A key project for the Green Economy, Innovation and International team in 2022/23 has been the development of the Glasgow City Region Innovation Accelerator programme.

The city-region was pre-selected by the UK Government for an equal share of £100 million of Innovation Accelerator programme funding along with the two city-regions of Greater Manchester and West Midlands. This approach is intended by government to support the Levelling Up agenda on tackling regional disparities across the UK and to promote more rapid growth and market entry of industry-led innovation. Partners across the public, academic and private sectors in Glasgow City Region identified key sectors for further progression, from which specific project proposals were then developed for submission to this programme.

In March 2022 an industry-led Innovation Accelerator Partnership was established and our local programme plan was submitted to Innovate UK in June 2022. This plan included a longlist of projects which was then refined with the support of university partners, leading to a total of 17 projects being submitted to Innovate UK by the November deadline.

These 17 projects were then assessed by Innovate UK and a regional selection panel was convened to consider the final portfolio of projects. In February 2023 a shortlist of 11 projects was put forward by the panel to the GCR Regional Partnership. These 11 projects are focused on key sectors which have been identified as representing particular areas of local strength and many draw upon strong links between business and the higher education sector, a key asset of the city region.

The 11 projects were announced in March 2023 in the Chancellor’s spring budget statement, with more than a 1:1 co-investment of other funds currently committed across the aggregate project lifetime. Project delivery is underway and Economic Development is now leading on the development of a regional innovation action plan to support the wider innovation eco-system.

The anticipated outcomes of the Innovation Accelerator programme have been linked to the key aims of the Glasgow City Region Economic Strategy, in particular for the city region to become one of the most innovative, sustainable and inclusive economies in the UK by 2030.