Overview: Programme for Government

John Swinney has pledged to make Scotland a start-up nation as part of his latest programme for government.

The programme, published today, revealed initiatives to help bridge the gender gap in the tech sector, fix talent shortages and help Scotland lead on AI innovation.

The first minister brought forward the publication of the programme for government, which usually takes place in September, to allow for a full year for its delivery before the election next year.

In the coming months, the government will create AI Scotland, a new national transformation programme which will see academia, businesses and ministers work together to advance the adoption of the technology.  

It will also launch the First Minister’s Start-up Challenge to help young people from under-represented areas start and scale their businesses, as well as the University Proof of Concept Fund which will help research projects “with significant economic potential” develop into new companies.

A technology council of global business and academic experts, will also be established to advise ministers on applying and benefiting from emerging technological trends.

More than £325m will be awarded to the Scottish Founding Council to drive innovation and develop the talent pipeline, with a further £1.2m invested in Scottish Edge.  

The government also hopes to boost the number of women-led start-ups by investing up to £6m to implement Ana Stewart and Mark Logan’s Pathways report and increasing the number of women participating in international trade missions.

Legislation will be brought forward to “clarify” the legal status of digital assets, which includes crypto. It comes as the Property (Digital Assets Etc.) Bill awaits its final reading in the Lords before progressing to the Commons.   

Swinney also revealed a raft of measures to digitise health and care services and said tech-powered solutions will help provide 150,000 additional appointments and procedures.

He announced the NHS24 Mental Health Hub will be expanded to include access to digitally enabled psychological treatments and that by the end of Spring, all GPs will have access to the national digital dermatology pathway, a system that allows clinicians to triage a patient’s skin condition via photographs.

The PfG also confirmed £12m would be invested in the new health and social app, set to begin rollout by the end of the year, but fell short of announcing a specific timeline for when the tool will be deployed nationally.

Over the next twelve months, the government will also pilot digital onscreen assessments in a bid to introduce “a more balanced approach” to exams; boost digital media literacy skills across schools via the new digital discourse initiative; and take forward the Ministerial Online Safety Taskforce which will be responsible for driving policy change to keep children safe online.

Tech innovators have welcomed the new programme for the government. Stewart Miller, chief executive of the National Robotarium, told Holyrood the new start-up initiatives show “a clear commitment to positioning Scotland as a global leader in innovation, entrepreneurship and technology”.

He added: “The launch of AI Scotland as a national transformation programme is particularly significant, as it recognises the critical role that AI and robotics will play in Scotland's economic future.

“As the UK's centre for robotics and AI, the National Robotarium stands ready to be a key delivery partner in this vision, helping to implement the national AI adoption programme for SMEs and contributing to the Technology Council of global business and academic experts that will now advise the Government on applying and benefiting from emerging technological trends.

“The government's plan to establish a University Proof of Concept Fund is a welcome step that will help bridge the gap between research and commercialisation - something we've identified as crucial to building a robotics manufacturing ecosystem in Scotland. By supporting research projects with significant economic potential to progress towards forming new companies, this initiative will help ensure more Scottish innovations reach the market and create economic value within our borders.”