2017 holds ‘great promise’ for Scotland’s tech entrepreneurs

0 Scotlandis chief executive Polly Purvis At Scotland IS, we view 2017 as a year of significant promise, with continued growth forecast across the digital economy.

The recent flurry of high profile investment in technology companies such as Skyscanner, Freeagent and Fanduel has highlighted Scotland’s ability to create world class technology businesses.

Tech businesses are exploiting the experience and expertise the sector now benefits from, together with global best practice in areas as diverse as software engineering practices and digital sales techniques, equipping them with the tools to be internationally successful.

Tech entrepreneurs are thinking bigger, and many of the specialist services of a sophisticated ecosystem are increasingly available.

Developments in digital technology are enabling many of Scotland’s more traditional industries to compete more effectively in the global economy.

For example, advances in data analytics are being adoptedandusedtohelpcompanies innovate and grow throughout the wider economy, using the skills and tools developed by our pioneering data scientists.

Analysis and modeling will no longer be perceived as quite so daunting as their use permeates all businesses, helping companies plan more efficiently, control their costs and target their customers more effectively.

Scotland’s games and animation businesses are already working at the forefront of next generation digital media, and with advances in areas such as virtual and augmented reality there’s real potential to create new applications in business, leisure and public services.

We’ll see additional automation around healthcare and life science as the Scottish public sector continues to roll out digital technology to our hospitals, care homes and private dwellings, through its advanced telehealth and telecare programmes.

Continued progress will be made in bringing together health, social and educational information to model, predict and target the needs of citizens better, plan more effectively and reduce costs in the public sector. l Polly Purvis is chief executive of Scotlandis, the trade body for the digital technologies industry north of the border