Part of the VentureFest Scotland festival of innovation, the summit will connect SMEs with innovators, academics, entrepreneurs and investors from across the globe to help them to grow, scale and transform their business.

Featuring a raft of Scotland’s most innovative SMEs, the line up for this year’s summit also includes innovation heavyweights. Jenn Gustetic, 2017-2019 Digital Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, who has also held positions at both the White House and NASA on innovation issues, is one of the keynote speakers.

Speaking ahead of the Innovation Summit, she said: “I’m delighted to come to Scotland and address such a flagship event. I can see unprecedented opportunities starting to emerge for the country’s SMEs.

“By combining disruptive new technologies with human problem-solving and creativity, companies can get valuable solutions to grow and scale their businesses amidst the challenges of the 21st century, such as ageing societies, the impacts of AI and big data, chronic disease and the effects of climate change”.

The event will also hear from ex-pat Glaswegian Morgan Walker, who now leads design, experience and innovation in LEGO’s Creative Play Lab in Denmark.

Crucially, the summit will help SMEs to navigate the vast range of support in Scotland (and beyond) available to them along their innovation journey.

Innovate UK together with several key investors will share funding and investment opportunities that are available to strengthen and support business innovation.

Allan Cannon, CEO and Co-Founder of R3-IoT will also be attending the summit. The company provides advanced satellite communications services for organisations operating in remote locations.

He said: “R3-IoT has developed a product capable of delivering IoT connectivity and services to some of the most remote parts of the world and innovation has been the catalyst for us moving forward as a start-up since we launched last year, helping us to grow and embrace the possibilities that are out there for us.

“I’m looking forward to sharing our story at the Innovation Summit and hearing how the connectivity landscape is evolving and how SMEs are harnessing the potential of these new technologies for their companies.”