CENSIS’s 250th project is a major £12.5 million initiative aiming to create three ‘communities of the future’ in Glasgow, Dundee, and Moray, being delivered by a consortium of partners led by Blackwood Homes and Care. It has received UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s Healthy Ageing Challenge.

The scheme aims to help older people in Scotland to live longer, healthier, and more independent lives. Each neighbourhood will decide their own focus, with an emphasis on community involvement and co-designing and testing innovations that support healthy ageing – such as improving accessibility to, and the adaption of, existing homes as well as the overall design of future housing.

The innovation centre has delivered more than £50m in project value – investment from industry, academic, and public sector partners in initiatives CENSIS has stimulated – with 100 projects taking a positive environmental focus.

Over the last eight years, CENSIS has created and retained nearly 1,000 jobs in Scotland over the last eight years.

Despite the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, CENSIS said companies were still investing in research and development (R&D). The innovation centre took on 21 projects between February and April 2021 – its most active quarter ever.

Paul Winstanley, CEO of CENSIS, said: “Historically, R&D has tended to be among the first costs to be cut in an economic downturn – but our experience of the last 18 months has been that companies recognise the benefits innovation can bring and remain keen to invest. In fact, cash investment in R&D from many of the organisations we work with has actually increased, with an emphasis on digital and technologies that enable companies to operate remotely – whether through digital twins or remote asset monitoring.

“Business leaders increasingly recognise that innovation is a way for companies to keep themselves moving forward – whether that is by streamlining processes, enhancing efficiency, or helping staff to focus on high-value work. Continuing to invest in R&D has seldom been more important to business resilience, particularly with remote working likely to remain a feature of how companies operate, and we expect innovation to remain a focus in the months and years ahead.”

He added: “The project with Blackwood Homes and Care is highly significant – bringing a large-scale initiative with potential UK-wide impact to Scotland. It also involves a broad range of industry, academic, and other innovation centre partners, underlining what can be achieved through collaboration.”