The Times and Sunday Times Scotland: Future of Digital Tech Summit, delivered in partnership with Opportunity North East.

Step into the heart of Scotland’s digital evolution at The Future of Digital Tech, hosted in Aberdeen – home to a dynamic tech cluster developing solutions for global industries. Join a celebration of the founders and investors driving entrepreneurial growth. Take a deep dive into what makes globally competitive tech ventures thrive, and spotlight AI developments transforming key sectors and shaping tomorrow’s economy.

Powered by one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech clusters—and backed by a founder-focused private-sector-led entrepreneurial ecosystem —the Aberdeen city region is delivering scalable solutions across industrial AI, data, automation, and enterprise software, with deep roots in high-value industries including energy, agriculture, food and drink manufacturing and life sciences.

Hosted by The Times and Sunday Times Scotland, in partnership with Opportunity North East and the Scottish National Investment Bank, the agenda brings together founders, industry leaders, innovators and investors from across the UK to share experiences and practical insights on scaling innovation-led enterprises and shaping the digital industrial future. The event will examine what investors look for in industrial AI and B2B SaaS, and how founders fund and build strong teams and products for impactful returns.

Glasgow has long been a powerhouse of industrial ingenuity. Once dubbed the “Second City of the Empire,” it earned global recognition for engineering excellence—home to world-class shipyards, locomotive manufacturers, and heavy industries that shaped the modern age. The River Clyde launched some of the world’s most iconic vessels, while inventors like James Watt powered the Industrial Revolution and laid the foundations for global mobility.

Today, that same spirit of innovation is driving a new revolution—this time towards a cleaner, smarter, net-zero future. As part of the #Glasgow850 celebrations, this special edition of award-winning Art of Possible series will explore how Glasgow City Region’s legacy of industrial ingenuity is powering a new era of clean, smart and sustainable transport.

Join a panel of innovators to explore how emerging technologies are redefining mobility and logistics—making systems smarter and more sustainable. The event will spotlight cutting-edge innovations in green transport and delve into the infrastructure, investment and cross-sector collaboration needed to scale them.

Speakers Include:

• Dr. Stephen Breslin – Chief Executive, Glasgow Science Centre
• Dr. Duncan Booker – Group Manager (Green Economy, Innovation & International), Glasgow City Council (Chair)
• Dr. Mahmoud Wagih – University of Glasgow & Founder at RX Watt Ltd
• More speakers to be confirmed soon
  

Now in its 8th year, this award-winning series connects innovators, creatives, and industry leaders to explore how unexpected tech collaborations drive new ideas and solutions. It’s also an official primer for Scotland’s CAN DO Innovation Summit.

Be part of the conversation at the Art of Possible session on 19th June at the Glasgow Science Centre.

As part of the #Glasgow 850 celebrations, this Art of Possible session will highlight Glasgow’s remarkable health and life sciences journey—a story that blends centuries of scientific discovery with today’s cutting-edge medical technologies. The Glasgow’s Innovation Journey campaign is a year-long initiative showcasing how Glasgow’s industrial past has laid the foundation for the high-tech advancements of today. This month, the focus is on the city’s thriving health and life sciences sector, from breakthroughs in biotechnology and medical research to pioneering technologies that enhance patient care. Glasgow continues to lead the way in global health innovation.

This Art of Possible session will explore how technology is transforming and democratising healthcare — making it more accessible, personalised, and efficient for all.

Join the panel of experts to examine how emerging technologies are transforming areas such as early disease detection, patient wellbeing, and precision medicine. From robot-assisted surgery and ultrasonic imaging to AI-powered diagnostics, the session will explore how Glasgow’s health tech innovators are tackling global health challenges while breaking down barriers to more personalised care.

Whether it’s through data-led approaches or immersive AR/VR tools for patient and clinician support, the region’s ecosystem is shaping a future where location and circumstance no longer determine access to high-quality healthcare.

Who is Speaking?

• Dr Stephen Breslin – Chief Executive, Glasgow Science Centre
• Janette Hughes – Director of Planning & Performance, The Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) (Chair)Nico Fenu – CEO & Founder, Nami Surgical
• Dr Paul Chapman – Director of Emerging Technology, The Glasgow School of Art
• More speakers to be confirmed soon

This will be a valuable session for business leaders, researchers, technologists, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

The Scottish Research Alliance for Energy, Homes and Livelihoods Annual Event, taking place at Dynamic Earth , Edinburgh on 10th September, will unite local authorities with diverse resources and needs, along with experts from academia, industry, government, and local communities to share knowledge, discuss trends and challenges, and provide networking opportunities. The objective is to inspire, educate, and empower participants to apply this knowledge in future research collaborations to drive success.

Shelly Breckinridge of Interface will be attending this event.

Re-imagining high-performance homes running entirely on renewable energy and being completely self-efficient protecting their occupiers for decades.

Background

Kionnali Living Systems is a startup based in Aberdeenshire created by co-founders Avriel Skolnick and Corrin Fox whose backgrounds in science and engineering and experience in construction and manufacturing has enabled them to design and build LightForm, a prototype home utilising regenerative and resilient building technologies and integrated systems.
LightForm is a modular off-site manufactured home, featuring a unique home climate control system which generates all the heat a house needs, using renewable inputs, distributed recovery and local storage. Inputs include solar thermal collectors, air source heat pump powered by local renewables, and a clean burning biomass back up.

The Journey

Kionnali Living Systems is working to reimagine and build systems that take care of basic needs, from shelter, to energy, to food and water, locally and regeneratively and combine those systems into a modular home that deploys anywhere in minutes and provides everything needed to live, sustainably, on or off grid.

Kionnali was keen to collaborate on several areas including system architecture, materials study and thermal analysis. Initially referred by Business Gateway, the first collaboration instigated by Interface involved a PhD student with the National Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the University of Edinburgh who looked at how a structure with low compaction, no permanent foundation, combined with the introduction of carbon rich compost and clean water, would affect the microbiome of soil.  The research found that Kionnali’s adaptable foundation and lightweight construction could significantly reduce impact from housing on compaction and soil biodiversity.

Taking cognisance of Scotland’s long-term climate change targets and the Scottish Government’s vision that by 2045 homes and buildings will be warmer, greener, and more efficient with renewable energy playing a significant part, Kionnali wanted to test their net-zero energy system concept for the development of self-sustained, net-zero energy buildings suitable for rural and farming communities.
Gillian Hambley, Business Engagement Executive at Interface connected Kionnali with Professor Alireza Maheri of the Centre of Energy Transition at Aberdeen University to perform a feasibility study to verify the Kionnali Net-zero Energy System concept and also evaluate the performance of Kionnali’s innovative technologies (low cost thermal storage system and biomass backup generator) in the context of a net-zero energy system integrated with renewable components (wind, PV, solar thermal) and storage systems.
Funded by an SFC Innovation Voucher the feasibility study conducted by Professor Alireza Maheri found that the Kionnali system can be 100% self-sustaining in any climate, with an 80% reduction in lifetime system cost and negative carbon emissions.

Through the project the company were able to confirm assumptions and develop new design spaces with multifactor optimisation. With the help of a SMART Scotland Grant which funded two full-time positions, the project led on to the development of a full-scale demonstration model.

Interface have continued to support Kionnali connecting them into the Advanced Materials Research Lab at the University of Strathclyde to develop a unique high efficiency, light weight, insulated, modular building panel.

The Benefits

Company

• Development of a modular home that deploys anywhere in minutes and can provide everything to sustain life, on or off grid.
• It is designed to adapt to weather patterns, lifestyle changes, and protect its inhabitants during and after a disaster.
• University expertise has helped prove and accelerate Kionnali’s concept and make their ambition to develop and build systems that take care of basic needs, from shelter, to energy, to food and water, and build sustainable, regenerative communities one step closer.
• Third party feasibility input provided crucial validation data points to propel further growth, from hiring to fundraising and sales.

Academic

• Provided the opportunity to continue research into distributed hybrid renewable energy systems and their impact on a just energy transition.
• Working on this project also provided a valuable opportunity for the further development of MOHRES, a specialised software tool designed to create stakeholders-in-the-loop net-zero energy solutions. MOHRES remains the only tool of its kind, and this collaboration has contributed to its continued refinement through the application to another real-life energy transition challenge.

The Next Steps

• Kionnali are ambitious and are aiming to reimagine the systems that sustain humanity and improve people’s lives with tangible, concrete solutions.
• They plan to grow their team to 15-20 creative doers. In 2025 they are launching three product lines of building technologies based on the Interface funded R&D: FireFly for small spaces, LightForm for residential systems, and LifeBlocks for organisations and disaster relief.
• Over the next 5-8 years the plan is to scale up to full production of the world’s most accessible, sustainable, smart living systems and expand to North America and Europe.
• Active discussions are ongoing with SRUC looking at an “organic waste management system” as an alternative to standard waste toilets that are easy to use, clean and produce sterilised soil. Kionnali will manufacture the composter but would like to collaborate with an academic partner to fully understand the quality of soil and water output from the system, considering soil composition, microbial makeup, and presence of chemicals. They plan to access the Advanced Innovation Voucher to power this work.
• Kionnali’s R&D journey continues at full speed and Interface have continued supporting with further funding applications and opportunities.

The 13th Scottish Fermentation Network Event will take place at the University of Edinburgh Central Campus on 7th April 2025.

Following some refreshments on arrival, a brief update on the network will be given and then an exciting mix of industry and academic presentations from current SFN members. This will be followed by an optional distillery tour and tasting event at Holyrood Distillery.

Agenda

1pm – Registration & refreshments

1.30pm – Welcome talk – Luke Johnston – Senior Upstream Bioprocess Scientist, IBioIC

Session 1
1.40pm – Omics and Biotech. Why bother? – Karl Burgess – Personal Chair of Biological Mass Spectrometry, University of Edinburgh

2pm – Cheaper Than Chicken – Martin Currie – Founder, AMYBO

2.20pm – IP-A: A pint full of intellectual property – Yann Robin – Principal Associate, Marks & Clerk

2.40pm – Sponsor presentation – María Constanza Sadino Riquelme – Senior Process Engineer, Modela

2:50pm – Refreshment break

Session 2
3.10pm – Using Scotland’s spent grains to help solve the global cocoa crisis – Andy Clayton – CEO, Fermtech

3.30pm – Production of biobased molecules to enhance drought tolerance in plants – Josephine Giard – Postdoctoral Researcher, Heriot Watt University

3.45pm – Accelerating R&D: reducing cost improving product recovery with AI Bioprocess Simulation Software – Rafael Boni – Bioprocess Engineer, New Wave Biotech

4pm – Wrap up of main event – Luke Johnston – Senior Upstream Bioprocess Scientist, IBioIC

Main event ends

4.30pm – Whisky tour & tasting (Holyrood Distillery). Note – distillery is a 10 minute walk from 50 George Square venue.

6.15pm – Tasting concludes

Note – tasting will last between 1 hour 15 mins to 1 hour 30 mins.

Join Geovation Scotland and The Edinburgh University’s AI Accelerator for an insightful event focused on the future of infrastructure and data-led solutions. In this event we will hear from Professor Sean Smith, who is heads up the Centre for Future Infrastructure and the Centre for Net-Zero High Density Buildings at the Edinburgh Futures Institute and Gala Camacho, Data Scientist and Founder of Diagonal works, Gala is particularly interested in the intersection of data & analytics, community building and technical products that enhance equity in society.

This event will feature key discussions on opportunities for SMEs, community engagement, and the role of geospatial data and AI in building inclusive environments. Following short presentations from Professor Sean Smith and Gala Camacho, there will be a networking drinks reception and a chance to meet with others in the sector.

Louise Arnold of Interface attending.

Stimulating local tech ecosystems has never been more critical. With flagship national programmes designed to widen the funnel for startups and scale-up tech companies, Futurescot’s Glasgow Tech Ecosystem conference brings together industry, government, and academic expertise poised to turn that ambition into a reality.

As we move into the critical delivery phase for Glasgow’s digital economy, local and national government funders will join with the regional agencies whose job it is to support and strengthen the tech sector and, of course, the tech companies looking to transform industries old and new across the Glasgow City Region.

By bringing together all the key players, Futurescot will help supercharge the tech ecosystem in 2024, setting the stage for a future where tech drives societal and economic growth for all.

Learning objectives:

• Understand how to navigate and work with the entire tech ecosystem in Glasgow – from the funders to the national and regional support organisations
• Hear the latest policy directives affecting your organisation – and how to respond to them
• Take advantage of the ‘triple helix’ effect: work with government, industry and academia to collaborate and innovate
• Discover new funding opportunities and practical initiatives that can help build and scale a tech business
• Hear from pioneering and inspiring tech leaders who have built successful businesses – and want to share their insights with the next generation coming up.

Jackie Sanderson and Elaine Sneddon of Interface will attend this event.

Fintech Scotland Festival will take place between 25 September 2024 and 04 October 2024 across Scotland.

The festival will contain conferences, meet-ups, morning breakfast sessions, evening networking events including:

Fintech Summit , 25 September, Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh

Scottish Financial Technology Awards, 25 September, The Sheraton Hotel, Edinburgh

Financial Regulation Innovation, 26 September, Barclays Campus, Glasgow

Payment Innovation, 27 September, Edinburgh Napier University, Craiglockhart Campus

Scaling Your Fintech, 1 October

Data Innovation, 3 October, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Futures Institute

For more information on the Fintech Scotland Festival and other fringe events click below.