Driving the entrepreneurial culture in Scotland

The global impact of entrepreneurs from Scotland has arguably been out of all proportion to the size of the nation.  Nevertheless, a new Policy Briefing from NESTA, Driving innovation in Scotland, argues that Scotland must develop its own distinctive innovation policies as it becomes more reliant on services.   The briefing calls for the Scottish Government to develop a policy framework that supports all forms of innovation and notes a number of unique factors whic give Scotland a greater opportunity to make this transition – including “a proud history of invention, a stronger Higher Education base than the rest of the UK, and a number of important growth sectors.”

The briefing is published two months after the Scottish Government announced a  higher education programme to strengthen and further drive that “spirit of entrepreneurialism in Scottish higher education”.  The Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Strathclyde will participate in the Scottish Programme For Entrepreneurship which will be jointly funded by the Scottish Government and the Hunter Foundation. It will cost £2.65 million over the next three years and will: recruit world class professors to chairs in entrepreneurship; develop entrepreneurship education at undergraduate level; support entrepreneurial education in colleges and in teacher training; develop a one year master’s programme in entrepreneurship; and run a coordinated programme of research into enterprise and entrepreneurship.