New vehicle for Scots innovation gets the approval of industry

A bit of quick wit from the First Minister saved everyone's blushes, but TIC's many supporters will be hoping the technical glitch is not a portent of things to come.

It was little more than eight years ago when Salmond's predecessor, Jack McConnell, announced the creation of three "flagship" Intermediary Technology Institutes (ITIs) to promote the energy, life sciences and digital media industries across Scotland.

With a projected budget of 450 million over 10 years, their aim was to create a focus for commercialisation of the country's academic research.

The ITIs, McConnell said, would put Scotland at the forefront of economic development: "Growing sectors that exploit these new and emerging technologies will help re-balance the economy and provide the highly-skilled, well-paid jobs that we need."

As it turned out, the ITIs were in operation for about six years under a succession of leaders before being absorbed back into the main operations of Scottish Enterprise in early 2009.

The 134m spent up to that point produced a total of 25 commercialisation projects and 132 patent filings, but no clear strategy for how that intellectual property might be used to generate marketable new products.

The ITIs were not regarded as a raging success, but there is disagreement as to why they came up so short of expectations. As for the TIC at Strathclyde - one of the cornerstones of the International Technology and Renewable Energy Zone (ITREZ) under establishment in Glasgow by Scottish Enterprise - backers say it is a completely different sort of undertaking.

"ITI was about building technology that could be exploited," says Paul Lewis, managing director at Scottish Enterprise. "This is about building an industry."

The new 89m centre will be home to research in fields such as power and energy, photonics, advanced engineering and pharmaceutical manufacturing - all areas where the university has a strong established reputation. Construction at the City Science site on George Street begins next year and comes as a number of companies have already committed to independently set up specialist operations in these fields at nearby locations.

Meanwhile, the TIC has tapped up business partners in the form of Scottish & Southern Energy, Weir Group, ScottishPower, Mitsubishi and others. Jim McDonald, principal of the University of Strathclyde, said 10m worth of industry-led research is already taking place under the TIC umbrella.

It is a distinctly different picture from that of the ITIs, which were criticised for failures to meet the needs of the commercial world.

"For the first time, you have got industry putting down a very clear demand statement, and we are responding to it," says McDonald, who is also a member of the board at Scottish Enterprise.

But even apart from those with a vested interest, there is a sense of confidence about the potential for Strathclyde's TIC.

"I do believe there has been a lot of learning over the last 10 or 15 years, and in any event, the economic situation has changed as well," says Laurence Ward, head of intellectual property at Dundas & Wilson.

Ward, a sceptic of the ITIs from the outset, says it is much easier to see how the private sector can buy into what TIC has to offer. He is also encouraged by the fact that the strategy of licensing out intellectual property appears to have taken a back seat in favour of an emphasis upon local expertise.

"It has been recognised that it is much more about people and collaboration and the quality of the skills that you possess," he says. "I am much more optimistic about this model."