Silicon Glen
Encyclopedia
Silicon Glen is a nickname
for the high tech
sector of Scotland
. It is applied to the Central Belt
triangle between Dundee
, Inverclyde
and Edinburgh
, which includes Fife
, Glasgow
and Stirling
; although electronics facilities outside this area may also be included in the term. The term has been in use since the 1980s. It does not technically represent a glen
as it covers a much wider area than just one valley.
business with Ferranti
establishing a plant in Edinburgh
in 1943. NCR Corporation
, Honeywell
and Burroughs Corporation followed in the late 1940s with IBM
being a very significant import when it opened a manufacturing facility in Greenock
in 1953. Indeed this was typical of much of the early days of Silicon Glen, which were dominated by electronics manufacturing for foreign companies much more than research and development or the establishment of home grown companies.
The emphasis on electronics came about due to the decline in traditional Scottish heavy industries such as shipbuilding
and mining
. The government development agencies saw electronics manufacturing as being a positive replacement for people made redundant through heavy industry closures and the associated training and reskilling was relatively easy to achieve.
Like the bedrock of Silicon Valley
was in semiconductors, Silicon Glen also had a significant influence in semiconductor
design and manufacturing starting in 1960 with Hughes Aircraft
(now Raytheon
) establishing its first facility outside the US in Glenrothes
to manufacture germanium
and silicon
diodes. In 1965 Elliott Automation established a production facility in Glenrothes
followed by a MOS research laboratory in 1967. This was followed in 1969 by the establishment of wafer fabs by General Instrument
in Glenrothes
, Motorola
(now Freescale) in East Kilbride
and National Semiconductor
in Greenock
. Signetics
also opened a facility in Linlithgow
in 1969. In 1970 Compugraphics relocated from Aldershot
to Glenrothes
to provide photomask
manufacturing for these companies. Other companies who developed semiconductor wafer fabrication or other manufacturing plants included SGS in Falkirk
, NEC
, Burr-Brown Corporation
, IPS (then Seagate Technology
) and Kymata (now Gemfire) in Livingston, CST in Glasgow
and Micronas in Glenrothes
.
There were some other notable successes such as the large Sun Microsystems
plant in Linlithgow
and the Digital Equipment Corporation
semiconductor manufacturing plant in South Queensferry where the pioneering 64-bit
Alpha 21064
and its derivatives were made. Digital also opened an office in Livingston
, developing their flagship VAX/VMS operating system.
Rodime
of Glenrothes
pioneered the 3.5 inch hard disk drive in 1983 and spent subsequent years defending its patents against (and collecting royalties from) Seagate
, Quantum
, IBM
and others.
The manufacturing sector grew to such an extent that at its peak it produced approximately 30% of Europe's PCs, 80% of its Workstations, 65% of its ATMs and a significant percentage of its integrated circuits.
The heavy dependency on electronics manufacturing hit Silicon Glen hard after the collapse of
the hi-tech economy in 2000. Viasystems, National Semiconductor
, Motorola
and Chunghwa all
laid off substantial numbers of employees or closed factories completely. The effects of the Viasystems closure are still felt in the Scottish Borders
today. Digital sold their Alpha facility to Motorola
who eventually closed it down. Motorola
also closed their factory in Bathgate
and the substantial NEC plant in Livingston was also closed. In 2009 Sun ceased manufacturing at its Linlithgow plant and, after successive years of downsizing, NCR ended all manufacturing in Dundee.
However, there are many promising signs as well as a recognition that diversification away from electronics and manufacturing produces a more balanced and stronger economy. There is also more of an interest in encouraging home grown talent.
In order to diversify away from electronics and manufacturing, the development agencies now
see global services as being a potential area of growth, but there is also substantial interest in the software development industry, including Rockstar North
, developers of the market leading Grand Theft Auto
series. There is also a dynamic and fast growing electronics design and development industry, based around links between the very strong universities
and indigenous companies like Wolfson Microelectronics
, Linn
, Nallatech, Axeon
, 4i2i
, and IndigoVision
, and projects like the Alba Campus. The software sector has also notably attracted Amazon.com
to set up a software development centre in Edinburgh
, the first such centre outside the US. There remains a significant presence of global players like National Semiconductor
, IBM
and Freescale.
The move from a primarily manufacturing dominated region to a wealth creation one has been successful as demonstrated in a report from UBS Wealth Management in 2006 showing Scotland with more venture backed companies per capita than any other UK region.
In addition to the indigenous companies, Silicon Glen continues to have quite a significant semiconductor design community of inward investment companies including Atmel
, Freescale, National Semiconductor
, Semtech
, Micrel
, Analog Devices
, Allegro MicroSystems, Micro Linear, Micronas and ST Microelectronics.
Semefab, the former General Instrument
semiconductor foundry, has been funded as the UK's Primary Centre for the development of microelectromechanical systems
(MEMS) and nanotechnology
.
Scotland had 1,000 companies in electronics employing 25,000 people in 2004, this number has been in decline since 2000 when 48,000 people were employed in the industry in Scotland.
nology companies are established in Silicon Glen, including:
Motorola
, Agilent, IBM
, Microsoft
, Raytheon
, Oracle Corporation
, Cadence Design Systems
, 3Com
, Adobe Systems
, Semefab, Brand Rex, BI Technologies, CRC Group, Compugraphics, National Semiconductor
, Micronas, and Atos Origin
.
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
for the high tech
High tech
High tech is technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology...
sector of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. It is applied to the Central Belt
Central Belt
The Central Belt of Scotland is a common term used to describe the area of highest population density within Scotland. Despite the name, it is not geographically central but is nevertheless situated at the 'waist' of Scotland on a conventional map and the term 'central' is used in many local...
triangle between Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Inverclyde
Inverclyde
Inverclyde is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire - which current exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area - located in the west...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, which includes Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and Stirling
Stirling
Stirling is a city and former ancient burgh in Scotland, and is at the heart of the wider Stirling council area. The city is clustered around a large fortress and medieval old-town beside the River Forth...
; although electronics facilities outside this area may also be included in the term. The term has been in use since the 1980s. It does not technically represent a glen
Glen
A glen is a valley, typically one that is long, deep, and often glacially U-shaped; or one with a watercourse running through such a valley. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower than a strath."...
as it covers a much wider area than just one valley.
History
Silicon Glen had its origins in the electronicsElectronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
business with Ferranti
Ferranti
Ferranti or Ferranti International plc was a UK electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century from 1885 until it went bankrupt in 1993. Known primarily for defence electronics, the Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but ceased trading in 1993.The...
establishing a plant in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
in 1943. NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation is an American technology company specializing in kiosk products for the retail, financial, travel, healthcare, food service, entertainment, gaming and public sector industries. Its main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check...
, Honeywell
Honeywell
Honeywell International, Inc. is a major conglomerate company that produces a variety of consumer products, engineering services, and aerospace systems for a wide variety of customers, from private consumers to major corporations and governments....
and Burroughs Corporation followed in the late 1940s with IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
being a very significant import when it opened a manufacturing facility in Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
in 1953. Indeed this was typical of much of the early days of Silicon Glen, which were dominated by electronics manufacturing for foreign companies much more than research and development or the establishment of home grown companies.
The emphasis on electronics came about due to the decline in traditional Scottish heavy industries such as shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
and mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
. The government development agencies saw electronics manufacturing as being a positive replacement for people made redundant through heavy industry closures and the associated training and reskilling was relatively easy to achieve.
Like the bedrock of Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
was in semiconductors, Silicon Glen also had a significant influence in semiconductor
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
design and manufacturing starting in 1960 with Hughes Aircraft
Hughes Aircraft
Hughes Aircraft Company was a major American aerospace and defense contractor founded in 1932 by Howard Hughes in Culver City, California as a division of Hughes Tool Company...
(now Raytheon
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
) establishing its first facility outside the US in Glenrothes
Glenrothes
Glenrothes is a large town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is located approximately from both Edinburgh, which lies to the south and Dundee to the north. The town had an estimated population of 38,750 in 2008, making Glenrothes the third largest settlement in Fife...
to manufacture germanium
Germanium
Germanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ge and atomic number 32. It is a lustrous, hard, grayish-white metalloid in the carbon group, chemically similar to its group neighbors tin and silicon. The isolated element is a semiconductor, with an appearance most similar to elemental silicon....
and silicon
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, it is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon, the nonmetal directly above it in the periodic table, but more reactive than germanium, the metalloid directly below it in the table...
diodes. In 1965 Elliott Automation established a production facility in Glenrothes
Glenrothes
Glenrothes is a large town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is located approximately from both Edinburgh, which lies to the south and Dundee to the north. The town had an estimated population of 38,750 in 2008, making Glenrothes the third largest settlement in Fife...
followed by a MOS research laboratory in 1967. This was followed in 1969 by the establishment of wafer fabs by General Instrument
General Instrument
General Instrument was an electronics manufacturer based in Horsham, PA specializing in semiconductors and cable television equipment. The company was active until 1997, when it split into which was later acquired by Vishay Intertechnology in 2001, CommScope and NextLevel Systems General...
in Glenrothes
Glenrothes
Glenrothes is a large town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is located approximately from both Edinburgh, which lies to the south and Dundee to the north. The town had an estimated population of 38,750 in 2008, making Glenrothes the third largest settlement in Fife...
, Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
(now Freescale) in East Kilbride
East Kilbride
East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
and National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer, that specialized in analog devices and subsystems,formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. The products of National Semiconductor included power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers,...
in Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
. Signetics
Signetics
Signetics, once a major player in semiconductor manufacturing, made a variety of devices which included integrated circuits, bipolar and MOS, the Dolby circuit, logic, memory and analog circuits. They developed microprocessors like the 2650, the bipolar 8X300 and had licensed Motorola 68000...
also opened a facility in Linlithgow
Linlithgow
Linlithgow is a Royal Burgh in West Lothian, Scotland. An ancient town, it lies south of its two most prominent landmarks: Linlithgow Palace and Linlithgow Loch, and north of the Union Canal....
in 1969. In 1970 Compugraphics relocated from Aldershot
Aldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
to Glenrothes
Glenrothes
Glenrothes is a large town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is located approximately from both Edinburgh, which lies to the south and Dundee to the north. The town had an estimated population of 38,750 in 2008, making Glenrothes the third largest settlement in Fife...
to provide photomask
Photomask
A photomask is an opaque plate with holes or transparencies that allow light to shine through in a defined pattern. They are commonly used in photolithography.-Overview:...
manufacturing for these companies. Other companies who developed semiconductor wafer fabrication or other manufacturing plants included SGS in Falkirk
Falkirk
Falkirk is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies in the Forth Valley, almost midway between the two most populous cities of Scotland; north-west of Edinburgh and north-east of Glasgow....
, NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
, Burr-Brown Corporation
Burr-Brown Corporation
The Burr-Brown Corporation was a United States technology company in Tucson, Arizona, which designed, manufactured, and marketed a broad line of proprietary, standard, high-performance, analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits used in electronic signal processing...
, IPS (then Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drives. Incorporated in 1978 as Shugart Technology, Seagate is currently incorporated in Dublin, Ireland and has its principal executive offices in Scotts Valley, California, United States.-1970s:On November 1, 1979...
) and Kymata (now Gemfire) in Livingston, CST in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and Micronas in Glenrothes
Glenrothes
Glenrothes is a large town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is located approximately from both Edinburgh, which lies to the south and Dundee to the north. The town had an estimated population of 38,750 in 2008, making Glenrothes the third largest settlement in Fife...
.
There were some other notable successes such as the large Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
plant in Linlithgow
Linlithgow
Linlithgow is a Royal Burgh in West Lothian, Scotland. An ancient town, it lies south of its two most prominent landmarks: Linlithgow Palace and Linlithgow Loch, and north of the Union Canal....
and the Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
semiconductor manufacturing plant in South Queensferry where the pioneering 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
Alpha 21064
Alpha 21064
The Alpha 21064 is a microprocessor developed and fabricated by Digital Equipment Corporation that implemented the Alpha instruction set architecture . It was introduced as the DECchip 21064 before it was renamed in 1994. The 21064 is also known by its code name, EV4...
and its derivatives were made. Digital also opened an office in Livingston
Livingston, Scotland
Livingston is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-WWII new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is about 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 30 miles east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.Livingston...
, developing their flagship VAX/VMS operating system.
Rodime
Rodime
Rodime was an electronics company specialising in hard disks, based in Glenrothes, Scotland. It was founded in 1979 by several Scottish and American former employees of Burroughs Corporation and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1986, becoming Rodime PLC....
of Glenrothes
Glenrothes
Glenrothes is a large town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is located approximately from both Edinburgh, which lies to the south and Dundee to the north. The town had an estimated population of 38,750 in 2008, making Glenrothes the third largest settlement in Fife...
pioneered the 3.5 inch hard disk drive in 1983 and spent subsequent years defending its patents against (and collecting royalties from) Seagate
Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drives. Incorporated in 1978 as Shugart Technology, Seagate is currently incorporated in Dublin, Ireland and has its principal executive offices in Scotts Valley, California, United States.-1970s:On November 1, 1979...
, Quantum
Quantum
In physics, a quantum is the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction. Behind this, one finds the fundamental notion that a physical property may be "quantized," referred to as "the hypothesis of quantization". This means that the magnitude can take on only certain discrete...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and others.
The manufacturing sector grew to such an extent that at its peak it produced approximately 30% of Europe's PCs, 80% of its Workstations, 65% of its ATMs and a significant percentage of its integrated circuits.
Today
the hi-tech economy in 2000. Viasystems, National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer, that specialized in analog devices and subsystems,formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. The products of National Semiconductor included power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers,...
, Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
and Chunghwa all
laid off substantial numbers of employees or closed factories completely. The effects of the Viasystems closure are still felt in the Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
today. Digital sold their Alpha facility to Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
who eventually closed it down. Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
also closed their factory in Bathgate
Bathgate
Bathgate is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the M8 motorway west of Livingston. Nearby towns are Blackburn, Armadale, Whitburn, Livingston, and Linlithgow. Edinburgh Airport is away...
and the substantial NEC plant in Livingston was also closed. In 2009 Sun ceased manufacturing at its Linlithgow plant and, after successive years of downsizing, NCR ended all manufacturing in Dundee.
However, there are many promising signs as well as a recognition that diversification away from electronics and manufacturing produces a more balanced and stronger economy. There is also more of an interest in encouraging home grown talent.
In order to diversify away from electronics and manufacturing, the development agencies now
see global services as being a potential area of growth, but there is also substantial interest in the software development industry, including Rockstar North
Rockstar North
Rockstar North is a British video game developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland, best known for creating the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises in its earlier guise as DMA....
, developers of the market leading Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto (series)
Grand Theft Auto is a multi-award-winning British video game series created in the United Kingdom by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke. It is primarily developed by Edinburgh based Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games...
series. There is also a dynamic and fast growing electronics design and development industry, based around links between the very strong universities
Education in Scotland
Scotland has a long history of universal provision of public education, and the Scottish education system is distinctly different from the other countries of the United Kingdom...
and indigenous companies like Wolfson Microelectronics
Wolfson Microelectronics
Wolfson Microelectronics plc is a multinational microelectronics and fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. It specialises in signal processing chips for the consumer electronics market and has engineering and sales offices throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe and the...
, Linn
Linn Products
Linn Products is a Scottish company, based in Glasgow, that manufactures hi-fi audio equipment, home theatre, and multi-room integrated audio systems...
, Nallatech, Axeon
Axeon
Axeon designs and manufactures advanced lithium-ion battery systems for electric vehicles and processes over 70 million cells per year. Headquartered in Dundee, Scotland and with operations in Poland and sales offices in Germany and Birmingham, England, Axeon produces batteries for all types of...
, 4i2i
4i2i Communications
4i2i Communications Ltd. is a supplier of semiconductor IP cores, software and board level solutions for video coding, error correction coding and broad-band modems. Headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, it also has offices in Edinburgh, Scotland and San Jose, California, USA. The company...
, and IndigoVision
IndigoVision
IndigoVision Group plc is a Scottish company based at the Edinburgh Technopole, near Penicuik, Midlothian. Founded in 1994, it produces IP video surveillance systems....
, and projects like the Alba Campus. The software sector has also notably attracted Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
to set up a software development centre in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, the first such centre outside the US. There remains a significant presence of global players like National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer, that specialized in analog devices and subsystems,formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. The products of National Semiconductor included power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers,...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and Freescale.
The move from a primarily manufacturing dominated region to a wealth creation one has been successful as demonstrated in a report from UBS Wealth Management in 2006 showing Scotland with more venture backed companies per capita than any other UK region.
In addition to the indigenous companies, Silicon Glen continues to have quite a significant semiconductor design community of inward investment companies including Atmel
Atmel
Atmel Corporation is a manufacturer of semiconductors, founded in 1984. Its focus is on system-level solutions built around flash microcontrollers...
, Freescale, National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer, that specialized in analog devices and subsystems,formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. The products of National Semiconductor included power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers,...
, Semtech
Semtech
Semtech Corporation is a supplier of analog and mixed-signal semiconductors. The company sells proprietary solutions and breakthrough technology in power management, protection, advanced communications, human interface, test & measurement, as well as wireless and sensing products...
, Micrel
Micrel
Micrel Incorporated, founded in 1978, is a global manufacturer of integrated circuits with corporate headquarters in San Jose, California. Micrel has been a publicly traded corporation since December 1994...
, Analog Devices
Analog Devices
Analog Devices, Inc. , known as ADI, is an American multinational semiconductor company specializing in data conversion and signal conditioning technology, headquartered in Norwood, Massachusetts...
, Allegro MicroSystems, Micro Linear, Micronas and ST Microelectronics.
Semefab, the former General Instrument
General Instrument
General Instrument was an electronics manufacturer based in Horsham, PA specializing in semiconductors and cable television equipment. The company was active until 1997, when it split into which was later acquired by Vishay Intertechnology in 2001, CommScope and NextLevel Systems General...
semiconductor foundry, has been funded as the UK's Primary Centre for the development of microelectromechanical systems
Microelectromechanical systems
Microelectromechanical systems is the technology of very small mechanical devices driven by electricity; it merges at the nano-scale into nanoelectromechanical systems and nanotechnology...
(MEMS) and nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
.
Scotland had 1,000 companies in electronics employing 25,000 people in 2004, this number has been in decline since 2000 when 48,000 people were employed in the industry in Scotland.
Notable companies
Many high techHigh tech
High tech is technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology...
nology companies are established in Silicon Glen, including:
Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
, Agilent, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Raytheon
Raytheon
Raytheon Company is a major American defense contractor and industrial corporation with core manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. It was previously involved in corporate and special-mission aircraft until early 2007...
, Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
, Cadence Design Systems
Cadence Design Systems
Cadence Design Systems, Inc is an electronic design automation software and engineering services company, founded in 1988 by the merger of SDA Systems and ECAD, Inc...
, 3Com
3Com
3Com was a pioneering digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network infrastructure products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney, Bruce Borden, and Greg Shaw...
, Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
, Semefab, Brand Rex, BI Technologies, CRC Group, Compugraphics, National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor
National Semiconductor was an American semiconductor manufacturer, that specialized in analog devices and subsystems,formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. The products of National Semiconductor included power management circuits, display drivers, audio and operational amplifiers,...
, Micronas, and Atos Origin
Atos Origin
Atos S.A. is an international information technology corporation which operates in 42 countries worldwide, with over 78,500 employees...
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External links
- Scotland IS, the trade body for the Scottish IT sector
- Scottish Developers, forum for Scottish software developers
- Pico and General Instrument's 1970 development of a single chip calculator processor chip Possibly pre-dating Intel and TI.
- The death and rebirth of Silicon Glen BBC News