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Shirley-Anne Somerville MSP, the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, discovered first-hand how a partnership between a publisher of school study guides and a Scottish university has benefited more than 60,000 students and teachers.

The Minister was visiting Interface, the matchmaking service for business-academic partnerships, which introduced Bright Red Publishing to Edinburgh Napier University for a collaboration to create an online study platform to support their printed study guides.

The visit took place at Interface’s Edinburgh office on Potterrow today (Tuesday 2 May), the first day pupils were sitting National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams.

The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said:

Family dinners sitting round the dining room table may be a thing of the past, while younger consumers have switched to eating “mini meals”, according to an international speaker on global food and drink industry issues. 

Professor David Hughes, of Imperial College London, made the comment at an event for food and drink businesses and academics looking at how foods can be reformulated to make them healthier.

“Millennials don’t do dinner- if you ask them ‘what’s for dinner?’, they say, ‘what’s dinner?’. They have mini meals at 7pm, 11pm or whenever they are hungry,” he told around 90 delegates at the Food and Drink Reformulation for Health event held at Murrayfield this week.

Meanwhile, people over 60 are trying to prolong life by eating healthier options and 40% of meals are eaten by people dining alone, with a further 40% being consumed by just two people.

“People are expressing a huge interest in health food but health is trumped by price, taste and convenience,” he added.

Delegates also heard from academics specialising in different aspects of nutritional health, as well as businesses which have reformulated products to make them healthier by reducing or increasing certain ingredients, such as sugar and fibre. These ranged from healthy chocolate and low sugar muffins to changing the composition of food to make you feel fuller and using alginates from seaweed in bread to reduce the amount of fat absorbed by the body.

David Thomson, CEO of Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland, said: 

“Our food and drink members in Scotland and across the UK share society’s concerns about the health of the nation – particularly in relation to rising obesity levels.  

“A balanced approach covering diet, education and lifestyle is needed. Industry is playing its part in this with reformulation and portion change considered to be the most effective tools for tackling obesity. Food and drink manufacturers have a strong record of successfully voluntarily reformulating products in line with public health goals and consumer expectations.  

“FDF Scotland’s recent reformulation event held in collaboration with Interface showcased some of the excellent work food and drink companies are already doing. But they stand ready to do more which is why we are working closely with the Scottish Government, Food Standards Scotland and industry partners to find the best way to improve the Scottish diet.”   

Howell Davies, Sector Engagement Project Manager at Interface, said:

“We are working with groups of food and drink producers and industry partners by matching them with suitable academic experts in Scotland to come up with new ways of meeting the reformulation challenge.

“Interface has dedicated Food & Drink experts within their newly formed Sector Team, ready to tap into the world-class expertise and facilities that is available in the 23 Scottish Universities and Research Institutes on behalf of the industry in Scotland. Individual businesses working in collaboration with academia, or working in partnership with other businesses in a group with academia has been extremely beneficial and has generated numerous projects which has led to successful innovative products, processes or services. 

“Some of those businesses and academics were present at the Food & Drink Reformulation for Health event at Murrayfield hosted by Interface and FDF Scotland, and brought to life the huge potential and success of business to academic collaboration.”

Note to editors:

Food and Drink Reformulation for Health was held at Murrayfield Stadium on Thursday 9 February, organised by Interface and the Food and Drink Federation Scotland.

Interface connects businesses from all sectors to Scotland’s 23 universities and research institutions. It is a unique service designed to address the growing demand from organisations and businesses which want to partner with academia.

Interface also identifies opportunities for businesses to work as multi-party groups with academia from all disciplines through its Sectors Engagement team.

Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland is the voice of the Scottish food and drink manufacturing industry – Scotland’s largest manufacturing sector.

For more information please contact:

Suzy Powell, PR and Communications Executive, Interface.

Tel: 0845 0130536

Email: suzy.powell@interface-online.org.uk

First Minister opens new funding for communities and third sector.

Community and third sector projects that try new ways to tackle poverty and improve people’s lives can now apply for a share of £29 million ‎funding, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The Scottish Government will direct £18.9 million into a new Aspiring Communities Fund to help organisations find new, long lasting community led solutions to poverty, by increasing economic activity or enhancing services to meet local needs.

‎The £9.7 million Growing the Social Economy Programme will enable third sector organisations to try new ideas and approaches by collaborating with research organisations or supporting people to improve their skills.

The £29 million funding over the next two years supports the Fairer Scotland Action Plan, published last October. £12 million of the total funding comes from the European Social Fund.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was today at Plantation Productions, an arts charity in Govan, to take part in art, media and craft projects.

The First Minister said:

“We are doing everything possible to create a more equal Scotland, and our Fairer Scotland Action Plan features 50 concrete actions to tackle poverty and inequality. This funding of £29 million will support communities and the third sector in developing new ways to help people overcome disadvantage. 

“Over the next two years, the investment in these two Funds will deliver positive and innovative approaches to improve people’s lives through boosting skills or delivering new services to meet community needs – and crucially, giving people the power to take charge and make changes in their own communities.

“Almost half of this funding comes from the European Social Fund which promotes inclusive growth and supports those who are disadvantaged – and the best way to continue that support beyond 2020 is by maintaining Scotland’s relationship with Europe.”

Moya Crowley, Project Manager at Plantation Productions said:

“As a Community Arts and Media Charity embedded in the heart of Govan, Glasgow, Plantation Productions very much welcomes this news. It is extremely encouraging to see the commitment of the Scottish Government in strengthening the third sector and local communities through this funding.  

“For organisations like Plantation Productions, the Aspiring Communities Fund and Growing Social Economy Programme promise a very optimistic view for the future. With strained resources, this funding offers an opportunity to maintain, develop and grow community led initiatives, respond to local aspirations and needs and support the most deprived communities in Scotland.”

Background

The Fairer Scotland Action Plan is available at www.gov.scot/FairerScotland.

Growing the Social Economy Programme

Funding of between £30,000 and £250,000 is available and the programme is open to applications. 

The programme will enable third sector organisations to support people to move into better paid employment, increase household income, improve people’s skills and empower people to find solutions to poverty themselves. It will also support social innovation through collaboration between the third sector and research organisations – bringing people together from different backgrounds to design and test innovative approaches to social problems. 

Information about the Programme

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/15300/ESFTPSI

Guidance and applications for the Social Economy Growth Fund:

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/social-economy-growth-fund-guidance/

Applications for the Social Innovation Fund:

https://beta.gov.scot/publications/social-innovation-fund-guidance/

Aspiring Communities Fund

This Fund will support disadvantaged communities across Scotland and will be open at the end of January 2017. It  will support applications from organisations working collaboratively to accelerate the delivery of community-led initiatives to deliver outcomes that meet local needs and priorities. The Fund will strengthen communities, increase levels of economic activity, stimulate inclusive growth, and support local service provision and inclusion by:

Rarely a day goes by without an announcement about a ground-breaking development to improve our population’s health: life-enhancing medicines, technology or treatments to tackle 21st Century health issues, such as dementia, obesity, diabetes and cancer. 

And whilst there are no easy remedies to the challenges facing our public health providers in balancing budgets in parallel to  maintaining services, Scotland is in an enviable position when it comes to the world-leading expertise in our universities and research institutions.

Tapping into the rich and varied seam of expertise and knowledge across multiple disciplines can significantly alleviate the pressure on the NHS through collaborations leading to new products, services and processes.

Technological advancements have opened many new doors allowing a better understanding of diseases, the human body or how to support vulnerable people with assisted living. And the pace of these new discoveries continues with many Scottish Scientists leading the way.

Knowledge and ideas are combining to produce exciting solutions which boost health and wellbeing to a level well beyond the imagination just a few years ago.

Wearable tech, once limited to the world of science fiction, is a growing market which is being tapped into with great success by Scottish entrepreneurs.

The story of Christopher McCann, from medical student to the brains behind snap40, is a great example. When he was a student, he noticed that manual systems of gathering data on the vital signs of patients meant that deteriorations in patients were not seen until long after they had started.

Christopher’s solution? A wearable armband designed to monitor patients’ health in hospitals. When it required a portable, wearable and low-power ultrasound sensor to monitor hydration levels – dehydration is a significant problem in hospitals – Interface was able to support his innovation journey by understanding the issues and finding the expertise in the University of the West of Scotland.  The project was funded by a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher and through follow on support from the Digital Health & Care Institute (DHI).

The potential cost and time savings to hospitals of such collaboration are obvious; however there is also the benefit to the economy of an ambitious start-up which is creating employment in Scotland.

Reducing the need for medical intervention and saving time and budgets are also at the heart of CM2000’s technology. Their software is designed for remote and mobile healthcare workers, service users and their families, helping with scheduling visits, monitoring and measuring well-being as well as assessing the likelihood of the onset of illness. This enables “at-risk” clients to be easily identified and closely monitored.

CM2000 approached Interface looking at how the vast amount of data which is collected from community care visits could be used to evaluate the long-term health of an individual, giving further support to those administering care, as well as those receiving it.

Developments to the software have benefited from the input of expertise at Edinburgh Napier University and an ongoing partnership will further develop the data analytics capabilities. The overall aim is to gather additional information on patients’ conditions, in line with NHS and Local Council requirements, developing predictive techniques.

The work that CM2000 has undertaken with Edinburgh Napier University has also led to larger scale projects with DHI.  

Digital health and care interventions are recognised as key to the solution in tackling the pressures of Scotland’s ageing population crisis and DHI, one of Scotland’s eight Innovation Centres funded by the Scottish Funding Council, is crucial to this. They bring together people and organisations in the health and social care, charity, technology, design and academic sectors to develop new ideas for digital health and care technology that will improve the delivery of health and care services for Scotland’s communities and help the economy by supporting Scottish businesses which develop and commercialise such technologies.

Frequently, business-academic collaborations have wider resonance in the community and emerge from solving common every day challenges. Award-winning design company Studio LR were frustrated that every new hospital or medical centre displayed its own signage, which could be confusing to people with dementia – estimated to be 90,000 in Scotland and rising.

They wanted to tap into the latest research to inform their designs, and Interface was able to match them with two universities – the University of Edinburgh and the University of Stirling – for a feasibility study on how they could approach this. The partnership led to the production of a set of guidelines for creating consistent signage to increase independence and wellbeing for older people and dementia patients in care homes, hospitals or other environments.

The partnership between Studio LR and the University of Edinburgh continues through researching the effectiveness of symbols and whether people living with dementia understand their meaning. The project is funded by The Life Changes Trust who are supported by the Big Lottery Fund.

There are no easy answers to balancing the books of our National Health Service, but more businesses working collaboratively with universities and research institutions is certainly part of the solution.

This article first appeared in The Scotsman

A visionary tourism champion who has spearheaded innovation of The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo has been unveiled as the keynote speaker at The Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2017.

Brigadier David Allfrey MBE will give delegates a flavour of the exciting developments and innovations the globally renowned military spectacular has adopted – including technology, design, taking the event overseas for the third time in its 66 year history, and growing its international event business.

The Tattoo has a programme of innovation as part of its growth strategy – it has been a sell out for the past 18 years at the Edinburgh Castle Esplanade, and reached out to its overseas audiences in 2016 when it was taken to Australia and New Zealand, with ambitions to stage further events in the Gulf and China over the next four years.

Collaborating with leading Scottish academics, the Tattoo organisers explored available and future technologies, such as real time digital augmented reality and how these could be adopted to the spatial requirements of temporary outdoor venues, such as the Castle Esplanade and equivalent venues throughout the world. The overall aim was to further enhance the audience experience at this prestigious and world renowned event.

The Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards promote and celebrate knowledge exchange in Scotland encouraging more businesses to consider Scotland’s universities and research institutions as a service provider to stimulate innovation and further positioning Scotland as a CAN DO nation.

A panel session on working in partnership with academic expertise will see previous award winners share their experiences.

Delegates will be able to choose from a selection of innovation sessions led by businesses which have worked with Interface to connect to university or research institutions and take part in a question and answer session.

Mr Paul Wheelhouse, MSP, Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, will give an address before presenting the awards in five categories:

Innovation of the Year Award, for an innovative product, process or service that has been developed with a university or research institution;

Building Skills through Knowledge Exchange – recognising Postgraduate students or Knowledge Transfer Partnership [KTP] Associates who have worked within a business on a specific project to increase innovation within the company;

Sustained Partnership – for a partnership that has demonstrated long term benefits to both the business and the academic teams;

Multi-Party Collaboration – recognising groups and consortia across all industry sectors that demonstrate innovation and impact through working together while also having a significant benefit for each individual party;

Outstanding Contribution to Knowledge Exchange – recognises an individual who has played a pivotal role in knowledge exchange in Scotland.

This year’s event will take place on Tuesday 21st February 2017 at Royal Bank of Scotland Gogarburn, Edinburgh, from 10.30am – 5pm.

Pea and ham, from a chicken? Now that’s clever. For those old enough to remember, these were the words uttered in the classic advert from the 1980s for Knorr Stock Cubes.

It reminds me of the unusual solutions which can arise out of business-academic collaborations matched by Interface – almost three-quarters of businesses we work with are partnered with university disciplines outwith their own industry sector.

A great example of this is Lightbody of Hamilton, a celebration cake maker who were looking at gaining a deeper understanding of what happens to their cakes over time in order to further develop their products and processes. 

Working with Interface, Lightbody were introduced to hyperspectral imaging, a technology up until this point mainly used in the security and pharmaceutical industries.  This out of the box thinking has delivered a series of collaborative projects between the company and the University of Strathclyde on the composition and structure of the cake sponge.

I often cite the ambition of a remote Highlands and Islands museum which Interface helped link to academics, which has led to an impressive increase in visitor numbers. Timespan in Sutherland had a significant uplift in visitors over two years following its tie-up with the University of St Andrews to produce the first 3D virtual world using historical content. The reconstruction of a settlement from 1813 enhanced the visitor experience and the museum’s reputation and profile.

There are 23 universities and research institutions across Scotland, five of which have recently been ranked in the world’s top 200 universities – that’s a lot of world-class expertise to choose from, but where do you start in finding a potential partner to support research and development?

Interface has a strong track record of successfully matching businesses to academics with an overall aim of enabling companies to be more competitive in national or global markets. In monetary terms, companies supported by Interface add an estimated £70million into the economy each year through new services, processes or products, or efficiencies leading to cost savings.

Innovation can lead to transformation within an industry sector, not only on an individual business basis but also groups of businesses working together in collaboration.

The Resource Efficiency Industry Advisory Group for Food & Drink is a fantastic example of a multi-business group in action. A feasibility study helped one of the group members save £600,000 a year on energy costs and the research data from the project, with Edinburgh Napier University, was shared amongst the wider group to better inform their own processes.

We are adept at spotting opportunities– if we see a number of similar business challenges arising in a sector, we can work with those clusters of businesses or organisations, defining the issue and introducing them to potential academic expertise.

This exchange of knowledge between Higher Education Institutions and businesses can be extremely worthwhile for all parties involved. By working together, groups of companies can share best practice and partner on projects of scale with a broad range of academics, and access funding that encourages new ways of collaborating. For the academics the benefits are also numerous from stimulating new research themes with an applied industry focus, providing insights into business and opening up further opportunities to collaborate with other academics outwith their field of expertise.  

This is a particularly exciting time for me, as Head of Sector Relationships, as we focus on encouraging multi-party collaborative projects in key sectors as a result of £250,000 Scottish Government funding.

We are working closely with key partners, including Scotland Food & Drink, the Scottish Tourism Alliance and Creative Scotland, together with the enterprise agencies, to understand and articulate the challenges and opportunities; develop a culture of innovation and, where appropriate, bring in academic expertise to provide solutions through knowledge and research.

We have really seen this multi-party approach pay off with food and drink companies and  envisage the same for Tourism and Creative Industries. For example, we are currently in early discussions with a group of event and festival organisers looking for academic research support to find ways in which they can enhance the visitor experience and ensure the medium-to-long term sustainability of commercial events. We have also identified cross sectoral opportunities to build both food and music tourism in different parts of Scotland. In the food and drink sector we are introducing researchers from a range of academic disciplines to a primary producer and their supply chain in order to tackle some of the challenges they currently face in what is a fast changing market and regulatory environment. 

There may not be a demand for pea and ham from a chicken, but there is a smorgasbord of academic expertise across 23 Scottish Higher Education Institutions which we can put you in touch with.

By Louise Arnold, Business Engagement Executive, Interface and Suzy Powell, PR and Communications Executive, Interface

The business benefits of working with students are numerous, bringing a fresh source of new ideas, approaches and skills.

So often lack of resources within businesses means that an idea stays on the drawing board, even if it hinders business growth, but thanks to a number of initiatives linking businesses with universities, the option to work with Scotland’s top-class students from a diverse range of disciplines is more accessible than ever.  

And Interface is in a prime position to help match businesses with university expertise, including students studying a variety of courses across Scotland.

Working with businesses and organisations can enhance students’ employability by developing work-relevant skills, making them more “job ready”.

While students can be achieving well academically they have the opportunity to significantly develop transferable skills and build confidence which are best gained at the coalface of industry: speaking to clients on the phone, making presentations, business planning, devising a marketing strategy, conducting meetings, financial planning and decision making.

Euan Ryan, a recent graduate, worked with independent Scottish publisher, Bright Red Publishing, as part of his Business Management Degree at the University of Edinburgh. As part of the Management Consultancy module, and working as a team, he assessed the company’s potential growth strategies, and then analysed the feasibility and potential of new markets.

“I think the most interesting skill we developed whilst working with Bright Red was being able to apply the theoretical and academic knowledge we had gained from university in a real life situation. It changes the whole dynamic when your concepts and analysis relate to real problems with real constraints. It’s one thing to understand models, it’s another to apply them.    

“Alongside this, we learned a lot about working within teams, not only internally with our group but also through managing stakeholders and understanding Bright Red’s needs and requirements. It definitely helped us understand the importance of diplomacy and asking key questions which I can only imagine will be of assistance in our professional lives.”

Bright Red Publishing Director, John MacPherson, added:

“The Management Consultant project was an excellent experience from a business perspective as Bright Red gained the benefit of several smart and keen undergraduates applying their knowledge and clear vision to the company’s operations and future strategy.  The recommendations contained in the students’ final report are of great use and we will act on just about all of them.  As a group, the students were a real pleasure to work with also.  They showed real focus and intelligence – it is highly encouraging to see this calibre of undergraduate coming through Scotland’s universities.”

Euan has already drawn on some of his experiences at Bright Red Publishing to secure employment.

“I think the combination of managing relationships, conducting independent research and working towards a common goal will also help me perform better now that I am in my new role. In terms of experience it was a really essential process to go through.”

Many of Scotland’s universities operate industry-led student based learning projects, where companies put forward real business challenges for students to tackle. Students work with the companies, where they scope out a defined brief, undertake research and deliver their findings, analysis and recommendations to the business.

Projects can include group work, covering 8-12 weeks, or students can undertake an individual company sponsored dissertation on a specific research topic. The stakes are high for students as it often forms a large part of their final grade.

Feedback from the universities is that they greatly welcome the connections Interface makes for them with a diverse range of businesses bringing a variety of challenging projects.

Louise Arnold, Business Engagement Executive at Interface, said:

“The team at Interface work with hundreds of businesses every year to find them the right academic expertise to develop new products, services and processes. In some instances, the solution may connect businesses with students.

“Academic–business collaboration extends beyond laboratory based research and development: business process innovation, strategy development such as identifying new customers or suppliers, analysing the impact of new legislation or regulations, pursuing global markets or business planning can all be undertaken.

“Feedback from the businesses and students has been really positive with both gaining great benefits from the collaborations. We’ve heard from businesses that the projects have made tangible differences to their growth, future direction and strategy, while the students rise to the challenge of tackling real business problems, often finding that their suggested solutions are actually being implemented by the companies. In addition, these projects can often be the start of a longer term relationship between the university and the business.”

Comments made by the businesses which have worked with students included:

Nick Oliver, Professor of Management at the University of Edinburgh’s Business School, said there was “no substitute” for students “rolling their sleeves up and working with real-life problems.”

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for the students to apply many of the ideas that they cover in their academic sessions in a “real world” setting. It’s a real selling point for the university – it is one of the reasons students come to us and that experience will stand them in good stead in the jobs market. It’s a sign that a business school is doing what it should: connecting the two worlds of theory and practice.”

This article appeared in the Scotsman, you can read it here.

In partnership with Interface

Interface has emerged over the last decade as a successful broker in matching the skills and expertise of Scottish higher education with innovative businesses needing specific help to grow. Here, its director Siobhán Jordan reflects on how Interface’s own development has been mirrored by the growth of Scotmas, in discussion with its managing director Alistair Cameron. From its base in Kelso, Scotmas provides water treatment solutions around the world – including working for the Qatar World Cup 2022.

David Lee (DL): How did the relationship begin?

Siobhán Jordan (SJ): In the early days of Interface, in 2007, we got senior Borders business people together for a round table discussion, including Alistair’s father Derek Cameron, who was then in charge at Scotmas. We’ve worked together for almost a decade now.

Alistair Cameron (AC): We have always been innovation driven and tried to differentiate ourselves within the area of water disinfection and hygiene. Competitors tend to be large companies like Siemens and GE with international R&D resources. 

We pride ourselves on being of a similar standard and a little bit nimbler, with cutting-edge R&D. In every customer interaction, we have to get over the credibility gap with excellent technological solutions which minimise environmental impact.

SJ: Fundamentally, we save companies time and resources by allowing them to tap into universities’ expertise, using us as an impartial broker. 

We saw that Scotmas was all about innovation and a good fit. We started with identifying expertise for efficacy testing of their work in treating bacteria and as we developed a trusting relationship, it was about future planning and developing better systems.

How were things different then to now?

AC: The universities were not slick at making connections and Interface had a big role in joining up academia with business and demystifying the process. It was pretty ground breaking. 

Now universities are marketing their skill sets to the business market much more aggressively and Interface is the impartial broker. Simply speaking to one university will not necessarily get a company access to the skills they need. 

SJ: If Scotmas had to knock on 20 to 30 doors to get the specific assistance they needed, it would be a real burden. We can speak to them, create a brief and share it through our excellent channels into different university teams. Those universities with the capability then have to decide if they also have the capacity – and then move to early stage discussions about a programme of work.

Feedback from the universities can also help to identify which projects might not work and need to be refined. Sometimes, it’s really helpful to be told what not to do; it can save significant time and money. 

AC: Sometimes those conversations take you down a different path than you expected. That’s happened twice to us. 

What was the Scotmas proposition for Interface?

SJ: At first, there were two main areas: the chemical reaction of generating chlorine dioxide as a water treatment and how to maximise efficiency in producing it. 

As Scotmas was looking at global markets, it needed to make products effectively in territories where it might want to get in and out quickly. [The company worked in Iraqi oilfields, for example.] 

We took the proposition to universities and Heriot-Watt came back saying it could look at production and systems. That ultimately led to the secondment of an individual from the university to the company through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership.

AC: A small initial inquiry led to a meaningful, formal interaction involving a member of staff. Our aim is always to develop a lasting relationship. 

We keep abreast of the industry and look if universities might be able to help in specific areas. 

What has Interface offered that you couldn’t have done in-house?

AC: Firstly, support with technical problems. Sometimes, you see a problem on site but do not necessarily know the cause and require academic brainpower.

Secondly, access to facilities. There are millions of pounds worth of facilities in Scottish universities and Interface has created an online marketing platform [launched last month] which puts high-end facilities and equipment within your reach which you could never otherwise afford. 

That access to specialist equipment and the breadth of expertise among individuals and teams is a major benefit. 

SJ: Scotmas is the classic company in terms of not knowing what facilities were out there, with specialist academic teams wrapped around them. 

Firms might just need specialist facilities for one project, or just a couple of days, so it’s hard to make buying the piece of equipment cost effective in-house.

How has Interface made a difference?

AC: New products and innovation have driven the growth of Scotmas and I cannot think of any new projects where we have not sought the advice of Interface and the Scottish academic community. 

Without Interface, we would not be in the position we are in and would have had to invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in our own equipment. We’d have needed to search the world for a specialist consultancy to find the expertise we needed. 

The company has grown from 15 people when we started working with Interface to 42 [mirroring Interface’s growth, from 3 to 22, in the same period]. 

We now work across Europe and in the Middle East [including water treatment for 20 per cent of the city of Doha ahead of the World Cup], south-east Asia and southern Africa. 

Where there is water, there is Scotmas. Water scarcity is a massive issue around the world and we want to grow global markets. 

My dad, who is 78, has just been to India looking at village-scale water treatment systems. State and national governments want to provide infrastructure to deliver clean water because of the long-term healthcare savings. We are also working on treating well water in Botswana.

There are real opportunities where a lack of water limits GDP growth, like the Middle East. They have ministries of water who spend a lot of time looking for the best technology, so we tend to focus on these areas to lead our product development. One of our engineers has been working closely with the National Water Utility Company of Saudi Arabia.

In the Middle East, they look for the best quality – and in Doha, we were lucky enough to be seen as the best. 

We have installed a chemical injection system with sophisticated monitoring systems so the water is disinfected ahead of distribution but keeps the chemical content down.

The interaction with Interface is very important in growing the business across all these areas.

How has the culture changed over the years – and what next?

AC: It’s now very difficult to think of starting a firm without taking advantage of what’s available in the universities. 

SMEs are challenged more by banks about why they are doing things themselves rather than getting help from universities.

Scotmas has six projects in our innovation pipeline, around water treatment and disinfection, at different stages of technological readiness, and the relationship with Interface will certainly continue. Our focus on innovation remains crucial. We have two staff doing Scottish Enterprise’s Deeper Innovation course as we want to embed innovation at all levels of Scotmas. 

I had the privilege earlier this year of attending a course at MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology] on innovation-driven businesses – and lots of the best practice taught there is already embedded in Scotland through Interface.

SJ: Australia is very keen to look at what we are doing successfully in Scotland.

Not every firm is such a spectacular success as Scotmas, but we have positive stories across many different sectors – including chemical and life sciences, food and drink and tourism. 

We want to get more SMEs engaged with universities because there are tremendous benefits for both sides.

What would you say to other businesses about Interface?

AC: If your business is driven by innovation, there is no harm in looking for assistance from the academic world. 

It’s a very low-impact inquiry – initially just a sheet of A4 – and it allows you to check what’s out there.

There is lots more potential in Scotland for exciting businesses to make better use of the academic community via Interface.

SJ: Scotland has great quality and depth in its academic community. In the past we have not been so good at translating that into commercial success, but it is seen as much more of a government priority now. The future looks exciting.

THE ENVY OF THE WORLD

When Interface started in 2007, with three people working out of university offices in Edinburgh, there was a growing recognition that academia and businesses needed to work together more frequently and more effectively. Often there was a desire on both sides to do so, but how to enhance engagement was a sticking point.

For businesses, the barrier was finding the time and resources to trawl the wealth of academic expertise, and then knowing how best to approach them. For the academic institutions, it was finding the right businesses to work with, and at the right time.

Interface – now a thriving, established organisation, match-making businesses with its 23 academic partners across Scotland – has established itself as a key part of the solution. 

People are at the heart of Interface and its team of experts located across the country provide local support allowing businesses to meet them quickly and easily. Hundreds of businesses have already made academic partnerships a key element of their innovation strategy.

Interface has forwarded more than 3,200 searches to academic partners, resulting in almost 1,300 collaborative projects from kitchen table success stories, to long-established brands seeking to explore new products or processes.

Many more businesses could discover the benefits of partnering with academics to develop products, services and processes: securing and creating jobs, increasing turnover; and reaching new markets. 

One challenge facing Interface is how we remain people-centred, while reaching more businesses. 

The dual barriers of lack of time and resource remain for many businesses, which is why Interface is still important now as ten years ago.

Also, we’re living in an age when universities are keen to demonstrate impact on entrepreneurship and employability – working with and making a difference to industry is a crucial element of that.

In monetary terms, Interface has put back an estimated £70 million into the economy through new products, processes or services or greater efficiencies leading to cost savings.

Now with the Scotland CAN DO innovation agenda and a dedicated cabinet minister for the economy, we can be assured that Interface will long continue to play a vital role in Scotland’s future economic prosperity.

Scotland’s Interface model is the envy of the world, with interest shown from many other countries and organisations and its role in the innovation ecosystem – true testimony to its strength and success.

• Sir Pete Downes is chair of the Interface advisory board

This article appears in the Summer 2016 edition of Vision Scotland. An online version can be read here. Further information about Vision Scotland here.

Specialist Facilities in universities open to all businesses

Companies restricted by time or resource are being offered a helping hand to innovate, thanks to Interface, the business-academic matchmaking service.

A new online platform showcasing the breadth of Specialist Facilities available throughout Scotland’s universities and research institutions has been launched to make the search for facilities for hire easier for entrepreneurs.

From 3D printers to nutritional labs, the exact whereabouts in Scotland of Specialist Facilities are pin-pointed on the new platform, which highlights a snapshot of what is available, along with descriptions of their capabilities and images.

Siobhán Jordan, Director at Interface, said:

“For businesses which are looking to create, develop, test and analyse products, this is a fantastic way of them seeing some of the vast range of facilities that are commercially available from our world-leading academic institutions. We thought a great way of showcasing this was through a short film which brings to life just some of the facilities and equipment available with the aim of getting businesses and organisations thinking about how they could tap into these.

“The beauty of these facilities is that they come with the academic expertise ready to work with them on proving concepts or developing innovative products and ideas. Also, it can be a great way to work on small-scale projects, on a pay-as-you-go basis, and in a safe and controlled environment, which may better suit businesses and companies where budgets are tight.

“There is a huge amount of equipment on offer and Interface can help to match businesses to the right facilities and supporting expertise. The platform is a showcase highlighting some of what’s available, however we can talk to businesses about all the Specialist Facilities on offer which could help them innovate, adapt and grow.”   

Universities Scotland’s Director, Alastair Sim, said:

“We know that businesses need to be innovative to stay ahead and collaborating with Scotland’s universities is exactly how to do it. This new platform will allow more firms to see the university facilities and expertise that are available to them, and make it easier for them to get in touch. Experts within universities are ready to help translate the results of testing into outcomes for businesses, and can also offer in-house assistance, to help take ideas forward.” 

Colin Borland, Federation of Small Business’ Head of External Affairs in Scotland, said:

“New technologies are forcing changes upon any number of industries. For Scotland to keep up, we need to see more small firms developing partnerships with our world-leading universities. 

“We must bust the myth that business innovation isn’t for smaller businesses, especially those in traditional sectors. This important initiative could help build bridges between entrepreneurs and academia.” 

Vicki Cameron, founder of StEPS Podiatry in Troon, credits collaborating with academics as giving her a unique selling point. She said:

“Working with Interface has enabled me to access the most innovative equipment. That’s been a big innovation for us; really being able to use the most cutting edge technology with the most elite athletes, to do something that has never been done before in podiatry.”  

ENDS 

For more information please contact: 

Suzy Powell, PR and Communications Executive 

Tel:0845 0130536 
Mob: 07711 273007 
Email:suzy.powell@interface-online.org.uk 

NOTES TO EDITORS  

The 90 second film was made by The Edinburgh Film Company and mainly shot on location in universities around Scotland showing a wave simulator, sensory suites, human performance labs, materials testing, among other facilities. 

About Interface  

Interface connects businesses from a wide variety of national and international industries to Scotland’s 23 universities and research institutions.  It is a unique service designed to address the growing demand from organisations and businesses which want to engage with academia. 

Funded by the Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Interface is a free and impartial service which aims to stimulate demand for innovation and encourage companies to consider academic support to help solve their business challenges. 

Interface helps companies operating across a range of sectors, from food and drink to financial services, offering huge benefits for both businesses and academia.