Innovation e-newsletter Spring 2008
Welcome to the second edition of INNOVATION - the newsletter that brings you all the news from Innovation Centres Scotland Ltd, Hillington Park Innovation Centre, Alba Innovation Centre, Wireless Innovation and Wellness Innovation and Technology.
Lots has been happening over the last 6 months from within the Innovation Centres and the initiatives and also with our clients.
Incubation provides recipe for success
Entrepreneurs starting out in business have lots of things to consider - what's their innovation, which market will they target, how will they create their product/service, how will they fund their business and where will they locate their business?
Not many realise that through the support of a business incubator their chances of survival and long term success greatly improve. A recent survey in the UK put the survival rate of businesses within an incubator at 98%, a significant difference from normal survival rates. So why would you choose to locate in a business incubator over normal office accommodation?
A number of managing agents offer professional office space at reasonable rates in prime locations throughout the UK, whether this is in a business park or city centre location. A serviced office offers new companies all the facilities they require to start any business, but will they provide advice and support to establish and grow businesses alongside like-minded entrepreneurs?
It's a big decision to make, especially when normal office accommodation can appear on the face of it to be much cheaper than locating in an incubator and, as we all know, every penny counts when you are starting out in business! Weighing up the benefits of locating your business in an incubator are difficult to measure when there are lots of other decisions to make and your key focus is getting your product/service market-ready.
One of the major drawbacks of locating in normal office accommodation is the fact that you have to find out about and do everything on your own - there's no-one there to help and advise you on how to create a market focussed business plan, any finance you have to raise has to be done through your own sources, you need to find out about grant support yourself and who do you go to when you simply want to talk to someone about a problem/issue your business is facing - or find someone who's been in the same situation previously?
According to the UK Business Incubation (the best practice body for the industry) business incubation provides a nurturing, instructive and supportive environment for entrepreneurs during the critical stages of starting up a new business. The goal of an incubator is to increase the chance that a start-up will succeed, and shorten the time and reduce the cost of establishing and growing its business.
Currently, there are approximately 300 incubators in the UK, supporting in excess of 20,000 dynamic, creative and innovative businesses - a significant proportion of the UK's new business start-ups!
Business Incubators have an important role to play in supporting local and regional businesses, but you may ask whether they actually work. Over the last 9 years, UK Business Incubation has measured the impact that incubators have on the local economy and workforce. The research proves that an incubator's client businesses provided an average of 167 jobs (full time equivalents) per incubator and are home to an average of 30 client businesses. Most (60%) incubators also operate "outreach" services, helping and advising companies outside the incubator. Those operating outreach activities support an average of 150 additional businesses. Across the sample, an average of 75% of client companies' turnover up to £500,000, but only 1.5% had a turnover of > £5 million.
Most importantly, business incubators have an average success rate of 98% of businesses succeeding whilst in the incubator (compared to a national average of less than 50% of all small and medium sized companies registered) and 87% surviving after 5 years of starting.
Hillington Park Innovation Centre is one of the premier providers of business incubation services in the UK. Tom Ogilvie, CEO of Innovation Centres Scotland Ltd, the company who manage Hillington Park Innovation Centre, said "Hillington Park Innovation Centre alone has seen 131 companies develop innovative businesses from the Innovation Centre since it opened its doors in November 2000, 74 companies have graduated and are now running very successful businesses, with the majority choosing to stay in Renfrewshire. In total, a staggering 558 new jobs have been created as a result of companies locating in the Hillington Park Innovation Centre."
"I believe that the secret behind our success is a combination of factors, the selection of companies we invite to become tenants, our network of innovation contacts and our market focus which together all aid the success and growth of our clients' businesses. A company's idea has to be innovative, the management team has to have entrepreneurial flair and the technology has to be right for market!"
"We really make an effort to encourage companies to make use of the advisory services on offer at the Centres (both Hillington and the Alba Innovation Centre in Livingston). These services look at all aspects of a company's business from finance and funding, intellectual property and legal issues, sales and marketing, considering the product and technology offering and considering the management style. The advisors encourage companies to network with like-minded entrepreneurs within the Centres and will bring in outside expertise where required to focus on specific requirements of the business."
"Incubation is an important factor for both the Scottish and UK economy, but it is the innovators in incubation that really make a difference. We are not just about delivering innovation services but about developing and innovating our ideas within our market. I am always striving to come up with new ideas and new projects which we know will improve the support to our clients and hopefully benefit the local economy. We launched Wellness Innovation and Technology earlier this year with the aim of supporting companies developing innovative ideas within health and wellness sector in Scotland. Already we have identified over 60 companies who we are working closely with and engaging with a number of strategic partners who really want to make an impact in this sector - it's projects like this that keep us innovative!"
The impact Hillington and Alba has on the wider community is amazing - we've had a number of entrepreneurs who have visited the Centres over the last 7 years, all of whom are blown away by the sheer success of these Centres.
Richard Tait, founder of the board game Cranium (and Global Scot) said, "There is no question that being a pioneer can be a lonely and risk ridden pursuit. Having the chance to surround yourself with like minded people and the experience and infrastructure to succeed is a huge advantage. There is no question that the Hillington Park Innovation Centre increases your chances to win."
Bill Joos of Garage Technology Ventures and GotoMarketing Consulting, California commented about the Centre, "In my career working with hundreds of early-to-mid stage startups I has visited many innovaton centres across the globe and I would say that Hillington really stands out and compares very favourably indeed to a number of the leading US incubators"
Mike Southern, author of the Beermat Entrepreneur said, "All new companies need mentors and Centres such as the Alba Innovation Centre are the perfect location for companies to find their mentor!"
John Giannandrea, chief technology officer and co-founder of Metaweb Technologies Ltd, a multi-billion dollar industry based in San Francisco said, "I am amazed by the innovative companies coming out of Scotland, especially those who are trading extensively on the internet. It is organisations such as Innovation Centres Scotland who run incubators who can help nuture these companies and give them the confidence to believe they can become ‘the next big thing'."
Hillington News
Incubation for Innovative companies at an all time high!
The Hillington Park Innovation Centre has seen a rapid rise in the number of new companies knocking on their door over the last three months.
The award winning Centre which boosts the reputation for being the leading innovation centre in Scotland is almost at full capacity, which reflects the number of new and exciting innovative businesses starting up in Scotland recently and choosing an innovation Centre to locate their business, rather than trying to do it on their own.
Tom Ogilvie, Chief Executive of Innovation Centres Scotland Ltd, the company that operates Hillington Park Innovation Centre said, "When we opened the doors to Hillington Park Innovation Centre in 2000, we set out on a journey to prove that the incubation process which we initially launched, and have developed over the years, ensures that the survival rate of companies in locations such as Hillington is much higher than for start-up companies who try to go it alone. Hillington is a great example of just that! Start-up companies are now choosing Innovation and Incubation Centres over general business parks as they like the support and advice they receive from the on-site advisors and they know they will have a higher chance of survival."
8 new companies have moved into the Hillington Park Innovation Centre since December 2007, which brings the total number of tenants to 38.
Some of the innovative new companies recently moved into the Centre include:
Grow Live Ltd who has developed a mobile data capture solution for teams, which embraces technologies to connect mobile workers and office based employees. An innovative approach removes the need for companies to invest in expensive servers and development time and allows small/medium sized businesses to track and manage large teams with ease. The company have secured a contract with Heineken UK, where the system was piloted and used by 10 members of their UK sales team.
Informatics Clinical Information Systems produce software for healthcare providers, and specialise in preoperative assessment, operating theatre management and surgical scheduling and anaesthetic information management. The company has won a SMART award for technical innovation, and is engaged in a research project operated in partnership with the University of Manchester, and supported by the UK Government DTI, to develop a new generation of smart Web-based clinical assessment tools. Informatics has been in operation since 1991 and has relocated from Glasgow City Centre to benefit from the services at the Innovation Centre.
Liam Hughes of Grow Live said, "We think the opportunity to grow our business out of Hillington Park Innovation Centre is enormous. The facilities and services on offer at the Centre are excellent and the Innovation Advisory team have already made a significant contribution to our business. We are a very ambitious company and like the fact that there are a number of other successful, equally ambitious companies, all working in the same building, which ultimately helps motivate us to ensure we meet our growth targets."
Ross Clark, Centre Director for Hillington Park Innovation Centre said, "It is encouraging to see so many new companies moving into Hillington. There are some exciting new technologies amongst these companies that I feel the Advisory team here at the Innovation Centre and our network of specialist contacts, can use their skills and experience to help these companies grow and ultimately enhance the economy of Scotland. As well as new companies moving into the Centre we also help companies grow to a level where they are ready to graduate and we have seen 5 companies graduate over the last 2 months. This proves that the incubation process within the Hillington Park Innovation Centre really works."
Virtual Interconnect secure 6-figure deal with leading international truck and chassis manufacturer
Specialist engineers, Virtual Interconnect, this month have concluded a deal with a global international truck and chassis manufacturer to deliver a third party wire harness design tool with Pro-engineer, specifically in the area of cabling.
Virtual Interconnect have been working with the client for the last 4 months re-engineering their wire harness design process for their trucks, looking at their existing processes and methodologies.
Virtual Interconnect are specialist providers of 2D and 3D modelling techniques to design complex wire harness design tools. They work with a range of clients including Ingersol Rand, Eire, Thales Aerospace and Thales Simulation, John Deere, USA, British Aerospace, Australia and Pitney Bowes, UK.
Brian Gilhooley, MD of Virtual Interconnect said, “This contract will move our business onto the next level and help us move away from start-up phase. It gives us real potential to grow and fund further investment in more products and the future of Virtual Interconnect.”
Essential Viewing sign partnership deal with Lockheed Martin (UK)
Essential Viewing Systems Limited has agreed to join forces with Lockheed Martin UK to develop the next generation of miniaturised, ultra-low bandwidth video streaming technology.
Video streaming requires large amounts of bandwidth, making it difficult to transmit in high-quality over existing communications media. Now engineers from Essential Viewing Systems and Lockheed Martin UK are working together to develop new techniques in ultra-low bandwidth streaming, allowing for low-latency video to be transmitted without a significant loss of quality.
Les Gaw, Chief Operating Officer at Essential Viewing Systems said, "This agreement allows us to accelerate the development of our core video technology while leveraging the systems integration skills and expertise of Lockheed Martin UK to bring innovative solutions to market."
Marshall Keith, Managing Director at Lockheed Martin UK - Integrated Systems & Solutions said: "Through this collaboration we will extend our capabilities and develop new ways of transmitting video across existing networks. The next generation of video streaming capability will have huge implications for many of our customers who need to share important information quickly and accurately."
Demonstrations of a prototype capability have already been carried out in the Lockheed Martin Swift Laboratory in Farnborough, UK, where it forms a natural extension to Lockheed Martin UK's existing imagery exploitation capabilities.
The UK armed forces, civil defence and transport agencies have already expressed an interest in integrating this revolutionary technology with their existing communication systems, and the technology will have numerous applications across different sectors.
Kelvin Connect delivers mobile solution to Scotland's largest police force
Kelvin Connect who are leading the market in mobile-data capture and electronic notebook solutions have had their technology adopted by Strathclyde Police, Scotland's largest police force. Their technology will enable police officers to provide a more efficient service to the public as it will reduce the time officers will spend completing forms and duplicating information.
Based in the award winning Hillington Park Innovation Centre, Kelvin Connect also introduced their technology into Lothian and Borders Police Force in 2003 and worked in partnership with them for almost 5 years to develop a robust solution that would work across any police force in the UK.
Working in partnership with Arqiva, the Kelvin Connect Pronto Police Notebook offers police officers the complete mobile-data solution with the notebook capturing mobile data in real time and providing the facility for completing electronic forms, alongside the ability to connect to and interrogate national and local police force databases.
Deputy Chief Constable Ricky Gray said;
"This innovative step forward sees Strathclyde Police force at the forefront of modern day policing, using state of the art technology. We believe, over time, we can make approx £800,000 efficiency savings in police officer time (based on 120 officers using this system over an 8 month period).
One of the biggest benefits will be the impact on bureaucracy, freeing up time for police officers to focus on additional patrolling."
Campbell McClelland of Kelvin Connect said;
"This is a real step forward for Kelvin Connect. We are now servicing two of Scotland's leading police forces which is strategically very important for our business. Our partnership with Arqiva in this initiative is the first of its type and focuses on providing the complete mobile-data solution , i.e. our mobile-data capture and access to the police national computer provided by Arqiva.
In Sept 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that he was aiming to arm up to 10,000 police officers with "handheld computers" so they can make more effective use of their time and increase the amount of frontline policing they do. The Kelvin Connect solution is already the leading supplier of these solutions in the UK.
Ross Clark, Centre Director of Hillington Park Innovation Centre said, "Kelvin Connects' electronic notebook product is leading the way in the police force market in Scotland. Our advisory team has worked closely with their management team over the last 4 years to help them grow their business. As a spin out of Glasgow University, Kelvin Connect is a great example of the innovation that is being developed in Scotland's universities and getting to market in demanding commercial applications".
Bridgeall Software used in Successful Scottish Water Market Opening
Leading UK software company Bridgeall has played a key role in opening the Scottish Water Market. Since 1st April, Scottish businesses have been able to choose their water supplier for the first time.
Bridgeall was contracted to Gemserv to develop and support software on a 15-month project to ensure the timely delivery of the central IT system that enables the Central Market Agency (CMA) to manage the new £350 million market effectively. The Central System delivers functionality for customer switching and calculation of the wholesale charges that are levied by Scottish Water and paid for by the new water suppliers. The modern web-services based messaging architecture enables industry participants to submit transactions and receive notifications both securely and efficiently.
Stephen Beer, managing director at Bridgeall, commented: "This is a step-change for the Scottish Water Industry and we are delighted to have delivered this major contribution. In doing so we have further enhanced our considerable experience of working with clients operating in the utilities sector and have again demonstrated our capabilities of delivering effective solutions to clients on time and within budget."
Nigel Bromley, Gemserv chief executive, said: "Given our detailed experience of helping market regulators set up regulatory structures and governance frameworks in other markets, we knew that significant challenges would be encountered along the road to competition. We're therefore very pleased to have delivered on time with Bridgeall playing a key role as our systems development partner."
The CMA is a not-for-profit organisation jointly owned and funded by Scottish Water and suppliers and Jeremy Atkinson, CMA Chief Executive said: "The introduction of competition is a significant development in the provision of water to the Scottish business community, which should ultimately benefit the Scottish economy. We at the CMA are committed to administering the system that handles customer switching in the most cost effective and efficient manner. Our IT systems are critical in ensuring we deliver our remit effectively and we have been extremely pleased with the solution delivered."
Bridgeall has been helping customers improve their businesses by delivering outstanding software solutions since 2003. It designs, builds and integrates software products and services. Its clients include the likes of ScottishPower, City Building LLP, Gemserv and Westminster City Council.
Interview with Julia Lavelle of Etellect, a graduate tenant of Hillington Park Innovation Centre
Etellect is an eSolutions Company that specialises in the design and development of Smart Web Services and Creative eBusiness Solutions.
With clients such as Ultimo, NHS, McGrigors , First Engineering, Thales, Scottish Child Minding Association, to name but a few, Etellect is one of only a few companies in the UK that have a proven track record in the development of .NET applications and Web Services.
Etellect started their business from the Hillington Park Innovation Centre and has subsequently graduated to a bigger location within the Hillington Park Estate. Anna-Marie Taylor, Marketing Manager of the Hillington Park Innovation Centre caught up with Julia Lavelle of Etellect recently to find out what the business is up to now and what it was about the Innovation Centre that really made a difference to Etellect's business
When asked why Etellect chose the Hillington Park Innovation Centre to locate their business initially, Julia highlighted that they wanted a location that meant they had easy access to the M8 Motorway and Glasgow airport for all their business meetings. Julia's partner director Greg Lavelle had been in the Innovation Centre previously working alongside another one of the tenants and had been very impressed with the advisory service provided by the Innovation Centre and knew that having this on-site support would mean there was a higher chance that Etellect would succeed if it had this cushion of support to rely on.
Julia was really animated about how much their business had grown over the last 5 years and when asked what was it that really helped grow the business whilst located in the Innovation Centre, Julia explained that the advisory support team really challenged their business model and pushed them to make a real success of the business. "Having a handle on your fixed monthly costs really helps any new start business. When you know exactly how much everything is going to cost you can budget effectively and this allows you to get on with the real job in hand - building the business and securing clients! The Innovation Centre is an excellent networking venue; our business advisors were always introducing us to people who really made a difference to our business - whether that was clients, potential employees, partner introductions, like-minded companies etc"
In February 2006, Etellect decided to graduate from the Centre. They had outgrown their room and they needed separate space for the directors to discuss future growth plans of the business in privacy. Julia highlighted that, "Greg and I were having management meetings in corridors and the car park as we didn't want to discuss some confidential matters in front of the staff!"
Julia explained, "Tom Ogilvie, the CEO of Hillington Park Innovation Centre helped us find suitable accommodation as we wanted to stay in the local area but were looking for accommodation offering us much more space and flexibility. Tom helped negotiate a deal with MEPC (previously Caledonian Land) which enabled us to do just that. We've now got an excellent office building within the Hillington Park Estate which suits our requirements and gives us the ability to grow the business quite extensively."
When asked what was it about the Innovation Centre that Etellect missed most when they graduated, Julia said, "It has to be the controlled costs. We didn't realise it when we were a tenant, but the fact that you know exactly each month how much all your standard costs are going to be, really helps you budget accordingly. Now that we are having to do it ourselves, we realise how easy it is to be a tenant of the Innovation Centre. We also miss the on-site advisory support - we have had support from Scottish Enterprise and the University of the West of Scotland since we graduated but it's not as convenient as having the advisors in the same building!".
Things have really turned around for the business now and they have a highly successful business with 6 full-time staff. They have changed their business model quite significantly, offering all their individual products under one package which combines back-end and front-end processes and offers clients a full business solution combining email, SMS, Website, SAGE, Online credit processing, online questionnaires and a CRM solution.
Julia explained, "When we started out we developed more front-end websites and B2C solutions, now we look at mostly B2B solutions, integrating back-end and database solutions into one website".
"I would say, we've really grown up since leaving the Innovation Centre and have now focussed the business into an area of the market where we have become market experts"
Julia commented on Etellect's plans for the future, ""We want to further productise our ‘business e-solutions in a box' and provide a greater solution which the clients can amend to suit their own requirements. We are already focussing on expanding the functionality of ePostcode.com and eSortcode.com. Etellect have an excellent customer base already so we are focussing on cross-selling our products across our existing customer base."
Julia's key tips for any innovative company looking to set up a business include;
- Cash is King - get your cashflow sorted as soon as possible and the rest will follow
- Ensure you know your market and potential customers in that market
- Find good advisors - pick people who are good, solid, trusted individuals with local knowledge, who come from recommended sources
- Find out about grants that are available to help you get your business get off the ground and offer you flexibility as you grow
"If we were to do it all over again, we would definitely choose to locate in the Hillington Park Innovation Centre. The building looks good and is run professionally which is always important when you are trying to win business. The Innovation Centre has flexible licences so it enables you to grow your business quickly and they will even help you find the right employees for your business. Your costs are controlled for the first few years which is crucial to enable you to establish your cash flow position.
The on-site advisory support is excellent - where else can you get real, impartial advice at 5pm on a Friday night when you are trying to conclude a deal? The advisory team are on your side and are always looking for opportunities to introduce you to the right people who can really make a difference to your business.
The Hillington Park Innovation Centre offers a premier incubation facility for the next generation of innovative, high growth potential, early stage technology companies in Scotland. Hillington Park Innovation Centre is much more than a managed property. Their aim is to make a significant difference to ambitious, innovative technology businesses through a structured and proven process of innovation advisory support and business incubation.
Alba News
Alba celebrates its' first birthday
1st May saw Alba Innovation Centre celebrate its first birthday hosting a highly successful event with over 60 guests and some of the UK's leading entrepreneurs!
Alba opened its doors to innovative new companies in the east of Scotland in December 2006 and is already 65% occupied. Following in the footsteps of its sister incubator, Hillington Park Innovation Centre, Alba is already home to some of Scotland's innovative, potential high growth companies including Eologic, Enviroliance and Savantech.
Speakers at the event, Mike Southon, co-author of the Beermat Entrepreneur and Imran Khand, CEO of Picsel Technologies, described their experiences as entrepreneurs and what companies need to do to stay innovative.
Mike Southon has worked with over 17 start-up companies during his working life, two of which went public and one that went broke! Imran Khand built Picsel from scratch after having established two other successful technology companies.
Mike stressed the importance of having mentors when you are starting out in business as this is key to keeping any new business motivated and on track to achieve its' goals and he highlighted that Centres like Alba are ‘packed full of mentors'. Imran emphasised how important it is to keep your business innovative and always one step ahead of the market - that way both investors and stakeholders are keen to keep investing in the business and potential customers know that the solutions you develop will always be ‘cutting-edge'.
Some of the company highlights that the Alba Innovation has already experienced include;
eoLogic have developed a revolutionary predictive software quality tool, eoSense. It reduces the risk and cost of Java EE development and deployment. Their product is used across Europe and they have recently begun expansion into the US with the opening of a Sales Office in Boston. eoSense has recently been sold to the Minnesota Department of Revenue and their US expansion has been supported by the Alba Innovation Centre and Scottish Development International (SDI). eoLogic are funded by the Archangel Investment syndicate based in Edinburgh and are supported by Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government.
Another key company who has now graduated from the Centre, Oligon Ltd, was acquired by Wolfson Microelectronics plc for £2.9M in cash and loan notes in January 2007. Established in 2005 by Mark Hesketh and Dr Richard Laming, Oligon quickly established itself as a global business. Oligon designed and manufactured a new type of integrated semiconductor "Active ICs" combining MEMS based transducers with CMOS electronics. The deal with Wolfson allowed both companies to leverage their technology synergies and bring to market an expanded range of new and innovative audio products for the consumer market.
Catalise established a business model to set up joint ventures with large companies, who were looking for someone to develop the back-end to their websites for a share of the profits. A good example of this was the Smartycars .com venture which was a deal between Catalise and SMG to operate and market an online automobile marketplace for car dealerships , where Catalise own 30% of the business and SMG own the other 70%.
A real entrepreneur, Bill Smart, founder of Catalise is always looking for new opportunities and ways to grow and diversify the business. He is already considering a new marketing strategy for Smartyhomes and Smartyjobs and they have set up the "Smartycars Challenge" car race which will commence this month. A recent PWC study estimated the Smartycars business to be worth a capital value of £50-£85million in 5 years time - not bad for a small Scottish based forward thinking company!
Enviroliance, formerly known as 3C Environmental, moved into the Centre in December 2006. Formerly an environmental and building management consultancy, the Alba Innovation Centre advisory team challenged them to be more innovative with their business model, which resulted in them developing MoST, their technology solution to monitor environmental and building management processes in real-time. This technology has now been trialled in a pilot with Forth Electrical Services (FES) and used as part of the Forth Ports deal which Enviroliance has recently been awarded. The business has already doubled its turnover in the last year and is currently looking for additional funding to increase the team and develop their technology solution further.
Tom Ogilvie, CEO of Innovation Centres Scotland Ltd, the company who manage Alba Innovation Centre said, "This event crystallised the key achievements of the Centre so far and gave us an opportunity to relay the ambitious plans we have for the future growth of Alba Innovation Centre. Both Mike Southon and Imran Khand hit the nail on the head when they described how companies need to stay innovative to ensure they stay ahead of the game and keep developing innovative solutions."
Enviroliance doubles turnover in the last year, helped by Forth Ports contract
Environmental experts Enviroliance has seen their business grow quite rapidly over the last year as they get a real foothold in the industry.
A recent deal with Forth Ports Plc has seen Enviroliance appointed as the term consultants for legionella control and water management for their 6 Scottish ports. As well as providing the water quality monitoring regime for supply of drinking water to ships coming into ports, Enviroliance also provide interpretation and public health consultancy services, ensuring regulatory compliance and due diligence on behalf of Forth Ports Plc.
Alan Conner, MD of Enviroliance said, "Forth Ports manage other ports UK-wide and we are already in discussions with them about extending our services to their other sites. We see this as a contract offering real opportunities for Enviroliance."
As part of the Forth Ports contract, Enviroliance use their mobile forms technology ‘MoST' as it enables them and the client to access the forms for all of the water management information, remotely, as well as giving the ability to print the forms on-site and automatically download the data to their central server in real-time.
Frank Pettigrew, Health and Safety Manager from Forth Ports said, "The benefits of Enviroliances' mobile solution has meant that we have access to real-time information on-site and centrally which makes our job much easier, as well as having a fully audited water management and monitoring process".
Alan Conner said, "We have some very ambitious plans for Enviroliance over the next 6-12 months. We have doubled our turnover in the last year and are looking to expand our team and raise additional investment to develop our technology solution further. We have recently gained a lot of attention in the public and private health sector and are putting plans in place to focus on increasing our presence in this market during 2008".
Eologic break into the US Market
Eologic, who have created a new generation of software tools to reduce the cost of building and testing J2EE applications, have recently broken into the US market, through a sale with the US Government. They are currently considering opening an office in the US to deal with demand for their software.
Alpha Space secures award at the BT Scotland Young entrepreneurs awards 2007
Alba based Alpha Space Technology Ltd (ASTL) have won the most visionary business award and a £1000 cash prize at the BT Scotland Young Entrepreneurs Awards.
ASTL is an innovative Consultancy and Software Company specialising in the production of advanced software tools designed to enhance organisational efficiency, productivity and cost savings.
ASTL's main activities comprise of software based management solutions and database driven applications. They also provide a range of additional products and services including web based marketing tools and project management.
Alan Bonas, Director of Corporate Communications at BT Scotland, and Mark Strudwick, Chief Executive of the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust presented the award to Alpha Space Technology on 28th Jan 2008.
Wireless News
3GSM highlights digital media as the key focus for 2008
Wireless Innovation recently exhibited Mobile World Congress (3GSM) in Barcelona along with 55,000 visitors to do business and debate the future of the world's mobile phone industry.
Mobile entertainment and content formed a major theme throughout the show, with an entire hall dedicated to multimedia content for mobile devices.
The key focus areas for the show were:
Mobile advertising which is being seen as the new "must have!" Mobile analyst M:Metrics predicted that 2008 will be a big year of development for mobile advertising.
Location and Navigation. Analysts are predicting a boom in the number of GPS-enabled handsets, which creates opportunities for all sorts of tailored applications and services. Nokia is already investing heavily in navigation!
Social networking/user generated content. Jason Chapman from Gartner said, "Expect to see device manufacturers saying ‘here's my button that I've dedicated to Facebook". Social networking is just one part of the whole user-generated conversation which is fast spreading onto mobiles - with blogging and photo uploading the other areas that are also gaining ground as tools for uploading content improve and the mobile internet gets faster and faster.
Mobile Commerce and Banking. A number of operators and handset manufacturers have voiced their commitment to investigating the use of NFC for contactless payments including Nokia, Motorola, O2, Vodafone and Orange. Everyone's watching the O2 wallet trial to see how successful this technology is going to be.
Operating Systems. And so the discussion continues.......will it be Microsoft or will it be Linux? This area of the market is being closely monitored by the LiMo Foundation as well as the Open Handset Alliance.
Mobile TV. Mobile broadcast networks in Europe look problematic. Operators will be essential but the market is unsure what value they will get from the service and what technology will support it. DVB-H looks like a strong contender by we mustn't overlook the developments in TDTV.
Debbie McCutcheon, researcher for Wireless Innovation said about this year's 3GSM, "I think what was encouraging was the fact that a number of Scotland's mobile and wireless companies are already developing applications and content in these key areas. I believe digital media will become a huge growth sector for Scotland over the next 2-3 years."
Qualcomm discuss collaboration and investment with Scotland’s mobile and wireless companies
Wireless Innovation has developed a working relationship with Qualcomm, which delivers 3G wireless technology and services to customers around the world.
In partnership with Scottish Enterprise, Wireless Innovation organised for 9 of Scotland's leading wireless and mobile companies to meet with Qualcomm's Corporate Business Development team last month. Qualcomm was introduced to these companies and their technologies, and several are now engaged in ongoing discussions with Qualcomm about potential collaboration.
Qualcomm has recently announced that they will be investing €100million in emerging European wireless and mobile companies.
Mobile Acuity’s Shoot and Score wins two coveted industry awards
Mobile Acuity has announced that their visual recognition platform has enabled Nokia Interactive, a global leader in mobile marketing, to win two out of the twelve categories at this year's mobile marketing awards which was held in London on the 6th of March. The event is the annual gathering of the UK's mobile marketing industry where excellence within this growing sector is recognised. Anthony Ashbrook, founder and CEO at Mobile Acuity said, "Our mobile visual recognition platform, snap2win:playTM, has allowed Nokia Interactive and their partner, one of the worlds largest mobile operators, to lead the mobile marketing industry in terms of technical innovation and campaign creativity. The campaign took first place in both the "Most innovative use of technology in mobile marketing and Best creativity in mobile marketing campaigns".
Mobile Acuity's powerful visual recognition platform can take a poor quality image from a camera phone, match this to an image database and determine precisely where the consumer is pointing their handset over the image. The winning campaign uses this capability to allow consumers to take football penalties with their camera phone by pointing at a printed poster of a soccer goal. Mobile Acuity's platform allows visual recognition campaigns to be created in just a few minutes with an easy to use web based campaign creation tool.
Wellness Innovation News
Partner opportunities for companies working in the health and wellness sector in Scotland
The Wellness and Technology Initiative which was launched in September 2007 with the objective of identifying and grow a Scottish supply chain, has completed its pilot phase.
The aim of the initiative is to support companies who are utilising innovation and technology to promote 'a healthy state' by developing preventative healthcare products and services which help to avoid crisis's and or increase an individuals' ability to live independently'.
The pilot, which was undertaken by Innovation Centres Scotland Ltd and sponsored by Scottish Enterprise, unearthed a number of interesting findings for this ever growing marketplace, not least that at least 40 companies are already developing innovative solutions targeted directly at this marketplace and there are a number of partner organisations who have expressed their interest in working with the initiative to develop this sector.
Partner activity to date has included support from SKF who are the world wide manufacturing and facilitation organisation who have agreed to support up to 6 companies by providing support and advice in the following areas
- Planning for production, requirements and considerations
- Prototype development & design
- Guidance on the role and requirements for effective system software
- Regulatory guidance
- Ballpark costs for rollout (prototype or full production)
To date, the University of Strathclyde's OrthominderTM project and Mobile Healthcare Networks have taken up this free consultancy half day offer.
Donald Howieson, Sales and Marketing Manager from SKF said, "We are delighted to be associated with the Wellness Innovation and Technology initiative as we believe there are a number of companies in Scotland innovating in the health and wellness sector. We have identified the health and wellness market as a key market for us to get a better understanding of and are looking forward to being able to help support the development and launch of new companies providing creative solutions to meet the growing market demands.
Other partner support includes Proctor & Gamble who are actively looking for licensing opportunities of products that are aimed at the personal healthcare consumer market. They have indicated they would be happy to support the Wellness Innovation and Technology initiative to work with companies who meet their portfolio profiles.
As the initiative evolves we hope to be able to call on P&G to support events by providing insights as to how SMEs might succeed in a competitive global market
OLM, who is the UK's largest independent supplier of information solutions for children's, adults and health services, are actively looking for new products and services to market through their portal.
David Rivett, Technical Director, from OLM said, "We are keen to become more involved with the initiative as we believe innovation and technology will be key to developing and extending care services over the next 10 years. We known for providing high quality solutions and to this end could provide companies or individuals with complementary products and services a ‘route to market'. We were delighted to be involved in the assistive living focus group and feel confident that we will be able to support the initiative with key market information to support Scotland's ambitions for growing this sector".
Tom Ogilvie from Innovation Centres Scotland said, "The first 6 Months of the initiative have been highly successful and we have uncovered a number of interesting findings about this sector in Scotland. We see huge potential for Scotland's companies in the global health and wellness market and I believe the pilot is starting to pull together a solid basis and understanding of the dynamics of the marketplace as well as where their innovation fits within this global market.
Wellness Innovation and Technology help Funky Moves define their routes to market
Today's children are not getting enough exercise. Schools are being encouraged to increase the level of games and sports on offer, but teachers are not always trained to teach PE. Funky Moves, a startup company from Livingston, has come up with the idea to overcome this - a wireless programmable cone system designed to improve children's agility, speed, memory and interaction.
Funky Cones can be used in a number of applications - for team games, for fitness training or obstacle courses the children design themselves. They can even be used as a practical example to demonstrate subjects in maths or physics class.
Having developed and tested a prototype, Managing Director Ralf Klinnert was looking for assistance prior to taking Funky Cones to market, so he approached the team at the Wellness Innovation and Technology. The team agreed to carry out market research to define the most effective route to market and confirm their assumptions. They also held an innovation workshop based on systematic innovation methods to develop concepts for next generation products.
The result was a market report that could be fed into the business plan. And the outcome of the workshop was over 20 concepts for next generation cones.
