From a trading floor called ‘Rock Me’ to a social housing development that comes complete with electric cars for each dwelling, the Halo development in Kilmarnock arguably embodies most of the goals for a vibrant, net zero town.
Speaking at the ScotlandIS Cluster Ecosystem conference, Halo’s founder and executive chair Dr Marie Macklin CBE explained that the Halo project offered a different business model.
“The Halo is 13 years in the making and our vision is a sustainable community approach to a net zero carbon mixed-use development that is providing jobs, economic growth, skills development, access to employment opportunities, clean energy and housing,” she said.
“We’re proud to be leading the way in the development of low carbon energy sites across the UK - powered by renewable energy.”
The Halo Enterprise and Innovation Centre already houses the first Barclay’s Eagle Lab outside a city, with packages designed for entrepreneurs and individuals looking for a creative workspace to develop and grow.
Called the #RockMe Trading Floor, members will also be able to access workshops, events and services from commercial partners including Scottish Power, Barclays, Anderson Strathearn, Anderson Anderson Brown LLP and Commsworld.
The site is powered by 107 solar panels and a cafe will open soon.
The housing development is in the next phase of the project, and will be powered with the help of Whitelee windfarm. Data points will gather information on energy usage to create a smart system, which will allow savings to be passed on to residents.
“The next phase of the Halo is our blueprint for a move towards greener housing in the UK,” Macklin added.
“We will bring 210 world class smart homes of the future to Kilmarnock fuelled by 100 per cent renewable energy and digital healthcare monitoring systems.
“These smart homes of the future will be built at the Halo using sustainable construction materials and techniques and will help us create a future-proof model that is scalable and is an example of industry excellence.”
The project embodies much of the new digital practice being developed across Scotland which was discussed by other speakers at the event, which was organised by Scotland’s membership organisation for Scotland's digital technology industry, ScotlandIS. Chief Executive Karen Meecham was thrilled to start the move back to physical events after a period of hosting them online.
“It was a fantastic day yesterday at our first in-person ScotlandIS Cluster Ecosystem Conference, held at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow,” ScotlandIS chief executive Karen Meechan said.
“Along with our partners at Technology Scotland, we celebrated some of the thriving tech clusters that Scotland boasts and raised awareness of the importance of collaboration between these clusters to help drive our tech landscape and economy as a whole.”
The event was opened by Colin Cook, Director of Economic Development for Scottish Government. He discussed the recently launched National Strategy for Economic Transformation and how Scotland’s clusters are a key focus in this strategy. Cluster collaboration will be vital in developing Scotland’s economic landscape over the next few years.
Other speakers included Alastair McInroy of Technology Scotland, discussing supporting developers in their journey from design to commercialisation; Paul Coffey from The Scotland 5G Centre, highlighting their 5G Connect Programme and Innovation Challenge; David Wavell of the National Robotarium, giving insights to the plans for the Robotarium and what it looks to achieve and Cheryl Torano of the Abertay University cyberQuarter, giving a similar introduction to the new ‘home for cyber’ in Dundee
PwC’s Leo Johnson discussed accelerating decarbonisation in businesses and supporting Scotland’s climate tech startups, while Craig Clark of Space Scotland highlighted the phenomenal progress that has been made within our nation’s space sector and the many opportunities it will provide.
In the afternoon, a panel session featured clusters from across cyber, data, photonics and datacentres, covering the importance of clusters and how they drive economic recovery through collaborations like those developed through the ScotlandIS Scottish Cluster Ecosystem Alliance.
A recorded message from the Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, Ivan McKee, called attention to the Tech Sector Export Plan published this week and how it aims to maximise export opportunities to achieve further growth in the sector.
The conference attendees played a large part in the lively discussion of the day, raising some key questions of the speakers and looking to learn more about how these clusters can help support and develop the tech ecosystem.
The event was confidently chaired by Alisdair Gunn and sponsored by CyberScotland Partnership, SICSA, Glasgow City Innovation District, and The Scotland 5G Centre.
“We were delighted to be welcoming guests in person once again, and hope they enjoyed the packed day that we had in store,” Meechan continued.
“Collaboration, and not competition, between clusters will be key in putting Scotland’s technology sector on the map, and we are already looking forward with much anticipation to next year’s event to continue this progress.”
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