01 October 2009
Update of the Scottish Economic Recovery Plan (Scottish Government)

Boosting our innovation performance

Improving Scotland's innovation performance will be central to improvements in productivity and our long-term economic performance. The Government and its agencies provide a variety of support mechanisms, from the financial and advisory support for innovation provided by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, to the innovation vouchers provided by the Scottish Funding Council to meet up to 50% of the costs of new collaborations between universities and Scottish SMEs.

The Scottish Government has published a framework for innovation, Innovation for Scotland,18 which highlights how Government and its agencies can support business and help stimulate innovation. The framework aims to ensure that innovation is integral to business thinking and planning.

The early success of the first phase of the Scottish Funding Council's innovation voucher scheme launched in February 2009 has resulted in the second round of funding being increased and extended to include colleges. Each of Scotland's 20 universities can now apply for funding in the form of a voucher of up to £15,000, and up to £3,500 for each of the 43 Scottish colleges. Universities and colleges can use the funding to offset costs for a broad range of activities to support SMEs in the development of new products and processes, new services, improving production processes and experimental testing and measuring.

Interface is the central point of access for business to Scotland's universities and research institutes. It has reported a 22% rise in the number of enquiries from firms seeking help. The number of projects launched in the past year is also up 36% on the previous academic year.

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