Edinburgh Napier University’s newly launched Innovation Hub will host a symposium to showcase the future of technology innovation in Scotland, as part of its effort to inspire academic research into reality.
The Hub has been set up to link the world-leading expertise and wide experience of ENU’s academics and researchers with external business communities from a wide variety of sectors, with a view of establishing commercial collaboration to support business growth and development.
Hosted at the Edinburgh Napier University’s Merchiston campus, this Symposium on Technology Innovation and Collaboration on 12 January will gather both industry and academic leaders of Scottish tech, including keynote guest speaker, Mark Logan, Scottish Government’s Chief Entrepreneur. He has been instrumental in the success of several start-ups, including as Chief Operating Officer of Skyscanner, one of Europe's most successful technology companies.
This symposium will be convened by Professor Bill Buchanan OBE, Professor of Applied Cryptography at Edinburgh Napier University, who specialises in blockchain, cryptography, trust and digital identity. In 2017, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to cybersecurity.
Explaining more about the forthcoming symposium, Professor Buchanan said: “Scotland has produced two tech unicorns: Skyscanner and FanDuel. Where will the next one come from? Will it be a university spin-out or an innovative start-up?
“Over the past decade the university has spun-out a number of highly successful spin-outs, including Zonefox, which was acquired by Fortinet, Symphonic – acquired by Ping Identity – and Cyacomb, which has expanded rapidly in international markets.
“This symposium will not only showcase the latest tech innovation emerging from Edinburgh Napier, but also be a collaborative event with our industry partners who will share their knowledge and insights to inspire academics and researchers in the field of technology to engage in innovation and explore commercial collaboration.”
Presentations will include case studies of Edinburgh Napier success stories in the spin-out space, information on funding pathways, with inspirational talks about the opportunities out there and potential markets for the technologies we want to encourage our early career researchers to create.
In addition to Mark Logan’s talk on ‘The Future of Innovation in Scotland’, other guest talks will spotlight cybersecurity and fintech innovation, with presentations also on funding opportunities and research journeys.
Talks will feature guest speakers from: Scottish Enterprise; Innovate UK; DSTL; Interface Online; EU Horizon 2020; TrueDeploy; Zonefox; Cyacomb, and Edinburgh Napier’s Innovation Hub and Bright Red Triangle.
This event will take place at Edinburgh Napier University’s Merchiston campus, from 10am to 4pm, on Thursday 12 January 2023.
