As you may have seen, earlier this year the Scottish Optoelectronics Association (SOA), Scotland’s community for photonics and photonics-enabled organisations, launched its strategic paper, ‘Photonics in Scotland: A Vision for 2030’, and announced its rebrand to Photonics Scotland.
Photonics in Scotland: A Vision for 2030
The global photonics market is set to grow rapidly over the coming decades, accelerated by unprecedented demand for photonics-enabled technologies across multiple market sectors.
The Vision Paper, announced by Derek Mackay MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work in The Scottish Government, sets out a series of recommendations that will secure Scotland’s position on the future international stage, supporting a vision to treble the size of Scotland’s Photonics Sector by 2030.
At the heart of these recommendations is the delivery of a workforce that will meet future demand from the industry, ensuring the essential talent and expertise required for future growth. This includes recommendations to significantly increase the number of undergraduate places in Scotland within relevant subject areas, a new ‘Women in Photonics’ initiative to encourage more women into Photonics careers, and the creation of a Scottish Photonics Academy to upskill and retrain the existing workforce.
The paper also sets out recommendations that will support business growth, cluster development and international promotion.
Introducing Photonics Scotland
Having celebrated its 25th anniversary, the SOA has formally rebranded to Photonics Scotland, a name that better reflects the growing influence Photonics is set to have in the modern world.
The network will continue to support the sector as before, building on the efforts of the SOA over the last quarter of a century, and Photonics Scotland looks forward to working with our members to raise the profile of the sector, help grow this thriving cluster, and drive innovation in photonics in Scotland.
About Photonics Scotland
Photonics Scotland is a community for all photonic and photonics-enabled organisations in Scotland. We are the focal point for the sector and a trusted partner to our members allowing us to represent their views to a number of key stakeholders. We also facilitate a cohesive sector, providing a range of events, working groups and networking opportunities that help to drive collaboration between industrial and academic partners.
Ultimately, our goals are simple: to help grow this thriving cluster; drive innovation in photonics in Scotland; and raise the profile of the sector both nationally and internationally.
Founded as the Scottish Optoelectronics Association in 1994, Photonics Scotland is one of the oldest national photonics organisations in the world, and remains one of the largest technology communities in Scotland.
Photonics Scotland is a network managed by Technology Scotland, the cluster organisation for Enabling Technologies in Scotland.
