to play in
stimulating and encouraging these alliances.
The GlobalScot network can play a critical role in
bringing an international perspective to companies and
alliances. This network will provide ongoing support to
the Strategy, ensuring support to its aims and valuable
insight to global market and technology trends.
The universities, together with the Scottish Funding
Council will respond to the needs of industries and
focus their technology research on market needs and
opportunities. They already have a high reputation for
much of their research activity. Their close collaboration
with each other, and with business, is increasingly
needed to maximise existing and emerging commercial
opportunities.
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
The Government will support the promotion of
innovation with appropriate cross-linkages at policy level
with science and innovation. Its investments will aim
to address gaps in capabilities and funding support to
drive new products and processes capable of securing
economic advantage.
To deliver the change required by this strategy, key
partnerships will be created. All agencies across Scotland
will contribute to this dynamic programme. And
outside Scotland, we will seek to create more intensive
collaboration with other agencies. The Technology
Strategy Board, for example, is a key partner. As the
innovation agency for the UK as a whole, the Board
provides the business community with an important
doorway to UK and European research and development
collaborative funding. Its stated aim is “to make the UK a
global leader in innovation”.
The active partnership and alliance of players needs
to utilise all available funding for the most innovative
cross-industry and industry-to-university projects
and programmes. Support needs to be focused and
targeted on the development and adoption of Enabling
Technologies by our companies, ensuring they become
more innovative and competitive.
CASE STUDY
AMOR GROUP
Technology wins across
several sectors
Amor Group is a leading provider
of business technology solutions to
energy, transport and public sectors.
The Group was formed in May 2009 to
bring together the Scottish companies
Pragma and Real Time.
With a heritage of more than 20 years
in IT, Amor has acquired an in-depth
knowledge of its business markets and
technology challenges. It combines
this with a diverse range of specialist
technical skills and continuous
innovation. It has an impressive track
record in adding real value for its
customers with successful project
delivery. This is achieved by providing
an end-to-end service through
intelligent and strategic application of
business technology services.
John Innes – CEO, Amor Group
Aircraft manufacture – Science Photo Library
Title bar image: Market analysis, close-up on LCD screen
17
our opporTuniTiEs:
HARvEST
Many rewards beckon: the
opportunity to match – then
exceed – the UK growth rate;
the chance to grow our
companies and enhance our
academic base.
Technology is a vital growth
generator. It opens the
door to more sales, higher
employment and greater
profitability.
The final focus of our Strategy is to make sure that
Scotland reaps the full benefits of Enabling Technologies
more widely. This is a harvest of opportunity which will
demonstrate to the world that, across growing industries
– renewable energy, healthcare provision, and intelligent
transport to name just three – Scotland not only has the
technological excellence for this challenging century,
but also the ability to deliver transformational projects to
ensure that the commercial benefits are systematically
exploited in global markets.
The rewards beckon. One is all about productivity: the
opportunity to significantly increase performance. Another
is all about ambition: the opportunity to win more
business in existing and new markets.
Technology is a vital growth generator: it stimulates
innovation, streamlines business practice, enhances
productivity, cuts costs and improves products and
services. It opens the door to more sales, higher
employment and greater profitability.
Applying bioinformatics, for instance, is expected to
reduce the annual cost of developing a new drug by
33%, and the time for drug discovery by 30%. And
there’s dynamism in combining technologies (see also
Drivers of change p12-13). The convergence of artificial
intelligence, wireless sensor networks and microsystems,
it’s predicted, will produce a new family of intelligent
wireless microsystems (IWM), with revenue streams of
about $1.3bn by 2013.
Ultra-high vacuum atomic force microscope – Science Photo Library
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
Three critical relationships drive the development of these
technology-based opportunities:
Final market demand is stimulated by factors like
regulations, competition and unmet needs, for example
(in drug discovery), new diseases or enhanced treatments
for known diseases.
Price and scarcity generate needs for technologies to
support more efficient, timely and less costly production
of existing products or the development of new ones.
Intellectual infrastructure is the final ingredient –
the quality and scope of research and development
capabilities, among technology providers and universities,
to meet market needs.
One obvious market need now pulling at our innovators
is the environment. Interest in low-carbon technologies,
for example, is producing growth markets in carbon
capture and storage (50,000 power stations worldwide
at €500m-€1bn each). Scotland is a technology leader in
renewable energy generated by tides and wind.
Understanding the potential size of these opportunities
is vital if we are to monitor our performance against
this strategy: we need those yardsticks to measure
the practical impacts – in investment, skills provision
and productivity – of adapting each of these Enabling
Technologies more widely across our business economy.
CASE STUDY
MOBILE ACUITY
Mobile technology excites new
audiences
Interactive mobile phone technology
is booming and Edinburgh-based
Mobile Acuity has placed itself at the
forefront. Brand-leaders like Disney,
Pepsi, Vodafone and the BBC, as well
as advertising agencies, are now
exploiting the marketing potential
of these cutting-edge technologies
in their marketing and advertising
campaigns.
The company ’s award winning Visual
InteractivityTM technology enables
brands to reach audiences in new
and exciting ways through interactive
mobile campaigns. Online and high
street stores can use the company ’s
visual search technology to create
helpful mobile applications that use
the camera to identify products.
Global Technology Markets
Assessment of the global size and growth potential of
some major sub-sectors covered by Scotland’s selected
Key Enabling Technologies:
Enabling
Capabilities
Estimated size
Forecast growth
Sensors
$61.4bn
+18% per year
Modelling &
Simulation
$1bn
+25% per year
Informatics
$3,164bn
+5.3% per year
Dr Anthony Ashbrook – CEO, Mobile Acuity
Sources: PWC Enabling Technology Report, 2009 and EITO 2007
Title bar image: 3-D digitising rig for virtual reality games – Science Photo Library
19
pAThwAys To chAngE:
NEXT STEPS
Our ambition is to transform our national productivity
through the greater use of Enabling Technologies. The
phases of this Strategy – Plant, Nurture and Harvest – will
reinforce the dynamic three-way partnership between
our business community, our university researchers, and
government and key public sector agencies.
We recommend this nine-step Implementation Plan:
1. Enabling Technology Focus: Our research has
matched Scotland’s technology priorities with roadmaps
for our key sectors, highlighting the potential for the
three most promising Enabling Technologies of Sensors,
Modelling & Simulation and Informatics in Scotland. The
TAG recognises that the areas for exploitation may change
and frequent review of the technology environment will
be required.
2. Market Foresighting: Focussed on the core
requirements for Scotland’s growing technology sectors,
market foresighting will be used to identify unmet market
needs, and new and emerging opportunities, initially from
the three most promising Enabling Technologies, where
these technologies can provide significant competitive
advantage.
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
3. Industry Adoption: Stimulated by the market
foresighting and targeted public sector support, the
business community will increase the adoption of
Enabling Technologies, for example through initiating
industry-led R&D. This will be further enhanced by
creation of new business relationships in supply chains
and complementary product offerings based on Enabling
Technologies.
4. Targeted Investment: Public sector investment,
through increased use of more intensive collaboration,
will be increased with agencies outside Scotland to access
UK and European collaborative funding. R&D in Enabling
Technologies will be targeted at those technologies and
applications that provide the greatest economic return,
with the aim of making Scotland the place of choice for
investment in these Enabling Technologies, from whatever
source. International networks will be used to increase
the potential for job creation through inward investment,
and we will seek to increase venture capital for new and
ambitious companies developing Enabling Technologies.
5. Demonstration Projects: Large-scale innovative
projects will be developed to demonstrate
Scotland’s advanced technology to the world. These
transformational projects will be carefully designed to
support Scotland’s economy through the development,
adoption and implementation of new, emerging and
disruptive technologies.
6. Support Projects: Integrated projects will be
developed to provide a cohesive support framework
for company growth. These will concentrate on skills
provision, physical projects and business support. They
will aim to provide the environment Scotland needs to
enhance its competitive position as an excellent location
for advanced technology-based companies.
7. University Focus: Responding to needs of industry,
universities and the Scottish Funding Council will
focus technical research on market needs and the
applications of Enabling Technologies. Understanding of
these needs will be developed through collaborations
and partnerships with the business community. The
universities will continue to play a critical role in pushing
the boundaries of technology and opening up future
avenues for technology exploitation.
8. Network Reinforcement: Targeted activity across
all Scotland’s industry, university, public sector groups
and wider international networks, such as GlobalScot,
will be encouraged, stimulating wider communication
and greater sharing of skills and knowledge. This will
focus on raising the game of all Scotland’s companies,
driving innovation and increasing skills, enabling
greater understanding, use and exploitation of Enabling
Technologies.
9. Policy: To achieve the actions above, a policy
framework is required to support and underpin these
actions. The Government will focus policy and resources
to further develop the competitive strengths of our
businesses and universities, to enable and encourage the
wider adoption of Enabling Technologies, and to support
the promotion of innovation and investment to address
gaps in capabilities and funding support.
Over the next 12-18 months,
we will widen the many routes
to the transformational
change we seek in Scotland.
Specific Scottish events will be used to provide a focus for
the plan, and to promote and showcase activities:
Technology Showcase: A Scottish Technology
Showcase will be held on May 26th, 2010 in Glasgow.
It will give companies and universities a platform to
promote Scotland’s technological excellence to a global
audience and to generate and cross-fertilise new ideas.
The Showcase will be launched by Scottish Enterprise
in partnership with the Technology Strategy Board,
Highlands & Islands Enterprise and the university Research
Pools of Scotland.
Event Partnerships: We will seek to partner with
teams managing world showcase events, such as the
Commonwealth Games 2014 and the Ryder Cup 2014.
This will create overt opportunities to demonstrate the
practical deployment of our Enabling Technologies, their
cross-over uses and their potential further applications.
The Technology Advisory Group is committed to ensuring
that the necessary steps are taken in the implementation
of this Strategy, driving the provision of the financial and
physical resources to maximise the benefit of Enabling
Technologies for the Scottish economy. It will continue
in its role, ensuring the strategy is successfully fulfilled,
reviewed and revised in response to market and industry
needs.
This will not only add focus and purpose to ensure that
Enabling Technologies provide competitive advantage in
our key sectors, it will also show the world that Scotland
remains a nation capable of great innovation and strong
technological development.
Title bar image: Microelectromechanical device – Science Photo Library
21
The Enabling Process
Developing the seeds
Growing the opportunities
Reaping the rewards
Plant
Nurture
Harvest
Candidates
Experts
Scouting
Validating
Arrange
Funding and
Resources
Approve the
Selections
Marketing
Communicating
Monitoring and
Controlling
Projects
Global
Benchmarking
Marketing
Goals
Selecting
Communicating
Universities
Initiate
Projects
Industry
Govern
Investments
Government
Promoting
Successes
Realising
Attracting
Benefit
Candidates
Investment
Experts
Global
Goals
Call for
Projects
The Pathway
Work-streams
Framework
Governance
Network Reinforcement
Plant
Enabling Technology Focus
Market Foresighting
Scouting
Scouting
Scouting
Validating
Validating
Validating
Nurture
Targeted Investment
Support Projects
University Focus
£
£
Resourcing
£
£
£
Resourcing
Collaborating
Harvest
Industry Adoption
Demonstration Projects
Technology Advisory Group Enabling Technologies Strategy for Scotland
Realising
Realising
Delivering
Delivering
Delivering
GLOSSARY
Advanced Engineering Specific capabilities
included in Advance Engineering are
contained within five subheadings which
are: Materials Shaping and Forming;
Engineering and Design Services; Materials
Development including Composites and
Nanotechnology; Industrial Equipment and
Machinery; and Production and Processes
Cluster Grouping of companies and
organisations, drawn from a broad range of
disciplines, which demonstrate capability
and ability, when working collectively, to
take advantage of market opportunities.
Communications & Networks Specific
capabilities included in Communications
& Networks are contained within five
subheadings which are fixed: Wireless
& Mobile; Next Generation Networks;
Protocols & Security; Network Management
& Administration; and Location Specific
Services.
Competencies Infrastructure, skills,
competitive national and international
market position and size of company base.
Cross-sector Applicable to a number of
sectors.
Devices & Systems The Devices & Systems
sector is defined by four sub-theme areas:
Devices; Sensor-based Products & Systems;
System Integration; and Design of Devices
& Systems.
Disruptive Technology Technology that
has the ability to alter a product or service
so significantly it can disrupt an existing
supply chain to create opportunities for new
suppliers, even in established industries,
or create a new supply chain to service
customer demand.
Embedded Adaptive Systems Software
driven systems that adapt their operation
dependant on a predetermined range of
inputs.
Emerging Technologies Technologies that
are at an early stage of development or
understanding, showing the potential to
deliver disruptive change.
Enabling Technologies Technologies that
can be applied across one or more sectors.
Enabling Process The enabling process
describes the approach from Plant – Nurture
– Harvest and the application outlined
throughout the document.
Foresighting A process to develop a view of
the future and (in this case) the technologies
that could be required.
GDP Gross Domestic Product
High Value Manufacturing The
manufacturing of (usually complex) parts
which have a high selling price.
Informatics & Computing The Informatics
& Computing sector is defined by three
sub-theme areas: Computing Systems;
Embedded Computing; and Modelling &
Simulation
Key Sector Industry Advisory Groups
Groups of industry and university
representatives brought together to advise
and develop strategies to support the
development of the Key Sectors.
Key Sectors The Scottish Government’s 7
Key Sectors: Creative Industries; Financial
Services; Food & Drink; Tourism; Energy; Life
Sciences; and Universities.
Open Innovation Enhancement and
sustenance of research and development
activity involving industry, research
infrastructure and academia, in a seamless
three-way collaboration.
Pathway The pathway diagram illustrates
how the activities identified in the Next
Steps section of the document will be
implemented. It also maps the Next Steps
onto the stages of the Enabling Process
Pooling Bringing together of a number of
research groups from different universities
and departments to increase research
strength and capability.
Research Pools Funded by the Scottish
Funding Council these are specific
groupings of researchers, departments and
universities. Examples are SICSA – Scottish
Informatics & Computer Science Alliance,
SRPe – Scottish Research Partnership in
Engineering.
Road Map A map of technology
innovations required to achieve specific
market opportunities or overcome
challenges.
Scottish Funding Council The body, funded
by the Scottish Government, which is
responsible for funding Scottish Universities
and Colleges.
Industry Advisory Groups Groups of
industry and university representatives
brought together to advise and develop
strategies to support the development of
the Key Sector Industries.
Transformational Projects Projects
that have the potential to make a
disproportionate impact on the success of
an industry or sector, relative to the current
size or expenditure required to achieve the
change.
Research Assessment Exercise Conducted
by the University funding organisations
of Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales,
to produce quality profiles for each
submission of research activity made by
institutions.
Government’s Science Strategy Identifies
what the Scottish Government will do - in
partnership - to support and build on a
world-class science community, and to
use that strength innovatively to support
growth in businesses in Scotland.
Technology Demonstrators Technology
Demonstrators provide a platform to
demonstrate the technologies that could
be used to solve particular challenges or
opportunities. They are widely used as
a proof of concept for new or advanced
systems or equipment.
Transformational Change Change
brought about by implementing
projects that have the potential to have a
disproportionate impact on the success of
an industry or sector, relative to the current
size or expenditure.
Technology Strategy Board A UK agency
tasked to stimulate technology-enabled
innovation in the areas which offer the
greatest scope for boosting UK growth and
productivity.
23
Scottish Enterprise
Atrium Court
50 Waterloo Street
Glasgow G2 6HQ
T: 0141 248 2700
E: tag@scotent.co.uk
www.scottish-enterprise.com/enabling-technologies