Evaluation of Wireless Innovation Project: a final report to Scottish Enterprise

The Wireless Innovation Project (WIP) was established in 2003 to overcome barriers to entry for Scotland based firms operating in the Wireless space, providing technical support, market research and business development. The evaluation aimed to assess: the rationale for intervention; objectives and targets achieved; project benefits including Economic Impact Assessment; the usage, quality and demand; the management and delivery; fit and contribution to other Scottish Enterprise (SE) activities and Priority Industry development; and contribution to the equity and equalities agendas.

The methodology comprised: a study of background papers; research into other ‘benchmark’ initiatives; consultations with SE and Wireless Innovation Team; a survey (telephone and face to face) of assisted businesses coupled with a slimmed down on-line survey of assisted businesses; and consultations with five of the Project’s key commercial partners.

It is clear that firms have benefited from support with business development, market research and access to the technological infrastructure. The Project has exceeded its activity targets, with the extent of this achievement increasing over time. The GVA return was £3.6m. Given the project spend of £1.8m, the return on investment would appear reasonable value for money for SE. In terms of quality, the WIP Team is seen to be of high quality, technically knowledgeable with commercial contacts that are useful to technology-strong firms. They are also willing to engage actively with firms although there is some evidence firms would have appreciated more in-depth engagement which they did not receive. In terms of Management Information, the quality both of client participation and engagement data has been very good. Increasingly, the project has played an active contribution to the activities of SDI in attracting investment to Scotland and building key partnerships with key strategic players in the sector. Although feedback from the consultations was broadly positive, there were some questions around the Project’s fit with Digital Media support. It is predicted that the WIP will be in a position to make a greater contribution to SE’s Digital Media Sector development activities in the future.

A number of recommendations are made in relation to strategic interventions, maintaining commercial focus, tracking of ‘light touch’ referrals, continuity, key partner brokering and the location and coverage of the project. It is recommended overall that the project should continue to be supported providing there is a clear contribution it can make to SE achieving its strategic goals.