I joined ScotlandIS in April to develop an in-house research and policy unit for the benefit of our members. Having just completed the first six month in post, I would like to share an overview of the work I am doing and how you can take advantage of it.
As my first project, I conducted research into the salaries and benefits offered in our industry. The results have been published in the first ScotlandIS Salary Report and this work will be repeated annually to capture trends and developments. I also contributed to external research projects that analysed the data-driven innovation opportunities in the Edinburgh City region, Scotland’s digital technology skills needs and the emerging Smart Cities landscape. The corresponding reports will be published at the beginning of next year and made available for you on our website.
The EU referendum result created a lot of uncertainty and new challenges for our members. To better understand your concerns and needs, we launched a Brexit survey at the beginning of July. The results helped to shape ScotlandIS’ key priorities for Scotland’s digital technologies industry which we are currently communicating to policy makers and other stakeholders in Scotland and London (e.g. Cabinet Secretaries Keith Brown and Mike Russell, Chief Secretary of the Treasury David Gauke, UK Minister for Trade Lord Price).
I’ve led the development of several responses to consultations from the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament:
- Scottish Government’s Enterprise and Skills Review consultation
- Consultation on the Scottish Government response to the introduction of the UK Apprenticeship Levy
- European and External Relations Committee’s Written Call for Evidence on Scotland’s relationship with the EU
Over the coming months, I will investigate further how Brexit will affect our industry, how you can make the most of emerging opportunities and how negative effects can be mitigated. My next major projects are to research the IT spend of the public and financial services sectors as well as measuring exports of our industry into the EU and the rest of the world.
We are also undertaking research on behalf of member companies like yours to help you grow your business. If you are interested in this opportunity or have questions about other aspects of my work, please get in touch at svea.miesch@scotlandis.com or 01506 47 2200.