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Tuesday, 08 April 2008

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Issue 168 front cover Holyrood magazine is the fortnightly insiders guide to understanding the complexity of Scottish politics and policy developments and is widely regarded as being the leading publication for political news and information in Scotland.

As the Government prepares to unveil its international strategy, how should Scotland promote itself abroad, asks William Peakin

Bill Hill was sceptical about what the politician would say. Born in Glasgow’s east end, the son of a steel worker, Hill’s father and mother instilled in him a love of the printed word. After Allan Glen’s School and Heriot-Watt University, he went into newspapers, including a long stint at The Scotsman, before the emerging world of personal computers drew him to desktop publishing in the mid-eighties and, a decade later, a job with Microsoft in Seattle. Hill ran the company’s typography group from which would spring Verdana and Georgia, two now classic fonts. He was co-inventor of Microsoft’s screen technology ClearType and today is one of its senior researchers.
“I don’t have much time for politicians,” said Hill last week. “When I was a newspaperman back in Scotland, I saw way too much of most of them. It didn’t seem like any of them really had the ideas – or even the will – to solve the problems of high unemployment, and everything else that goes with it.” The previous evening, Hill had been at a reception in Seattle’s Ranier Club hosted by Scottish Development International and addressed by Enterprise Minister Jim Mather.

“Jim sounded not only like he really knew what he was doing, but he also clearly had a lot of business and industry experience before becoming a politician. I liked what I heard,” said Hill. “[I] got a chance to speak to Jim later; liked him even more. I think there’s a good chance the Scots may actually pull this off. I’ll be watching with interest over the next few years.

I think there’s a good chance the Scots may actually pull this off. I’ll be watching with interest over the next few years. Quotation

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That day, Mather also had breakfast with members of Globalscot, the business leader network, and visited Alexandria Real Estate Equities, the company investing in Edinburgh BioQuarter, the capital’s life sciences cluster. He spoke to executives from Microsoft before a series of meetings throughout California, and flew on to Houston, a centre not just of energy expertise but also biomedical research and aeronautics, then to the technology hub of Austin.
“For any economy to thrive, it needs two things: a talented work force and a competitive advantage,” Mather had written in The Seattle Times on the eve of his visit to America. “Seattle – rated as America’s most highly educated city – gets this. And perhaps it is no surprise that Washington is one of America’s few states that has no personal or corporate income tax and at the same time is the home of such international giants as Amazon, Starbucks and Microsoft. The new Scotland gets this, too. So it’s fitting that I will be meeting business and civic leaders to discuss ways that Seattle and Scotland can collaborate in the future and position us both to succeed in today’s economy.”
Led by Alex Salmond, the Government’s latest foray into the US was distinctly more businesslike; gone was the glitz of the previous administration’s Tartan Week (the Tartan Day parade – enshrined by the US Senate – remains but the fashion show ‘Dressed to Kilt’ was moved to October) and the series of visits by Salmond, Mather and External Affairs and Cultural Minister Linda Fabiani was renamed Scotland Week. With a “significantly reduced” budget, the week was “strategic, targeted and efficient,” declared Salmond.
The First Minister spoke at Harvard University’s Centre for European Studies about “building a Celtic Lion; a new economic powerhouse that will be one of the great success stories of the global economy. This is the defining mission of my Government,” he said. “It is the purpose that lies at the heart of the decisions we have already made, and those which are to come.”
And at the National Geographic Society, he announced the world’s most valuable prize – £10m – to spur advances in marine renewable energy technology. Despite Newsnight Scotland’s subsequent efforts to see some dark motive in this, it was another canny move by Salmond; partnership with an esteemed global institution with its own instantly recognisable brand (a magazine in waiting rooms everywhere). Even Fabiani’s diary was dotted with business events, in between the more cultural occasions that naturally reside in her portfolio.
The week signalled a significant change in Scotland’s international game plan. On April 29, Salmond will unveil the Government’s strategy and for a party seeking independence, it will clearly be an interesting occasion. However, the new ‘arrogance-lite’ Salmond may be disinclined to grandstand on the global stage simply for the sake of it, and he will want to avoid upsetting the extensive network of UK civil servants, agencies and organisations around the world that Scotland’s equivalents work with closely.
Salmond’s Government has spent the past months ‘refreshing’ the strategy established in 2004 which set out to promote Scotland internationally as a place in which to “live, work, visit, study and do business.” It also included individual strategies for the US, China and Germany. The broad aims were laudable and the country-specific focus understandable; those nations are the world’s leading trading markets after all.
But the strategy suffered from ‘kitchen sink syndrome’; as you progressed through the document, it became clear that any organisation or mechanism that could be regarded as a trigger for international partnership had been roped in. Some elements felt like clutching at straws: North Carolina was included in the US strategy because the state has “a strong affinity” with Scotland; Shandong was included in the China strategy because there was no other UK representation in the province. Other aims appeared designed simply to reinforce the Union rather than develop Scotland’s interests. Targets were set several years ahead and there was a vagueness about how results would be measured with any meaning.
Taking a cue from last week, the new strategy will have sustainable economic growth at its heart. Direct government involvement will be very focused with specific and measurable goals, but wider activity by the myriad organisations and initiatives will be encouraged. Salmond’s administration is akin to a new management brought into a reasonably successful company that has grown too bureaucratic, that has lost a sense of what it is about and what brings the greatest return. The First Minister and his Cabinet have the relative luxury of being able to identify what works, then strip away what is peripheral to its purpose and bring a lighter touch to its activity.
For example, the new approach could see the Government take a direct interest in locations like Seattle and roll out a specific strategy for Canada. But at the same time, in Europe, for example, where distance is not a problem, it may want to step back and merely encourage Scotland’s business sector to greater activity with the new member states. Stronger links with Australia and New Zealand could be forged through other channels, such as cultural and sporting. It may also develop a sector approach – playing on Scotland’s strengths in culture, education, energy, life sciences and so on – to complement the strongly geographic emphasis. The aim is that outside direct Government activity, its broad strategic objectives will allow other international activity to be developed without being overly prescriptive.
While civil servants have been reviewing progress, organisations have had time to reflect also. David Caldwell, director of Universities Scotland, believes that the existing strategy “has been fairly successful, and in particular we have been happy to associate ourselves with the policy’s move to internationalise lifelong learning in Scotland.” That policy extended beyond universities to embrace colleges in increasing their international activities. “That said, although we can be relatively satisfied with what has been achieved so far, there is virtue in revisiting any strategy and finding out what can be improved.”
Janet Brown, chief executive of the Scottish Qualifications Authority, said the strategy had been useful in ensuring that Scotland benefits through links with countries that have potential economic value: “For example, we have been active in China, not only in raising the profile of Scottish education but in highlighting the quality of the Scottish people and the benefits to China of working with us on economic matters. We have also found the strategy useful in highlighting Scotland’s place in the world. That has allowed us to work with other emerging nations in Europe and Africa on, for example, developing their education systems.”
Among business, though, there needs to be greater awareness, according to Iain McTaggart, director of group services in Scottish Development International: “The strategy has been successful in galvanising more effective co-ordination of activity which is, of course, all to the good in setting objectives that Scotland can work towards,” he said. “However, wider knowledge of the strategy’s existence and purpose has been lacking among organisations that are not necessarily in the business of strategic thinking but are able to contribute to commercial objectives. Although great progress has been made in the education and tourism sectors, more work needs to be done in the business sphere to let companies know that we have a sense of direction and to show them how they can participate in the process and contribute to its overall objectives.”
Philip Riddle, chief executive of VisitScotland, agreed it had been successful for the tourism sector, but that aspects could be improved: “We could make better use of our very strong brand and share it across more areas of Scottish business. Secondly, we need more partnership. We are a small country in an extremely competitive world, but we have great assets, not least of which is a very well known brand. However, we have to manage and develop the brand properly, use it in different areas and galvanise partnership among, for example, tourism, business, investment and education. Although we are making an impact at the moment, such an approach will give us the clout to fully realise our potential.”
The strategy had many strands, said Julia Amour, deputy director of the British Council Scotland, but it was necessary to move on to the next generation of ideas: “We have an opportunity to build on the current strategy and develop greater focus. There was evidence of good practice in the China strategy group which was convened to consider how we all share our agendas in that important market. The evolution of the strategy should give us the opportunity to be more on the front foot with regard to the countries and themes with which we want to engage.”
Professor Stephen Blackmore, director of the Royal Botanic Garden, agreed that focus was important but it should be the right kind: “The previous [China] strategy focused on particular cities and provinces and although that made sense on one level, a focus on subjects or activities – my interests, for example, relate to science and the natural environment – might have been more helpful. West China, for example, was not featured heavily in the previous strategy and yet, in terms of its similarity in many ways to Scotland and its natural environment, it is of particular interest. Although we have to focus, we might do it better in relation to particular strands of activity rather than geography.”
On Scotland’s brand, Riddle said: “We must differentiate between brand and image; image – and icons – are just aspects of the brand. Branding comes first and it’s important that we get that perspective. We have to remember that we do not own the brand; the brand is owned in the minds of the people to whom we promote and talk. If we research that and look for common factors in the minds of people all over the world we find a common view of Scotland and that is extremely powerful. People would pay hundreds of millions of pounds for the kind of brand that we have.
“Images of Scotland reflect the essence of the brand; it is enduring, it is human and it has existed for a great length of time. People see values in the brand; they see pride, innovation and integrity. If those aspects are put together, we get a basis which we can interpret in all sorts of ways. We can define that approach, extend it and use it across a great many platforms. We do not do that as well as we could but there is great potential for the future. However, it’s not a question of having one logo or one way of presenting Scotland. It is about digging down into the essence of what people really feel about Scotland and reflecting that back in all sorts of different ways.”
University Scotland’s Caldwell agreed that it was necessary to represent diversity: “There is not a single monolithic, uniform Scotland. The universities are keen to portray the image that Scotland is a modern, innovative nation; on the whole, we believe that the traditional part has been well sold.” Blackmore emphasised excellence and quality: “In the emerging economies, people are looking for partners who have that excellence,” he said. McTaggart said that Scotland was fortunate to have such a strong brand, “but it gives us incredible capacity and leverage to update people’s knowledge about Scotland.”
Martin Reid, director of group services for Scottish Development International, said it was important to get the message across that Scotland was serious about business, and he added: “Many people in Scotland probably have not heard of SDI, but it is well known overseas. However, local authorities, for example, want to go overseas as well and there’s potential for conflict and confusion in the marketplace; we need to remove that confusion.” He said that it was important to be clear about the purpose of each organisation covered by the international strategy “so that we retain a focus and do not muddy the waters by trying to encapsulate everyone’s agenda into a snappy little catchphrase.”
According to Amour: “With the evolution of its international strategy, the Scottish Government has an opportunity not only to think about the common values that underpin the work that [organisations] can do internationally, but to help us to work up the distinctiveness of our proposition in each of the areas.” The British Council Scotland has a network of officers in 110 countries, she said, able to promote the idea of distinctive partnership “in climate change, education and governance, for example. The new version of the international strategy could usefully expand on that.”
Should the focus be thematic or geographic? “It is a cliché, but the world is now a very small place,” said Riddle. “Geographical boundaries are much less significant than they used to be. [An] international strategy [is] more likely to promote to socioeconomic groups than to national groups or even age groups.” Caldwell said he was sceptical about a geographical strategy; it was understandable for formal government involvement, but “it would be a mistake to be restrictive with regard to the overall input from Scottish institutions and organisations.”
The challenge, said Blackmore, was to have a strategy that opened some doors rather than closed others and which can support developments in many areas. “On China, the previous strategy focused on Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Guangdong and Hong Kong, all of which are major city regions of spectacular economic growth. That focus downplayed the importance of relating to parts of western China [where] in many ways there are perhaps easier parallels to draw between aspects of life in Scotland.”
McTaggart said that there had been an understandable focus on China and the United States in terms of business opportunities but there other important markets such as India and the new Europe. “The new member states of the EU have not been sufficiently flagged up in recent years as offering prime opportunities for Scottish business.”
Professor Sir David Edward, international convener of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, agreed that exchange was easier between Scotland and Europe, and it was taking place: “Given that exchanges are being engaged in all over the world, there is no point in the Government trying to direct, control or micromanage.” He cited the example of a recent delegation to St Andrews University from Pakistan: “A number of the most innovative minds are in Pakistan. We should not focus too much on India and forget Pakistan on the ground that it is a dangerous country, because [it] is just as important as India from a development point of view and is liable to produce as many benefits to us.”
Armour said that Scotland should have an international framework that enables and facilitates. Both she and Caldwell said it would be useful to map the international activities that organisations undertake and for the Government to look at the best way to support them: “It is very much a question of opening doors rather than closing them and of enabling rather than controlling.” Edward said there was a distinct lack of data on existing activities: “Governments tend to focus on what should happen; they do not spend enough time finding out what is already happening on the ground.”
Surprisingly, since the publication of the existing strategy, the engagement between Government and stakeholders on its effectiveness has not been strong. McTaggart said that there was extensive consultation during its preparation but since publication, “we have not had ongoing dialogue with the Government.” Blackmore said that the Botanic Garden had made contributions in several areas through the now disbanded Scottish International Forum but “one of the aspects that disappointed me was that the resulting policy documents produced by officials were confidential, which meant we were engaged in a rather one-way process.”
The forum was disbanded because its members felt it was too large and lacked a focus. There is support now for a suggestion from Alex Neil, deputy convenor of the Europe and External Relations Committee, to establish a small strategic steering group, bringing together relevant organisations to develop the broad international strategy on an ongoing basis. There is also a desire to move from five-year targets to publicising outcomes as they happen.
Caldwell also emphasised the need for constant innovation: “The future of the Scottish economy and of Scotland more widely depends on our always being at the cutting edge and always innovating. We currently do very well; Scotland produces 1 per cent of the world’s knowledge with 0.1 per cent of the world’s population. This is a very good share, but the conclusion that we should draw from that is that 99 per cent of the world’s knowledge is generated outside Scotland. We need international partnerships that enable us not just to assimilate the benefits of knowledge that we generate here but to understand the knowledge that is generated elsewhere. We need to form partnerships that can reap the benefit of knowledge generation.”
Riddle said that the Government should not be expected to direct everything and agreed with Caldwell on the convergence of knowledge. There were three elements to promotion, he said: the ‘who and what’; the strategy; and the delivery. The first of these was an issue for the various relevant organisations in Scotland and the last was a professional issue: “The area of convergence is strategic, which is founded on the brand of Scotland. The essence and values of the brand, rather than the imagery and straplines, is where the convergence should be. [This] is where we [should] concentrate our ideas about achieving that ‘two plus two equals five’ for the future.”

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