Scottish Cities Alliance

The fast moving world of Artificial Intelligence isn’t just the stuff of science fiction movies. It’s radically altering the way we live and work – and Scotland’s cities are at the forefront of making change happen.

Great things are taking place in Edinburgh, where the city has been named the best equipped place in the UK, outside of London, to take advantage of the many new and exciting developments in the world of AI.

Image credit: SAS

The research from the analytics company SAS found that Edinburgh was home to 82 AI firms, beating Cambridge, its nearest rival, which has 66. Edinburgh also has 57 AI university courses, compared to Cambridge’s 10.

And many of the AI companies based in Edinburgh are big hitters. These include the remote care management platform Current Health, business intelligence firm Brainnwave and cybersecurity company ZoneFox.

These businesses are bringing many high quality jobs and talented people to Scotland, and this talent pool is only set to grow, which is great news for firms who want to invest here.

And two top places of learning in Edinburgh are also playing their part in creating breakthroughs in AI. Heriot-Watt and Edinburgh universities have been awarded more than £1milllion from a research fund for Artificial Intelligence in healthcare

Heriot Watt is getting £644,000 for AI research in keyhole surgery, while Edinburgh receives £600,000 for research into designing new therapies for rare inherited diseases.

Both awards are part of £13m in research grants allocated by the UK Government to 22 universities across the country.

Meanwhile in Glasgow, it’s all systems go as Strathclyde University has been awarded funds from the UK Government to develop AI technologies to boost safety and sustainability in the space industry. The cash is part of the first phase of the UK Space Agency’s £20 million International Bilateral Fund, which will help British organisations to team up with experts in other nations, including the USA and Japan.

And in Dundee, the combined expertise of the talented people at Dundee and Abertay universities and the James Hutton Institute has put the city at the heart of the Scottish Government’s Innovation Strategy. The Strategy will see Dundee’s Life Sciences Innovation District develop a £100m fund to invest in new firms that are focused on science and technology.

The city is reaping the rewards of having lots of people based there who are skilled in life sciences, digital and AI technology, and these talented individuals will help put the city at the heart of Scotland’s economic growth.

Dundee City Council and Chair of Scottish Cities Alliance leader Councillor John Alexander said:

Dundee could not be better placed to play a key role in the delivery of the Scottish Government’s new Innovation Strategy. We need to build on areas where we already have a competitive advantage, and that is certainly true of biomedical science.

Our city’s academic research and development is world-leading, and we have had great success in attracting significant venture capital into new companies.

When it comes to Artificial Intelligence, Scotland’s cities certainly are switched on to the many investment possibilities it brings.