One of the key drivers of a successful economy is innovation. Scotland has a proven track record of being a highly innovative nation. This can be one of the foundations upon which to build an exciting economic future. Main elements are information technology, life sciences, software and gaming, and space technologies.
The nature of innovation is changing. We often think of it in terms of those eureka moments when a real breakthrough is discovered or a startling new idea shocks and captivates the world. And mind-blowing discoveries do indeed take place. However, the more mundane truth is such moments are rare. Real economic growth comes from what is known as close to market, applied or downstream innovation.
The latter is all about adding value to products, understanding customer needs, analysing niches, proof of concept and testing prototypes. The need for businesses of all sizes to connect to and partner with universities conducting relevant research is key. The fact we have four universities in the top 200 in the world for research – more than any other nation on a per-head basis (that has more than one university) – is a real advantage. Scotland needs to invest in the changing face of innovation and promote those changes so our economy can grow in added-value sectors and create more highly skilled, highly paid, better quality jobs. But the fact is this is another area in which our position within the Union holds Scotland back. The UK’s poor performance in R&D spending in comparison to European countries makes it clear that its innovation policy is lacking in ambition and that this negatively impacts on Scotland.
Investing public money in innovation and cutting-edge industries will be a key plank of the economic strategy of an independent Scotland. We will create bespoke innovation policies for Scotland, rather than a one-size-fits-all policy that caters only for London and the south-east’s finance and service industry-dominated needs.
An independent Scotland would take control of the powers needed to turbocharge innovation and serve as a key to building a better future for this country and those who live here. Let’s make things again in an independent Scotland, in fact let’s make clever innovative things that demand high prices and create higher paid jobs and sell them to the world.