About Scottish Innovative Actions

The Scottish Innovative Actions Programme operated across the whole of Scotland and supported 20 exciting and significant pilot projects. Projects tested new ideas and methods around four themes:

• stimulating innovation in SMEs
• improving Higher education and business sector links
• new Innovation management and concepts/tools
• new approaches in Innovation policy.

The Programme has broken new ground in establishing a new Scotland-wide public-private partnership that has piloted a range of leading-edge projects aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of the Scottish economy by developing and delivering radical actions and mechanisms to stimulate innovation.

It was the first European Funds Programme to operate across the whole of Scotland and is driven by a partnership of the main economic development organisations and key representatives from the private sector, ensuring that the Programme of higher risk projects that cannot be supported under the other Structural Funds Programmes, has maximum impact across public policy, innovation support and drives innovation in SMEs across Scotland.

A total of £4 million is invested in the Programme, 50% of this from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).