As we celebrate 30 years of the Photonics Scotland and edge towards the half way point between the Vision paper published in 2020 – Photonics in Scotland – a vision for 2030 there is much to celebrate but equally much to do.

When I talk to senior people in the industry there is an equal measure of optimism about the direction of travel but also recognition of the challenges yet to be solved, much of which was highlighted in the 2023 report on Photonics in Scotland.

One element that the report highlighted is the global nature of the markets that Scottish Photonics feeds into. “Exports continue to be crucial to the sector’s growth with 97% of output exported beyond Scotland’s borders.” Scottish companies, large and small, compete on the world stage.

So how do we position Scottish Photonics globally so that other people recognise us?

Most feel that the Scottish Photonics sector has a good reputation and has some strong success stories. Coherent’s continued growth as a cornerstone of the industry and the strong growth in employment numbers in the sector and valuation of the sector, latest figures suggest Photonics is worth over £1.4 Billion to the Scottish economy augers well for the industry and clearly there are a number of exciting companies coming through. Scotland also clearly does have talent and potential. We have 5 leading universities in Photonics in Scotland and the talent that is being produced by them is something that the industry needs and should be promoted strongly to further enhance our reputation.

The challenge is that in other regions or countries, Lithuania for example, government has put a lot of money into supporting its Photonics industry. Industry insiders I talk to suggest that Scotland’s stands at Munich or Photonics West need to stand out to compete against other nations.

How can the Scottish Photonics cluster develop to being that truly global leader?

Some feel that collaboration with other larger companies would help many of the SME’s in Scotland. Is there a value in trying to attract more world leaders like Trumph or Toptica to have a base in Scotland? How do we encourage global leaders to invest in the Scottish ecosystem in the way that Coherent has. Ultimately, they’ll benefit from the talent.

Could we promote the talent that we have? Again 5 leading universities producing Photonics specialists, does Scotland have more available talent than other regions? So, we have talent and we have an ecosystem but do we have the right mix of SME’s to larger businesses represented in Scotland. Would encouraging larger businesses in simply stifle the growth potential of the SME’s? However, the power of attracting and establishing larger companies to charge the ecosystem further is appealing surely? That’s why Coherent growing in Scotland is a good thing for the industry here alongside Leonardo and Thales and others. Where we see strong clusters in Rochester and Arizona in the USA and in Germany in the EU can Scotland become another of those recognised hubs or clusters globally?

Globalisation and Scottish / UK Photonics ability to compete?

From my perspective I can see that the cluster is working towards this aim of becoming a truly globally recognised hub and it is clear that there is a strategy in place. Photonics Scotland’s international outreach work, collaboration with EPIC and SPIE and marketing and branding of the sector is promising. Scotland has a strong ecosystem to attract people into the sector as there are multiple companies with multiple jobs so mobility within the sector de-risks moving to Scotland for a career in Photonics. Scotland is an attractive country to live in.

There is international recognition of the Scottish Photonics industry and with companies like Coherent here and growing in Scotland as well as the numerous good news stories from SME’s there is good reason for optimism. The fact that the Scottish Government has recognised and values the Photonics Sector is good news too as we need them to play their part.

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