Agenda

Taking place in Barcelona and San Francisco respectively, the events play a crucial role in showcasing our creative talent and commercial potential to buyers and investors from around the world. And there's no doubt that these are markets worth competing in.

The games sector is estimated by Gartner to reach a value of $111bn this year. Frost and Sullivan predicts that the mobility market will grow to a value of $13trillion by 2020. Other research suggests that the wearable technology sector will hit $53bn by 2019.

But even now we can see what technology-driven companies contribute to the economy. The Scottish games sector provides around £99m to the UK's GDP, directly or indirectly supporting nearly 3000 jobs. The creative digital sector as a whole generates gross value added of around £1bn.

With the talent, creativity and experience at its disposal, Scotland is well placed to take advantage of this rapidly evolving and growing digital economy.

4J Studies, based in East Linton and Dundee, is the company behind Minecraft for Xbox and Playstation. Recently earning a double BAFTA nomination, the firm will be among 33 games developers highlighting their skills in California. The delegation also includes Serious Parody, which is launching an innovative 3D 5-Star wrestling game for the PlayStation to challenge the popular WWE games.

Meanwhile, in Spain, delegates will be able to hear about an app that is helping African farmers look after the health of their stock developed by Cojengo of Glasgow. They will also have the chance to see an exclusive demonstration of Li-Fi, created by a University of Edinburgh spin-off, which provides data communication through light bulbs.

One key area that will be highlighted in the Scottish presence in Barcelona is the digital health sector. Here, innovation isn't just about bringing incomes and jobs to the Scottish economy - vital though that is.

With an ever-ageing population, the UK - among other countries - is facing a crisis in care provision. It is thought that the efficiency of the support provided must improve by 35% if current standards are to be maintained. With continued pressures on public finances, and growing demand, radically different ways of working are essential.

The global digital health market is estimated to reach around $70bn by 2018 and Scotland's Digital Health Institute has estimated the potential market opportunity for Scotland to be up to £1bn, supporting more than 700 new jobs.

That's something worth striving for in itself, but there's the added benefit of finding ways to improve the quality of life for future generations here and abroad.

As a country, we're small enough to be a manageable test-bed, but large enough to be a challenge. And we also have a lot of expertise of our own to offer. The same is true of some of the other technologies being pioneered in other sectors.

That's just one reason among many of why these technology sectors are priorities for Scottish Government.

At Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, and our international arm Scottish Development International, our job is to support companies to take advantage of opportunities in new markets, and these shows are good examples of the assistance we provide. By leading the Scottish delegation to these flagship events, and by hosting networking opportunities that help connect our delegates with the right people to take their businesses forward, we are helping to inspire global ambition in our young tech companies.

We know from previous years that this approach brings results and are very confident that 2015 will prove to be just as successful.

Mark Newlands is International Sector Head of Technology and Engineering at Scottish Enterprise.