The companies - Nallatech, SeeByte and Company Net - were invited to join the project after an exhaustive review of dozens of companies. the project, completed in late 2006, was managed by Scottish-based consultancy 2in10, co-funded by the Innovative Actions Programme and supported by key members of the GlobalScot programme.

Scottish technology companies have great strengths in terms of innovation, design and building to a high technical quality.

But it's acknowledged generally that the key challenges lie in their abilities to sell - both in domestic and international markets - and to build the relationships needed to compete at a global level.

2in10 report that in 2005 Scotland registered 19 per cent of all UK patents - double our "weight" in terms of population.

Yet our conversion rate from technology to product is five per cent - less than half of our "weight".

Research concluded that this results in lower growth and competitiveness, and fewer large-scale technology companies. Our most notable exception in recent years has been Wolfson Electronics, which produces smart "chips" used in global consumer products including the Apple iPod.

As 2in10 developed the programme, its core arguments gained support agreement from leading GlobalScots within corporations including Microsoft, Freescale Semiconductor and Sun Microsystems.

The tailored programme - which involved seconding key managers from Scottish companies to the three US corporations - was designed to embrace four key disciplines:

1. Product Management - defining the right product

2. Product Marketing - Sending the right messages to market

3. Channel Marketing - Identifying the right channels

4. Channel Management - Recruiting, managing and developing partnerships to achieve results.

See "the pilot companies" 

And also www.2in10.com