A CONFERENCE FOR BUSINESS LEADERS FROM ALL SECTORS

Scotland’s first Industry Leadership (ILG) Symposium will take place on Wednesday 25th September 2024 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC). Registration from 09:00 conference starts 09:30 to 16:30.

The day long programme designed by the ILG Chairs working group includes a combination of presentations and ILG videos that will provide the audience with insights into the priorities and focus for Scotland’s 15 key business sectors. It will also feature presentations and panel discussions with politicians and business leaders from across Scotland’s economy.

Open to all, this conference presents an excellent opportunity to be involved in a ‘strategic think tank’ for industry and to network with business leaders from a variety of sectors, including government.

The overarching core purpose of the symposium is to:

• Enhance knowledge: exchange information with fellow ILG sectors.
• Showcase best practice/innovative thinking: sharing knowledge across sectors.
• Collaborate: create a network across the ILG sectors.
• Identify clear actions: what can the industry do for itself and working collectively, towards maximising and unlocking potential.

Laura Goodfellow, Associate Director, Interface will be speaking at this event.

The Challenges Group, an international enterprise development organisation that delivers enterprising solutions to global challenges celebrates their 25th anniversary with a day of meaningful collaboration and inspirational learning, designed to be outcome and action-oriented, with the aim of making real progress towards ‘enterprising solutions to global challenges’. Forge new partnerships, engage in insightful discussions, participate in hands-on workshops, and take advantage of networking opportunities, as well as celebrating their 25th anniversary.

Event Details:

Date: Thursday, September 19th, 2024
Time: 9:15 AM – 5:30 PM
Location: 18 Brunswick Street Lane, Edinburgh (My Edinburgh)
Attendees: Leaders from the Scottish social economy, venture building, and international development sectors

Panel Discussions:
• Productivity, People, and Impact in the Social Economy
• What is Venture Building?
• How Can Scotland Lead On Sustainable International Economic Development

Keynote Panel & Q&A: Enabling Edinburgh to Thrive (Speaker details to be announced)

Lunch and Networking

Breakout Workshops:
• Productivity, People, and Impact in the Social Economy
• What is Venture Building?
• How Can Scotland Lead On Sustainable International Economic Development
• Enabling Edinburgh to Thrive

Special Session:
• The Challenges Group Past, Present, and Future – Eoghan’s Big Moment

Celebration: Prosecco and Cake

For more information go to their website : Challenges Group | Enterprising solutions to global challenges (thechallengesgroup.com)

With the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, misattributions and misrepresentations are becoming more prevalent, necessitating immediate attention to develop frameworks and solutions that uphold authenticity and trust in digital content.

Join us in the online workshop “The Value of Provenance Data in the Age of AI” for the opportunity to engage in cutting-edge discussions on how Artificial Intelligence is transforming users’ perceptions of and requirements for provenance information on media content. During the workshop, experts in media and AI provenance will give short talks on the challenges posed by AI technology for the authenticity and value of media provenance. Talks will be followed by a participatory discussion moderated on the online collaborative platform Miro. The data collected during the workshop will contribute to open-access publications and further research on the theme.

This workshop is supported by the UK Centre for the Decentralised Digital Economy (DECaDE). Our research group aims to support creator recognition and rights management in creative work, and has developed ORAgen, an online demonstrator that employs decentralizing technologies to embed attribution and licensing into digital content. In the next stage of our research, we aim to understand the challenges posed by AI concerning Ownership, Rights, and Attribution (“ORA” is the framework upon which ORAgen is based).

Data and artificial intelligence has played an increasingly prominent role in elections in recent years. 2024 is packed with democratic elections, in countries including the UK, United States and India, but what impact will data and AI have – both positive and negative?

How are rogue actors spreading disinformation and deploying plausible deepfakes to influence elections – and undermine our trust in democracy more generally?

How can democratic societies counter those threats – and more importantly, how can we build better future democracies by regulating and controlling AI and data effectively?

Hear from experts on these and a range of other issues around the complex interplay between artificial intelligence, data and democracy.

Turing Fest, the unique cross-functional tech event, is set to return to Edinburgh on July 9th-10th, 2024, for its 9th edition.

This gathering will unite founders and leaders in engineering, product development, and growth, offering opportunities to connect, learn, and collaborate on building better technology.

Leading tech experts will present their insights and experiences across three main tracks: Build (engineering & product), Grow (marketing & revenue), and Lead (people & company-building).

Attendees can learn through keynote sessions, speaker roundtables, peer-led “mind meld” sessions, and “lunch and learn” events. Networking opportunities include parties, speed networking sessions, and personalized 1-to-1 meetings organized via our matchmaking event app.

The Oscars of entrepreneurship at the University of Edinburgh: the Inspire Launch Grow Awards is happening on 6th June, 3pm – 6pm and is offering double the prize fund!

Inspire Launch Grow is about recognising innovation, creativity, and successes as well as the resilience, ambition, and accomplishments of entrepreneurs from the University of Edinburgh.

Accelerate your startup with the Inspire Launch Grow Awards with support, pitching advice and cash prizes to help take your startup to the next level. With three main categories to help kickstart your early-stage startup, nurture your social enterprise or accelerate your established startup. Enter now and be in with a chance of winning a share of the £48,000 prize fund.

This annual celebration of enterprise and a chance for Inspire Launch Grow finalists and winners to pitch and talk about their business with the wider enterprise ecosystem. This event is a celebration of University of Edinburgh students and alumni entrepreneurial success while giving attendees the opportunity to connect and form new partnerships and collaborations. Invitees include University of Edinburgh entrepreneurs, alumni, entrepreneurial organisations, business people, partners, investors and University colleagues. Drinks and catering will be provided. The after-party will take place at the Student Enterprise Hub with a BBQ and more drinks available.

The Business & Enterprise Breakfast Briefing being held at Heriot Watt University Scottish Borders Campus is a unique opportunity for industry leaders and businesses to engage directly with one of the UK’s leading universities in fostering innovation and enterprise.

Why Attend?

• Networking Opportunities: Connect with business leaders, innovators, and academics to expand your professional network.
• Insight into Cutting-Edge Research: Gain insights from pioneering research in sustainable design, medical technology, advanced photonics, and more, showcasing how these can translate into tangible benefits for your business.
• Tour of Innovations: Post-event, take the opportunity to visit the school’s degree showcase.

Key Features:

• Explore the Global Research Innovation Discovery (GRID) ecosystem, Heriot-Watt’s answer to making our university accessible and easy to work in partnership with.
• Hear from some leading academics and researchers on how the university is driving global innovations from across our campuses.
• Discover partnership opportunities across talent and skills, research and development and consultancy IP and licensing. Find out about Graduate Apprenticeships, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), and bespoke consultancy services that can propel your business forward.
• Learn about unlocking government-funded initiatives and how these can benefit your business operations and growth.

Who Should Attend?

This briefing is ideal for Chief Officers, Directors, Business Owners, R&D leaders, and anyone interested in the successful intersection of academia and industry. Whether you’re from a start-up or an established company, you’ll find valuable insights and opportunities for collaboration.

Innovation, new ideas and emerging technologies in the world of food are constantly being explored and developed across a wide array of fields, disciplines, topics and specialities. However, engagement between the wide range of different subjects in which food features is often limited.

This conference will open up inter-disciplinary boundaries and blind-spots, focussing in particular on what innovation looks like and means across different areas of study involving food.

In inviting all those interested in and engaged with food to discuss what’s considered new, progressive and important from different perspectives, the conference seeks to inspire fresh thinking and improve our understanding of how food works not just in different sectors, but in the world as a whole.

“Being Innovative about Food Innovation” is a two-day event that aims to bring together a diverse community of individuals engaged with researching, studying and working with food. It’s not a standard academic conference, in that it seeks to both champion and challenge different ideas about innovation, inviting contributions in a variety of formats as a means to broadening and improving our thinking on one topic. Whether you are an academic, a researcher, nutritionist, dietitian, chef, cook, food provider, food organiser, food scientist, food educator, agronomist, grower, food producer, brewer, fermenter, marketer, communicator, government official or student, this conference offers a unique opportunity to connect, share knowledge and gain insights not just into the latest trends and breakthroughs in the food sector, but to consider different concepts of what innovation and progress mean.

Howell Davies, Interface’s Head of Strategic Programmes & Funding will be presenting on “How do you define Innovation for the Food & Drink Sector?”

Improving gut health for consumers through innovative products like ió fibrewater.

Background

After transforming their own health with prebiotics, three friends, who personally experienced gut related health challenges founded The Prebiotic Company Ltd and launched ió fibrewater, the UK’s first prebiotic, fibre-infused water in May 2022. Their vision is to lead in the creation of gut health drinks and food products, leveraging the symbiotic relationship between prebiotics and probiotics to enhance gut and overall health.

Prebiotics, specific dietary fibres, play a vital role in nurturing probiotic bacteria, which collectively support gut health and overall well-being. With over 4,000 research papers demonstrating the benefits of prebiotics in supporting the immune system and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and colorectal cancer, as well as improving mood and sleep, ió fibrewater delivers 100% of the daily intake of prebiotics and 20% of an adult’s daily fibre intake.

The Challenge

The company’s collaboration with Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) aimed to validate the efficacy of their core product, ió fibrewater, and lay the groundwork for future product development. They sought to understand how ió fibrewater impacted different probiotics. As prebiotics feed beneficial microbes (probiotics), the company needed to know exactly how, and what probiotics responded to the core ió fibrewater recipe which would be crucial for expanding their product range.

The Solution

In meeting with several different academic partners identified by Interface, Dr. John Butcher and Dr. Ryan Kean from GCU proved to be ideal academic partners, possessing the necessary expertise and enthusiasm for the project. This collaboration not only provided funding for research but also enriched the academic portfolios of the researchers involved, providing an interdisciplinary project in the fields of microbiology and prebiotic food science. Additionally, it provided valuable experience for an undergraduate BSc Food Science student to generate preliminary work as part of their final year research project. Working with a newly launched, novel, prebiotic drink was an excellent opportunity for the student, providing a meaningful project as part of a larger piece of work.

The funding received for this collaboration allowed the purchase of key strains of probiotic bacteria, which now form part of the GCU bacterial culture collection to be used in future teaching and research projects at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The project also led to the development of lab methods that will translate to future projects. In addition, these strains have been utilised in public outreach activities including school visits and open evenings for the promotion of Food Science.

The collaboration yielded significant findings, which were released in November 2022 on GCUs social media platforms, promoting Food Science, academia and industry collaboration. The findings also bolstered investor interest for The Prebiotic Company and paved the way for further collaborations with academic and healthcare institutions.
GCU’s research findings are currently guiding the development of new product variants to add to the ió fibrewater product range.

The Benefits

Company Benefits

• The ability to scientifically validate the product, enhancing consumer confidence and strengthening brand credibility.
• New knowledge leading to the development of future products.
• Expanded product range and potential entry into the healthcare market.
• Increased investor interest and secured pre-seed investment.
• Interest from Universities of Roehampton and Aberdeen in further studies on ió fibrewater for managing type 2 diabetes and tumour growth.

Academic Benefits

• Interest from other academic and healthcare institutions for future studies.
• Enhanced academic portfolios and student experiences.
• Public engagement and promotion of Food Science.
• Enhanced reputation and networking opportunities within academia and industry.

Next Steps

• Investigate the effects of ió fibrewater on specific probiotic bacteria.
• Organise Food Science Innovation Workshops.
• Secure further funding for human trials assessing ió fibrewater’s impact on health metrics.
• Winners of the World Best Drink Innovation Award 2023 and secured £70K Scottish Edge funding in November 2023.
• ió fibrewater launched in Asda in March 2024, marking a significant milestone in its retail presence.

The personal health journeys of the company’s founders Mohsin Laginaf, Alyssa Reid and Jay Curthan continue to drive their commitment to improving gut health for consumers through innovative products like ió fibrewater.