Organised by HIE, ‘Win-Win: How to make any collaboration work effectively’ will run in An Lòchran, Inverness Campus on Thursday 11 October from 10 am to 1 pm.

Global trends point towards large companies becoming increasingly outward looking in their approach to innovation and using a structured approach to evaluate technologies from SMEs. The event also comes at a time of significant investment in the region by major companies, such as SSE in Moray and Caithness and Liberty in Lochaber.

The workshop is open to any business requiring a collaborative approach to help make their ideas commercially viable. It is likely to be relevant to technology developers in the engineering, energy, life sciences and digital sectors.

Mike Addison, who will deliver the workshop, said:

“Having worked for many years on one of the early ‘Open Innovation’ programmes, I’ve seen some really innovative products and technology platforms coming from SMEs, and have seen many of these commercialised via a collaborative model that has benefited both parties.

“The skills SMEs need to build effective alliances with large companies can be learned. By sharing my experience from the large company’s perspective, I hope to help Highlands and Islands SMEs recognise the value of their ideas and products and ensure they get the best possible commercial outcome from any collaboration.”

Vicki Hazley, senior innovation manager at HIE, said:

“Many large companies are looking to smaller, highly innovative and nimble businesses to bring forward technology solutions. We want to make sure that SMEs in our region are equipped to benefit from this demand and use collaboration successfully as a way to commercialise their great ideas.”

‘Win-Win: How to Make any Collaboration work Commercially’ will be held in Hello Digital, An Lòchran, Inverness on 11th October. Those wishing to attend can register here.