Workshop &
event programme
The workshop and event programme is a mandatory part of the CivTech process, designed to run alongside your product development to help you build the skills and knowledge needed to develop both your MVP and a scalable product-led business.
It’s a unique and exceptional programme that’s been refined over many CivTech cohorts. Our workshops are delivered by outstanding people with real and current experience in their field — these are not trainers, they are people who’ve been there, done it, and continue to do so.
Exploration Stage | Accelerator Stage
Exploration Stage
Week 1
📣 Welcome to the Exploration Stage
An official welcome to the Exploration Stage, including a chance to meet the CivTech team, learn more about your Challenge, and find out what to expect over the following three weeks. Mandatory, delivered in-person in Edinburgh.
🎓 Workshop: Design Sprint Introduction
We expect you to make significant progress with your proposals during the Exploration Stage. This workshop provides an introduction to Design Sprints and a bunch of tools and techniques you can start using straight away to develop your ideas. Mandatory, delivered in-person in Edinburgh.
🎓 Workshop: User-led Design and Accessibility
‘Start with the user’ is a key part of the CivTech ethos, and the way the wider Scottish Government approaches design of its digital public services. This session, led by the SG Digital Directorate’s User Research and Accessibility experts, will walk you through the fundamentals of user-led design and accessibility, ensuring you get off to the right start. Mandatory, delivered remotely.
🔥 Fireside chat with previous participants
At the beginning of the Accelerator, we like to bring together a small panel of companies and Challenge Sponsors that have been through the programme, and ask them to share their CivTech experience, and some ideas about how to get the most out of the Exploration Stage. Mandatory, delivered remotely.
💬 Challenge Sponsor and Team one-to-ones
Each Exploration Team has a private one-hour meeting with their Challenge Sponsor, to discuss the Challenge and proposed solution in depth, and agree what support might be needed over the following three weeks. Mandatory, delivered remotely.
💬 Drop-in sessions
An opportunity to meet our friends at Techscaler, Scottish Enterprise and Interface to find out what support might be available to you during or after CivTech from the wider Scottish innovation ecosystem. Optional, delivered remotely.
Week 2
💬 Design Sprint one-to-ones
Following on from the previous week’s workshop, our Design Sprint experts will spend an hour one-on-one with each Exploration Team to provide some focussed input as your proposals develop. Mandatory, delivered remotely.
🤝 In-person networking meet up
Join us for an informal networking session with the CivTech Challenge Sponsors, your fellow Exploration teams and the CivTech team. Optional, delivered in-person in Edinburgh.
🎓 Finance drop-in sessions
If you’re new to business come and pick our expert accountants’ brains about the basics. Optional, delivered remotely.
🎓 Legal drop-in sessions
Our company law experts can help answer your questions about setting up a company, shareholdings, becoming a director, intellectual property — and just about anything else. Optional, delivered remotely.
Week 3
🎓 Workshop: Project Planning
At the end of the Exploration Stage you’ll be asked to provide a Project Plan alongside your resubmitted proposal covering the work you aim to do during the Accelerator. This workshop looks at some of the forms such a plan could take, how it can remain flexible in a fast-moving environment like CivTech, and how it might form part of a longer product roadmap. Optional, delivered remotely.
🗣️ Scottish Enterprise Research Service briefing
An opportunity to hear from Scottish Enterprise’s Research Service about this free offer, what platforms and software are available, and how to utilise the service. Optional, delivered remotely.
🎓 Workshop: Presentation 101
This session will help you prepare your pitch for a place on the Accelerator, with some expert advice on structuring your presentation and getting your message across. Mandatory, delivered remotely.