Tag: enterprise

Just one month left to apply to new entrepreneurial support scheme

As the close date nears for applications for a new entrepreneurial support scheme, Edinburgh MSP Gordon Macdonald is pushing the call to all ambitious talented entrepreneurs looking to start up a business in Scotland to apply to the new programme. Continue reading Just one month left to apply to new entrepreneurial support scheme

First Mentor initiative to run again

The ‘First Mentor’ initiative, which gives a young woman aged between 18-23 a chance to be mentored by the First Minister, will run again in 2018.  Following the success of the 2017-18 opportunity, a new round of applications opens today. Continue reading First Mentor initiative to run again

Sign up to the EdinburghApps challenge

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The City of Edinburgh Council is calling on designers, developers and start-up companies to sign up to the challenge.

There are only a couple of days left until the next stage of the 2014  EdinburghApps contest, being held at the Capital’s Informatics Forum this weekend (4 and 5 October).

If you are interested in taking part in this event, visit the EdinburghApps website and register on the event page or email  edinburghapps@edinburgh.gov.uk.

The open data contest, which aims to find innovative solutions to help improve the lives of people in Edinburgh, will see participants pitch ideas about digital services like mobile apps, websites and product concepts which have the potential to enhance health, sport and cultural life in the capital.

The weekend will feature a master class on how to pitch ideas to judges, followed by a two day long ‘hack’ where participants will have the chance to work on their ideas, hear more about open data and take part in a ‘flash hack’ to build the city’s first dashboard.

Participants focusing on health will be asked to come up with ideas to either help people who have been supported by Council services to stay safe or to make it easier for individuals with deteriorating conditions like MS and dementia to access advice and information.

Those interested in culture and sport have been challenged with encouraging people to take up physical activity. Competitors can also use data to improve visitor experiences in the city’s museums and galleries, or to promote the capital’s attractions and history.

The Council’s Digital Champion, Councillor Frank Ross, said: “I am delighted to be involved in such an innovative event which really channels people’s creativity in using technology and data to make a difference to the lives of people in Edinburgh. The challenges this year are so diverse and I look forward to seeing the new and original ideas and concepts participants produce.”

The entries will be judged at a competition final on 26 October, with the winners being offered business support and the opportunity to work with the Council on developing their concepts further.

This is the second year the Council has run EdinburghApps. Previous winners include AIRTS, who are developing an app that helps the Joint Equipment Store operate more efficiently, and a Waste app helping the public to locate their nearest recycling bank. Thanks to the competition these apps are now due for release by the Council in October.

The event is sponsored by Jadu, MacRoberts, IBM, FreeAgent, Marketing Edinburgh, Transport for Edinburgh and CSI.

Three cheers as local companies win Queen’s Award for Enterprise

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Three cheers as local companies win Queen’s Award for Enterprise

 Mark Lazarowicz, MP for Edinburgh North and Leith, has written to congratulate three businesses based in the constituency who have just won the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise. The companies are:

· HotDocs a document automation software company

· Petroleum Experts Ltd which develops petroleum-engineering software programs used to model and manage oil and gas fields, and

· The Innis & Gunn Brewing Company Ltd which produces speciality beers extremely popular in Canada, Sweden and the USA (as well as course in the UK!)

Mark (pictured below) said: “Three of the 13 Scottish winners of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise are based in Edinburgh North and Leith which is a success that we can be very proud of. All three – HotDocs, Innis & Gunn and Petroleum Experts – have managed to achieve major export growth at a time when the UK, like other countries, is keen to rebalance its economy and increase export sales.

“The Awards also highlighted their investment in product development as a major factor in that success which is why it is so important to ensure that SMEs can get the funding they need. It’s good to see that we have three local companies which appear to be so forward-looking and successful in developing products that the rest of the world wants to buy.”

This year there are 152 winners of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, 13 of which are based in Scotland.

The Queen’s Award is the UK’s most prestigious award for business enterprise and the winners will be celebrated at events at Buckingham Palace and the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) on 23 July.

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