Carole gave an overview of some of the key policy issues around the topic and Ian developed the understanding and definition of what innovation is all about. It was pointed out that Scotland does have innovative companies but not as many as other regions in the UK. The role of innovation in a recession in terms of giving companies an advantage once the economy recovers was stressed as was the need to bring in people from outwith a company to help stimulate innovative thinking. This latter point came up at various points during the discussion and could best be summed up by stressing the importance of establishing and maintaining networks of people as the generators of innovative ideas. This could be customers, academic experts, staff or competitors.

The seeming inability of business/academic links to function effectively at raising Scotland’s success in innovation was raised a number of times with some thinking that Colleges could be the bridge between the two. Problems associated with IP ownership, differing work timescales and the profit motive were some of the barriers outlined as being a block on industry/academia not working effectively. Lack of trust between individuals and companies over loss of control and also a lack of awareness across industry of what different companies actually do was also considered a barrier. The concept of “Innovation Flying Squads” was raised, a model which would see publicly subsidised individuals, go into companies and assist in the innovation process. This led to some discussion of the concept of “connectors” within companies who had a roving remit across all aspects of the business to leverage the innovation cycle.