Scotland’s first National Innovation Week will take place later this year, Business Minister Richard Lochhead has announced today.
Taking place from Monday 22 September to Friday 26 September, it will celebrate Scotland’s proud legacy of innovation while showcasing the country’s global leadership in pioneering the transformative technologies and industries of the future.
The week will highlight events and roundtables happening all over the country, celebrating the very best Scotland’s technology ecosystem has to offer – from groundbreaking work in AI and fintech to leading innovations in health tech and climate tech.
The centrepiece will be a Summit taking place at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Thursday 25th September, in parallel with ScotlandIS’ ScotSoft Conference, and bring together industry and academia to drive forward shared ambitions and achieve global presence.
As the delivery partner for the Summit and Innovation Week, ScotlandIS CEO Karen Meechan stated: “Scotland has all the ingredients to be a global technology leader – a rich heritage of innovation, a culture that embraces bold thinking, and academic firsts in cyber and technology-related university degrees. We’re not always the best at shouting about how good we are but Scotland’s first Innovation Week and Summit is a chance to change that, to shine a much-needed spotlight on our world-class ideas and capabilities, and to attract the investment and talent that will power our digital future.”
Scotland’s National Innovation Strategy sets out four key areas to capitalise on competitive advantage:
- advanced manufacturing
- energy transition
- health and life sciences
- data and digital technologies
The Business Minister visited ONE BioHub in Aberdeen, which aims to double the number of life sciences businesses in the north east by 2028.
Mr Lochhead said:
“Scotland is a nation of inventors, creators and problem solvers. We invented the steam engine and the television, and discovered penicillin. Today we stand at the forefront of the next wave of transformative technologies which not only offer immense potential for economic growth but also powerful tools to tackle the global challenges of our time – from healthcare and energy to climate change.
“Companies across Scotland are speeding up the development of new drugs and medicines through automation, pioneering the energy systems of the future and developing the space and satellite technology to help tackle climate change – to give just a few examples.
“It is essential that we seize these opportunities to benefit both our economy and society. Scotland’s first National Innovation Week marks a pivotal moment to turn ambition into action and cement our place as a truly global innovation nation.”
More details via the National Innovation Week website coming soon. Find out more about ScotSoft 2025 here
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