Dialogues Project

That the Parliament congratulates all concerned on the launch of the Dialogues project by the University of Glasgow, which is designed to give about 200 small- and medium-sized west of Scotland businesses, including existing and new businesses, access to the expertise and knowledge base of the university; recognises the opportunity that this welcome initiative provides for pulling together key players in economic development, including Scottish Enterprise, local authorities, the NHS, the education sector and the private sector, and promoting joined-up thinking across the support networks; welcomes the funding support that has been made available from the University of Glasgow, Strathclyde European Partnership and Glasgow City Council and the collaborative working undertaken by Strathclyde University and the NHS on this project; notes the progress made since 1997 in translating research knowledge into commercial reality and in finding ways to develop innovations and discoveries here, rather than simply seeking opportunities overseas; encourages further progress in supporting research activity and commercialisation to help Scottish businesses and the business base of our universities grow, and believes that the Scottish Executive should give early consideration to securing comprehensive baseline data information about the commercial outputs being generated from research conducted in Scottish universities and research institutes to enable better target setting and performance evaluation and thereby influence future commercialisation strategies.