A new £9.2 million Can Do Innovation Challenge Fund has been launched to encourage businesses to collaborate with Scotland’s public sector to develop solutions to societal challenges.

It will provide support and will help with access to other sources of assistance, such as Innovate UK’s Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), CivTech and Scottish Enterprise innovation support.

Over the last few months, the Can Do team has invited Scotland’s public sector to submit its first challenges, and 43 challenges were suggested.

The five that are being supported are: smart electric-vehicle charging solutions (City of Edinburgh Council); technology-enabled Glasgow (Glasgow City Council); automation and sustainability of pre-cleaning re-usable surgical instruments (NHS Highland); effective and reliable point-of-use water treatment for organic-rich surface waters (Scottish Water); and agile and self-powered public-space CCTV cameras (South Ayrshire Council).

Businesses can view the details of these challenges and register their interest at www.scottish-enterprise.com/can-do-innovation-challenge-fund.

Jim Watson, director of innovation and enterprise services at Scottish Enterprise, said: “The Can Do Innovation Challenge Fund is a powerful tool for us to help smaller businesses collaborate with large organisations they may not otherwise have access to — and provide funding to develop their ideas.

“Research shows that businesses actively innovating are twice as likely to grow and three-times as likely to export successfully, and we know from other open innovation schemes that participating businesses increase their sales by around 30%.

"We want to support many more businesses to embed innovation as part of their business strategy, and this new fund is a fantastic route to help us achieve that.”