Colleges must “grasp the opportunity” to make Scottish businesses more innovative by collaborating more with industry, a Scottish principal has stressed.

West College Scotland principal Audrey Cumberford said that colleges were the “missing link” in ensuring businesses were as effective as they could be.

Speaking at a Colleges Scotland event, she said: “As a country, we invest significant sums in research and development, which is important. However, if we don’t have the other bit of the picture, which is the skills, alongside that, we are not maximising our potential.”

There seemed to be a “misalignment” between research and development and building skills, “particularly in the context of emerging technologies”, she said, adding: “The stars are aligned and it is incumbent on the sector to grasp this opportunity now.”

In 2012, the Scottish Funding Council, alongside Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, launched the innovation centre programme to support collaboration between universities and businesses.

Few colleges engage with these centres directly, said Ms Cumberford. She told Tes Scotland that greater collaboration between the college sector and innovation centres could better align research and development with the development of vocational and technical skills.

She added: “Colleges are embedded within their local communities and have local and regional reach into businesses. That local and regional reach, particularly into [small- and medium-sized enterprises], is a real opportunity for colleges. Why would we not use that link for maximum impact?”

Colleges could help with product development, service improvements and workforce development, she said. She added: “We are all doing lots of great things, but we are not nationally articulating that in a clear and simple way.”

Clear potential

Her comments echo a recent review by University College London’s Professor Graeme Reid, which found that the role of FE colleges in the innovation centres programme needed to be better defined. There was “clear potential” in “the strong links many colleges have with their local business community”, it said.

“SFC should challenge FE colleges and their representatives to enhance their involvement in the IC programme and work with ICs to support innovation in local businesses, for example responding to business demands for skilled people,” the review added.

Earlier this year, IPPR Scotland published its report Equipping Scotland for the future: Key challenges for the Scottish skills system.

Director Russell Gunson said it had stressed that by taking action now, “we can prepare Scotland for the future, so that the work that colleges and training providers do with learners every single day can better support Scotland’s economy for the long-term.”

He added: “The skills system in Scotland could be at the forefront of tackling the economic challenges we face, and delivering inclusive growth for the future.”

He predicted that demographic and technological change will create “a very different world of work”.

“We must make the decisions now that prepare us for this future,” he said.

The SFC has established a College Innovation Working Group to consider how the FE sector can be supported to further develop and enhance its contribution.

John Kemp, the SFC’s interim chief executive, said: “In 2017 I’d like to see a real focus on supporting colleges’ role in innovation.

“If we can help colleges to achieve their potential in this, there are some very big gains, such as matching skills to emerging technologies, delivering more agile approaches to business growth, and improving productivity.”