College Innovation. Recommendations

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1 SFC/16/103 Agenda item December 2016 College Innovation This paper informs Council on the current opportunities and challenges around college innovation activities. The paper invites Council to consider the observations and recommendations of the College Innovation Working Group and to consider how this area should be developed further. We would like to support the sector in maximising economic impact, through colleges engagement and support of businesses, students and further involvement and integration with the wider innovation agenda. Recommendations The Committee is invited to: Note the output from the College Innovation Working Group (this paper) and comment on its developing position and discussions to date Advise the executive on developing a strategy for supporting college innovation that the working group can pursue Consider how the ICs can have increased flexibility in the way the use their funding and how the current arrangements can be flexed to support greater engagement and involvement between the Centres and colleges Advise as to how this work should continue to be progressed and their desired involvement of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee and the Skills Committee going forward Give consideration to the hosting arrangements of any new ICs, specifically the potential for a host college rather than a university Give consideration to the potential for the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC), Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) and colleges (along with other key stakeholders including Industry sector skills groups) to pilot activities that support, develop and promote the innovation agenda. Financial implications At this time there are no financial implications for the SFC. The Council does not provide any specific strategic funds to colleges to support work undertaken in this area. The current funding for some key stakeholders, such as the ICs, ESP and Interface, have implications for how effectively and comprehensively they can engage with colleges. This needs to be resolved to allow partners to deploy appropriate resources to work together more effectively.

2 College Innovation Purpose 1. This paper informs Council on the current opportunities and challenges around college innovation activities. It also invites Council to consider the observations and recommendations of the College Innovation Working Group and to consider how this area should be developed further. 2. We would like to support the sector in maximising economic impact, through colleges engagement and support of businesses, students and further involvement and integration with the wider innovation agenda. Background 3. The SFC s strategic plan and the Innovation Scotland Forum s Action plan both recognise the important role that colleges in Scotland play in delivering the Government s economic vision. The SFC strategy states: We will have a stronger, more productive and resilient economy with economic growth supported by innovation from our colleges and universities. Improvements in our culture, health, well-being and public services will be supported by a two way flow of new ideas and innovation between colleges, universities and public services. 4. The SFC acknowledges the role of colleges in the innovation landscape and would like to facilitate them in having a more demonstrable impact on the Scottish economy through their activities of educating students and supporting business, giving them the skills, expertise and support they need to succeed in their respective careers or markets. 5. RKEC agreed that a working group comprising of RKEC members, and other key stakeholders, should meet to discuss this matter and that papers would be developed to inform RKEC and Council initially, with a desire to engage the Skills Committee as well. The College Innovation Working Group (CIWG) was charged with discussing the offering colleges can, and do, make to the innovation agenda. CIWG considered the college s role in the innovation landscape and what opportunities / barriers exist to the development of this work and what interventions/ support might be offered as well as how to work effectively with existing structures. A timeline for CIWG activities and membership information can be found at Annex The role of the college sector in the innovation landscape has been considered 1

3 and identified as a key strategic priority by the College Principals Group and Colleges Scotland Board. The sector leadership is engaged in this agenda and supportive of the approach taken by the SFC to date which has seen the development of this paper using sectoral information gained from a survey, direct engagement with key staff as well as the knowledge and experience of the working group. Defining College Innovation 7. The working group has taken a deliberately open view of the role colleges can fulfil to support innovation in Scotland. As discussions have developed the working group remains open to all opportunities, but have identified that a key area for colleges to be active in is the innovative delivery of training and skills provision related to stated industry needs, focusing on vocational, professional and technical skills. 8. The working definition of innovation for colleges was informed by the Reid report 1 and coalesced around being about the development of new skills and techniques to improve business productivity applied alongside new technological innovation. This also helps couch this definition of innovation in more business friendly language. 9. However, care must be taken so as not to be too prescriptive as to the strict definition and boundaries of college innovation. Doing so could hinder the potential for new initiatives to be developed in the future which might not be as skills focussed. A strict definition could see colleges perceived to only be about skills. Whilst very important, it is not the only thing colleges can do to support innovation. The colleges reach directly into the SME population of Scotland, and the opportunities that brings should not be forgotten, nor should the colleges flexibility to quickly tailor provision of skills to meet industry demand. The regional structures have enhanced college s ability to engage more strategically within and out with their regions. Key drivers for developing the college sectors role in the innovation landscape 10. There have been a number of calls for the development of the colleges role within the innovation landscape, to be better placed to respond and more focused on working with business and industry to meet their specified needs. Some key reference points are outlined below. 11. The Reid review (see Annex 2: Extract from the Independent Review of the 1 _Centres_Programme_-_29_September_2016.pdf 2

4 Innovation Centres Programme, for further information) highlights the potential to develop existing relationships and create new ones between colleges and ICs which has been discussed extensively by the CIWG and others. 12. The phase 1 report on the review of enterprise and skills, with specific reference to innovation, states that the support system needs to be 'agile, fast and flexible in responding to business needs'. Therefore the vocational system needs to be able to be equally agile, fast and flexible in working with businesses to improve their productivity: through development of innovative business products; the development/enhancement of business processes; the development of enhanced or new skills and techniques to apply alongside new technological innovation. The ability to do so is tempered by the Colleges capacity to develop agile and flexible solutions. A copy of the phase 1 report can be seen here: The report also states that 'increasing business innovation activity will require the public sector to work collaboratively with businesses, universities and other key players to stimulate business innovation demand.' The College Sector, particularly with its relationships and access to SMEs, has a key role to play. 14. Another key area mentioned in the Phase 1 report is the critical dependency of economic competitiveness on the right digital approach, including skills and business capability to operate digitally. This approach will need the college sector, to work with key stakeholders such as the Universities, ICs and other partners such as CodeClan - Digital Skills Academy Scotland, to contribute if this is to be fully realised. 15. At its session on the 17 November 2016 the Parliament discussed the innovation agenda and made numerous statements about the role of the colleges in this work. At the session Shirley-Anne Somerville, the Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science, stated: From my many visits to college campuses since I became minister, I know that there are already great examples of innovation happening in our colleges, but we need to expand that and encourage such work throughout the college sector so that colleges view the innovation agenda as being as much in their space as it is in that of our universities. There is definitely a bigger role for the college sector to play in the programme. We will explore with the Funding Council how best to take forward the actions that Professor Reid has suggested and will consider what more might need to be done to enable the further education sector to play its part. 16. Further extracts from, and a link to, the full note of the session of the Parliament s meeting can be seen at Annex 3. 3

5 College and Innovation Centre Interaction 17. In light of the comments in the Reid review the working group discussed the potential to develop existing relationships and create new ones between colleges, ICs and other key stakeholders and organisations including skills academies and Interface. This will be fed into the Council s considerations as to the future development of the IC programme at it May 2017 meeting. 18. There are a number of very positive relationships between colleges and the ICs, such as the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre, Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre and Data Lab. However the working group felt more could be done to raise the profile of current activities and show how a cooperative approach will enhance their offerings to industry and allow them to tackle shared issues. 19. SFC should seek to create the stimulus for colleges to do more within the innovation landscape and recognise the work currently being undertaken by colleges. This work is developing the productivity, effectiveness / efficiency, the new techniques and skills alongside technological advances, of business - particularly amongst SMEs. 20. To achieve this SFC should review the funding mechanisms for ICs and explore how the current approach can be adjusted and focused in ways that supports ICs and Colleges working more closely together. ICs must have increased flexibility in the way they can use their funding. 21. There was a perception that the current funding methodology for colleges restricts this type of activity rather than stimulates it. Allowing resources to be more easily deployed to support colleges who work with ICs either by changing or clarifying funding rules or expectations on what cash can be used for in-year would ensure that work between them can be properly supported and resourced. If progress is to be made this is crucial. 22. Opportunities for colleges to work more comprehensively and closely with ICs should be identified to help break down any misperception that the ICs are only for the universities. ICs should be enabled to respond to industry demand in the most appropriate ways be this through, or a combination of, university, college, or business to business activity. 23. The working group noted that whilst it is clear that a college could as easily host an IC as a university it was more important, at this time, to ensure that the colleges are well integrated with those ICs which currently exist. When the development of future ICs is given consideration, colleges should be considered as potential hosts for them. 24. Colleges, and our wider vocational system, operating regionally or at a national 4

6 level, have the potential not simply to respond to the demand of industry but can help shape it. It is vital that the College sector develop and build the capacity of its own workforce to ensure, working with businesses; they can help to drive real change and widespread adoption of new techniques and new skills. Given current constraints around College funding, and capacity this is a challenge. Other models for effective cross college/ industry working 25. Whilst the development of the relationship between ICs and colleges is crucial, we should not lose sight of other successful models that promote and support colleges working closely with industry. One example is the Energy Skills Partnership (ESP). ESP has developed significantly since it began and has the buy-in it has from member colleges, public sector agencies, government and industry. Please see Annex 4 for further information on ESP. 26. ESP has grown far beyond its original mission and is now supporting college staff development for energy, engineering and construction sectors as well as a number of emerging technologies. ESP has considerably expanded its sectoral portfolio and its engagement with colleges since its inception and is a proven and successful model. Consideration should be given to the potential for this model and approach to support, develop and promote colleges engagement with the Innovation Centres. Consideration should also be given to industry sectors beyond the scope of the ESP, such as the Food & Drink Industry (where work is already underway through the Food and Drink Skills Group) and Creative Industries and how they can be supported. 27. However, the Reid Review gives frequent and explicit praise for the different models of IC that have been developed to meet the different needs of each industry sector. Whilst the ESP model has proven to be a successful one that could be used for other sectors, consideration should be given to the specific requirements for each. We should consider having different models for college activities, not further expand an organisation that is already in danger of trying to address too many different needs for a number of sectors. 28. Interface is already working with each individual college to build a clear picture of the specialist facilities available within colleges that could be made available to businesses for commercial use (e.g. engineering, creative industries, food and drink). More information is available here: Innovation Vouchers continue to be used to initiate and develop effective industry and academic engagement. IVs have been made available to colleges since 2014 who can submit applications to use them to develop collaborative relationships with businesses to co-create innovative programmes. More 5

7 information is available here: A case study about one college IV can be viewed here: Interface_Newsletter_August_25_08_2016&utm_medium= &utm_term=0 _80c9104c54-115d803fbc-. The use and uptake of college IVs will continue to be considered as part of the wider innovation discussions. A combined approach to supporting college innovation 30. There is a particularly strong alignment between the focus of the Energy Skills Partnership and the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre. In its discussions the working group looked at how these structures are supporting current college innovation activity and how they can work more effectively together to help deliver a clear and purposeful learner journey. 31. To work effectively, and sustainably, together all partners need to be able to deploy their resources and funds appropriately. How this can be achieved varies across the different organisations. For example, CSIC would need to have resources at its disposal to use with colleges, through either a repurposing of current funds or the granting of new funding for college activity. Colleges would require flexibility in their funding to better enable them to direct resource towards fulfilling their potential to deliver on this agenda. ESP is well placed to work across partners, but it too has pressure on its resources. This work will add to their responsibilities and an increased pressure on their resources. All are willing to work in an aligned fashion, but current resource constraints will inevitably have an impact on the scope and pace of this agenda can be developed. 32. Using this group of organisations would allow SFC to explore the challenges and work to resolve them so as to be able to develop further, additional activities and create a model to demonstrate what can be done with a view to looking at other economic sectors such as for food and drink, tourism and hospitality, creative industries and digital sector. Provision that meets industry demands 33. There are clear opportunities for year olds, those in FT provision and MAs to be trained to industry standard given the work colleges undertake with business / industry to ensure their provision is meeting their requirements. 34. There is clear demand from industry to access vocational, professional and technical education and training and to have access to more flexible forms of training, such as day release and block release. This is especially important for 6

8 the development of those people already in the workforce to facilitate their ongoing training, upskilling and enhancement of skills. This includes mature individuals, anyone over 24 years old, who make up the majority of the current workforce. To enable a college to put more resource and focus on this element would require a reduction in other activity, which could impact on the numbers of year olds (i.e. numbers go down) and the amount of FT provision. Gaining clarity and a sense of the direction in terms of developing Scottish Government policy drivers including the use of the apprenticeship levy - would help colleges better consider how to resolve this situation and deliver provision that is aligned to the needs of industry, supporting innovation in both the workplace and the classroom. 35. The other key issue is having a funding model that is flexible and responsive enough to support and stimulate activities where colleges can increasingly work with business. The current model is explicitly linked with direct teaching and learning and there is little scope for flexing the current model to accommodate other forms of provision delivery to respond to stated industry demands. Further action 36. An action plan is in draft and continues to be developed in light of the College Innovation Working Group s discussions. It is being populated with key actions that are felt to be a priority to progress this agenda. Whilst still in draft, a copy of the Action Plan can be seen at Annex 5. Risk assessment 37. This paper and its recommendations are considered a low to medium risk. At this time there is no specific funding provided to colleges to support this activity and yet all colleges are active, to some degree, in the innovation arena, working both individually and collaboratively with industry. The SFC strategic plan highlights the role of colleges in the innovation landscape and our colleges have a key role to play in stimulating innovation through their close links to business and industry, particularly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which predominate in the economy in Scotland. Not to continue to develop the college innovation agenda would create a risk to the effective delivery of the SFC s strategic plan. 38. This will continue to be monitored and any risks identified will be brought to the attention of the senior executive, Committee or Council as is appropriate. Equality and diversity assessment 39. At this time no issues concerning equality and diversity have been identified as part of this developmental work. The working group s discussions, dialogue with the sector and other stakeholders has not raised any equality and diversity 7

9 concerns at this time. However, this will continue to be monitored and considered when this is operationalised and individual colleges and stakeholders would be asked to ensure that their activities are conducted in an appropriate and equitable fashion and that they have any appropriate policy framework in place to support equitable opportunities for all. Recommendations 40. The Committee is invited to: Note the output from the College Innovation Working Group (this paper) and comment on its developing position and discussions to date Advise the executive on developing a strategy for supporting college innovation that the working group can pursue Consider how the ICs can have increased flexibility in the way the use their funding and how the current arrangements can be flexed to support greater engagement and involvement between the Centres and colleges Advise as to how this work should continue to be progressed and their desired involvement of the Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee and the Skills Committee going forward Give consideration to the hosting arrangements of any new ICs, specifically the potential for a host college rather than a university Give consideration to the potential for the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre (CSIC), Energy Skills Partnership (ESP) and colleges (along with other key stakeholders including Industry sector skills groups) to pilot activities that support, develop and promote the innovation agenda. Financial implications 41. At this time there are no financial implications for the SFC. The Council does not provide any specific strategic funds to colleges to support work undertaken in this area. 42. The current funding for some key stakeholders, such as the ICs, ESP and Interface, have implications for how effectively and comprehensively they can engage with colleges. This needs to be resolved to allow partners to deploy appropriate resources to work together more effectively. Publication 43. This paper will be published in full on the Council website. Further information 44. Contact: Andrew Youngson, Senior Policy Officer, tel: , ayoungson@sfc.ac.uk. 8

10 Annex 1: Timeline and membership of CIWG Timeline of CIWG Events Date Event October 2016 Colleges Scotland Commercial Activity working group reported 9 November 2015 Meeting of CIWG (1) 18 December 2015 Meeting with CDN 22 February 2016 Meeting of CIWG (2) 5 May 2016 Meeting of CIWG (3) 1 July 2016 Distribution of College Innovation Activity Survey 8 September 2016 Paper to RKEC for Comment/Feedback 26 October 2016 Phase 2 Meeting of CIWG (4) 24 th November 2016 Oral / paper update to RKEC 9 December 2016 Phase 2 Meeting of CIWG (5) 16 December Progress/ trajectory/possible financial implications update to Council January 2017 (TBC) Meeting of CIWG (4) 2 nd February Skills Committee 9 th February RKEC action plan review/endorsement 17 th March 2017 Council - update Current CIWG Membership Audrey Cumberford, Chair Principal, SFC Board and West College Scotland RKEC member Ken Thomson Principal, SFC Skills Forth Valley College Committee member Douglas Mundie Council Member Scottish Funding Council Dr Siobhan Jordan Director Interface Morven Cameron Head of Academic Relationships Highlands & Islands Enterprise Dr Keith Nicholson Council Member Scottish Funding Council Stephen Good CEO Construction Innovation Centre Stephen Sheridan Skills Planning Manager Skills Development Scotland Bruce Newlands Head of Technical Operations Construction Scotland Innovation Centre Ian Hughes Director Strategic CiTB Partnerships Grant Ritchie Principal Dundee & Angus College John Renwick Sector Manager for Energy Skills Partnership Construction Jim Brown Director Energy Skills Partnership James Boyce Acting Head of College Policy Scottish Government 9

11 Annex 2: Extract from the Independent Review of the Innovation Centres Programme, Chaired by Professor Graeme Reid, page 38, section 7 I recommend that the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Innovation Centres explore Further Education (FE) college participation in Innovation Centres programme. SFC should challenge FE colleges and their representatives to enhance their involvement in the IC programme and work with ICs to support innovation in local businesses, for example responding to business demands for skilled people. SFC should consider how best to overcome any administrative boundary between FE college and university funding that currently exists. SFC should publish the outcome of this consideration within nine months of the publication of this report. The ICs were created to help bring academic expertise to business-led challenges that would have an economic impact for Scotland. The success of the college sector in Scotland can be through innovation of business products, but is more often about delivering skills, and through those enhanced skills, improved productivity and efficiency. The delivery of skills is not some sort of secondary innovation developing new skills and techniques to apply alongside new technological innovation is vital if such developments are to be embedded and made truly a commercial success. Having the college sector work more closely than is currently happening with both the ICs and the university sector should strengthen the performance of the ICs. It is important to the success of the ICs that existing structures work better in order to collaborate across administrative boundaries. The IC programme can be broadened to ensure colleges are not excluded and they must be encouraged to play a more active role. SFC s Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee s College Innovation Working Group is considering how to enhance the innovation agenda within colleges and their detailed findings should be considered alongside this review. The Advisory Committee was surprised that no contribution to this review came from the FE college sector. The review heard evidence that FE colleges could bring even more value to the work of several Innovation Centres in areas where local access to FE skills and facilities could support business innovation. The Committee was unable to compare these views with any direct input from the FE college sector. 10

12 Annex 3: Extracts from Meeting of the Parliament, 17 November Professor Reid also recommends that the Scottish Funding Council explores further college participation in Innovation Centres. Although a number of colleges are already active in enhancing the work of the innovation centres in various areas, colleges can and should do more to capitalise on their local connections and their proven ability to engage with business. We have an innovation centre, a college and more to the point industry working on solutions to that particular problem, and that is exactly the kind of progress that must be made and work that must be done in this area. It is also recommended that we renew efforts to involve as much of Scotland s excellent research base as possible and explore further education colleges participation in the innovation programme, bringing their ambitions and ideas into play. We also need to be open to proposals for changes in the ownership and governance of innovation centres where that makes sense. However, Scottish Labour would like greater involvement of further education in the innovation centre network, so I am relieved that the minister has today acknowledged the value of the review s recommendation on that. I have been blown away by the progressive trajectory of colleges in my region. Ayrshire College works with local businesses to upskill in smart metering and new energy systems, and South Lanarkshire College, which many of my constituents attend, has won awards for its business-to-college knowledge transfer and sustainable innovation. Further education institutions have a valuable contribution to make, and I hope that the skills partnership will form part of the innovation equation, too. We also need to follow through on the recommendation in Professor Reid s report that we encourage closer links between innovation centres and the college sector. The colleges role will help with the required cultural change, in that they have fantastic access to a wide range of small and medium-sized enterprises and indeed large enterprises across the country. They clearly have a role to play. A copy of the full draft note of the Parliaments meeting on 17 November can be accessed here: 11

13 Annex 4: Energy Skills Partnership Overview of Activity The Energy Skills Partnership was established in 2011 to coordinate a cross college response in support of the growth in skills demand across the energy sector. To support this ESP established Themed Groups for Engineering and Energy and Construction and Energy and has since extended its scope to cover other priority areas including the STEM agenda, Circular Economy and Low Carbon Transport. As well as extending the scope, the Partnerships influence has developed through engagement with key strategic groups; the development of additional strategic partnerships; launched a STEM Strategy and increased the focus on Innovation in Education. Further strategic partnerships have been formed to promote careers in the sectors and learn from the Innovation Centres and Catapults to understand how research and development can translate into skills interventions for students and industry. A focus on innovation and education includes the use of virtual and augmented reality technology and its application to the development of vocational skills. In 2014/15 ESP s Steering Group agreed to extend the remit to cover emerging priorities aligning with government, government agency priorities and emerging industry demand. ESP therefore reviewed its priorities to focus on a number of new areas in 2015/16. These include: Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) Smart Metering Building Information Modelling (BIM) Manufacturing Resource Efficiency and Waste Management Low Carbon Transport Influence Throughout 2015/2016 ESP has been positioning colleges with industry and government and its agencies through representation on existing industry and government groups. Economic Impact ESP is recognised as a key partner in support of significant projects and potential inward investments having been actively engaged with a number of partners and industry in supporting a number of inward investors and companies diversifying into new technologies. 12

14 Maximising Impact ESP continues to maximise its core and project funding during 2015/16 and colleges have contributed 108,000 in staff time to attend training and staff development events as well as significant in-kind contributions such as free use of facilities for training and awareness events. Additionally industry and partner organisations have also made a significant contribution including purchase and donations of equipment as well as securing 1,880,000 over five years in project funding with an additional 300k already secured for 2016/17. Building Capability and Capacity Throughout 2015/16 there been an increased focus on building capacity and capability in the college sector and this has resulted in unprecedented CPD for college staff based on intelligence from industry and partners. Supporting Curriculum Developments ESP has been working with members and partners to support curriculum development across engineering, energy and construction as well as the partnership s extended remit. This activity has stemmed from both industry, stakeholder and member priorities. Innovation in Education This has been an emerging priority brought about by demand from members to support new teaching approaches within Scotland s colleges. Developments include: Virtual Welding Immersive Hybrid Reality (ihr) - Virtual Working at Heights Distance Learning Material Development Augmented Reality - In March 2016 a joint European funding bid was submitted with partners from France, Italy, Portugal and Estonia. The project to support the development of innovative and competitive professional approaches in the building sector using Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology has been approved. Map App ESP is currently working on the development of an interactive Map of college provision across Scotland Further information on ESP can be seen here: 13

15 Annex 5: Draft CIWG Action Plan for Development The following is a draft action plan for further development and population by the working group. Prioritisation should not be inferred from the current sequencing of actions. Further actions, and their priority, will be added as discussions progress. Supporting College Innovation Action Reference A1 A2 Barrier/Issue / Opportunity Review the funding arrangements for ICs to allow better/more engagement with colleges Redevelop the Innovation Vouchers for colleges and confirm funding arrangements / budget source Solution Ensure ICs have a clear mechanism by which they can support working with colleges Help make IVs more attractive for colleges to use and review current funding arrangements to ensure they are fit for purpose Further actions / Work required to implement solution SFC should consider current IC funding arrangements and how they can be amended to allow ICs and Colleges to work together Review how IVs can be more attractive to colleges and confirm how they are funded by the SFC and from which budget Owner for development/ resolution SFC, ICs, IC Host HEIs, CS, ESP SFC, Interface, CS Priority for action 14

16 Coordinating College Innovation Action Reference B1 B2 B3 Barrier/Issue / Opportunity Consider potential models for crosssectoral partnerships, including the potential of current national models such as the Energy Skills Partnership Build upon existing colleges groups and networks and integrate them with ICs, HEIs and other initiatives in the innovation landscape eg Sporting chance, Textiles Future Forum, Interface Sector engagement] Continue to encourage each college to identify capacity to engage with businesses via the pan Scotland specialist facilities platform Solution Support CS and Principals to identify priority areas and industry drivers Identify if/how existing grouping might work to support / develop this agenda Identify specialist facilities Further actions / Work required to implement solution Work with CPWG to identify possible sectoral/industry/stakeholder partnerships Identify all pertinent colleges networks and groups and engage them in the colleges innovation discussions, seek their input Work with each college to identify appropriate facilities that can be promoted to businesses Owner for development/ resolution CS, SFC, ESP SFC, CS, CDN/ESP SFC, CS, CDN, Interface Priority for action 15

17 Communicating College Innovation Action Reference C1 Barrier/Issue / Opportunity Improved recognition and visibility of college innovation activities Solution Host innovation events/ workshops to share best practice within the sector and with other stakeholders Further actions / Work required to implement solution Liaise with sector, stakeholders and CDN/ESP Owner for development/ resolution SFC, CDN/ESP Priority for action C3 C4 National Overview report/communication with associated case studies e.g. College support to businesses, Innovation Vouchers Sharing Information on innovative college activities Draw together key information Identify Innovation Champions within the sector and work with CDN/ESP to share practice and information Identify any existing information that can be used and address any gaps for further data collection Identify colleges who have developed opportunities creatively, or tackled issues, that might be shared more widely with others. CS, CDN/ESP and SFC SFC, ESP, CDN and Sector Key to abbreviations in table CPWG: College Principals Working Group, SFC: Scottish funding Council, CDN: College Development Network, CS: Colleges Scotland ICs: Innovation Centres, IVs: Innovation Vouchers, RKEC: Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee (SFC), ONS: Office of National Statistics, CSIS: Construction Scotland Innovation Centre, ESP: Energy Skills Partnership 16