Scottish government launches tech sector review

The Scottish government has launched a review into how the country’s technology sector can help with economic recovery following the coronavirus pandemic.

Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes announced last week that the short-life review will be led by former Skyscanner chief operating officer Mark Logan, and will make a series of recommendations on how the tech industry can help to ensure the future of Scotland’s economy.

Forbes told the Scottish parliament that the impact of coronavirus will require the country to “think radically about embracing digital technologies and low-carbon reforms”.

She added: “Through necessity, we have seen sectors embrace new technologies and innovation at a rate and a scale that would ordinarily have taken years. The Scottish government must play its role in maintaining that speed and momentum, moving at pace towards a new and high-tech low-carbon economy.”

But Forbes also said the government couldn’t do this on its own, and needed to “catalyse our most innovative emerging sectors, ensure they fulfil their potential, both as economic propositions in their own right and as sources of innovation for our wider economy”.

In a statement, Forbes added that Scotland’s tech sector was “one of the most innovative, high-growth sectors we have and it will be critical to our economic recovery”.

She added: “As Scotland seeks to emerge from lockdown and restart our economy when the time is right, we will need that innovation more than ever, and that is why I have invited Mark Logan to lead a review that will recommend how we can harness the enormous potential of this sector.”

The Scottish government has also launched a £100m package of additional grant support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the self-employed.