SMART (Scottish Business Grant)
Encyclopedia
SMART: SCOTLAND is a high profile innovation support grant scheme in Scotland aimed at small and medium-sized firms. It supports commercially viable projects which represent a significant technological advance for the UK sector or industry concerned.

The SMART grant supports technology development through:
  • Technical and Commercial Feasibility Studies
    Feasibility study
    Feasibility studies aim to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats as presented by the environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success. In its simplest...

    . These should involve early stage R&D, the outcome of which will enable informed decisions on the technical and commercial feasibility of a new product
    Product (business)
    In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...

     or process
    Business process
    A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product for a particular customer or customers...

    .
  • Research and Development Projects that aim to develop a pre-production prototype of a new product or process.

Criteria

Applicants must be based in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 or planning to set up in Scotland and must meet the European Community definition of a small and medium-sized enterprise which in summary means they must:
  • have less than 250 employees (full-time equivalent world-wide, including partners and executive directors) and have either
  • an annual turnover
    Revenue
    In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....

     not exceeding EUR 50 million and/or
  • an annual balance sheet total not exceeding EUR 43 million.


Awards are judged according to technological, intellectual property, financial and commercial aspects of the application as well as the management expertise available to the business. In addition other aspects such as the project's implications on society such as environmental impact, sustainability
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...

 and health and safety may be taken into account.

History

The grant was launched in Scotland as SMART in 1999 and by April 2007 grants had been given to almost 400 businesses across Scotland amounting to some £14.7 million funding.http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2006/01/26121910 In April 2007 SMART was relaunchedhttp://www.ettc.co.uk/news/detail.asp?newsid=4354 as the "SMART:SCOTLAND" Programme .

See also

  • Innovation
    Innovation
    Innovation is the creation of better or more effective products, processes, technologies, or ideas that are accepted by markets, governments, and society...

  • Scottish Government
  • Scottish Executive Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
    Scottish Executive Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department
    The Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department was a former Scottish Executive department responsible for economic and industrial development, further and higher education, skills, lifelong learning, energy, transport and digital connectivity until 2007.Philip Rycroft was appointed...

  • Economy of Scotland
    Economy of Scotland
    The economy of Scotland is closely linked with the rest of the United Kingdom and the wider European Economic Area. Scotland has the second largest GVA per capita of countries in the United Kingdom after England, though it is still lower than the average of the United Kingdom as a whole...

  • SMART (Northern Irish Business Grant)
    SMART (Northern Irish Business Grant)
    The Small Firms Merit Award for Research and Technology programme in Northern Ireland gives funding and assistance to individuals and small businesses for research in the field of innovation.-Structure of Invest Northern Ireland:...


External links

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