REVIEW: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
34 INSIDER March 2020 http://www.insider.co.uk
biotech together employ more than
39,000 people and are on track to
reach a turnover of £8bn by 2025.
But there are ambitions for the
sector to grow much further in the
years ahead with a push for Scotland
to become a European or global
leader in a number of key areas.
In the space sector, where nearly
a fifth of all UK jobs are based in
Scotland in about 130 organisations,
the Scottish Government has
signalled its intent to be at the heart
of the European space race with plans
to introduce at least one spaceport by
the early 2020s.
A nationwide strategy has been
launched to drive the use of artificial
intelligence to improve the wellbeing
of Scotland’s people, as well as
unlocking a potential £13bn in
additional economic output.
A £661m plan to harness the
potential of data to drive innovation
and deliver a productivity windfall
worth as much as £20bn to the
Scottish economy is also under way.
Led by the University of Edinburgh
and Heriot-Watt University, it
aims to establish the capital as
Europe’s leading data centre, boost
the contribution of research to
the economy, meet the need for
graduates in high-demand areas and
launch more spinout companies.
In the rapidly growing area of
industrial biotechnology – where
innovations are replacing existing
pharmaceuticals, chemicals and
fuels with sustainable alternatives – a
plan aims to grow the sector to 200
companies and a £900m turnover
by 2025.
Although there are opportunities
for the Scottish science and
technology sector to grow
significantly as the fourth industrial
revolution gathers pace, there are
concerns across the sector over the
potential impact of Brexit.
While the UK has formally
withdrawn from the EU, there is still
much to be determined including
details around areas such as Europe-
wide research programmes.
Shaun Millican, head of
technology and life sciences
for Johnston Carmichael, says
further uncertainties in relation to
EU-funded grants will come into
sharper focus in 2020. “The current
guarantees are that if a deal is secured
with the EU, then UK businesses will
be able to continue to participate in
EU programmes until their closure.
“Under a no deal, the UK
government has said it will guarantee
funding on a similar basis. As we
progress through 2020, there will be
increasing uncertainty about what
funding may be available unless
the government moves quickly to
announce alternative measures.”
CENSIS’S Winstanley says being
a member of the EU has taught
Scotland valuable lessons about
research collaboration and delivering
large programmes through Europe-
wide frameworks and initiatives such
as Horizon 2020.
“Those are lessons we will need totake into the post-Brexit world. While
we expect many of the relationships
to continue in one form or another,
there’s an element of reading the tea
leaves. We are, however, picking up
signs of pragmatism for the future;
even if relationships exist on slightly
different terms.
“The bigger challenge will be
creating new opportunities for
collaborative research. We can still
address significant issues in Scotland,
across the UK and beyond, through
collaboration – the question is how
we can catalyse larger partnerships.
“We have shared challenges and
tackling them should be approached
as a joint endeavour. A critical part of
that will be maintaining and building
new bridges between academia, the
public sector and industry.”
Scottish universities support
around 20,000 businesses to develop
and commercialise innovation
and a recent survey found 93
per cent of businesses have links
with universities. There is already
much focus on building stronger
relationships between businesses
and academia to drive economic
growth with the Scottish Council
Development and Industry (SCDI)We have seen a growing number
of collaborations and these have
secured higher value funding in recent
years thanks to initiatives such as
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
Siobhan Jordan, Interface (below)