National Productivity Week

27 November - 1 December 2023

Various locations in Glasgow

Adam Smith Business School, the School of Social and Political Sciences and The Productivity Institute Scottish Forum is proud to support National Productivity Week

This series of events is part of the 'Regenerating Scottish productivity for prosperity for all' programme of events for National Productivity Week, funded by the ESRC.

National Productivity Week has been organised by The Productivity Institute, the ESRC funded research body of which University of Glasgow is one of nine partner institutions.

A week-long series of events, seminars, conferences and panel discussions has been launched to raise awareness of and offer solutions to addressing the UK’s productivity challenges.

It will run from November 27 to December 1 and bring together academia, business leaders, policymakers and thinktanks to share insights and provide solutions for tackling productivity slowdown in the UK.

The Scottish Programme brings together experts from business, policy and academia to discuss the characteristics of Scottish approaches to the current productivity driven by the values of prosperity for all.

National Productivity Week 2023: What does 'productivity' mean to you?

Scottish Events Programme

Wednesday 29 November | 9.00am to 11.30am | The Studio Glasgow
The Triple Bottom Line and AI - new ways of thinking about productivity

Thursday 30 November | 11.00am - 12.30pm | Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow, 237 A/B (Exhibition Space)
New perspectives on productivity: scale deep, crowdfunding and purposeful business

Thursday 30 November |1.00pm - 2.30pm | Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow, 237 A/B (Exhibition Space)
Customers, consumers and end-users as FinTech innovators? Reflections on the Consumer Duty

Friday 1 December, 9.00am - 11.00am | Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow, 237 A/B (Exhibition Space)
Innovation, place and communities: innovation districts, partnerships and communities of innovation

"All of us want to see a Scottish economy that is resilient, thriving and innovative." Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli

This is not new in UK history, with the 1963 Productivity Year also tackling this issue. There was then cross-party recognition that productivity needed to be addressed so that the UK and its citizens could prosper. This was, and remains a challenging issue to address, with conflicting views about how fair and inclusive this process can be.

In 2023, there are a new range of issues in fostering sustainable productivity. Our context is that of climate change and the need to protect our environment, the development of a digital economy underpinning industries from manufacturing to finance, new skills and education requirements for work, and the need to foster a diverse workforce and jobs that are meaningful and rewarding for employees. This context is nurturing new ideas, innovations and practices in productivity that align with contemporary values and ideas as well as with yielding financial, social and environmental good across the population and where they live.

Scotland, as well as the other devolved nations in the UK, faces these challenges. The TPI Scottish Forum, working with businesses, universities, the public and third sector, has identified a range of opportunities and challenges in Scotland. Analysis by Professor John Tsoukalas of the University of Glasgow shows the variability of productivity across Scotland. Taking this into account alongside Scotland’s diverse geography means that there are also many types of businesses, urban and rural, across many sectors and sizes – SMEs, multinationals, large businesses, and start-ups.

To address the challenges of productivity in the contemporary contexts, Scottish businesses and policy-makers are finding creative and innovative ways not only to adapt to the current challenges but to develop new solutions. The aim of Scottish Productivity Programme is to raise awareness, improve understanding and to share and learn from businesses who are developing innovative practices and processes to highlight what works and what the barriers are.From this learning and sharing, the Scottish business community, Government and policy-makers can identify what support is needed, whether that’s infrastructure, skills training, investment, worker wellbeing practices and/or technology.

University of Glasgow logo in blue The Productivity Institute logo in colour Productivity Clubs Scotland (CSP) logo in colour Economic and Social Research Council logo The Gaitherin logo Digital Society and Economy at Interdisciplinary Research, College of Social Sciences logo