Professor ‘Tech’ to lead Government hub plans
A former Skyscanner executive has been appointed to oversee a multi-millionpound initiative to establish Scotland as a worldclass technology hub.
Mark Logan, who is also professor of computing science at the University of Glasgow, will advise ministers on implementing the recommendations stemming from his independent review of the Scottish technology ecosystem.
The programme will be delivered with £7 million of Scottish Government funding in its first year. This will include £1m to make strategic investments in organisations and activities – such as technology conferences, meet-ups or training programmes – that create the best conditions for start-ups to succeed.
A network of growthfocused entrepreneurial hubs known as “tech scalers” will open for bids later this year. It is anticipated that there will be five such scalers in different parts of the country by 2022, with the aim of supporting as many as 300 start-ups over the next five years.
An advisory board includes Lesley Eccles, founder and chief executive of Hellorelish and cofounder of gaming platform Fanduel, and Stephen Ingledew, executive chairman of Fintech Scotland.
Online travel businesses Skyscanner was Scotland’s first “unicorn” – a tech company valued at more than $1 billion. Logan joined the firm as chief operating officer in 2012 until its acquisition in 2017.
He said: “It’s very exciting to witness the shared sense of mission and ambition across government, industry and the education sector in bringing the tech ecosystem review’s recommendations to life.”