By Ian McConnell
FORMER Skyscanner executive Mark Logan has been appointed to oversee what the Scottish Government describes as work to establish the nation “as a world-class technology hub”.
The Scottish Government will fund the new programme, unveiled today, to the tune of £7 million in the 2021/22 financial year.
It said Mr Logan, professor of computing science at the University of Glasgow and former chief operating officer of flight search engine pioneer Skyscanner, would advise ministers on “implementing the recommendations stemming from his independent review of the Scottish tech ecosystem”. The money being put up in the first year will include a £1m fund to make strategic investments in organisations and activities such as tech conferences, “meet-ups” or training programmes which “create the best possible environment for Scottish start-ups to succeed”.
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The Scottish Government said procurement for a network of growth-focused entrepreneurial hubs or “tech scalers” would open for bids later this year. It added: “It is anticipated that there will be five scalers in different parts of the country by 2022, with the aim of supporting around 300 high-quality start-ups over the next five years.”
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An advisory board includes HelloRelish chief Lesley Eccles, co-founder of gaming platform FanDuel.
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