Scotland's Programme for Government
The Scottish Government's latest Programme for Government places technology close to the centre of its plans - as a driver of economic growth and a means of reshaping public services. For the tech sector, the document is notable less for any single headline announcement than for how digital ambitions run through skills policy, health reform, justice and more.
Below is our read of some of the top tech related commitments.
Skills: the foundation everything else rests on
Apprenticeships receive a significant push. Ministers have committed to funding a minimum of 150,000 places, to widening access to Graduate Apprenticeships, and to introducing an Apprenticeship Accelerator Grant designed to help employers - smaller businesses in particular - bring apprentices on board (p.16).
They have also pledged to bring forward a single national skills plan for Scotland by spring 2027, intended to line up skills investment with where the economy is actually heading, support both the green and digital transitions, lift productivity and open clearer routes into secure, well-paid work (p.17).
techUK welcomes this. Consolidating a fragmented landscape into one coherent plan is the right instinct, and we would like to see two priorities shape it. The first is embedding digital skills throughout the education system - from schools through colleges and universities, so that every learner leaves with solid digital literacy and a meaningful number leave with capability in fields such as artificial intelligence and cyber security. A workforce grounded in these areas is better placed to meet what industry needs and to respond when new threats emerge. The second is a sharper focus on lifelong learning in the sectors where demand and economic potential are greatest - semiconductors and AI among them. Concentrating retraining effort on fast-growing industries is how Scotland keeps its skills pipelines full, holds its competitive position, and ensures companies scaling here can find the people they need.
A Careers Ambitions Framework will also be published, with commitments to better information about digital career routes, more work-based learning, and stronger bridges between education and employment (p.17).
Growing the economy
The Programme promises reform of planning and regulation to lower the friction of doing business. This is something that techUK and its members have been keen to see as part of government efforts to boost both domestic growth and inward investment.
On AI, the Government acknowledges that Scotland has to handle the opportunities and the risks together, while noting that its tech ecosystem has grown faster over the past five years than either the UK or the EU as a whole (p.24). That recognition underpins AI Scotland, a programme intended to build public confidence in the technology and give Scotland its own voice in the economic and social debates AI is generating (p.24). techUK has already been in contact with the Scottish Government's AI team and expects that engagement to continue as the programme takes shape.
A new High Growth Unit will be established, involving senior industry figures from the outset, to help businesses with strong potential scale up and stay rooted in Scotland (p.24). This approach was supported by techUK President Sheila Flavell (FDM) and Elizabeth Vega (Informed Solutions), a techUK member, both of whom served on the Scottish Government’s Tech Council.
Several further measures round out the growth agenda. The Government will work with the Scottish National Investment Bank on a Scottish Innovation Fund aimed squarely at university spinouts, drawing in private capital alongside public-sector support (p.24). It will set out a strategy for attracting responsible investment in green data centres, with clear expectations around sustainability, resource use and benefit to local communities (p.24). Regulatory sandboxes will be created so that new healthcare and life sciences technologies can be trialled and deployed more quickly (p.25), and fresh Knowledge Transfer Partnerships will pair businesses with universities to move research into commercial application (p.25).
Connectivity threads through the regional growth ambitions, which include better digital and physical links so communities are not left isolated (p.28), alongside a commitment to invest across this Parliament in digital connectivity, transport and local regeneration, including improved mobile and broadband coverage (p.29). techUK will be looking for more detail here and would welcome firmer commitments on digital connectivity specifically. One concrete proposal is a feasibility study into a subsea cable linking Shetland to the mainland, intended to strengthen network resilience and reduce exposure to service disruption (p.32) - a development techUK welcomes, with members VMO2 and BT involved in the work.
More broadly, techUK is clear that connectivity, and digital infrastructure, is foundational to Scotland, whether it be gigabit-capable networks, reliable mobile coverage across the country and streamlined planning processes. These are all prerequisites for realising the Programme's wider digital ambitions, from AI adoption to digital public services. Closing the remaining coverage and digital inclusion gaps will determine how evenly the benefits of this agenda are felt across Scotland.
Reforming public services through digital
The Programme sets out a fairly ambitious digital government agenda. Services are to be designed so that citizens supply information once rather than repeatedly, supported by shared data platforms and common definitions and datasets across organisations (p.47). The ePass model is identified as a template that could be applied more widely to outbound payments and casework, cutting both cost and delivery time (p.47), and its common licensing rollout will be accelerated to standardise those functions (p.47).
Self-service and automation will be expanded through the Support Service Challenge in CivTech 12 (p.47). techUK is a firm supporter of CivTech, and it is encouraging to see a member that has gone through the CivTech programme, ePass, recognised in the Programme itself. CivTech round 12 has just launched and you can find out more about the challenges here.
Underpinning all of this is a stated ambition for public services that are more modern, more accessible and more responsive, built on new technology and new ways of working (p.47). The most visible expression will be the ScotGov App, due to launch in the autumn, giving citizens a single route into multiple services rather than a scattering of logins and websites (p.47).
Health and social care
Health carries some of the boldest digital commitments. The MyCare app is intended to become the most comprehensive health and social care app in the UK, covering prescription management, appointment booking and access to care correspondence (p.49). It will sit alongside a new Digital Health and Care Record for every person in Scotland (p.49), something which we strongly welcome and look forward to partnering with the Scottish Government, to deliver industry engagement on at the end of this year and into 2027.
Ministers also commit to moving proven innovations into routine use more quickly using digital tools to help prevent type 2 diabetes, for instance, and making fuller use of virtual wards (p.49). An AI Hub will be developed to support safe adoption of AI across health and care, with further services added to MyCare.scot (p.50). Community healthcare will expand, with digital innovation and new care models used to take pressure off hospitals and improve outcomes (p.51).
Where techUK goes next
We are pleased to see digital threaded through the Programme for Government and welcome many of the commitments referenced above. What will determine their impact is the detail still to come, and the follow through. techUK will continue working with the Scottish Government on issues that align with our work, as and when detail emerges.
