Scotland's three core enterprise agencies are partnering with the UK's national innovation agency to sign an ambitious collaboration framework, intending to dramatically improve support for businesses looking to innovate.

The Innovation Collaboration Framework for Scotland brings together Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), Scottish Enterprise (SE), South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), and Innovate UK with a shared goal: to drive economic growth, create quality jobs, and tackle major societal and environmental challenges by supporting businesses to invest heavily in research.

The new agreement directly complements the Scottish Government's National Innovation Strategy, which singles out sectors like energy, health and life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and digital technologies as priorities for boosting global competitiveness.

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In a joint foreword to the framework document, the chief executives of the Scottish agencies highlighted their commitment to a streamlined approach: "By taking these steps to align all our innovation ambitions we can improve our innovation services and in turn the number of businesses looking to innovate in Scotland."

Innovate UK will work directly with the enterprise agencies, focusing on three key areas to provide a more effective and coherent service for innovators:

• Supporting the Customer Journey: Guiding businesses from the initial idea phase through to commercial realisation.

• Targeting Support Services: Better connecting local businesses with key regional and national strengths and opportunities.

• Improved Place-Based Innovation Support: Collaborating with partners to build regional strengths and drive competitive advantages across Scotland.

This collaborative approach aims to maximise the impact of support across the country, building on existing strategies like Innovate UK's 'Place' work.