National Innovation Week 2025 is our chance to show how innovation is shaping Scotland’s future.
National Innovation Week 2025 celebrates Scotland’s proud legacy of innovation and showcases Scotland’s global leadership in technological advancement.
Innovation is essential to drive progress, transform industries, improve lives, and tackle the grand challenges of our time.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, researcher, policymaker, or simply passionate about innovation. Find out more about the events and networking opportunities.
Scottish Innovation
Scotland has a long history of innovation.
From the ATM, penicillin to the colour photograph, our inventions have helped shape the world around us. Find out more about Scotland’s history of innovation.
1855
Colour photograph
In 1855, James Clerk Maxwell introduced the world to the ‘three colour process’ and just a few short years later, while giving a lecture on something completely unrelated, he displayed the first colour photograph – of a tartan ribbon – to the world.
1928
Penicillin
In 1928, while working with the flu virus, Sir Alexander Fleming noticed unusual changes in the cultures he had been working on stacked in a corner in his laboratory. Fleming used them to isolate the penicillin, marking the start of modern antibiotics.
1996
Mammal cloning
Known as ‘the world’s most famous sheep’, Dolly the sheep was born on 5 July 1996 at the Roslin Institute, which is part of The University of Edinburgh, she was the first-ever mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.
Modern Breakthroughs
ACC Clydespace
Glasgow-based company AAC Clydespace is a world-leading innovator and producer of small satellites. The space sector is booming in Scotland, and this company has been at the forefront of it for many years. The ability to collect high quality monitoring data from space has never been more important.
Sunamp
Sunamp’s revolutionary compact heat batteries use sustainable thermal energy to drive efficiency and cut carbon. Based in East Lothian, the company earned the prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise in 2023 for its pioneering contributions to clean technology.
Upcoming events
Find out about the events and networking opportunities.
In partnership with
