Dr Alisdair Ritchie is Head of SME Development at the Connected Places Catapult, the UK's innovation accelerator for transport, smart cities, and place leadership. Alisdair and his teams manage the Catapult's network of 4,300+ SMEs, delivers Department for Transport's TRIG (Transport Research Innovation Grant) programme and leads its Freight Innovation Fund programme. The teams seek to foster innovation and integrate SME capabilities across all Catapult activities and with its partners. The teams also develop and deliver commercial and CR&D frameworks that enable SMEs to innovate, build partnerships, and seek investment with partners across government departments, local authorities, key commercial partners and globally.
Alisdair has previously been part of the management team of the PETRAS National Cybersecurity Centre, led the development of mobility testbeds at the University of Warwick and has provided management consultancy services across a number of industries including media, telecoms and transport.