Scottish Enterprise Can Do Innovation Challenge Fund Launch, Tues 07/11/2017: Paul Wheelhouse MSP, Cabinet Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy (second from left), with Keith McDonald (far left, Assistant Director for Research and Innovation at the Scottish Funding Council), Gillian Galloway (third from left, from Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE)) and Alison Munro (Scottish Enterprise). Pictured at the Cosla offices in Haymarket, Edinburgh. Photography for Scottish Enterprise from: Colin Hattersley Photography / MacAteer Photography - cphattersley@gmail.com - www.colinhattersley.com - 07974 957 388

In Scotland, our public bodies are ideally placed to stimulate change. Working day to day in complex environments covering an immense range of services with a wide array of technologies – from collecting rubbish to performing life-saving surgery – they touch every area of our lives.
We’re a country filled with smart start-ups fueled by bright minds from world class universities, supported by a government that has already established initiatives designed to stimulate innovation.
So, with a private sector brimming with talent and public bodies keen to become better, faster and more efficient, we’re championing opportunities for open innovation.
Unveiled last November, the CAN DO Innovation Challenge Fund aims to connect Scottish public bodies and industry to create a mutually beneficial environment for ideas and solutions to flourish.
An innovation challenge is a current problem faced by a Scottish public body, where there is no clear fix or current market solution. We’re providing Scotland’s public bodies with the opportunity to receive up to 100% funding to support the development of innovative solutions.
The Fund is a single point of contact for public sector-led innovation, with support and funding for projects and access to multiple sources of open innovation assistance.
“Our ambition is clear: to create a culture in Scotland that supports businesses to use innovation to grow, all underpinned by a clear, easy to navigate, well-connected system of information, advice and support,” said Paul Wheelhouse, Scottish Minister for Business, Energy and Innovation, as he unveiled the fund in Edinburgh.
Terry Hogg, Project Manager of the CAN DO Innovation Challenge Fund , explains: “The problem we had was how to link public bodies and their challenges with the private sector who could solve them, without creating more hoops for a small business to jump through. They can then take forward the problem, which ultimately may well end up going to market.”
Successful businesses will receive research and development contracts of between £10,000 and £50,000 to deliver their vision of a solution in three to six months.
Those with the most potential enter the next phase, with additional contracts of up to £200,000 and around 18 months to create a prototype and demonstrate its efficiency. “We then expect the public body to buy the solution if it meets their requirements,” says Terry
“The company concerned always retains its IP, they’ll have a ready-made product to take to market elsewhere and have a large scale public body as their first customer to show it has already secured a credible customer. They come away with a product to sell, a customer and are not out of pocket.”
For businesses who don’t make it through the process but with ideas that show potential, doors can open to funding and support from the Fund partners. The CAN DO fund is a joint project between the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and the Scottish Funding Council.
More information on the CAN DO Innovation Challenge Fund and the challenges seeking solutions is available at:
www.scottish-enterprise.com/knowledge-hub/articles/insight/can-do-innovation-challenge-fund
www.scottish-enterprise.com/services/ new-opportunities/solve-achallenge/apply-for-a-challenge