New strategy for Scotland’s ICT industry revealed

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES INDUSTRY ADVISORY GROUP

The Information and Communications Technologies Industry Advisory Group (ICT IAG), representing a cross section of Scotland’s ICT industry, today announces the publication of its new ICT Industry Strategy and Implementation Plan to accelerate the growth of the sector.

With the world market for ICT worth 3.8 Trillion USD in 2008, this new ICT strategy aims to ensure that Scotland gets more than its fair share of this highly attractive market.  International competition is fierce and so a well-coordinated approach between private industry, educational institutions and the public sector is vital.

The strategy identifies five key areas for focus in achieving this vision:

-          increasing the rate of internationalisation

-          creating more product companies

-          improving access to capital

-          driving more commercial innovation

-          attracting and retaining key skills

The Scottish ICT sector is already healthy and vibrant, employing 48,000 people and contributing £3.4bn GVA to the Scottish economy*.  A further 60,000 ICT professionals are employed across many Scottish key sectors, including financial services, life sciences and energy, and are essential to the delivery of efficient government and public sector services.

Software entrepreneur, Gerry Docherty, chair of the ICT IAG, said: “The ICT industry in Scotland is already an impressive and important one.  But our new strategy will look at how we can make even more of the opportunities to transform the industry in Scotland.  Our vision is that Scotland will have a reputation as one of the most active and fast growing locations for ambitious high-growth ICT companies globally.”

Polly Purvis, Executive Director of ScotlandIS, supported the focus of the strategy, saying: "Scotland’s ICT sector predominantly comprising small and medium sized businesses, benefits from a huge breadth of capability, an increasing focus on exports and a highly skilled workforce.  The industry offers significant potential for growth and we very much welcome this strategy, and look forward to working in partnership with other stakeholders to deliver against the plan."

The process of developing the strategy has been supported throughout by Scottish Enterprise, as Paul Lewis, managing director of Sectors and Commercialisation at Scottish Enterprise, explains: “Scottish Enterprise is working closely with a range of firms in the ICT industry.  The ICT Advisory Group was created to help industry formulate its own vision for growth and identify the actions needed to realise this.  The new strategy sets a clear path for the industry to deliver even more towards Scotland’s sustainable economic growth.”

The strategy was developed by a representative cross-section of industry and academia and is supported by the ICT industry’s trade association, ScotlandIS, and public sector stakeholders, including Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Development International, Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government, with assistance from e-Skills

* GVA refers to 2007, Source: e-skills UK Technology Counts IT and Telecom Insights 2010