DDI Unveils Economic Opportunities in the City Region

The benefits of data-driven innovation (DDI) opportunities across the Lothians have been highlighted in a whitepaper, published on 22 November 2023.

DDI Economic Development Opportunities – The Lothians was published by the University of Edinburgh’s DDI initiative, and identifies ways to drive socio-economic growth across the three local authorities of East Lothian, Midlothian, and West Lothian.

The report also sets out how regional collaboration around DDI opportunities could improve prosperity and inclusive growth by improving economic and social resilience.

The research team identified five themes for innovation-focused opportunities, based on priorities in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, the Regional Prosperity Framework and the Scottish Government’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation. These include:

• Sustainable housing and infrastructures

• Mobility and access to facilities and amenities

• Cross-sectoral high-tech sustainable circular economy

• Empowering creative and value-adding enterprises

However, the study acknowledges resource constraints, disconnected infrastructure (such as transport), economic conditions and climate change as challenges. Commonalities across the region mean joined up solutions would enable a greater regional capacity to effect change and tackle these issues.

The report’s lead author, Dr Matjaz Vidmar, Lecturer in Engineering Management at the University of Edinburgh, said: “With this research, we hope to bring the data-driven innovation across these areas into focus, to enable the emerging high-tech and digital opportunities for businesses, the public sector and local groups. Our report highlights immense potential for further sustainable development, leading on national conversations around the future of towns and high streets, as well as gaining tangible local benefits from the presence of the world-leading tech parks.”

Recommendations to strengthen regional frameworks include building data innovation expertise across councils, sharing data, information and knowledge, and further collaborations in economic development funding. The authors hope the report will further empower local authorities by taking up these opportunities.

The report builds on two previous DDI reports, with Fife Council and Scottish Borders Council, published in 2022. The long-term objective is to generate additional economic and social benefits by co-creating new place-based innovation strategies.

The University of Edinburgh and the three local authorities are partners in the Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region Deal, signed in 2018.

Access the complete report here DDI Economic Development Opportunities: The Lothians

Discover the insights and perspectives of the authors themselves in this must-listen Podcast

The National Robotarium wins Project of the Year at Learning Places Scotland Awards

Heriot-Watt University’s National Robotarium facility for robotics and AI took home the Project of the Year prize at this year’s Learning Places Scotland awards, held on 14 November in Glasgow. The awards, delivered in partnership with the Scottish Government as part of Scottish Learning Estates strategy, are an annual celebration of Scotland’s growing learning estate, recognising facilities that are making strides in sustainability, technology and student experience.

Supported by £21 million from the UK Government and £1.4m from the Scottish Government as part of the £1.3bn Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal, the National Robotarium officially opened in September 2022. Since then, the facility has been a catalyst for bridging knowledge between science and business, delivering sustainable economic benefit to Scotland and the UK through its expanding portfolio of industry partnerships that are developing new robotic technologies to address real-world and sectoral challenges.

Designed with sustainability at its heart, the 40,000ft² facility itself offers unrivalled learning spaces, allowing Heriot-Watt to maximise its AI and robotics strengths and lead the field in research. It boasts a variety of flexible spaces and test beds for specialist research, student projects, public engagement, and industry collaborations across three distinct themes; Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS), Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and Precision Laser Applications (PLA).

The estates and projects team at Heriot-Watt, along with external consultants Michael Laird Architects and Atkins Realis, who collected the award on the night, were recognised for their collaborative efforts in creating a cutting-edge, sustainable centre for the advancement of research and learning in robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

The success of the project and its construction, enduring challenges such as the Covid pandemic and Brexit, was the result of extensive stakeholder engagement, ensuring the building met the requirements of individual teams and research areas, and accommodated emerging technologies through its flexible, fabric-first design.

More on the awards

Fife Council Commits To ESES City Region Deal Community Wealth Building Pledges

Fife Council on behalf of the Fife Industrial Innovation Investment (i3) Programme, have become the first City Region Deal project to commit to the ESES CRD Community Wealth Building (CWB) Pledge.  

Fife’s Industrial Innovation Investment programme (i3) is being delivered as part of the ESES City Region Deal, with an aim to provide much-needed serviced employment land and new industrial, office and business spaces, as well as creating new skilled permanent jobs, short-term construction jobs over the 15-year lifetime of the City Region Deal. 
 
“Committing to these pledges demonstrates our dedication to accelerating inclusive growth and removing barriers to growth in our inclusive economy.” Gordon Mole, Head of Business and Employment, Fife Council.  
 
Fife Council have been proactive on their own community wealth journey and instil the core values of the 5 pillars of CWB in their day-to-day activity.  

Read the press release to find out more information about why committing to the pledge was important to Fife Council and how this will influence their activity going forward.

For more information on the Community Wealth Building framework and pledge, visit the Community Wealth Building website 

BE-ST Retrofit

The City Region Deal’s Housing, Construction and Infrastructure Skills Gateway is changing construction across Edinburgh and South East Scotland. With almost 40% of UK greenhouse gas emissions emitted by the built environment, it is vital to inspire new careers and upskill experts to achieve sustainable low carbon housing and construction.

The Built Environment - Smarter Transformation training programme enthuses young people about construction, and bridges the gap between education and new construction technologies.

Find out more about about how the project is delivering benefits in the last of this year’s case study videos:

Data Education in Schools - Case Study Video

The Data Education in Schools programme is for children and young people across the City Region to learn about data to benefit their personal lives and open up new possibilities for interesting and well-paid careers.

One example can be seen in Addiewell Primary School. In this video, we can see how children of learnt about the impact Co2 levels have on their own learning and focus, as well as how it effects a reptilian friend in the Five Sisters Zoo.

You can watch other videos which show how the City Region Deal’s projects and programmes are helping people, in the Annual Report 2022/23