Australia taps into Scots organisation expertise

THE head of a Scottish organisation which helps small businesses tap into university expertise will this week showcase how the initiative could be replicated Down Under.

Siobhán Jordan, director of the publicly-funded Interface partnership, is due to meet representatives of the Australian government and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) tomorrow to highlight the benefits of closer collaboration between industry and academia.

On Wednesday, she will be speaking at the 50th anniversary meeting of the Australian Industrial Research Group, the professional body for managers responsible for research and development at companies operating in Australia and New Zealand.

Jordan said: “This is a great opportunity to spread the word about what is being achieved in Scotland. Interface was established almost ten years ago and has grown from strength to strength with more than 2,700 enquiries from businesses and over 1,000 projects as a result.

“CSIRO is Australia’s national science agency and one of the largest and most diverse research agencies in the world, so it is a privilege to be asked by them to share Scotland’s experience.”

Interface, which bills itself as the “knowledge connection for business”, matched more than 200 businesses to Scotland’s universities and research institutes to develop products and services last year, generating an additional £17 million for the economy and helping to create 360 jobs across the country, including in rural areas.

Creative industries and the food and drink sector accounted for almost half the businesses involved in the academic collaboration.

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