To help Scotland become a global leader in data and AI innovation and skills development, The Data Lab Innovation Centre, has been awarded long-term investment from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI, is one of four innovation centres selected by SFC to be funded to drive innovation and collaboration in Scotland, alongside Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST), Industrial Biotechnology IC (IBioIC) and Digital Heath and Care IC (DHI).
Investing in innovation to grow Scotland’s economy
First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousef visited BE-ST today (17th January) to announce SFC’s commitment to significant, long-term annual investment across the four innovation centres to ensure innovation continues to grow and support Scotland’s economy.
The announcement follows a robust assessment process informed by independent evaluation of the national innovation centre programme established by SFC in 2013. Based on the assessment panel’s recommendations, four of the centres will be supported with up to £2m of SFC funding each per year to cement their place at the heart of Scottish innovation and knowledge exchange. SFC will work with the remaining three innovation centres on shorter-term transitional funding as they move to new models of support, including from
the private sector.
Supporting infrastructure for collaboration and skills development
Scottish Innovation Centres, described as world leading hi-tech
organisations, are partnerships between SFC, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise and have backing from industry. They add value through collaborative projects, consortia building, secondments, industrial studentships as well as providing spaces for collaborative work and shared access to equipment. Innovation centres also support skills and training to develop the next generation of researchers and knowledge exchange practitioners through masters and post-doctoral level provision.
Over the last ten years, The Data Lab has funded almost 1,000 graduate students and creating 1,449 jobs and £200M additional revenue in academic and industry collaborations.
The Data Lab is grateful to be part of Scotland’s Innovation Infrastructure and ready to play its part in achieving Scotland’s potential by leveraging data and AI to transform our economy and society.
Find out more about The Data Lab’s impact
Karen Watt, Chief Executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said:
“Today’s announcement builds on a decade of astute investment that has produced significant dividends in terms of new products, new processes and new jobs. It has also created valuable relationships between universities, colleges and industry. Each of the current innovation centres will gain from this unique legacy.
“Data, digital health, biotech and innovation for a zero carbon built environment will benefit from long-term public investment focussed on opportunities for creating future prosperity.”
Humza Yousaf MSP, First Minister of Scotland, said:
“Innovation and collaboration are at the heart of our work to grow our economy and that is why I am delighted to announce funding of up to £8m per year for the SFC’s new investment plan for the Innovation Centres.
“This is a long-term commitment that will deliver greater stability and allow them to sustain and deepen their impact.
“The centres allow businesses and organisations to innovate by working with the best from academia to develop new products and processes. This will drive positive societal impact and economic prosperity across the country.”
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