Meeting of the Parliament 03 November 2016
I shall respond to the Presiding Officer in writing on that intervention.
Stewart Stevenson makes a good point. Networks are not just physical things. We should build networks of people—human networks of digital innovators, entrepreneurs, designers, developers and content creators. I refer, for example, to people working together to solve a problem such as identifying and removing the barriers that women have in reaching leadership roles in science, technology, engineering and mathematics careers.
What is at stake? According to Deloitte, if Scotland were to become a world leader in digital industries by 2030, it would experience an increase of more than £13 billion in gross domestic product but, if we continue as we are, it may experience an increase of only £4 billion. That is a £9 billion loss to our economy over the next 15 years if we do not take immediate and visionary action.
Something that members may not see often in the Parliament—especially from a Conservative member—is a copy of the Daily Record. This is an edition from 1 January 2000. In it are predictions such as:
“bulky TV sets … will be replaced by ... flat-screen technology ... If we’re chilly? Intelligent central heating systems will”
respond
“automatically”,
and
”people will be able to order and pay for anything they want direct from their mobile phones.”