Glasgow could become a leader in the development of new technologies including drones and artificial intelligence (AI) following a new £2.5 million public and private sector investment.
A partnership has been launched between the UK government, Glasgow City Council, and the Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC) to inject the money into SkyPark in Finnieston, where it hopes to build a foundation for leading development in the tech industry from drones to robots.
The sum includes £257,000 of grant funding through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which is part of the UK government’s Levelling Up agenda.
The initiative is supported by industry executives with decades of experience from leading organisations including Plexus, Meta, Blackberry, Motorola, and Volvo Cars.
The aim is for as many as 100 companies to be up and running at a 250-desk office under the name of thebeyond in Finnieston, spanning industries including drones and robot development, AI, nanotech and medtech.
Following the announcement, CEO of Volvo Cars Jim Rowan has said the investment in Glasgow’s tech industry could allow the city to “compete on the global stage.”
Mr Rowan said: “We have the talent and innovation from our universities, now we are boosting entrepreneurship and increasing the ambition to position Glasgow as a leader in the development and application of key future technologies that will allow it to compete on the global stage.”
Read more: NexaBiome in £10m funding drive to tackle 'silent pandemic'
Paul Wilson, co-founder and chief executive of STAC, one of the investment partners and a centre supporting the investment needs of tech startups based in Glasgow, says the aim is to make the city a “powerhouse” of the technology sector.
The funding aims to support Glasgow in becoming a development ground for homegrown tech innovations via STAC, which was launched in 2021. It is already home to a number of tech companies taking shares in international markets, including Crucial in space and satellite tech and Kingdom Technology in Robotics.
The partnership says it aims to turn Glasgow into Europe’s largest Internet of Things (IoT) innovation club. IoT is a term used in the tech industry to describe a network of devices that connect and exchange data.
Mr Wilson said: “Glasgow can be a powerhouse in the key technologies that will enhance life and industry for the next decades. As we build the leading tech cluster around STAC’s thebeyond we will gain a reputation and attract international investment.
“That’s the goal, ambitious and realisable. We believe thebeyond will be Europe’s largest Smart Things and IoT space.”
“Glasgow has all the elements – talent, innovation, and a collaborative spirit – needed to lead in what is known as the ‘Era of Things’. We believe we are on the cusp of something extraordinary. From thebeyond tech companies will develop tomorrow’s technologies to compete in global markets.”
Read more: Jemma Roberston following in her dad's advertising footsteps
The deputy leader of Glasgow City Council has said the hope is to become a “leading technology-driven city” while attracting new jobs and careers in the sector.
Councillor Ricky Bell of the SNP said: “This collaboration will help Glasgow become a leading technology-driven city, with our services and buildings powered by homegrown innovation to the benefit of everyone who lives, works and studies here.
“We will empower Glasgow's start-ups to hone their technologies here and then compete internationally, enhancing our position on the global tech stage and bringing a great number of new jobs and careers in this sector."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here