LIZ McAREAVEY

The Scottish Government is holding the 19th National Economic Forum in December to shape what it is headlining as a ‘Hi-Tech, Low Carbon and Inclusive economy’. Whether we like it or not the digital age is with us. We are seeing unprecedented change in our personal and working lives and the pace of this change is fast. We need to grasp what this means for Scotland and our economy.

We have world leading Data Analytics, Innovation, AI and Super-computers here in Scotland – Edinburgh is second only to London for Big Data innovation and has a real chance of becoming the digital capital of Europe.

Business spin-outs and the adoption of this technology and innovation by our businesses will drive productivity, efficiency and competitiveness. New jobs will be created and these jobs will require digital skills. It also means greater efficiency for public services in a world where cost cutting is ever present. Sadiq Khan recently appointed London’s digital Czar to drive this development and to harness the benefits of this technology.

“The pace of change over the next decade requires public services to develop a stronger relationship with the tech sector. Our purpose is to fully harness London’s world-class potential to make our public services faster and more reliable at doing things we expect online.”

All this is being driven by our universities - so the real challenge is how do we get businesses to understand what is coming down the highway, what does it mean for them, how can they access it and does Scotland have the skilled workforce to really drive performance. We also need to understand the consequences of this automated future on our current workforce.

Currently there is a low take up of the digital economy so there needs to be a significant cultural shift by the business community. We have low productivity – UK is 7th out of the G8 countries in terms of productivity – largely due to low adoption of technology, investment in R&D (UK is bottom of 2nd quartile globally for this, investing less than Lithuania) and investment in training and management skills.

We also need to ensure our education system is fit for purpose for this new digital age. Not just educating our young people in STEM and digital skills but also to ensure that ALL citizens have equality of opportunity for a good education and a rewarding career – specifically women returners, mature workers transitioning out of traditional jobs and the hard to reach, by businesses engaging early on to inspire and guide our young people into the right jobs and life-long learning for everyone.

Do we need government intervention to kick-start this cultural change? Perhaps more funding for training, tax breaks for investment in technology, R&D grants? Universities need to promote their resources for research projects for businesses, particularly for SMEs. How do we build effective bridges and dialogue between business and the universities? The Chambers are working with the Universities through Strategic Partnerships to understand how best to share the benefits of this innovation and through City Deal funding ensure we are building the skilled workforce that will be at the centre of this new Hi-tech and inclusive economy.

Liz McAreavey is chief executive of Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.