Scotland's pioneering digital health and care sector first to benefit from Technology and Engineering Framework for Action
John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth will tomorrow (Tuesday 11 June) launch the Digital Health and Care Technology Action Plan to help drive the development of a world-leading digital health and care sector in Scotland, delivering cutting-edge technologies to international markets.
The Action Plan centres around opportunities for Scottish companies in digital health and care - an £80 billion global market where Scotland has unique advantages including proactive Government support, aligned public and private sector agencies, access to a pioneering computerised patient database, as well as academic expertise across 15 universities. It builds on the strategic ideas being developed by Scotland's Digital Health and Care Innovation Partnership and sets out to form an internationally recognised cluster of digital health and care technology companies in Scotland that are capable of targeting global markets and attracting significant inward investment.
The digital health and care sector is the first to benefit from a series of actions plans that form Scotland's Technology and Engineering Framework for Action. Developed for industry by the Technology Advisory Group, the Framework is a portfolio of focused action plans that aims to develop Scotland’s capabilities in technology and engineering, meet global challenges and address opportunities for growth.
John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, Scottish Government, said: “We are committed to ensuring that all of Scotland is able to reap the social and cultural benefits of the internet. Investment in our digital economy will boost jobs, transform our public services, raise productivity and open up new markets to attract inward investment to Scotland.
“Scotland has considerable strength in areas such as big data, digital health and care, smart mobility, and sensor systems. We are committed to promoting these capabilities to deliver improved public services and to grow Scotland’s economy.
“This Digital Health and Care Technology Action Plan is aimed at doing just that – it sits alongside our recent £ 10 million investment in the Digital Health Institute which will see us work with health and care, academia and industry to identify pioneering digital opportunities.”
The Framework for Action, will be launched tomorrow at Scotland's Technology Show at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. Hosting the Scottish Enterprise event, David Smith, director of technology, engineering and creative industries, said: "Helping to encourage the widespread adoption of technology across all industry is central to our work in supporting Scotland's most ambitious companies. By focusing on technologies that deliver real impact we can help businesses increase innovation and drive forward performance.
"The global technology landscape is evolving fast and understanding how this works is vital for businesses to stay competitive which is why the new Framework for Action is so important. Scotland has a vibrant technology sector, where world-leading global companies are developing cutting-edge products and we want to see more Scottish businesses explore the way new and existing technology can help accelerate their success.
"It’s at events like these that new opportunities are created, collaborations are made and possibilities are transformed in to reality - ultimately delivering long-term growth for the Scottish economy."
Scotland's Technology Show is Scotland’s largest cross-sector technology event and will provide innovative and practical technology solutions for companies to help them address real business challenges while a range of Scottish technology companies will showcase their innovative technology in action.
Up to 1000 local and international businesses and technology leaders from various industries are set to attend to network with key technology experts and learn how to improve their productivity and competitiveness. This year the show will focus on health and care technologies, smart cities and communities, the future of technology and big data, cloud and data security.
Laurence Ward, Chairman of the Technology Advisory Board, who will also be speaking at tomorrow's event, said:" Our vision is to unleash the inherent innovation and business potential that exists within the Scottish technology and engineering sector. This will enhance Scotland’s global impact and will contribute significantly to GDP growth."