Meeting of the Parliament 25 January 2024
Agritech has a big role to play, and I am keen to learn more about it as part of our innovation strategy as we take it forward. At the same as we keep an open mind to new technologies, it is absolutely vital that we protect Scotland’s incredible image in relation to provenance and good, clean food and drink in terms of the raw ingredients that are used in our fantastic food and drink industry. We must balance those approaches going forward, and I think that we have the right balance at the moment.
A new international standard has been created for wi-fi light communications. Edinburgh-based pureLiFi is at the forefront of this emerging technology. The University of Edinburgh also recently opened the Quantum Software Lab and will host the UK’s first next-generation supercomputer, which is 50 times faster than any of the country’s existing machines. Last year, the famous XPRIZE Foundation chose the University of Glasgow as its new European hub.
We should not forget the brilliant games technology, with its own track record of success, which is largely born in the city of Dundee. That track record looks set to continue, with Edinburgh-based Build A Rocket Boy successfully securing £87 million in capital just last week. That is another sign of the fantastic momentum in Scotland’s technology sectors.
We need to keep moving up the international league tables of technology nations, and we must continue to create the conditions for success, such as by rolling out fibre infrastructure, which truly is the backbone of a technology nation. That backbone enables every business in Scotland, no matter where they are located, to play their part in a digital economy.
Our record investment in the reaching 100 per cent—R100—programme is extending gigabit-capable fibre networks the length and breadth of Scotland. Over the past 10 years, we have invested more than £1 billion in delivering almost 1 million broadband connections.
Another engine of growth is 5G, and its adoption has the potential to increase Scotland’s gross domestic product by up to £17 billion, add up to 160,000 jobs and help to create more than 3,000 new businesses by 2035. That is why we have invested £14 million in establishing the Scotland 5G Centre and the network of regional hubs.
Our enterprise agencies are playing their part. I will shortly address one of the points about scaling up.
Scotland continues to be the most attractive location outside of London for inward investment, with more than 8,500 jobs being created last year. Our projects were up by 3.3 per cent in 2022, compared with a 6.4 per cent fall in the UK. In inward investment, we are outperforming the UK and are the best-performing area outside of London.
Our agencies work together to help businesses to access the capital that they need to grow. That issue was raised earlier. M Squared Lasers, a quantum and photonics company in Glasgow, received £12.5 million of investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank in November 2020, which was the bank’s first investment. The bank has now committed more than £0.5 billion of investment to 31 businesses and projects, bringing in more than £800 million of investment from third parties. In fact, research last year showed that equity investment in Scottish businesses reached a record £953 million—an increase of 26 per cent from 2021. A strong and vibrant technology sector can do much to help us to manage the challenges that we face now and into the future. We want the companies that are based here to scale up, and it is great to see those new statistics.
Those sectors are export driven and generate high-value employment, high wages and more tax revenues. Many tech sectors pay well above the national average. The photonics sector, for example, has an average employee gross value added of £89,000. It is important for us all in the chamber to remember the ultimate point of all of this. Technology can improve our quality of life, save our planet and support humankind. It can keep us secure by protecting vital systems and services from attack. We are producing health tech, agritech, climate tech, clean tech, education tech and so much else. Many of the emerging new technologies to help the public sector and the public good are emerging through our successful CivTech programme.
To ensure that Scotland’s high-tech industries are equipped to meet future challenges, the Scottish Government will continue to invest in digital and enabling infrastructure. We will work with businesses to develop a green industrial strategy, and we will convene industries to come together to understand how we can better support and drive collaboration between the high-tech sectors. We want to explore the appointments of ambassadors, for example, for each of the high-tech sectors, and we want to promote Scotland’s position as a leading science and technology nation.
It is 25 years since the opening of this Parliament. We have witnessed enormous changes in that time and, 25 years from now, the world will not be the same as it is today. However, Scotland is in a position of strength. Scotland can be and, if we play to our advantages, will be a hub of world-class science and technology. I urge Parliament to support the motion.
I move,
That the Parliament recognises the fundamental role of technology, science and innovation in shaping the modern world; notes the global trends that will impact upon Scotland’s future economy and society; celebrates the successes of Scotland’s high-tech industries and the benefits that they bring in generating economic prosperity, enabling the transition to a green economy, offering solutions to the challenges of the 21st century, providing thousands of high-skilled jobs and generating inward investment and export opportunities, and recognises the role of the Scottish Government in supporting Scotland to become a hub of world-class technology, building on the strengths of these industries to play a central role in the delivery of an economy that is fair, green and growing, and benefits all of Scotland’s communities and people.