It’s World Intellectual Property (IP) Day – a good reason to celebrate Scotland’s amazing history of invention, innovation and long-standing track record of coming up with fresh ways to improve everyday processes.
Although we rarely need an excuse to celebrate our nation’s incredible achievements, it is a good opportunity to highlight the important part which IP plays in business-academic collaborations.
The theme of this year’s World Intellectual Property Day is Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity.
As the World Intellectual Property Organization states:
“The important and inspiring contributions of countless women around the globe are powering change in our world. Their “can do” attitude is an inspiration to us all. And their remarkable achievements are an invaluable legacy for young girls today with aspirations to become the inventors and creators of tomorrow.”
Interface has supported hundreds of women in business as they create new products, processes and services; entrepreneurs like Alison Grieve, whose mission is to change the way we hold things, or the school pupils behind Envirocache, a unique health app designed to encourage young people to walk outdoors and get closer to nature.
We also aim to support academics at all stages of their careers, matching them with business partners who will bring out the best in their research and academic expertise – women like Dr Jane Ali-Knight, Professor Lee Innes, Claire Bereziat, Professor Claire Seaman and Professor Rachel Norman, to name a few.
Businesses often ask us about legal and contractual issues including intellectual property, and how they can protect their ideas when entering collaborations with academia.
Whilst we can’t advise on individual contracts, Interface, working with Universities Scotland, (which represents all 19 universities in Scotland) has produced a suite of standard legal templates including confidentiality agreements which are downloadable and free to use.
We also have information on different options for intellectual property agreements. Find one to suit your business and use it as a basis for discussions with your university partner before the collaborative project gets underway. That way, all partners will be clear on who owns the foreground intellectual property generated from a project, as well as background intellectual property brought to the table.
We have included case studies which showcase some of the great projects, products and collaborations that we have helped to support.
Intellectual Property is important and, with some initial consideration and conversations, will help to strengthen business-academic collaborations. You could say, powering change for good – join us at #worldipday
One dreich day years ago I was confronted by Duane Hanson’s Tourism sculpture in Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art. Hanson was interested in the banality of consumer society. He cast models of figures in ordinary mundane situations, in this case a couple with sunglasses and cameras gazing upwards at some unidentified spectacle with glaikit expressions.
On one hand I agree with Hanson’s point. Travel, for business and leisure, is common place in our society. On the other hand, tourism is a totally remarkable phenomenon – bringing people out of their normal routines, in contact with different places, diverse people, and new experiences. This combination of leisure time and consumer choice benefits tourists themselves and supports businesses of all sizes.
Not only is tourism a well-established and exceedingly important part of the Scottish economy, it directly employs about 8% of our workforce. As the Scottish Tourism Alliance say, tourism is everyone’s business, and everyone in Scotland is an ambassador.* There are many cantie people involved in making a stoater of a holiday.
Consider a visitor journey, they are thinking about where to go, they book, they travel, they experience, they blether about what they did and how they felt. As far as the tourist is concerned, the product is a complete package; encompassing everything from the time they leave home to the time they return. And all experiences are unique to an individual, a culmination not only of products and services they purchase, but also their expectations and emotional responses to something intangible.
Tourism can be defined in terms of demand, which is volatile, and subject to long-term social and economic changes like an ageing population, or shorter-term changes with visas being easier to obtain, favourable exchange rates or destinations becoming unappealing after terrorist events or natural disasters.
Tourism displays high interdependency with other sectors of our economy through its intermediaries and supply chains. This means that developments in other overlapping and separate sectors like transport, food and drink, energy and communications, have a knock-on-effect for tourism and its customers. I’ve heard the analogy that tourism is like a sponge, soaking up innovations. I would add that after soaking up these innovations, our tourism sector adds its own bespoke mix of bubble bath, gets the water just the right temperature and immerses you until your toes go crinkly.
Given the complexity, the Scottish Tourism Alliance Big 5 Questions campaign signposts tourism to the tools and resources available to embed innovative activities through public funded initiatives. Interface is uniquely placed to create a sweet spot for the Scottish Tourism Industry to achieve its ambitions for Tourism 2020. First, individual businesses wanting to be ahead of the curve. Second, groups with ambition to develop and deliver ideas for innovative new products and services. Third, gaps in expertise which are best filled by Scottish academic institutions.
Scottish universities think locally, nationally and internationally. They draw inspiration and work with partners from all over the globe. Through Interface’s free service, canny tourism businesses are accessing this braw bounty.
As an impartial broker, Interface works with individual businesses, forms groups with common challenges and ideas, organises events and learning journeys, sources the best knowledge and expertise and advises on funding sources. In discussions with universities, research institutes and colleges, we also invest time in exploring the application of new research and knowledge to enhance the tourism sector’s back and front of house.
For example, Blockchain is subject to much discussion, but pioneering research and development is taking place on our doorstep. Some applications of Blockchain are for payments, cryptocurrencies, digital assets, tax, compliance and record management. The predicted intermediary reduction could be highly disruptive to industries providing services, but could provide those currently relying on them with another option bringing time and cost savings. With help from Interface, it’s over to our best brains in the industry and universities to commercialise new products which place Scottish-based travel technology businesses at the forefront.
The Scottish tourism industry is making great efforts to improve Scotland’s inclusive tourism offer. VisitScotland and destination organisations have promoted access audits, staff training and emphasise not only the social good these initiatives produce, but how consumer appreciation and loyalty bring financial benefits to businesses. To complement this awareness raising and recognition of efforts of the industry, there is still much need for innovation and opportunity for entrepreneurship. Interface is here to harness academic expertise. We have already sourced facilities to adapt and test sports equipment for amputees, engineering students to improve wheelchair accessible vehicles, collaborative research into the needs of individuals with sensory impairments, and effective signage for people with dementia. However, there are many more opportunities to connect universal design, adaptive and assistive technologies and digital technology expertise found within universities and colleges with our tourism sector.
So overall, I’d like to end with a couple of wishes for the tourism industry and the academic sector. Please keep an open mind towards new ideas and new collaborations in true #ScotSpirit. Let’s work together to better understand our growth markets, provide authentic experiences and improve the customer journey. We all have a lot to offer so that Scotland is never mundane in the tourists’ gaze.
* http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Business-Industry/Tourism
Professor Andrea Nolan has been appointed Chair of Interface Strategic Board, taking over from Professor Sir Pete Downes.
University Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh Napier University and Convener of Universities Scotland, Professor Nolan is a strong champion of business-academic collaborations.
Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director of Interface, welcomed the appointment, which comes as the organisation looks to strengthen its Strategic Board with a call for new members.
Dr Jordan said:
“Professor Nolan brings a wealth of experience which will greatly help Interface in its quest to enable more business-academic collaborations. I look forward to working with her and the other members of the board in bringing the strategic vision and our developing plans to reality. We were very fortunate to have Professor Pete Downes as chair of the board for five years leading us to grow and adapt in an ever changing political and social environment and I would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his tremendous input.
Working with Professor Nolan, we can draw on her experiences so we can continue to add value to the economy and society fulfilling our ambitions to have a catalytic influence on the Scottish Government’s vision as a “nation with ambition”, with Scotland designing and making the products of the future, boosting the economy and creating jobs.”
Professor Nolan said:
“I look forward to my term of office as the new Chair of Interface Strategic Board. The Interface team working alongside universities, research institutes and colleges are key to ensuring that the sectors continue to make an ongoing contribution to Scotland’s economic success. I am passionate about building closer relationships between businesses and universities and the potential impact that these partnerships have on business, third sector and people across the world.”
Interface is also calling for up to four new members to join its Strategic Board. The Interface Strategic Board is formed of representatives from industry, partner university and research institutes, funders of knowledge exchange, and other relevant organisations that support business – academic engagement.
Dr Jordan added:
“We are seeking up to four new volunteer Board members who have a passion for innovation and collaboration between businesses and higher and further education to enable even greater economic and social impact.”
To apply for a board member postition please go to: http://interface-online.org.uk/about-us/vacancies
More information on Professor Andrea Nolan can be found here.
“Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up” – so said the US writer, Oliver Wendell Holmes.
This is very true of the environment in which Interface operates, matching business to universities, research institutes and colleges to create innovative products, services and processes.
We have seen the results of this “meetings of minds” approach many times, where the commercial partner has a challenge which presents a new research topic or application of a technology or opportunity to trial a university specialist facility in a new way. There is often a “one team” approach in the collaborations we have been involved in, where ideas spark and the beginnings of highly productive relationships take root when we introduce business to academic experts. One-off projects can open the door to a stream of collaborations spanning several years, and it is this transformational impact on a business and its sector which is the ultimate prize for all involved.
Besides the obvious business benefits such as developing new products or services, improving processes, increasing turnover and expanding into new markets, sharing knowledge in this way brings results far beyond what either partner might achieve on their own. The development of talent and skills for both the business and academic institution is immensely valuable. Small-scale feasibility studies can morph into an opportunity for enhanced student learning through a PhD or Knowledge Transfer Partnership, which in turn can lead to full-time employment.
Bringing academic thinking to real-life industry challenges is one of the benefits of the 25 food and drink companies which are part of the Resource Efficiency Industry Advisory Group, brought together by Interface, Zero Waste Scotland and Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland in 2012.
The group (which includes bakers, brewers, salmon producers and soft fruit growers, among others) reap the benefits of pooling resources to tackle the challenges of the sector around environmental sustainability, which aim to contribute to the ambitious revenue target of £30bn by 2030 set by Scotland Food & Drink.
One of the large companies in the group carried out a feasibility project with Edinburgh Napier University to recycle heat generated from a food drying process. The business expects to save £600,000 a year as a result, and the results have been shared among the group members to explore the viability of adopting the same process in their own businesses.
In another multi-party project, six companies working alongside University of Aberdeen shared data to enable a deeper understanding of what their value their waste could generate through anaerobic digestion or other processes. This led to the Scottish Salmon Company winning an Interface Challenge competition to undertake more in-depth work with the university assessing viability and return on investment for converting their waste effluent into energy and by-products. The company now have the evidence to make an informed commercial decision on investing and integrating the processes across their Scottish operations, which has saved them considerable resource, both staff and financial.
Pooling resources on a smaller scale can bring tangible results as well. The Gorbals Community Group wanted to recreate a clock tower and fountain which had been removed in the 1930s to make way for the trams expansion, however rebuilding the landmark proved to be difficult since all original drawings and measurements were lost after its demolition.
The plan took an important step forward when two businesses in a wider group successfully applied for Innovation Voucher funding (a funding source which Interface administers on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council to encourage first-time partnerships between business and universities and further education colleges). It enabled them to draw on the expertise available at Glasgow Caledonian University’s School of Engineering and the Built Environment to produce a replica of the clock tower and fountain using innovative 3D laser scanning techniques and photogrammetry data.
Voyages of discovery often start with a problem which is preventing a company from flourishing or a community project from taking flight, so it makes sense to tackle them with shared knowledge and resource from more than one source.
To end on another quote, in the words of George Bernard Shaw: “If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.”
What ideas can we exchange to ensure they take flight?
The Highlands and Islands of Scotland has a fascinating story to tell its visitors, and four projects rich in heritage are being brought bang up to date with help from Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
Rural life in Carloway; the Calanais Standing Stones, (both in the Outer Hebrides); the Highlanders’ Museum collection and the history of illicit whisky in Speyside are all the subject of digital projects being supported as the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology draws to a close. Working with latest technology each will open up new ways for visitors to experience history.
The Tomintoul and Glenlivet Development Trust; The Highlanders Museum; The Carloway Community Association; and the Calanais Visitor Centre have each secured £25,000 from HIE’s 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology Digital Adoption Scheme. Three of the groups are accessing expert academic support through Interface, which connects businesses and organisations with 23 of Scotland’s higher education and research institutes.
Glasgow Caledonian University and St Andrews University will bring their expertise in the field of digital heritage to help develop some fantastic cutting edge digital projects.
The technology rich projects include digitisation of the Highlanders’ Museum’s complete collection and archives; cutting edge digital 3d modelling and virtual reality technology at Calanais; bringing a digital aspect to the Carloway Rural Life Centre which will allow visitors to be immersed in the past through Virtual Reality; and re-creating what life was like in the whisky industry of the past at the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Discovery Centre. (See below for more details on each project).
“There are some amazing new technologies available to businesses and groups working in the heritage sector which can really bring our historic sites, collections and attractions to life. We’re delighted to support these four groups with their plans to learn about using these in practice, and helping them create interactive visitor friendly products,” said Ann Marie Reid of HIE.
Rhiannon Merritt, Business Engagement Executive at Interface, said:
“We were delighted to be involved in supporting these incredibly varied digital projects which bring fresh and exciting developments to each of the organisations.
“Academic expertise can add new knowledge to some of Scotland’s most ancient treasures such as the Calanais Standing Stones and traditional industries including whisky production by tapping into a range of disciplines and technology in Scotland’s universities.”
Calanais Visitor Centre: The Calanais Standing Stones are regarded as a hugely important cultural asset to the local heritage sector. The arrangement of standing stones is placed in a cruciform pattern with a central stone circle, dating back to the Hebridean Neolithic historical period. With a sharp increase in visitor numbers to the Calanais Visitor Centre in recent years, the facility is undergoing an ambitious redevelopment to turn it into a world class visitor centre.
The HIE fund supports Calanais (Callanish) Visitor Centre to work in collaboration with The University of St Andrews to use digital technologies to 3D scan the stone circles and to map buried features associated with the site. This will create a digital interactive experience of how the stones looked at various stages throughout times while bringing them to life. The digital remote sensing techniques will also provide information for the reconstruction of the entire landscapes surrounding the stones and place them in their original context.
Dr Richard Bates from The University of St Andrews, said:
“We bring together a team of geophysical, archaeological and landscape reconstruction experts to investigate Calanais in an attempt to understand more about the people who lived there and erected the stone circles. The concentration of stone circles around Calanais is remarkable, but it is also intriguing that there is the lack of other sites that could tell us about the people who lived there. By reconstructing the Neolithic landscape we hope to be able to find further evidence of the people and so ultimately to better understand the stone circles themselves.”
Victoria Harvey, Project Development Officer at Calanais Visitor Centre, said:
“Relatively little is known about the lives of our Neolithic ancestors some 5000 years ago. The ‘Beneath the Peat’ project will allow The University of St Andrews to delve underneath the current landscape to understand life in the Hebridean Neolithic. Visitor numbers have grown rapidly at the famous Callanish Stones and here at the visitor centre. This has given us an opportunity to not only redevelop it but, to boost the heritage focus by sharing the story of the stones through modern technology. This fund helps us to develop and implement a highly innovative digital experience which helps us diversify as a social enterprise while offering more opportunities for local people and visitors to engage with their local cultural heritage.”
Carloway Community Association (CCA) is developing a new Rural Life Centre on the site of the former Carloway School. The centre will offer a unique digital heritage experience using a combination of virtual and augmented reality, projection mapping and hologram technology. This will create a full sensory journey to transport the visitor back in time to experience island life in the past to the present day, and will include a focus on Hebridean education and Gaelic. The group is currently working with Comann Eachraidh Charlabhaigh, Gearannan, and Glasgow Caledonian University as well as a digital company to develop the fully digitised immersive experience.
Don Mackay from the Carloway Community Association, said:
“Our ambitious Rural Life Centre will bring the heart back into Carloway, largely lost when the local primary school closed four years ago. We have already acquired the school building which is fantastic and we are delighted that funding from HIE allows us to drive forward our digital interpretation project. We are progressing well on content creation with our partners, as well as developing the technology and associated hardware. We look forward to this project going live in Spring 2018 when it becomes a key visitor attraction for local people and visitors – making the Carloway area a better place to live, work and visit.”
The Highlanders’ Museum: The Highlanders’ Museum is a five – star rated Museum located in Fort George near Inverness and is the largest regimental museum in Scotland outside Edinburgh. The collection of the Highlanders’ Museum has recently been recognised as nationally significant to Scotland. The Recognition Scheme, administered by Museums Galleries Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, ensures that Scotland’s most important collections are identified, cared for and promoted to wider audiences.
The HIE fund will allow the museum to digitise its entire collection which includes medals, textiles, silver items and paintings. The online archives will be easily accessible and will enhance displays to make the museum experience more interactive to an international audience. It is expected that a permanent post will be created to oversee the digital archive project.
Kirstin Mackay from The Highlanders’ Museum, said:
“We are delighted with the funding from HIE. It allows us to take advantage of the growing market demand for digital technologies which help us to diversify our museum in a new and innovative way. The Highlanders’ Museum is a significant asset for the region and we are ambitious to grow our visitor numbers and trading income for the sustainable future of the museum.”
Tomintoul and Glenlivet Discovery Centre: The new Tomintoul and Glenlivet Discovery Centre which was formerly known as the Tomintoul Museum and Visitor Centre is officially opening in spring 2018. The current refurbishment is being funded through the Heritage Lottery Funded Tomintoul & Glenlivet Landscape Partnership and Cairngorms LEADER. It is owned and managed by the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Development Trust (TGDT).
The HIE fund will enable the new centre to provide a fully immersive visual experience focusing on the past local illicit whisky industry, capturing the illicit stills which were at work during the 18th and early 19th Centuries. This immersive experience will also incorporate 360 degree video of the landscape of the area today, encouraging people to explore the areas ‘hidden’ landscapes. The virtual reality experience will sit alongside oral and photographic histories which have been collected by local volunteers which will also be presented interactively as part of the museum display via sound pods and digital photo frames.
Uncut versions of oral history and photos will be catalogued in the archive area of the Discovery Centre and virtual reality technology is being developed as well as a 360 degree experience of an illicit still. Through Interface, TGDT is accessing expert academic support from Smart History, The University of St Andrews.
Oliver Giles (Local Development Officer) from TGDT, said:
“The funding from HIE will help us to provide an interactive and immersive experience that draws on the heritage of the area as well as helping us to further celebrate the landscapes of today. It will be a dynamic experience within the new Tomintoul and Glenlivet Discovery Centre using the latest technology, encouraging more people to go out and explore the area’s rich cultural and natural heritage and bring our local history to life.”
Digital Heritage Workshops
To mark 2017 as the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, #hellodigital from HIE delivered a series of 5 workshops on Digital Heritage in Orkney, the Western Isles, Dunoon, Moray and Inverness. With support from Interface the series brought together leading academics working in the field of digital heritage and demonstrated a range of areas where digital technology has been used in the heritage sector. A number of subjects were covered ranging from laser scanning, emerging virtual reality and augmented technologies, to virtual recreations of the museum experience and artefact preservation. The workshop sessions are now available to watch online here.
Looking to the future, a family-run oyster farm on Lismore wanted to diversify by introducing a new product which would help offer local employment and more economic security.
Poaching oysters in unusual flavours such as artisan gin, white wine, champagne and lemon was the brainwave of Mairi Hawkes, whose father started farming oysters from the Isle of Lismore, 25 years ago. Before launching the new product range, Mairi wanted to carry out some research to ensure that the shellfish didn’t shrink during the process, had as long a shelf life as possible and develop the flavours.
Lorraine Thomson, who heads up Interface’s Highlands and Islands team, met Mairi at an event in Oban. Lorraine scoped up a brief of the project requirements which was sent out to universities and research institutes throughout Scotland for consideration. Mairi chose to collaborate with Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), which has expertise in food production and whose chefs helped the business work on the technical challenges presented.
Through SRUC, the project was awarded a £5,000 Innovation Voucher from the Scottish Funding Council which Interface administered to help offset the costs of the collaboration.
The business is now working on the logistics of producing the poached oysters and is preparing for the launch of a range of cocktail-inspired drizzles using similar flavours to complement their fresh oysters.
Interface has introduced almost 2,700 businesses in all sectors across Scotland to academic partners, from kitchen table enterprises to family run companies and community groups.
Lorraine explained:
“We are here to support businesses through their collaboration with academic expertise and make the process of finding a suitable partner as straight-forward as possible; we really are matchmakers for businesses.”
Among the businesses Lorraine and the team have supported locally are Craine Communications, Zing Organics and Staffin Community Trust, which were connected with Heriot-Watt University, University of Strathclyde and The University of the Highlands and Islands respectively, for projects to develop their business or organisation.
And it is more than just academic expertise on offer; business can also access specialist facilities including 3D printers, microscopy, human performance labs, wave tanks, virtual reality and textile printing, which come with the know-how at the university or research institute.
Scotland wants to be a leading innovative nation: we have the people and the resources to make this happen, however there are some obstacles to overcome.
Two things smaller companies often lack are money and time to undertake research and development and yet it is within Scotland’s 344,000 small and medium-sized businesses that many ideas reside.
The importance of innovation cannot be overstated; without it businesses stall and the economy slows. The demand for new, better and improved products, services and processes from consumers is high, which is what makes today’s business world so exciting and full of opportunities.
The word “innovation” was peppered throughout the 2017-18 Programme for Government with 30 mentions in all areas of work, from public health to companies increasing their research and development.
Earlier this month (September) we published an economic impact report based on survey data and in-depth interviews with businesses and academics who have worked with Interface over the last ten years. The figures speak for themselves: business-academic projects supported by Interface have enabled Scottish businesses to generate £64.2 million gross value added (GVA) annually for the Scottish economy, supporting around 1,060 Scottish jobs.
Looking ahead, the economic impact attributable to Interface could increase to more than £195.3 million GVA/year, supporting almost 3,500 jobs, if future expectations of the businesses are realized.
The report shows that 46% of businesses have increased their turnover and 31% have increased employment as a result of their collaboration. 54% expect turnover and employment to increase in the future as a direct result of the collaborative project with academics.
The Scottish Government’s vision as a “nation with ambition”, is for Scotland to design and produce the products of the future boosting growth and creating jobs. As our report demonstrates, marrying businesses to universities, research institutes and colleges has a significant impact on both.
Small and medium-sized enterprises play a crucial role in contributing to the economy and we have worked with hundreds of SMEs – 17% are start-ups with one employee, 22% have less than 10 employees and 56% employ under 50 people.
One of the biggest challenges is persuading the many businesses which do not undertake research and development at all to consider it as part of their plans, company culture and ambition.
But taking the first step to working with academics can be daunting. If you are an SME with a limited number of employees tasked to carry out specific roles and margins are tight, then finding the capacity to look at what you are currently doing and identifying areas ripe for improvement is challenging.
We are often described as matchmakers, and people are at the centre of all that we do; from the passionate team at Interface, who aim to “get it right” for our customers, and the business people we are supporting in their goals, to the academic experts at the cutting edge of research and learning (five Scottish universities are ranked in the respected Times Higher Education list of the top 200 worldwide).
Academics and research teams also benefit from business-led collaborations. Our report highlighted a multitude of benefits including introductions to new research areas, entering international markets, additional research funding, new collaborative partnerships, developing intellectual property and commercial links. In addition, academic institutions benefited from increased reputation and new skills acquired by staff.
Life sciences, aerospace, renewables and financial technology are among the industries being targeted to boost growth, alongside traditionally strong sectors such as food and drink. Our sectors team has supported more than 300 business in tourism, food and drink and creative industries through a multiparty approach – clusters of businesses and academics working together to overcome common challenges.
Innovative ideas can come from anyone anywhere leading to evolution or revolution of a company. There are many examples of people on the factory floor or poring over data who come up with good ideas. Small improvements to a process or adaptations to a product can lead to new markets, improved efficiencies and increased turnover. From ideas to invoices, workplace innovation starts with encouraging and supporting people to be creative, think big, and try to solve problems.
We have some fantastic examples of business-academic collaboration – take a look at the case studies on our website to read some of the stories.
The Scottish Government’s aim for innovation to become an intrinsic part of our culture, society and economy is achievable. We need to work together to make this possible – the enterprise agencies, business support organisations, government, business community and academia – a true ‘Can Do’ collaboration.
Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director, Interface
Click here to read a summary of the economic impact report of Interface-supported collaborations.
Borders businesses are tapping into support from some of the country’s brightest minds to help innovate and expand.
They have latched on to a smart solution which puts them in touch with talent at Scottish universities, research institutes and colleges, helping them innovate and drive forward their business. As a result, firms are witnessing growth, cutting costs and expanding in ways they may otherwise have struggled to achieve.
Scottish businesses from a range of industries and of all sizes have seized access to the support offered by Interface, a free and impartial service that acts as a go-between for businesses and Scotland’s 23 universities and research institutes.Interface then matches the right academic expert to meet individual organisation’s needs.Since its launch in 2005, Interface has introduced over 2600 businesses from across Scotland to academic partners. Almost a quarter of businesses had less than ten employees.
Ian Walker, owner/director of tourism business Borders Journeys approached Interface with his idea to introduce a new ancestry research line and was connected with specialists at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh to analyse the market potential of his idea.
It’s already been effective:
“Since the project completed, I have seen a significant increase in clients contacting me regarding ancestral research and tours,” says Ian.
Shelley Breckenridge, Interface Business Engagement Manager covering the Borders, says: “We work with businesses and organisations large and small in all sectors, finding them an academic match who can help them create new products, services and processes. “Borders businesses can benefit in many ways by collaborating with academic expertise, for example increasing turnover, saving time and resource through improving processes, safeguarding and creating jobs and successfully entering new markets as a result of improved or new products.”
Ninety seven per cent of businesses said that their project would either not have happened or taken longer without support from Interface, while 83 per cent reduced operating costs, increased productivity, profits, export, turnover and new or safeguarded employment.
As well as forging academic links, business can also access specialist facilities, such as 3D printers, microscopy, human performance labs, wave tanks, virtual reality and textile printing.
By Sandra Dick, Southern Reporter
http://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/get-smart-how-to-grow-your-business-1-4515807
Dame Ellen MacArthur, famed for her incredible sailing achievements, is now spearheading an inspiring vision for an economy that works – one that benefits business, society and the environment.
When she was sailing single-handed around the globe, the yachtswoman became acutely aware of self-sufficiency: everything she needed on the 73-day trip had to be carried on her yacht so had to be carefully chosen and used, with little going to waste. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation aims to “accelerate the transition to a circular economy”, working with business, academia and government to meet its goals.
Interface supports the key themes of the Scottish Government’s economic strategy, including promoting environmental sustainability through our own endeavours and those of the businesses we assist by matching them with academic expertise in Scotland’s universities, research institutes and colleges. One of the core concepts in the circular economy is designing waste out, and many companies we work with have focused their efforts to investigate where this can be converted into something else of value.
Our Sectors Team specifically supports groups of businesses tackle industry-wide environmental issues which could positively impact on many companies.
One company involved in our Food & Drink Environmental Sustainability Group undertook a project with Edinburgh Napier University and made substantial savings both to the environment and their production costs. The company, a major food manufacturer, and the academics undertook a feasibility study looking at recovering hot air from their production line through a novel heat exchange system to reheat their drying process. The company went onto implement the findings and have saved an estimated £800,000 in energy costs.
Meanwhile, academics from the University of Strathclyde, Edinburgh Napier University and the University of Edinburgh have been working with fruit and vegetable growers to tackle an industry-wide challenge of waste plastics in agriculture, as the majority currently goes to landfill. The project has highlighted an opportunity to process waste agricultural plastics into a polyethylene wax which is used in many industrial applications; plastic additives, lubricants, coatings, printing ink production, cosmetics and candle making to name a few.
Academic input came from chemistry and geoscience research teams but also from experts in supply chains as, with any innovation project, there needs to be commercial viability. Although the project hasn’t finished yet, one of the key findings is that to make this process a commercial reality on an industrial scale, there is a need for other industries to think differently about their waste plastics and work in collaboration across all industry sectors.
Putting waste to good use is also progressing in Fife with vegetable supplier Ivan Wood & Sons’ spin-off company Peel Tech Ltd. It makes a filtration system designed to catch waste starch produced by food processing outlets which include the UK’s 10,500 fish and chip shops. New legislation banning starch from public drains prompted Malcolm Wood to work with academics at Abertay University on his “eureka-moment” idea to develop a filter product. The waste starch has been turned into a vegetable stock product with further applications currently being developed.
Aquaculture has its fair share of green stories as well – particularly when you think of Integrated Multitrophic Aquaculture, where some fish farms are using the waste from the cages to help grow shellfish and seaweed on nearby lines which feed off the nutrients in the water. I particularly like an example from FishFrom, a company which has set up a prawn farm in Fife. They have been working with Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) to retrofit a recirculation unit which allows the water to be recycled. The water is cleaned through a number of processes including filtration, UV lighting and a filter which retains a species of worm which feeds on the waste. These worms can then be used as an alternative protein source in fish feed.
We have also worked closely with many businesses founded on green principles, such as Plan Bee, a beehive management company and producer of hive products. Founder Warren Bader wanted to test the nutritional value and antiseptic qualities of Scottish honey compared with Manuka honey, and so Interface helped find him an academic match at the University of Glasgow. Plan Bee have recently installed a hive on the roof of the Festival Theatre, which adjoins Interface’s offices. While the bees above are busy cross pollinating the flowers, we will be working very hard to cross pollinate these ideas and technologies to other sectors to do our bit for the circular economy.