Now in its fourth year and in-person for the first time since the pandemic, the event at Glasgow’s Science Centre connects start-ups and small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) with leading innovators and academics to explore how new technologies, leadership and the right business cultures can tackle the challenges faced by Scottish industry and society.

More than 800 delegates and 40 speakers are expected to take part in the CAN DO Innovation Summit, which is funded by Glasgow City Council, Scottish Enterprise and Innovate UK. The Summit has fast-become a must attend for Scottish businesses from all sectors, with this year’s event providing valuable insights on innovating to build resilience in a tough economic climate and navigating an increasingly virtual and artificial intelligence (AI) enabled world.  

This year’s free to attend summit is spearheaded by female keynote speakers, with a focus on rapid advances towards a tech-driven, sustainable and virtual future.

The three keynote speakers are:

• Elena Corchero, Director of Emerging Tech at DowJones Live and Globally Recognised Tech Futurist.
• Edafe Onerhime, Data Specialist and Global Financial Services Lead, Top Twenty Most Influential Women in Data 2023.
• Opé M, Fashion Creative and Futurist and Top 3 Finalist New York AI Fashion Week 2023.

Dr Susie Mitchell, Programme Director, Glasgow City of Science and Innovation (lead agency for the CAN DO Innovation Summit) said: “Scotland is already well regarded as a leader in innovation, but the pace of change has hugely accelerated. This summit will support start-ups and SMEs to make the most of AI and emerging technologies, key tools for businesses to thrive in a challenging economic climate. I’m also immensely proud to launch the summit with a line-up of local and global female experts, showcasing the talented women in tech and helping to inspire the next generation of diverse leaders.”

Other speakers and panellists for the event include Nick Rosa, Industry Technology Innovation Lead from Accenture, and Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland.

Delegates will hear from local and global experts who will share essential tech trends, insights and tools that allow businesses to keep up and stand out. The Summit will also include a raft of business leaders from Scotland’s growing innovation clusters - from health tech and advanced manufacturing to quantum and the digital creative industries.

Keynote Elena Corchero, Director of Emerging Tech at DowJones Live, said: “No matter your industry there is so much noise when you look at innovation and trends, and what can apply to your business. I’m excited to be part of this important event to talk about building a technology manifesto on ‘the why’ and how companies must embed well-being, immersiveness, sustainability and ethics to ensure tech and innovation adoption is challenge-based and purpose-driven. I’ll also share information on essential emerging (and merging) tech that businesses need to know about to stay ahead of the curve and embrace a better future.”

Edafe Onerhime, Data Specialist and Twenty Most Influential Women in Data 2023, said: “AI and other emerging technologies are changing how we work as humans, as well as the ecosystems we operate in. For SMEs, it's an opportunity to look across the strategy, operations, technology and people with this new perspective in mind and ask: ‘How can we make this better? I'll explore how Scotland can thrive in the face of these emerging technologies and share a responsible, pragmatic framework for successfully collaborating with data, technology and AI.”

Opé M, Fashion Creative and Futurist, Top 3 finalist New York AI Fashion Week 2023, added: “By embracing AI, SMEs can harness its transformative potential to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving market. I’ll be exploring how AI serves as a bridge towards achieving greater sustainability in the fashion industry, as well as the critical issue of data bias in AI and the potential implications for jobs affected by these emerging technologies.”

Cllr Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “The Glasgow City Region is an exciting and dynamic attractor for local innovation talent and for global investors, a place which draws on its existing sectoral strengths while nurturing an environment of collaboration, creativity and inventiveness. With a highly-skilled population, entrepreneurial businesses and partnerships between world-leading learning institutions and the public and private sectors, we’re increasingly competing on a global stage. The innovation summit will be crucial in bringing together people and institutions to renew connections, engage in conversations and discover new opportunities.”

Dean Cook, Director, Place and Levelling Up at Innovate UK, added: “As the UK’s Innovation Agency, Innovate UK is again delighted to be supporting this annual event that connects Scottish businesses with the support and thought leadership available to help them with their innovation journey. Working in close partnership with Glasgow City Council, Glasgow City of Science and Innovation and Scottish Enterprise, we are seeing through the commitments we made in our 2021 UK Action Plan for Businesses, to better connect Innovate UK’s support -  ‘UK to local’. We are strongly supporting the UK’s levelling-up agenda in order to ensure that all places across the UK can gain the economic advantages that innovation can bring. The pace of technological change that businesses face today has never been so acute. It is vital therefore that we work collectively to respond in an agile way and enable businesses to take advantage of transformational technologies such as virtual and AI. Only through strong National to local partnership and co-creation, will we be able to unlock new economic potential by leveraging local strengths, resources, and expertise in the Glasgow city region and more widely across Scotland.”

The event will also include an immersive showcase, on Scotland’s largest IMAX screen, of Opé M’s stunning AI-enabled fashion collection ‘Emergence’, for which she received a top 3 award at the first AI Fashion Week in New York City.

Tickets are now available for delegates to reserve free of charge on the CAN DO Innovation Summit Website, with the event taking place on 7 November 2023. www.candoinnovation.scot