Research to business plans unveiled

Three new centres designed to turn more university research into businesses will be announced by First Minister Jack McConnell.

The Scottish Executive will spend £450m over the next 10 years in an attempt to create more Scottish technology firms.

It said that too often groundbreaking research projects have to go abroad before their true value was realised.

The technology institutes to be announced on Tuesday are the first of their kind in the UK, according to the executive.

One is expected to develop creative companies, another for bio-technology and a third for oil and gas.

Scottish Enterprise, the government quango responsible for economic development, views the institutes as one of its greatest achievements this year.

They are part of the move away from relying on foreign inward investors towards more high-growth Scottish firms.

It is a high risk project which will run for the next 10 to 15 years.

And it will be at least that long, before Scottish Enterprise knows whether its multi-million pound gamble has paid off.

BBC Business Website 10-12-02