Gravitricity, an Edinburgh-based energy storage company, aims to use Europe’s deepest mine, found in a small Finnish town, as the setting for its gravity energy storage technology.
Currently a disused mine shaft in the remote Finnish community of Pyhäjärvi, Gravitricity hopes the transformation plans using its gravity energy storage technology could “offer new opportunities” for the local people.
The gravity battery, called GraviStore, operates on what can be described as a kinetic energy pully system – a heavy weight will be suspended down the mine shaft with cables and winches. When excess energy is generated from renewable sources, the heavy weight will be lifted to the top. It can then be released as needed, producing either large bursts of energy or a slow release of energy.
The depth of the mine shaft will enable the battery to generate even more energy, with Gravitricity estimating that the scheme would generate up to two megawatts of storage capacity. This energy would tied straight into the local electricity grid, benefiting Finnish power services.
To support the project, the local community has created a development company to promote many regeneration projects, including this one.
“The two organisations have now signed an agreement to transform a 530-metre-deep auxiliary shaft into a full-scale prototype of Gravitricity’s technology – and anticipate this could become Europe’s first GraviStore deployment,” a spokesperson for the Edinburgh company said.
The mine is 1,400 metres deep, and is Europe’s deepest zinc and copper mine, though the shaft is currently not in use. The mine will serve as the setting for a prototype to demonstrate the energy harnessing and generating power of Gravistore.
“This project will demonstrate at full scale how our technology can offer reliable long-life energy storage that can capture and store energy during periods of low demand and release it rapidly when required,” said Martin Wright, an executive chairman at Gravitricity.
“This full-scale project will provide a pathway to other commercial projects and allow our solution to be embedded into mine decommissioning activities, offering a potential future for mines approaching the end of their original service life.”
AJ Engineering – a Forres-based steel fabrication and construction services company – has turned to a technology solution to help manage its carbon footprint and improve efficiency across its operations with the introduction of Internet of Things (IoT) technology.
Securing funding and technical support from CENSIS, Scotland’s innovation centre for sensing, imaging, and IoT technologies, the SME is on track to realise savings on its annual electricity usage as a result of new smart monitoring systems.
The project formed part of the IoT Evolve programme, which was funded by the Scottish Government and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to support SMEs in the region with the development and application of IoT technologies.
A series of connected sensors are now in operation across AJ Engineering’s site, enabling the management team to spot exactly where energy is being used and take steps to reduce consumption in particular processes or buildings.
The technology has already highlighted significant savings that can be made by reducing the heating and lighting at parts of the plant that had not previously been identified as large consumers of power.
Compared to standard smart meters, the IoT system provides much more granular detail about specific pieces of equipment and circuits, giving the team better insights to support decision-making and its ambition to achieve net zero. Cost savings on overheads and fuel bills are expected to be another benefit.
Having access to real-time data about the carbon footprint of its operations will also help AJ Engineering to communicate its green credentials to current customers and win new contracts, where partners may require the figures for their own carbon accounting protocols.
According to the latest figures from the Carbon Trust, the average SME in the UK generates around 15 tonnes of CO2 annually, making up 44% of total non-household emissions.
Graham Alexander, general manager at AJ Engineering, said: “Introducing this smart monitoring system has opened our eyes to how different parts of the business consume energy. The equipment has allowed us to have a much better appreciation of what aspects of our production and business are the largest energy consumers.
“As well as cutting our own carbon footprint, the technology will have benefits for customers across the sectors we operate in. They are increasingly asking us to supply information about our carbon footprint and the energy consumed by specific processes for their own emissions reporting. With access to accurate real-time data, we will be well-equipped to do so.”
CENSIS’s engineers developed a modular system with multiple sensors that transmit data wirelessly via a LoRaWAN network – managed by telecommunications company North.
An app-based dashboard is available to the company to help interpret and display the data remotely. Using an IoT network was identified as the most suitable option, given the site’s limited cellular coverage and equipment being located in harder-to-reach areas.
The project consortium hopes that the success of this project will inspire other SMEs in Scotland’s manufacturing sector to consider the adoption of similar IoT technologies.
Ally Longmuir, business development manager at CENSIS, said: “This was AJ Engineering’s first foray into the world of IoT and it is great to see the business realising the benefits of the technology almost immediately. Sustainability and carbon accounting are only going to become more critical as Scotland approaches its 2045 net zero target, and this is a great example of how digital adoption can support the wider goals and be applied to almost any industry.”
Edinburgh-based Nude Finance has been acquired by London-based digital mortgage brokerage company Tembo Money.
The acquisition will allow Tembo to offer customers Nude’s Lifetime ISA and Nude customers will in turn be able to take advantage of Tembo’s mortgage brokering service from within the Nude app.
The deal, approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), means that Tembo will acquire all of Nude’s shares, and Tembo’s chair, Jenny Watts, will assume the same role for the Nude Finance Board. Richard Dana, CEO of Tembo, will manage Nude, and Crawford Taylor, Nude’s CEO, will step down, but continue to offer advice to the team.
Richard Dana, founder and CEO at Tembo, said: “We’re delighted to now be able to offer our customers access to an award-winning savings product. Crawford and his brilliant team have built an engaged and loyal customer base of future first-time buyers and we look forward to continuing to grow and develop the business in the future.
“We’ve already been working with Nude over the past year and there is huge synergy in helping savings customers as they navigate the mortgage and homebuyer process. The broader Tembo proposition puts home at the heart of personal wealth – for most people and their families their most treasured and valuable asset.”
Nude currently has around 20,000 active customers, and Tembo expects this number to grow with their acquisition.
Crawford Taylor, Founder and CEO at Nude, added: “I started Nude to make a difference in people’s lives. Nude is a financial friend that’s really good with money, who’s there 24/7. The Nude team has built a unique proposition that is resonating in the market, changing the way people interact with the financial system.
“Nude helps people set a goal, engaging and motivating them and being with them every step of the way, starting with home ownership. Tembo has a very similar approach centred around home ownership and the acquisition is a perfect fit led by three very talented founders.”
External threats to IT systems continue to expand with the advent of AI for phishing, the use of online advertisements as an attack vector, and continued quicker exploitation of new vulnerabilities.
This is according to new research from BlueVoyant, a cybersecurity company, which analysed the trends in external cyber-defence, highlighting some new risks organisations face from outside the traditional IT perimeters.
“Organisations’ attack surfaces are ever expanding, and cyber-threat actors are adapting their strategies to exploit new avenues of vulnerabilities,” said Joel Molinoff, BlueVoyant’s global head of supply chain defense. “BlueVoyant undertook this research to shine a light on the attack vectors organisations need to be aware of and recommended actions to help prevent the latest threats.”
AI continues to transform how enterprises do business with the ability to generate content efficiently. Cyber-criminals are also capitalising on AI to create more effective phishing campaigns.
While AI may not fundamentally change the way threat actors levy attacks, security teams should be aware of how their adversaries are using it to streamline their workflow and make brand abuse easier.
“The biggest cybersecurity risk from the increasing use of AI tools is an escalated volume of attacks,” said Ron Feler, BlueVoyant’s global head of threat intelligence. “While the essentials of the attacks don’t change, the increased number and diversity of attacks make defenders’ jobs more challenging.”
More advanced uses of AI, including AI-powered malware, are still in their infancy, according to the report, and do not post a severe threat – yet.
Further, attackers are now using online advertisements as attack vectors. Threat actors are using search engine ads as phishing distribution vectors to lure unsuspecting victims to malicious websites impersonating large financial institutions in the UK, US, and Eastern Europe.
Threat actors are able to use the customisation settings available for targeted advertisements to evade detection, as well as to display the ads only to specific users meeting their criteria.
The report also found that many organisations are not enabling all key components that secure the authenticity and integrity of the messages, which could leave them susceptible to email-based threats.
Email authentication should be enabled all together, and organisations need to pay closer attention to services which connect their internal networks to external environments.
In previous reports, BlueVoyant found that organisations were often slow to patch systems even as attackers were exploiting new vulnerabilities faster. Now, the exploitation of vulnerabilities is happening even faster, prompting a high-stakes race between threat actors and defenders after a disclose.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is reminding all app developers to ensure they protect user privacy, following the regulator’s review of period and fertility apps.
The review saw the ICO contact several app providers to find out more about their privacy practices, as well as engaging with app users to understand their experiences.
While no serious compliance issues or evidence of harms were identified, the ICO has still issued a reminder to all developers about the importance of protecting users’ personal information, especially where sensitive information is involved.
“Signing up to an app often involves handing over large amounts of personal information, especially with apps that support our health and wellbeing,” Emily Keaney, deputy commissioner regulatory policy, said.
“Users deserve peace of mind that their data is secure, and they are only expected to share information that is necessary.
“When we announced we were looking into period and fertility apps, we received a helpful response from users who were able to share their experiences with us. We want to reassure users that we haven’t found any evidence these apps are using their data in a way that could cause them harm.
“However, our review has highlighted there are improvements app developers could make to ensure they are meeting all their obligations to be transparent with their users and keep their data safe.”
The regulator has shared four practical tips to help app developers comply with data protection obligations and maintain the privacy of their users.
Be transparent
Developers need to ensure their apps are being transparent with how they use people’s personal information. This means providing users with information including: the purpose for processing personal data, the retention periods of that data, and who it will be shared with.
The ICO calls this ‘privacy information’, and it must be concise, clear, and easily accessible.
Obtain valid consent
Genuine consent means offer people a real choice, the ICO says. App developers must therefore ensure they have the right to consent to use people’s personal information.
Data protection law sets a high standard for consent, which must be explicit, unambiguous, and involve a clear action to opt-in.
Platforms must not use pre-ticked boxes or any default method for consent, and must make it easy for people to withdraw their consent at any time.
Establish the correct lawful basis
Data protection law requires platforms to have a valid lawful basis to process personal data, such as consent, contract, or legitimate interests.
When deciding on a lawful basis, platforms must consider the purposes and context of their processing to determine which lawful basis is most appropriate – companies cannot adopt a one-size-fits-all approach.
Be accountable
Developers must be held accountable for the personal information they and their platforms hold. If a developer is determining the purpose and means of processing data, then they are the data controller, and are responsible for complying with data protection law.
Underpaid, overworked, passed over for promotions and told to smile.
The results of a global survey of 600 women working in STEM by MyBioSource, has found a myriad of upsetting, but ultimately unsurprising, trends and statistics.
The survey revealed several patterns that advocates for gender diversity and equality have pointed to – women tended to be higher earners or were more likely to receive a promotion if they had female mentors or bosses. Likewise, women who were passed over for a promotion said that a lack of women in existing leadership was the main cause of this.
Still, ensuring women are in power is not a cure-all – women can and often do perpetuate patriarchal standards in order to maintain their own power, and a lack of diversity in female leadership can lead to further biases down the line if the the women in power do not consider intersectional power dynamics of race, disability, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class.
Institutional sexism perpetuates in STEM because STEM is not separate from society. Delving into the specifics of how sexism perpetuates in STEM – which ideally should exist as a merit based industry – is still important. As an industry that esteems itself on the basis of scientific logic, fact, and statistics, why would it fall victim to the fallacies of sexism, racism, and ablism?
Some of the most disappointing statistics revealed in the study show that one in ten women in STEM know that they are paid less than their male counterparts. This points to a two-fold issue – where women are being paid less, and may feel powerless to speak to their managers about this issue.
Pay and Promotions
Over a third (34%) of women in STEM suspect that they make less than their male counterparts, pointing to the overall issue of pay transparency, which typically only benefits bosses and does not support equality in the workforce.
While 56% of women earned a raise in the past year, one in four had yet to receive a raise at any point in their career.
Further, nearly half (45%) of women in STEM had never received a promotion, with 38% believing that they were promoted less frequently than their male counterparts. Around one in five (19%) had been passed over for a promotion in the past two years, with 69% of these promotions instead going to a male co-worker.
Disturbingly, but again, not surprising to anyone who has ever been even close to STEM, 55% of women in STEM reported having been ‘quietly promoted’, which means they were given more responsibilities than a change in title or pay.
A lack of female leadership (15%), a feeling of being sidelined from informal networking events (11%), a struggle to connect with male supervisors (9%), and the perception that they were less committed to work because of family responsibilities (6%) were all quoted as reasons women thought they were passed over for promotion.
Having a female mentor tended to play a pivotal role in a women’s ability to climb the ladder or earn more – 31% of those who had a female mentor received a promotion in the last year, compared to only 21% without a mentor.
61% of women with a female mentor got a pay raise in the past year compared to 53% of those without.
Office Culture
On a different but also disturbing front, 18% of women in STEM report having been told to smile at work.
Those working in person tended to have more negative experiences, and also had more instances of not feeling respected, valued or taken seriously.
While two thirds (66%) of Women in STEM agreed that their manager respects them, less (56%) felt their opinions were valued, with only 54% saying their peers took them seriously. Half (50%) said people respected their expertise, with less than half (47%) saying they were critiqued fairly.
Over half (53%) of women reported that their abilities were underestimated at work, and reported being talked over (40%), experiencing mansplaining (39%) or receiving comments on their physical appearance (38%).
Balancing Act – Work-Work Balance
While three in four women in STEM have worked overtime in the past year, only 36% of them have received overtime pay – this is less than half.
52% of women said they have a good work-life balance, while 29% were neutral and 20% said their balance was bad.
Only half of women in STEM with children reported a good work-life balance, while those without children reported about the same, at 54%.
Further investigations showed that 37% of women reported having to miss work for a family event, but 38% also reported having to miss a family event to fulfil work commitments.
However, nearly one in ten (8%) women in STEM had been accused on having a poor work-life balance, despite reporting they were not feeling distracted from work.
While almost all (97%) of women in STEM reported feeling productive at work, 85% felt regularly stressed, 75% felt anxious, and 56% reported feeling regularly burnt out at work.
Evolution of Equality
Despite these statistics, 65% of women in STEM reported that they had seen improvements since they began their careers.
However, they still see room for progress across the industry, siting changes that would not just benefit women, but the entire workforce.
The most desired change was salary transparency, with 68% advocating for more openness about pay. Similarly, many also called for more transparency in advancement criteria (53%) s that benchmarks for promotions are clear and objective.
Millennials and GenZ also called for more women in leadership roles, while GenX women wanted more flexible schedules.
GenZ women also wanted more support for women returning to the workforce, which is interesting as a large swatch of GenZ are still entering the workforce for the first time.
The Information Commissioner’s Office has put out their annual Tech Horizon’s report delving into the eight technologies they believe may significantly impact societies, economics, and information rates in the short- and long-term.
In its first iteration published in 2022, the ICO covered four emerging technologies in depth, which included the Internet of Things, immersive technologies, health-tech applications, and decentralised finance (DeFi).
Since then, a plethora of new and nascent technologies have muscled their way into the collective conscience, leading the ICO to expand their list to include eight technologies.
1. Genomics
Defined as the sequencing of the human genome to improve our understanding of a broad range of traits, the ICO expects that this will have a dramatic effect on healthcare in the near future.
There is also further potential for insights gained from genomics to be used in fields, such as employment, sports and education.
The ICO highlighted some of the data protection concerns brought up by the prospect of increased genomics and genetic testing.
In particular, the ICO delved into polygenic risk scoring, which uses genetic markers to indicate an individual’s genetic risk for diseases or traits.
The ICO predicts issues with third party privacy, such as the privacy of relatives related to data subjects who may share these genetic markers, and the anonymisation and security of this sensitive information.
2. Immersive Virtual Worlds
Highly immersive virtual environments, also known as the metaverse, allow users to interact with each other and make use of digital services, such as e-commerce and gaming.
The ICO has highlighted several potential issues surrounding these virtual worlds and data protection, including the large amount of sensitive data these metaverses collect.
Further, as children are active users of these spaces, organisations much proactively put in safeguards to protect children and their data online.
Interoperability may also provide a challenge to companies to enable a seamless experience between different worlds, which brings in different security concerns as well as the need to establish common technical standards.
3. Neurotechnologies
Neurotechnologies include devices and procedures that record and process neuro-data to gather information, control interfaces, or devices, or modulate neural activity.
The novelty of the information this data collection method offers a brand new realm of opportunities as well as data protection concerns. The information directly from people’s brainwaves makes the data inherently highly sensitive.
Even the UK’s GDPR does not formally provide a definition of neural information, meaning that organisations processing it should take special heed when doing so.
Consent and transparency issues are also inherent as neural information is subconsciously generated, and it can modulate brain patterns and alter behaviour. These two issues are not well understood, so privacy must be integral when using this technology.
Neurodiscrimination can perpetuate due to systematic bias against minority and marginalised communities as well, as previously highlighted by the ICO.
4. Quantum Computing
By taking advantage of phenomena at the atomic scale, quantum computing may in future be able to resolve highly complex computational problems that current computers cannot, but may also present serious risks to existing encryption.
Without appropriate safeguards, quantum computing can undermine the encryption that protects most of today’s digital communications and information in transit.
Postquantum cryptography provides its own set of data protection concerns as these highly complex systems may require special attention to keep data secure, as the complexity of IT system and cryptographic infrastructure differs between organisations.
5. Commercial Use of Drones
Unmanned aerial vehicles are increasingly used in commercial settings for deliver, e-commerce, monitoring, and crowd control.
The latter two bring up overarching issues around surveillance and mass data collection.
As drones can often be discreet, the public may be unaware that they are being captured in pictures or videos. As facial recognition technology progresses, the threat of personal data collection on a mass scale is a becoming a more pressing issue.
Transparency requirements and privacy information may therefore prove challenging due to the inherent nature of drones.
Drone ID programmes may offer one solution, but still may put the onus on data subjects to avoid having their personal data captured and collected by a drone.
6. Personalised AI
Large language models (LLMs) are being personalised based on individual users’ search patterns and personal preferences and characteristics, to create more tailored user experiences and better-targeted outputs.
These advancements introduce several privacy and data protection issues, many of which are shared with general generative AI models.
But the inclusion of more personal information means that more sensitive data may be collected and processed by these AI systems. These systems, which are already trained on larger databases, may process special category data, which needs extra protections.
Further, this personalised information can be targeted in model inversion attacks which try to extract the information and exploit its outputs, potentially leaking the information.
7. Next-Generation Search
Next generation search engines continue to incorporate new technologies, such as embedded AI capabilities, as well as voice-based, image-based, and ambient elements.
These systems would likely collect vast quantities of personal information to tailor search engines to specific users. Developers will still need to conform to the principle of data minimisation, limiting the information they collect to what is necessary.
The systems must also be transparent about the amount of data they collect as well as the rights of data subjects, like the right to be informed and the right of access.
Hallucination continues to be an issue for all AI models, that search engines must take careful consideration as they may create misleading personal information.
8. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
A new form of central bank-issued digital money, CBCCs could complement physical cash and other payment mechanisms in facilitating everyday payment needs.
As with any new form of currency, these bring along many issues surrounding financial data security and privacy.
Law enforcement will need to process information for fraud, data must be separated as to mitigate the risk of re-identification, and the sharing of personal information needs to be minimised.
Meta has announced that their social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, and Threads – will now detect and label all AI-generated images, even those created by alternative AI tools.
While Meta already labels images generated using their own AI tools, their detection and labelling system will be expanded to include all AI-generated images across their various social media platforms.
With the new system, Meta plans to be able to identify and label AI images generated by OpenAI, Microsoft, MidJourney, Adobe, Google, and Shutterstock.
“We’re building this capability now, and in the coming months we’ll start this approach through the next year, during which a number of important elections are taking place around the world,” Nick Clegg, Meta president of global affairs said.
Meta recently re-aligned their policy on digitally doctored videos and images, with their oversight board saying it needed to update its terms and conditions to combat the rise of misinformation and disinformation, heightened by the advancements in AI technology.
The effort to label AI-generated images also comes after the Word Economic Forum (WEF) announced disinformation and misinformation as the most severe short term global threats, largely driven by advancements in AI.
However, Meta’s technology is still in development, and they admitted that they are not yet capable of identifying AI tools that generate audio or video at scale.
The company says that they will provide a feature for users uploading organic content that has been digitally modified or altered, “and we may apply penalties if they fail to do so.”
In an interview with Reuters, Clegg admitted that the technology to flag AI-generated audio and video was “not yet fully mature.”
Further, he admitted that there were no tools that could label AI-generated text written by advanced LLMs like ChatGPT – “that ship has sailed,” he told Reuters.
As major global elections near, and massive humanitarian crises are pushed and pulled across the world stage, disinformation and misinformation reporting is increasingly vital.
While Meta’s move to label more AI-generated images is positive, the infancy of labelling technology for text, audio, video, and images is troubling in a digital sphere already gripped by AI and its potential for misinformation.
If the ship has sailed for AI-generated text, then what new world are we left to discover, and are consumers being left behind on the shore, powerless to stop AI’s rapid emergence from turning into an unstoppable rampage?
Welcome to the latest edition of the DIGIT Deal Roundup.
Scotland’s tech sector jumped right back to work in January, with a swath of new investment, funding, and acquisition news across the industry.
For a recap on those standout stories, here’s our round-up.
Funding and Investments
Kick ICT Receives £8.5M From BGF
Kick ICT, a Bellshill-based independent IT managed service provider, received strategic support from growth capital investor BGF to the tune of £8.5 million in 2021.
Now, BGF is announcing a “triumphant” exit from the Glasgow-based company as a result of strong performance since its initial investment. The successful exit yielded a 2x money multiple (MM) and a 38% internal rate of return (IRR) on the investment.
BGF was first set up in 2011 and has since invested over £3.5 billion in over 500 companies. It positions itself as a minority, “non-controlling equity partner with a patient outlook on investments, based on shared long-term goals with the management teams it backs.”
Cumulus Oncology, a biotech creation studio and drug discovery accelerator specialising in oncology, has raised £9 million in seed financing led by existing investor Eos Advisory and with participation from the Scottish National Investment Bank.
Cumulus’s business model involves the creation of spin-out companies. Its focus is on areas in biology with strong scientific validation, and the company is on the forefront of novel therapeutic options for cancer patients.
Founded in 2017, the firm fast tracks treatments into clinical trials for cancer types that don’t respond well to existing procedures.
“The business model enables only the strongest science to be translated from discovery into clinical trials,” said Clare Wareing, founder and CEO of Cumulus Oncology.
ScotlandIS Funds Maths Scholarship for Tech Talent Boost
In an effort to tackle the Scottish tech skills gap, ScotlandIS has announced a new partnership with tutoring organisation, Saturday School Ltd, to launch, The ScotlandIS Scholarship – a programme designed to empower young people to shape, change and drive Scotland’s digital economy.
The scholarship will support 12 ScotlandIS Scholars from Glasgow and The West in securing their National 5 Maths qualification. This support includes six weekly lessons in National 5 Maths at Saturday School in The Glasgow Academy, attendance at The National 5 Matsh Grade Booster Day to prepare for the final exam and unlimited online support from Saturday School’s fully qualified maths teachers.
Successful candidates will also get the opportunity to meet and learn from senior leaders in Scotland’s digital sector.
Bevvy, the whisky discovery app founded in 2021 and based in Scotland, has closed a $1.5 million (£1.2m~) seed funding round.
The new investment principally comes from Scottish angel investors, existing shareholders, and a Denver-based family office.
Laurie Black, co-founder and head of whisky, commented: “Having already established the leading position in the digital whisky space; this new capital allows us to cement our market share and grow our consumer audience into new territories. We’re hugely excited to be heading Stateside in 2024!”
Founded three years ago by whisky expert Black, medtech entrepreneur Lucas Heron, and mathematician Atanas Tonchev, Bevvy is a tech-led platform that operates via consumer-facing Android and Apple mobile phone applications.
Trojan Energy, an on-street electric vehicle (EV) charging specialist, has secured substantial investment to bolster its charging technology stations that sit flush to the pavement to create a “clutter free” streetscape.
The investment round was led by the Scottish National Investment Bank with a £18m follow-on investment, as well as £8m from growth capital investor BGF. Existing investors include Scottish Enterprise, Equity Gap, Alba Equity, and Social Investment Scotland.
According to the company, the money will fuel the continued deployment of the chargers across the UK.
“This funding will allow Trojan Energy to continue its journey and deploy several thousand more charging points across the UK, serving tens of thousands of customers,” said Ian Mackenzie, CEO at Trojan Energy.
Build A Rocket Boy, headquartered in Edinburgh, has successfully concluded a Series D fundraising round. The round was led by the private investment firm RedBird Capital Partners, with support from both existing and new investors, including Galaxy Interactive, NetEase Games, Endeavor, Alignment Growth, Woodline Partners LP, GTAM Partners, and others.
The funds, exceeding £86m, will fuel the launch of the company’s three major products: an immersive gaming and entertainment open-world platform EVERYWHERE, AAA game series MindsEye, and a suite of user-friendly UGC (User-Generated Content) design tools named ARCADIA.
“We are excited to partner with RedBird and our other investors to help us launch EVERYWHERE, MindsEye, and what we believe will be game-changing UGC design tools in ARCADIA. RedBird’s expertise in building successful entertainment and media platforms will be invaluable and makes them a perfect partner,” said Leslie Benzies, founder and chairman of Build A Rocket Boy.
To help secure its position at the forefront of Scotland’s emerging bioeconomy, the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) has been awarded long-term investment from the Scottish Funding Council (SFC).
Announced by the First Minister today (17th January), the commitment—whose sum hasn’t been disclosed—will enable the innovation centre to continue the development of a greener economy and support Scotland’s transition to net zero.
Industrial biotechnology explores the creation of more sustainable materials, consumer goods, and pharmaceuticals by using bio-based alternatives to petrochemicals.
IBioIC delivers support for industrial research and development, early-stage entrepreneurship—including university spinouts and startups—and helps develop a skilled workforce for the green transition.
Cleaner Energy, Robotics, and VR Research Awarded Scots Funding
One Singaporean company and four businesses based in England will collaborate with Scottish universities on new projects following funding from the Inward Investment Catalyst Fund.
The Catalyst Fund was launched by the Scottish Government and Interface, the Edinburgh-headquartered organisation supporting innovation and knowledge exchange, to support businesses not yet located in Scotland to work with Scottish academic institutions.
From advancements in hydrogen energytechnology to a remote robotic training system, the projects in this latest funding round help support a net-zero, health, and wellbeing economy.
Snugg, the home energy efficiency firm, has secured nearly £2 million in funding from the UK government to help develop their Green Home Hub.
The significant funding boost is part of the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Green Home Finance Accelerator initiative, funded through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.
The Green Home Hub (GHH), in partnership with leading finance providers Perenna and Scroll Finance, follows the earlier success of a £170,000 government grant awarded to Snugg to develop a prototype of the hub during Phase 1 of the programme.
“Receiving the UK Government’s backing to build the Green Home Hub is a win for everyone,” Robin Peters, CEO at Snugg said.
Scottish Innovation Centres to Be Given Up to £8 Million a Year
Annual funding of up to £8 million has been allocated to the Scottish Innovation Centres, delivered through the government’s Scottish Funding Council (SFC), it’s been announced.
The centres work with Scotland’s higher education institutions, such as colleges, universities, and research institutes, with the aim of spurring innovation in businesses, as well as the public and third sectors.
The Scottish Government said that the yearly funding “will support the Innovation Centres to strengthen relationships with colleges and universities” and “lead to greater impact for Scotland.”
The funding announcement was made by first minister Humza Yousaf at the opening of the National Retrofit Centre for Scotland at Built Environment Smarter Transformation (BE-ST) in Hamilton.
Scot Agritech IGS Bags £22.5M Funding for Global Expansion
Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) has today announced that it has raised £22.5 million in a Series C fundraise to support significant global expansion as the business deploys its vertical farming technology to customers worldwide.
Scots Firm Flowcopter Secures £1M for Greener Industrial Drones
Flowcopter, a drone technology manufacturer, has received almost £1 million from Scottish Enterprise to support the development of a new hybrid, heavy-lift, unmanned aircraft that can rival—and operate on 30% less fuel than—helicopters.
The Scots firm designs and manufactures unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and recently expanded into larger premises in Loanhead, Midlothian.
It’s set to use the £950,000 from Scottish Enterprise to develop an industrial heavy-lift drone capable of carrying up to 100kgs of goods to target industries including retail, renewables, agriculture, emergency rescue, and humanitarian aid.
Speaking on the new funding, Peter McCurry, the managing director of Flowcopter, said: “The ongoing support we’ve had from Scottish Enterprise is fantastic and will enable us to develop our drone products further and access markets such as the offshore wind supply chain.”
UK Gov Awards £33M to Clean Maritime Tech Projects
The UK Government has provided £33 million in funding to over 30 projects to develop green technologies for the country’s ports and ships.
The funding pot has been awarded to 33 projects across all 12 UK regions to deliver demonstrations, factory trials, and feasibility studies.
The government said that the initiatives position the UK as a leader in emerging clean maritime tech, helping to boost high-skilled sustainable jobs and coastal economies.
Lesley Robinson, the CEO of British Marine, the membership company for the UK’s maritime industry, commented: “This significant funding is just one way in which the government can help accelerate our industry’s journey to net zero emissions and mark a new era in maritime history.”
Carcinotech has raised £4.2 million of funding as the company looks to build on its traction in the UK and Europe with US expansion planned later this year.
The company’s Carcino3D technology enables the manufacture of 3D printed micro-tumours using cells derived from patient biopsies and blood samples to precisely simulate the tumour microenvironment thereby accelerating ethical drug screening and the delivery of more effective cancer treatments to market.
Ishani Malhotra, CEO and founder of Carcinotech, said: “Our vision is to be at the forefront of cancer drug testing and provide personalised medicine testing to every individual suffering from cancer to improve their treatment and chance of survival.
Cybersecurity and modern workplace managed service providers, Aspire Technology Solutions, has announced the acquisition of Cloud Cover IT, a managed service provider based in Glasgow.
Aspire says that this is an ‘important strategic acquisition, aligning with its vision for expansion into new UK regions and expanding its portfolio of cutting-edge technology solutions.’
As part of this investment, Cloud Cover IT will become a part of the Aspire group and its software development and business applications division will be rebranded as “Flyte.” The company will be well-positioned to make ongoing investments and extending its business applications offerings to better serve its growing customer base.
Chris Fraser, Aspire CEO and founder said: “Our acquisition of Cloud Cover IT marks a new and exciting chapter for both companies. This move will strengthen our presence in Scotland, positioning us in a thriving market.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise to Acquire Juniper for £11bn
Hewlett Packard Enterprise will acquire Juniper, its networking gear vendor, for around $14bn (£11bn), or $40 (£31) per share in an all-cash deal.
Following the Wall Street Journal’s report that the companies were in “advanced talks,” HPE’s share price jumped 22%. Their purchase price of $40 therefore represents a 32% premium over Monday’s close before the Journal story was published.
HPE expects to close the deal late this year or even early 2025, pending regulatory approval and approval of the transaction by Juniper shareholders. According to HPE, the acquisition will double its existing networking business after years of competition, as well as lead to $450 million (£353.5m) in annual cost savings within three years of the deal’s completion, HPE said.
FNZ, the global wealth management platform, has completed the acquisition of ifsam, International Fund Services & Asset Management S.A., a business-to-business (B2B) fund platform based in Luxembourg following regulatory approval.
The acquisition further strengthens FNZ’s global proposition for both asset managers and distributors, adding advanced product, research, data and service solutions to its existing end-to-end wealth management platform.
Luxembourg, the largest fund centre in Europe, will become FNZ’s centre of excellence for fund processing services in Europe.
Adrian Durham, FNZ Group CEO, said: “This is another significant investment for FNZ and further enhances our capabilities in the wealth management sector, as well as expanding our footprint in the continent’s biggest hub for funds.”
Research commissioned by Gigged.AI, the AI-driven talent platform, has revealed that around half (51%) of UK tech leaders are considering Generative AI (genAI) to combat skills shortages, while almost the same amount of respondents (44%) have ethical concerns about replacing employees.
The survey, which was carried out by Sapio Research and interviewed over 250 senior executives across the UK during the second half of the 2023, found that 91% are experiencing a tech skills shortage, with 57% saying the situation has worsened compared to 2022.
A third (34%) of organisations sampled cited the inability to find qualified candidates as the primary cause, with about a third (32%) of respondents attributing the shortage to budget constraints. To address this, only 16% are implementing ‘quiet hiring’.
With 58% of interviewees experiencing a hiring freeze in 2023, about a quarter (24%) of tech leaders said they were planning to use Generative AI to upskill their existing workforce.
On the subject of digital transformation, while 72% of organisations are progressing digital transformation this year, 45% expect delays due to tech skills shortages.
37% of respondents said that software development and cybersecurity skills are being most affected within their organisations by the tech skills shortage, followed by digital marketing (36%), and data engineering (27%).
Gigged.AI CEO and Co-founder Rich Wilson commented: “The findings of our survey show how prominent Generative AI has become for tech leaders in a relatively short space of time.
“And in the face of the growing tech skills shortage, businesses not only need, they are already planning innovative strategies to tackle the industry-wide challenge. At the same time, ethical concerns are a factor, so that’s a conundrum for companies in 2024.”
Phil Boyle, Chief Technology Officer at Cala Homes, commented: “Generative AI could be the most important technological breakthrough of our lifetime, revolutionising how we work and interact with customers.
“But its potential will only be realised if we put trust and safety at the centre of this technology. This starts with security and managing data. The demand for these digital skills is vastly outstripping supply however, so at Cala we are investing in grassroots, early-careers, and training to boost knowledge and close the skills gap.”
Gigged.AI CEO Rich Wilson added: “Tech leaders are under pressure across the board, but there are developing blueprints to support them, including around Generative AI and quiet hiring, when that’s done in the right way, and that’s something we’re actively engaged with across our client base.”
The University of Edinburgh has received £24 million in funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to boost AI innovation.
Of the nine centres announced as part of EPSRC’s £80m UK-wide investment in applying AI to real world data and research, Edinburgh will lead or be involved in more than half, further cementing its place as a driving force in the development of AI in the UK.
Using AI to develop more efficient semiconductors, design more complex microchips, and improve the early prediction of debilitating diseases are some of the potential outcomes of the funding.
The AI Hub for Productive Research and Innovation in Electronics (APRIL) will seek to bring the benefits of AI to the UK electronics industry.
APRIL plans to develop AI tools to accelerate the development of key components such as new semiconductor materials, complex microchip designs, and system architectures – leading to faster, cheaper, greener, and overall more power-efficient electronics.
APRIL will be led by Edinburgh’s Regius Chair of Engineering, Professor Themis Prodromakis.
Further, the EPSRC AI Hub for Causality in Healthcare AI with Real Data (CHAI) will develop new ways for unearthing important links in complex health data.
CHAI aims to develop AI that can empower decision making tools to improve challenging tasks such as the early prediction, diagnosis and prevention of disease, and, crucially, to improve the safety of such technology in healthcare.
Researchers aim to use AI to tackle key societal health challenges, lead by Edinburgh’s Professor Sotirios Tsaftaris, Canon Medical/RAEng Chair in Healthcare AI.
“Successful and ethical applications of AI in healthcare diagnosis and power-efficient electronics could help to address key societal issues, such as our ageing population, global energy use and climate change,” said professor Sir Peter Mathieson principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Edinburgh.
“It is an honour and a great opportunity for our engineers to be leading two of EPSRC’s AI research hubs and I very much look forward to seeing what the future brings in terms of new technologies and innovations in AI.”
Each hub is set to receive £12m each from the EPSRC and will involve researchers from the University’s School of Informatics, School of Mathematics, the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine with input from the Bayes Centre – the University’s innovation hub for data science and AI.
Further, a separate Edinburgh-led project on the responsible use of AI has also received an additional £9.6m to fund its ongoing work.
The Bridging Responsible AI Divides (BRAID) programme has received £2m from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for six ten-month studies to define responsible AI in a number of sectors, with a further £7.6m for the second phase of the project.
“Artificial intelligence is already transforming our world. EPSRC supports world-leading research to unlock its potential and ensure it is developed and used in an ethical and responsible way,” prof Charlotte Deane, executive chair of EPSRC said.
“Long-term research funding has led to revolutionary advancements that have made AI a powerful tool for many applications.
“These hubs will deliver revolutionary AI innovations and tools in sectors from healthcare to energy, smart cities and environment. They will achieve this by solving key challenges and improving our understanding of AI helping to drive the increased productivity and economic growth promised by this technology.”
A £1 million project has encouraged more than 100 small to medium sized enterprises across Scotland’s manufacturing industry to explore the potential of additive manufacturing (AM) techniques – industrial 3D printing – that could add economic valueand open up new commercial opportunities.
The three-year Additive Manufacturing Business and Technology Support (AM-BATS) project has helped small businesses across a range of different sectors to learn more about how to design and adopt new processes, with the end goal of developing more sustainable products and entering new markets.
The programme was delivered by National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) – operated by the University of Strathclyde and part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC) – and was funded through the Scottish Government’s Advancing Manufacturing Challenge Fund via the European Regional Development Fund.
From renewable energy and electric vehicles to food and drink, sports, oil and gas, and medicine, 36 projects took place involving different manufacturing businesses.
NMIS assisted companies with a range of activities, such as exploring the initial feasibility of additive manufacturing for a particular scenario, providing knowledge and skills, designing system, setting up factory equipment, and assessing sustainability benefits.
Some businesses began from scratch seeking to understand what AM is and what it can offer, while others sought help to accelerate and develop existing processes they already had experience with.
Many of the businesses have since created new products or changed existing ones to include 3D printed elements, and several have now adopted AM due to the many benefits offered such as reduced development times, increased sustainability, design optimisation, faster time to market, and ability to utilise digital inventories.
Among them, medical equipment manufacturer, Confidence Plus, received support from the NMIS team to develop a new product designed to support people using ileostomy bags.
Using AM, several prototypes were created for the new glider device from recycled materials, and these are now being trialled by ileostomy bag users.
“Working with NMIS on our medical device will enable us to access new markets and could see the creation of new job opportunities in the healthcare manufacturing industry,” Anne Inch, founder and managing director at Confidence Plus said.
“The device aims to make a big difference to the lives of users of ileostomy bags and we were grateful for the team’s support in exploring this new innovative technology. We couldn’t be happier with the outcome.”
Another small business to participate in the programme was Scottish eco-fashion brand ROCIO, where the teams worked on a new 3D-printed handbag design that was showcased at Paris Fashion Week. ROCIO’s signature designs are individually sculpted from sustainable wood over a lengthy creative process.
The brand was keen to work with NMIS and explore combining technology with art. Using additive manufacturing enabled the business to save time, costs and raw materials in prototyping new designs.
Hamish Menzies, ROCIO creative director, said: “We’re at the heart of sustainable fashion and take pride in each accessory being a uniquely creative masterpiece. For us, exploring the use of a 3D-printed prototype is more cost, time, and material-efficient in the long term.
“Through using this technology, we are one step closer to improving our endeavours to be even more sustainable, whilst unlocking and embracing the future capabilities of our industry.”
As a direct result of the support received, another business, FluidMS, a technology company that creates devices for 24/7 health exposure monitoring in manufacturing facilities, saw product assembly times reduced from 60 minutes to 10 minutes per unit. FluisMS has also adopted AM internally and introduced design and manufacturing capabilities for the first time.
Using additive manufacturing, Stonehaven-based Whittaker Engineering also saw lead times shortened from several months to just nine days for its components used in the oil and gas sector.
Two training courses were developed through the project, offering companies and engineers an introduction to 3D printing via NMIS’s Manufacturing Skills Academy.
Dickon Walker, Polymer AM theme lead at NMIS, added: “Additive manufacturing has many advantages, from enabling rapid prototyping and reducing lead times to the creation of low-cost bespoke components and a reduction in materials waste. However, for SMEs, in particular, it can be quite a daunting challenge knowing how to get started.
“This programme aimed to eliminate some of those barriers, reduce the risk and provide the necessary skills and expertise to help companies get to grips with the technology. We’re pleased to see the impact now translating to new product development and the introduction of new production processes, all taking place here in Scotland.”
Tech recruitment continues to be acutely competitive, according to hiring managers across the UK.
New research conducted by global talent services company Morgan McKinley as part of its 2024 Salary Guide has revealed that over three quarters (76%) of technology hiring managers found recruitment very or quite competitive in 2023 across the UK.
The Guide identified key challenges for 2024, with 25% of hiring managers citing the shortage of skilled candidates as their primary obstacle.
Other challenges included difficulties in competing on pay and benefits (22%) and a lack of approval for new headcount (19%).
Despite the challenging market, things are looking brighter in 2024 with half of technology hiring managers revealing that they are increasing headcount in the first half of the year and 46% of technology workers are looking for new roles in that same period, with a further 31% considering a move.
Three quarters of technology professionals chose to stay in their current roles throughout the year, indicating a reluctance to change jobs due to concerns about being last in, first out.
However, nearly half (46%) expressed feelings of indifference, insecurity, or significant insecurity in their current positions.
When looking to move roles, technology workers value a higher salary (40%) of the most, followed by career growth and development opportunities (14%), and ability to work fully remote (13%).
Flexibility continues to be important with work from home and flexible working hours placing first and third respectively in technology professionals’ top five valued benefits. These sat alongside bonus (second), health insurance (fourth), and a pension (fifth).
Technology had the greatest proportion of people who places ‘work from home’ as one of their most valued benefits (71% picked it in their top five).
42% of technology professionals would prefer to be in the office one to two days a week, whilst 8% want to be on-site five days a week.
Over half (53%) would skip a pay rise if it meant they got the flexibility they desire. 69% of employers expect their salary offers to increase for certain hard-to-fill roles across technology, and a further 20% plan to increase salary offers for all technology teams.
“The hot new trends and demand for talent are around Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, where most companies continue to struggle with a shortage of skilled talent,” Kieran Scully, senior manager of technology recruitment at Morgan McKinley UK, commented.
“We’re seeing that the most in demand roles and skills for 2024 will be across the areas of Data, AI, Cyber and Cloud. This will come as companies continue to build out their strength in these ever-evolving fields to make sure they are protected from any potential threats and adequately equipped to deal with whatever new progressions develop.”
“However, the lack of skilled professionals in these fields will make hiring competitive. The shortage of talent in some markets will see salaries continually increase, particularly across the areas mentioned earlier, whilst we expect them to stabilise more in Software Development.”
Key Jobs and Skills in Demand
The Guide also released the jobs and skills in demand for 2024, ranging from software development, infrastructure, architecture, and data and analytics.
A python developer was the most in demand job for software development, followed by Java and Javascript developers. Cloud technologies were the most in demand skill in this area.
Infrastructure engineers were the number one in-demand job, followed by cybersecurity engineers and cloud specialists. Containers and cloud computing were the top two skills in this realm.
Solutions, cloud, and data architects were the top three most in-demand jobs for architecture specialists, with DevOps and cloud computing the most sought after skills.
Data analysts were in demand as well, with Python the most in-demand skill in data and analytics.
Snap Inc, the creators and owners of SnapChat, announced that it would layoff around 10% of its global workforce, equating to 528 employees.
The cuts come just before Snap is set to release its fourth quarter results, after having reported a £294m loss in the previous 2023 quarter.
“In order to best position our business to execute on our highest priorities, and to ensure we have the capacity to invest incrementally to support our growth over time, we have made the difficult decision to restructure our team,” the social media company said in a statement.
So far, Snap has resisted buyouts from other large social media conglomerates, but has struggled to compete with Meta and the seminal rise of TikTok.
Further, SnapChat’s platform model has made it more difficult to directly turn into revenue – targeted advertising is not as applicable to the photo messaging service.
After their downturn in quarter three, Snap could be trying to keep investors on their side, especially after Meta showed an uptick in ad revenue last year.
Snap Shares fell 4%, according to Reuters, to $16.38 (£13.08).
Snap is joining a slew of tech companies that have cut jobs already in 2024, following the massive tech layoffs seen throughout 2023.
Already, nearly 32,000 jobs in the tech sector were cut just since the start of 2024 according to Layoffs.fyi.
The tech sector has seen increasing turbulence as companies realign their priorities to AI advancement and automation threaten the stability of workers.
Snap has attempted forays into AI, and introduced an AI chatbot that can respond to user Snapchats.
The company also ventured into augmented reality, but closed this division after not finding an interest on the market in 2023.
Safer Internet Day was created to highlight the dangers of the online world and inform users, developers, and organisations on how they can stay safe online, and to foster a safe environment for those most vulnerable.
DIGIT discussed some of the main themes of Safer Internet Day as well as some of the work CyberSafe Scotland is doing to protect children online in Scotland with Annabel Turner, CEO and founder of CyberSafe Scotland.
This year’s theme revolved around managing change online, but what does this look like in practice?
The online world continues to rapidly transform, and regulations are barely keeping pace as AI emerges. Further, social media and video games continually target a younger audience, often without proper safeguards to protect the children they provide a service to.
Just last week, Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg apoligised to parents in a Senate hearing in the United States for the harm his social media platforms – Facebook and Instagram – has caused to children.
Advances in technology have also caused the rampant proliferation of online child sexual abuse material to be distributed and carried out. Adults are more able than ever to abuse children across online platforms, and access abusive material.
CyberSafe Scotland, founded by Annabel Turner, works with children across local council areas of Aberdeen to help children who have experienced online harm and abuse.
She works closely with children to build trust and provide a safe space for them to share their negative online experiences, providing vital testimony to what the online world is actually like for children.
Turner says that most adults cannot even fathom the scale of the issue – “children are experiencing a higher level of online harm than most adults realise,” she explained to DIGIT.
She also shared that many children spend about two-thirds of their day in digital spaces, but these can be vastly different from the spaces adults see.
Algorithms provide an often completely different experience for adults and children on the same social media sites, meaning that many adults will never see the same content that is shown to children. Further, online games and apps designed for children are completely outside the realm of the average adult experience, leaving children isolated and vulnerable.
Many advocates discuss the need to listen to children in calls to protect them, but many are left unable to voice their concerns in an effective manner – they lack the safe space to share their negative online experiences, or the vocabulary and knowledge to advocate for their needs.
CyberSafe Scotland attempts, and often succeeds, in giving this space to children, and Turner has kindly shared some of the top changes children would like to see from adults and businesses this Safer Internet Day.
Get Involved – Your Children Will Thank You
“Children want more adults involved in their digital lives,” Turner said, “That’s something that might surprise people, I think.”
Indeed, Turner admits that this change is often antithetical to what people expect of children in online spaces, who we imagine would bemoan child safety locks and having their parents check their social media.
“But children really recognise the fact that currently, they don’t have enough support in their digital space, they often feel very alone in it,” Turner explained.
And Truner is urging adults to start these conversations, as children are typically scared that sharing negative or confusing online experiences will simply result in their devices being taken away, or their access being restricted.
“So a really important thing for parents and adults involved in children’s digital lives. is that this has to be not one big conversation, but many, many smaller conversations,” Turner said. “Normalise support and protection in the digital space.”
She uses the Convention of the Rights of Children as a guiding principle in this – Turner spent years as a lawyer investigating some of the most heinous crimes against children, and her experience has guided her work at CyberSafe.
The Convention comes into effect on 12 July, and makes children rights holders – “they have to claim their right, and they need to be able to speak about the things that are happening to them,” Turner explained.
But equally, adults are classified as duty bearers for the children of Scotland.
“And as duty bearers, we are under an obligation to consider what’s happening to them and the digital spaces that they’re in,” she said.
Adults are therefore tasked with creating a safe environment for their children to discuss their digital lives, while ensuring that they are educated and involved in those digital spaces.
This need not be necessarily invasive, but an exercise in staying informed, educated, and emphatically attuned to the experience of young people online.
Stranger Danger Still Applies Digitally
While children may want their caregivers to be more involved in their digital lives, they want less interaction with people – especially adults – they do not know.
This is where privacy settings, and the businesses creating platforms, need to listen to the concerns of children.
Teaching children to protect their own privacy only goes so far, Turner says, if platforms are already designed to share more data between users.
Applications can have automatic settings that connect devices that are in geographic proximity, or recommend users to connect based on a mutual friend, putting children’s accounts in the view of adults they may not know.
While Meta and other social media platforms have begun to introduce ways to safeguard children’s accounts online, these changes have come years after the introduction of the Information Commissioner’s Office’s Children’s Code, which came into effect in 2018.
Further, children may be exposed to adult contact in online games and chatrooms, or may be exposed to material that they are not developmentally prepared to deal with.
All of this points to the quagmire of the social media and internet experiences children experience as these platforms become more and more integral to modern life.
Increasingly restricting the ability of strangers to contact children online, changing the algorithms of recommended contact to young social media users, and preventing the data of children to be tracked and shared in the same way as adults, are all vital changes children are advocating for with the help of CyberSafe.
Safety By Design
Safety by design is an issue CyberSafe Scotland continues to champion – devices and platforms need to be designed with the safety of children not just in mind, but as a top priority.
Children working with CyberSafe Scotland, which is working with 5000 families across Abderdeen, are joining this advocacy.
Many of the issues children discuss facing come down to safety by design.
“They want products to be designed more safely for them, that is really key,” Turner says.
And key to this is listening to children – but this listening needs to go a step further.
CyberSafe fosters a close relationship of mutual trust and respect with the children they work with and advocate for.
Turner wants to celebrate, and honour, the children who have shared their negative online experiences, bravely disclosing uncomfortable, even abusive situations they have encountered in digital spaces.
Only by actively creating space for children to speak openly about their experiences, providing education on digital safety, can children access their own voice to then share with companies.
“You can’t just go in and ask children what changes they want to see online,” Turner said. “You have to build that trust.”
Implementation: Game Changers
CyberSafe Scotland has provided children with the ability and opportunity to share their voice and advocate for online changes, but how do these changes get implemented?
The issues are two-fold: some changes require a cultural change about isolation in digital spaces, while others revolve around the online spaces themselves.
For adults wanting to learn more about bridging the gap between themselves and children to foster a welcoming environment for children to share their online experiences, CyberSafe Scotland is partnering with ScotlandIS for a coffee morning on Safer Internet Day.
CyberSafe Scotland will provide resources and discuss tangible actions parents, teachers, and caregivers can take to create a safer digital environment in their home, while offering advice on how to proactively engage with children about online experiences.
The organisation also provides advice continually on their website to parents, teachers, and carers to get more involved in online safety.
For companies looking to adopt safety by design principles and listen to the voice of children when implementing or designing new platforms and technologies, CyberSafe Scotland has launched a programme called GameChangers.
CyberSafe will provide guiding principles companies can adopt to ensure their products and platforms are safe by design, and take action around the changes children are advocating for in online spaces.
“I want Scotland to feel excited about its potential to be leaders in the online child protection space, and that this product project is a project that can be used as a base for that,” Turner said.
Turner continually turns her attention to the children whose voice, honesty, and bravery are enabling change to occur: “It’s their courage that has created this potential in Scotland. We feel a huge responsibility not to try and unite the tech companies in Scotland to try and use that these children have told us for the better.
“We all need to honour that we need their support to make sure that the the voices of those children are are considered and taken seriously and used to create positive change.”
For Turner, Safer Internet Day is about allyship to those most vulnerable in online spaces. It’s not just about raising awareness, but taking action based on this awareness.
Sophos, a cybersecurity as a service platform, has revealed how sha zhu pan scammers – those conducting elaborate, romance-based cryptocurrency fraud – are leveraging a business model similar to cybercrime “as-a-service” by selling sha zhu pan kits on the dark web, globally expanding to new markets.
Also known as pig butchering, these operations originate from organised crime gangs in China, with the new kits providing the technical components needed to implement a specific scheme called “DeFi savings.”
Criminals position DeFi savings scams as passive investment opportunities that are similar to money market accounts, oftentimes to people who have no understanding of crypto.
Victims only need to connect their crypto wallet to a “brokerage account,” with the expectation that they will earn significant interest from their investment. In reality, victims are adding their crypto wallets to a fraudulent cryptocurrency trading pool, which the fraudsters then empty.
Experts at Sophos have said that they’ve seen a similar rise in sophistication in pig butchering as seen in other cybercrime offenses, akin to the advancements in ransomware and phishing, accumulating in the creation of an as-a-service model.
“Pig butchering rings are creating ready-made DeFi app kits, which other cybercriminals can purchase on the dark web. As a result, new pig butchering rings that are unaffiliated with Chinese organized crime groups are appearing in areas like Thailand, West Africa and even the U.S.,” said Sean Gallagher, principle threat researcher at Sophos.
“As with other types of commercialized cybercrime, these kits lower the entry barriers for cybercriminals interested in pig butchering and vastly expand the victim pool. Last year, pig butchering was already a multi-billion-dollar fraud phenomenon; sadly, the problem is likely only to grow exponentially this year.”
Sophos X-Ops has been tracking the evolution of pig butchering schemes for two years. The earliest iterations—dubbed by Sophos as “CryptoRom” scams—involved connecting with potential victims on dating apps and then convincing them to download fraudulent crypto trading applications from third-party sources. For iOS users, these scams required victims to download an elaborate workaround that allowed scammers to bypass security on victims’ devices and gain access to their wallets.
In 2022, the scammers continued to refine their operations, this time finding ways to bypass app store review processes to sneak their fraudulent apps into the legitimate App Store and Google Play Store. This was also the year that a new scam pattern emerged: fake cryptocurrency trading pools (liquidity mining).
In 2023, Sophos X-Ops uncovered two vast pig butchering rings—one based out of Hong Kong and one based out of Cambodia. These rings leveraged legitimate crypto trading apps and created elaborate fake personas to lure victims and steal millions from them. Further investigation revealed that pig butchering operators were adding AI to their arsenal.
In the most recent pig butchering operations that Sophos X-Ops has investigated, the fraudsters have removed any previous technological impediments, as well as significantly lowered the amount of social engineering required to steal from victims.
In the DeFi savings schemes, victims now engage in fraudulent crypto trading through legitimate, well-known cryptocurrency apps and give (albeit unknowingly) the scammers direct access to their wallets. In addition, the scammers can conceal the wallet network that launders stolen crypto, making the scams harder for law enforcement to track.
“The DeFi savings scams are the culmination of two years of pig butcherers refining their operations. Gone are the days when the scammers had to convince victims to download some strange app or transfer the crypto themselves into a soon-to-be-stolen digital wallet,” Gallagher said.
“The fraudsters have also learned how to better ‘market’ their schemes. They’re taking advantage of how liquidity mining pools operate to steal the funds by telling victims it’s a simple investment account. This is often an easier sell, especially since most people don’t understand the ins and outs of cryptocurrency trading and everything is done under the guise of trusted brands.
“In other words, it’s never been easier for people to fall victim to pig butchering, which means it’s never been more important to be aware that these scams exist—and know what to look out for.”
Accelerating the use of quantum technology to improve healthcare, energy, transport and more has received a major boost as science minister Andrew Griffith announces £45 million of investment.
The projects receiving funding include the development of a high-tech brain scanner using quantum technology, aiming to improve the diagnosis of disorders such as epilepsy and dementia, and a smart navigation system for trains, using quantum sensors to save costs and enhance safety in tunnels.
These initiatives represent cutting-edge advancements, being developed here in the UK, that could revolutionise healthcare and transport.
Quantum technologies hold the potential to tackle intricate problems that currently surpass the capacities of even the most advanced classical computers and will allow us to reach new frontiers in sensing, timing, imaging, and communications.
During a visit to Cerca Magnetics, a University of Nottingham spin-out company supported through the National Quantum Technologies Programme, minister Griffith will outline how this £45m funding supports the government’s vision to transform into a quantum-enabled economy by 2033.
The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Technology Missions Fund and the UK’s National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) have invested £30 million through a competition to develop and deliver world-leading quantum computing hardware prototypes.
Another £15 million from the Quantum Catalyst Fund is set to accelerate use of quantum in government. Both initiatives will enable quantum technologies to be used in real-life applications, both in the private and public sector.
“As we steer towards an economy benefiting from quantum, this further £45 million in funding underscores our commitment to support bright UK innovators who are pushing boundaries and seizing the potential of this technology to transform our public services,” science minister Andrew Griffith MP said.
“Cutting-edge work on a quantum enabled brain scanner, which will be a beacon of hope for those battling neurological conditions, is just one example.
“The UK is already one global leader in quantum and to maintain that position this government will continue to invest in this transformational technology propelling the UK into a new era of technological prowess and economic growth.”
Quantum technologies are recognised as one of the government’s five critical technologies as set out in the UK Science and Technology Framework.
They already offer possible solutions to some of society’s greatest challenges and provide future capabilities that are yet to be explored.
“We are on the brink of a quantum technology revolution that is poised to transform diverse industries from the financial sector to healthcare, and UKRI is committed to ensuring the UK’s place at the forefront of this,” Dr Kedar Pandya, executive director, cross-council programmes at UKRI, said.
“We are providing our world-leading businesses and institutions the resources and tools needed to build a strong foundation in quantum computing with the potential to scale their activities for long-term competitive advantage.
“This investment will help our researchers and innovators develop the blueprint for quantum computing hardware and software and secure the UK’s place in this developing field.”
UKRI, in partnership with NQCC, is investing in projects to create world-leading quantum computing testbeds based on various technologies. These testbeds aim to speed up the development of scalable quantum computers and provide a practical way to test and validate their performance, moving beyond just theoretical approaches.
By running quantum algorithms on different hardware, the projects aim to identify which technology is most effective for specific types of problems.
The winning companies will gain direct access to the expertise within the NQCC and its user community. Seven projects will set up testbeds using different quantum computing platforms, including trapped-ion, superconducting, photonics, and neutral atoms.
The £15 million Quantum Catalyst Fund aims to fast-track the integration of quantum solutions in the public sector, strategically positioning the UK Government to leverage the diverse advantages of quantum technologies across different policy areas – from healthcare where quantum sensors could be used to look for the signs of dementia, to energy where quantum computers could help manage the electricity grid.
During an initial 3-month phase 1 of the competition, feasibility studies were conducted to explore the application of quantum technologies in addressing governmental challenges. The six most promising concepts selected for phase 2 will now receive funding to develop prototypes and demonstrate their solutions.
The competition is being delivered by Innovate UK, part of UKRI, in conjunction with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). It is part of the UK’s National Quantum Technologies Programme which has been running since 2014 to put the UK at the forefront of quantum technologies globally.
“Quantum technologies have the potential to meet some of the greatest challenges society faces. By unleashing computing power that goes far beyond existing digital technology, we can reach new frontiers in sensing, timing, imaging, and communications,” Professor Will Drury, executive director, digital and technologies at Innovate UK said.
“This could be transformative for life in the UK and will create new, well-paid jobs that will boost our future economy.”
The National Quantum Strategy, published in March 2023, commits £2.5 billion to developing quantum technologies in the UK over the ten years from 2024 – more than doubling current public investment, which will aim to generate an additional £1 billion of private investment into the programme.
The strategy sets out the government’s approach to supporting quantum technologies in the UK across the broad spectrum of quantum computing, sensing, timing, imaging and communications. It sets out how the UK will develop its strengths across different hardware platforms, software and components, and reinforce our capabilities throughout the supply chains.
The House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee has warned that the UK government could miss out on the AI goldrush if it does not adopt a more positive vision.
In a report, the House of Lords committee said that large language models (LLMs) will produce epoch defining changes comparable with the invention of the internet.
The report issues a stark warning about the ‘real and growing’ risk of regulatory capture, as a multi-billion pound race to dominate the market deepens.
“The rapid development of AI Large Language Models is likely to have a profound effect on society, comparable to the introduction of the internet,” Baroness Stowell, chairman of the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee, said.
“That makes it vital for the Government to get its approach right and not miss out on opportunities – particularly not if this is out of caution for far-off and improbable risks. We need to address risks in order to be able to take advantage of the opportunities – but we need to be proportionate and practical. We must avoid the UK missing out on a potential AI goldrush.
Without action to prioritise open competition and transparency, a small number of tech firms may rapidly consolidate control of a critical market and stifle new players, mirroring the challenges seen elsewhere in internet services.
“One lesson from the way technology markets have developed since the inception of the internet is the danger of market dominance by a small group of companies,” the Baroness said.
“The Government must ensure exaggerated predictions of an AI driven apocalypse, coming from some of the tech firms, do not lead it to policies that close down open-source AI development or exclude innovative smaller players from developing AI services.
“We must be careful to avoid regulatory capture by the established technology companies in an area where regulators will be scrabbling to keep up with rapidly developing technology.”
The Committee’s critique was two fold – in some sense the government’s approach was too wary surrounding AI, whereas they were also accused on ‘sitting on their hands’ and ignoring real and current risks AI poses.
While it welcomed the Government’s work on positioning the UK as an AI leader, it says a more positive vision for LLMs is needed to reap the social and economic benefits, and enable the UK to compete globally.
Key measures include more support for AI start-ups, boosting computing infrastructure, improving skills, and exploring options for an ‘in-house’ sovereign UK large language model.
The Committee also critiqued the government’s exaggerated apocalyptic threats to human existence, saying that it must not distract policy makers from responding to more immediate issues.
The report found that there were more limited near-term security risks including cyber-attacks, child sexual exploitation material, terrorist content and disinformation.
The Committee say catastrophic risks are less likely but cannot be ruled out, noting the possibility of a rapid and uncontrollable proliferation of dangerous capabilities and the lack of early warning indicators. The report called for mandatory safety tests for high-risk models and more focus on safety by design.
“There are risks associated with the wider dissemination of LLMs,” the Baroness said.
“The most concerning of these are the possibility of making existing malicious actions quicker and easier – from cyber-attacks to the manipulation of images for child sexual exploitation. The Government should focus on how these can be tackled and not become distracted by sci-fi end of the world scenarios.
Markedly, the Committee also called the Government to support copyright holders, saying the Government “cannot sit on its hands” while LLM developers exploit the works of rightsholders.
It made a damming rebuke of tech firms for using data without permission or compensation, and says the Government should end the copyright dispute “definitively” including through legislation if necessary.
“One area of AI disruption that can and should be tackled promptly is the use of copyrighted material to train LLMs,” the Baroness said.
“LLMs rely on ingesting massive datasets to work properly but that does not mean they should be able to use any material they can find without permission or paying rightsholders for the privilege. This is an issue the Government can get a grip of quickly and it should do so.
The report calls for a suite of measures including a way for rightsholders to check training data for copyright breaches, investment in new datasets to encourage tech firms to pay for licensed content, and a requirement for tech firms to declare what their web crawlers are being used for.
The Committee has set out ten core recommendations to steer the UK toward what they consider a more positive outcome for AI policy.
These include measures to boost opportunities, address risk, support effective regulatory oversight – including to ensure open competition and avoid market dominance by established technology giants – achieve the aims set out in the AI White Paper, introduce new standards, and resolve copyright disputes.
“These issues will be of huge significance over the coming years and we expect the Government to act on the concerns we have raised and take the steps necessary to make the most of the opportunities in front of us,” the Baroness concluded.
Gigabit broadband rollout remains the top priority for local council digital leaders, but 5G continues to divide opinion, and there’s not enough focus on net zero.
These are just some of the key findings from the second annual survey of digital leaders, taken at councils across England, Scotland and Wales, carried out by Edinburgh-based connectivity consultancy, FarrPoint.
When the research was conducted in December 2023, respondents were asked about their priorities when it came to fixed and mobile connectivity, as well as the barriers preventing progress. Responding councils were spread across a variety of geographical locations, from ‘dense urban’ to ‘rural’ areas.
The survey covered a range of topics from councils’ views on 5G and gigabit-capable broadband, to smart places and net zero.
“This is the second year of our connectivity research with local authority digital leaders, and it was interesting to see what’s changed – and what hasn’t – since our last report a year ago,” Dr Andrew Muir, chief executive at FarrPoint said.
Getting more areas covered by gigabit broadband remains the top connectivity priority for 47% of council digital leaders, with another 30% choosing it as second. It topped the list for the second year running.
Covering 100% of their area with at least super-fast connectivity featured as the second highest priority for councils.
While 51% of councils who responded have an up-to-date digital connectivity strategy, which is up from 43% last year, around 11% still have no digital connectivity at all, and almost a third (30%) do not have a digital champion.
“Some great progress has been made on digital connectivity within councils, but there are still areas for improvement,” Muir said.
“For example, it was clear from the responses that many local authorities are under significant financial pressure, which is, at times, leading to a reduced focus on supporting the digital connectivity rollout and take-up of services.”
This may reflect the divided opinion on the importance of 5G. Even though respondents said 5G was important to them, none picked it as their top priority for 2024.
Ensuring more areas covered by 4G also ranked as a higher priority than 5G on average. This could either be because the business case for 5G has not been widely demonstrated, or that many areas in Scotland still lack a stable connectivity infrastructure and need 4G coverage at the very least.
The survey did find that there has been a notable increase in awareness and preparedness for the various forthcoming connectivity service switch-offs. For example, only 2% of respondents had not started planning for the migration from copper to fibre broadband, compared to 27% last year.
However, 21% were still to put plans in place for the 2G and 3G switch offs – which are already under way.
Further, despite the importance of climate action, for the second year running, aligning digital connectivity to net zero targets was ranked as the lowest priority by respondents.
Alarmingly, there was even a slight increase – from 2% to 6% – in respondents who said net zero was ‘not important’ to the digital department.
“I also hope to see a change in approach to net zero, to reflect the pivotal role that better connectivity can play in achieving the country’s environmental targets,” Dr. Muir reflected. “Net zero isn’t someone else’s problem – digital departments can make a significant contribution.”
In terms of barriers to digital connectivity, local infrastructure deployment challenges – such as issues around street works, permits, and inconsistent planning processes – overtook a lack of central government funding.
There has been a small decrease (from 72% to 70%) in the amount of councils who are either already deploying or considering smart places projects as they look to maximise the benefits of improved connectivity.
The majority of respondents (64%) believe social care is the area where smart technology can have the greatest impact.
For residential up-take of digital connectivity, the survey found the biggest barrier was affordability, reflecting the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
“During the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, councils could also be doing more to encourage take-up of improved connectivity services among their residents,” Dr. Muir explained.
“There’s a widely held perception that these are unaffordable, but we’ve seen many cases where improved services are just as cheap, or even cheaper, than existing services.”
Dija Oliver, digital project manager at Swansea Bay City Deal, who contributed to the report on the survey, added: “Digital infrastructure affects all of the Swansea Bay City Deal projects and programmes. It is essential to the delivery of our partners’ digital transformation strategies, the economic growth of our region and improving social inclusion.
“We can only achieve the objectives of our programme by working collaboratively with industry, government, and our partners, using data to make decisions and being agile in our approach.
“I welcome this report by FarrPoint and believe that sharing these findings across authorities and encouraging debate can only help us reach our collective ambitions.”
Despite the fears of staff being replaced by automation, the majority of businesses consider the human element of advanced technology as critical.
A recent survey conducted by HSBC of 2,600 business leaders found that 86% of businesses were looking at how emerging technologies like AI could advance employee skillsets.
An additional 83% are planning to re-train their workforce to utilise the rapidly developing technology.
The findings come amid the concerns that the progress of AI will put thousands out of jobs, with job security along with the spread of misinformation being identified as the biggest concerns of automation.
However, they also indicate that businesses are aiming to prioritise the human aspect of work, even as automation continues to develop further.
The confluence of human skills and AI technology is a fundamental aspect of the success of businesses and their growth in the coming years, HSBC has found.
“The findings highlight that human skills are still highly desired in the workplace as businesses harness AI to advance the skillsets of their employees,” Sridhar Iyengar, MD for Zoho Europe, said.
“While it’s true that AI can sometimes be portrayed negatively as a jobs threat, businesses can use the technology to empower their teams to perform more efficiently and creatively, when applied in the right way.”
“It’s great to see AI being used for upskilling as companies look to invest further in this emerging technology to realise it’s full capabilities for business. While it’s true that AI and automation will replace some jobs, it will also introduce new opportunities and roles. This is the case with any technology evolution.”
Jonathan Young, Chief Information Officer of FDM Group, added: “As AI adoption continues to grow, businesses need human skills to harness its potential. Organisations investing in employee skills development in response to tech innovations, are enhancing the digital skills of the workforce. ”
“There is a fear that AI will replace jobs in future but seeing organisations focus on utilising the adoption of AI to boost productivity, innovation and economic growth is a positive step towards the success of the technology.”
The UK and Canada have signed a dual set of agreements cementing their collaboration on science and innovation while also laying out a new agreement on AI compute – one of the fundamental building blocks which sits at the heart of how AI is used and developed.
A Memorandum of Understanding on compute was signed in Ottawa, Canada, by Michelle Donelan, the UK’s Technology Secretary, and Canadian Minister for Innovation, Science and Industry François-Phillippe Champagne, in the latest step in the two countries’ efforts to collaborate on AI research and development.
At its core is a commitment to explore how both countries can support researchers and industry with the secure and affordable access to computing capacity, which is needed to drive the training an use of AI systems on both sides of the pond.
This includes examining opportunities for collaborations on areas of shared strategic importance such as biomedicine and working both together and with likeminded countries on models for collaboration on compute capability.
Compute is a vital component in the development of AI, enabling a wide range of tasks from processing data to training the latest wave of AI models, making access to computing power increasingly essential.
Given the rapid development of the technology, access to compute power is also a vital tool in conducting state of the art research.
Alongside today’s agreement on compute, the UK and Canada have also signed a refreshed partnership to further strengthen wider collaboration on science and innovation.
This agreement identifies a number of key technologies such as quantum, AI, semiconductors, engineering biology, and clean energy technology where the UK and Canada will redouble efforts to foster research and bring innovative new solutions to market to help tackle shared global challenges.
An additional focus on scientific diplomacy will see both countries exchanging expertise on issues such as international standards, governance and regulation of new technologies, helping to inform discussions with international forums such as the G7 and G20.
Academics and researchers from both countries are increasingly sharing data and developing new partnerships, and have done since the first partnership on science and innovation was agreed in 2017.
Between 2020 and 2023 alone, some £350 million was awarded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on collaborative programmes with Canada. This includes a partnership on quantum technologies, and an £8m project in partnership with the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami on arctic ecosystems which funds research projects around climate-driven changes in Inuit Nunangat.
“The UK’s unique partnership with Canada across science, innovation, and technology is built on a shared desire to be an active force for good on the global stage,” Michelle Donelan said.
“Today’s agreements deepen that relationship even further, as we commit to working side-by-side to address the defining technological challenges of our generation.
“My visit this week and the foundations we have laid will ensure we can continue to lead the way in harnessing the opportunities of new innovations across science and technology for decades to come.”
Canadian Minister for Innovation, Science, and Industry, François-Phillipe Champagne said: “Canada and the UK have a deep relationship that encourages collaboration to help both countries thrive.
“Today’s Memorandums of Understanding on scientific research, innovation and AI compute will drive positive impacts across all fields of research and innovation, help businesses accelerate commercialization, and link our leading researchers together.
“These agreements will strengthen our AI companies and enable our researchers, as well as encourage sharing research excellence with the Global South to build international capacity and address worldwide challenges.”
The refreshed collaboration on science and innovation agreed today re-enforces the joint commitment to work hand-in-glove across science, innovation, and technology, and is centred on three distinct pillars.
The first, a focus on deep science and technology, will see a re-doubling of efforts to work closely on areas of advanced R&D, particularly in the fields of quantum, AI, semiconductors, and engineering biology.
Closer ties will also be developed on “commercialising innovation” to support the adoption of emerging technologies and foster research to bring commercial applications to market on both sides of the Atlantic.
The renewed partnership will be marked with biennial meetings of the Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee, which will continue to identify priority areas of collaboration between the two countries.
In marking the new partnership on Compute, the UK and Canada have also set out their ambition to explore opportunities for collaborations on areas of shared importance like climate research and biomedicine.
The agreement also highlights the importance of close collaboration on sustainability in compute, particularly given the significant resources which are required and the subsequent need for improved energy efficiency and measures which will work to reduce associated carbon emissions and environmental impacts.
Five years ago, Glasgow City Innovation District (GCID) was launched as a hub to promote collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Based on an internationally recognised model that created Barcelona’s 22@ District and Kendall Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Innovation Districts aim to improve productivity, create jobs, and attract inward investment for many cities around the world.
The past five years have seen significant growth in both the Glasgow City Innovation District as well as Glasgow’s innovation ecosystem.
Aligned to the development of the city’s tech, digital, and creative sectors, GCID has supported Glasgow’s tech economy to become the largest in Scotland and one of the fastest growing hubs for venture capital investment in the UK.
Through its ethos as a place to “live, work, play and innovate,” GCID has seen committed and future investment value across the District at over £1 billion resulting in new commercial and innovation developments and new partnerships being forged between businesses, the University of Strathclyde and industry.
Glasgow City Innovation District project director Alisdair Gunn said: “We’re delighted to be celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Innovation District. Since 2019 there’s been huge investment, property developments and business growth within the area and we’re excited to continue supporting and celebrating the incredible growth of the district’s innovation ecosystem.”
Growing Investment
The £1 billion of committed and future investment is spread across office and co-working space for the science, tech, and creative sectors, residential accommodation, public spaces, and transportation.
A key development is the District’s Met Tower where the UK’s largest digital and tech hub developer Bruntwood SciTech has announced plans to invest £60m into creating a new, large scale, digital and tech hub.
GCID helped develop propositions to benefit from the UK Government’s £100 million investment in a Glasgow “Deeptech” Innovation Accelerator – one of only three in the UK (the others being Greater Manchester and the West Midlands).
It has also been involved in developing Glasgow’s Investment Zone , a £160m investment over ten years by the UK and Scottish governments to drive growth and innovation amongst priority industry sectors including Life Sciences, Digital and Tech, and Advanced Manufacturing.
Bringing the Innovation Ecosystem Together
GCID exists to develop and promote an inclusive innovation ecosystem in Glasgow, and since its launch in 2019 the District has supported various initiatives to for innovation across industries, both in the UK and internationally.
To help build a self-sustaining ecosystem, GCID has developed Glasgow Tech Fest, which brings together founders, investors, leaders, and ecosystem builders for a day of panels, keynotes and fireside chats
Tech Fest has spurred GCID to develop the inaugural Glasgow Tech Week in May 2024, which will have a range of industry events held across the city.
The district will also host the annual IASP European Division conference in April this year, aiming to attract an international audience.
UK Shared Prosperity Funding (SPF)
In recognition of GCID’s role in providing specialised innovation support in 2023, Glasgow City Council awarded GCID £900,000 of SPF funding to develop a range of programmes and initiatives to support innovation.
GCID plans to use SPF funding to create a GCID Innovation Programme focused on accelerating the commercialisation of DeepTech amongst early stage startups.
“The responsibility to create a Tech Ecosystem for a City is truly one of the best opportunities,” Alisdair Gunn wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
“Whether it’s fostering collaboration, nurturing business growth or creating a thriving community, all of us at Glasgow City Innovation District wish to thank our wider ecosystem colleagues, startup/scaleup founders and leadership group for all the support on reaching this latest milestone. Looking forward to supporting the scaling the City’s Innovation Economy over the years ahead.”
A local high school in Dalbeattie has partnered with a neighbouring technology company to establish its first conference in a bid to address the ever-growing IT skills gap.
Dalbeattie High School has partnered with ETB Technologies, a supplier of refurbished enterprise IT equipment, to host its first Digital Conference at the school on Thursday 15 February for S1 to S6 students.
The two have joined forces to tackle the global issue head-on and encourage more students to take up computing in S4.
The conference will be open to 60 students from the school and will provide them with the opportunity to understand the breadth of career opportunities that exist within the technology sector.
Sessions will be practical and cover IT engineering, eCommerce, and digital marketing.
These sessions will be delivered by ETB and leading integrated communications agency, Clark.
“Scotland has a brilliant tech ecosystem, however, many of the organisations involved in it are based in the central belt,” Ross Kennedy, teacher of physics and computing science at Dalbeattie High School said.
“This means our young people in Dumfries and Galloway often have limited exposure to the huge range of careers available within the tech sector.
“As a school, we have been working hard in recent years to change this and establishing the Digital Conference aims to raise awareness and further equip our pupils with the skills they need to kick off their career in tech.
“Our partnership with ETB Technologies has been invaluable in developing our Computing curriculum and it’s fantastic to have them onboard with the Digital Conference.”
ETB established a formal relationship with the school in late 2022 when it delivered practical technical workshops for S3 students.
Through a series of sessions, students were given hands-on experience in identifying the key components of a server, understanding the differences between a PC and a server, and how to strip and rebuild a computer.
Pupils were also able to gain an insight into the world of work, the skills involved, and the possible pathways into various IT careers.
“Having run a technology business in the south of Scotland for more than two decades, I have seen firsthand how technology has not only evolved at pace but also created a skills chasm,” Nick Stapleton, managing director at ETB Technologies added.
“Rather than complain about this ever-expanding skills gap – which will only grow as innovation in the sector continues at pace – technology companies must recognise their responsibility in tackling it.
“As we come into the third year of working with the high school, it is important that we don’t lose this momentum. It’s easy to think that working in the tech sector only involves IT troubleshooting and engineering.
“However, through the Digital Conference, we want to highlight that there are so many more opportunities. Hopefully exposing students to the broad range of roles in the sector will inspire them to take up a computing course at school or college in the future and contribute to closing the skills gap that exists.”
ETB Technologies is currently consulting alongside Dalbeattie High School and other partners in the curriculum development of a new National Progression Award, which is in the final stages of development with the SQA.
The Information Commissioner’s Officer (ICO) has issued a fresh warning to organisations to ensure their advertising cookies are compliant with data regulations.
Last November, the ICO issued a warning to 53 of the UK’s top 100 websites, saying that they could face enforcement action if they did not want to make changes to advertising cookies to comply with data protection law.
“We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response to our call to action,” Stephen Almond, executive director, regulatory risk at the ICO, said in a blog post. “Of the 53 organisations we contacted, 38 organisations have changed their cookies banners to be compliant and four have committed to reach compliance within the next month.”
Almond said that other companies were looking into alternative solutions “including contextual advertising and subscription models.”
“We expect all websites using advertising cookies or similar technologies to give people a fair choice over whether they consent to the use of such technologies,” Almond added. “Where organisations continue to ignore the law, they can expect to face the consequences.”
The ICO says they will not stop with the top 100 websites, and will continue their cookie crusade to the next 100 websites, and there after.
Almond also announced that the ICO will employ an AI solution to help find non-compliant cookie banners, and will run a hackathon to see how this AI solution can be rolled out.
The ICO is advising organisations to take action now to ensure they are compliant with the data regulations in the UK surrounding cookies as they continue to issue letters to organisations found to be in breach.
Advertising, or third-party cookies, are the morsels of data packaged and sold between websites and advertisers to generate behavioral, targeted adverts.
Global market research company Euromonitor International has released the Top Five Digital Consumer Trends in 2024 report today.
The annual report reveals emerging trends that provide insights into digital consumer’s evolving values and explores how their behaviour is redefining their shopping motivations and needs.
It also examines the technological advances in the year ahead that will continue to reshape consumer behaviour.
Euromonitor’s Top Five Digital Consumer Trends in 2024 are:
1. Intuitive E-Commerce
The rising influence of digital channels among consumers is putting pressure on companies to improve the online experience. This is possible due to evolving data-gathering strategies and emerging technologies, from AR to IoT to GenAI.
These advances have the potential to transform the online shopping experience, leading to one that is more intuitive.
2. TikTok Economy
Digital consumers are flocking to TikTok and Douyin, twin social media platforms that have embraced short-form video content.
Brands are striving to promote their products and services on these platforms, but some of the viral trends that are doing the most to boost brand sales are emerging organically from users on those platforms, without any direct brand involvement.
3. Outsmart Online
Against a backdrop of mounting macroeconomic uncertainty and increasing digitalisation, consumers are seeking out online platforms dedicated to rooting out the best deals.
More and more consumers are using these platforms in ways that brands do not intend – and disapprove of.
4. Recommerce 2.0
Recommerce – the practice of selling previously owned or used products – is surging and evolving globally driven by environmentally conscious, thrifty and tech-savvy younger consumers.
Brands and retailers recognise the potential of the market and are actively adopting various strategies to enter it, mirroring the convenience of e-commerce, and making recommerce more widely accessible across product categories.
5. Revamped Returns
Consumers have long wanted hassle-free returns, but delivering on that expectation has not been without challenges.
Converging trends like the rise of e-commerce, store closures and more sustainable strategies is moving returns up the agenda. New technologies and partnerships are paving the way to a happier return experience for shoppers.
“The online shopping experience continues to mature. Euromonitor saw this theme play a prominent role in three of our 2023 trends, and we see it again this year,” Michelle Events, global lead of retail and digital insights at Euromonitor international said.
“The use of emerging technologies like generative AI will make online shopping feel more like the in-person shopping experience as explored in Intuitive E-Commerce. The evolution of recommerce, and the borrowing of wider e-commerce strategies, as explored in Recommerce 2.0 also speaks to this greater sophistication.
“Cautious and conscious consumption is growing. The cost of a purchase whether that cost is monetary or environmental was top of mind for digital consumers in 2023 and will continue to be in 2024. Saving money is playing out in how consumers are seeking to outsmart brands online or joining the resale movement.
“Consumers are also seeking more power in their relationships with brands. This is prevalent in both the TikTok Economy and Outsmart Online trends, which at their roots are about how consumers are using social media to give them a greater voice in the consumer-brand relationship. The benefit of hearing from consumers over the brands is that it leads to more authentic interactions, which is valued by younger consumers like Gen Z.
“With twice as many digital consumers in the world as compared with a decade ago and the spend for goods and services online more than doubling in that timeframe, it is important to prepare strategies with these digitally savvy shoppers in mind.”
Edinburgh-based payment orchestration provider BR-DGE has announced its latest collaboration with Discover® Global Network, a leading payments network, to support its global growth.
This alliance aims to enable BR-DGE’s merchants to access one of the fastest growing global payments network, with Discover Global Network Cards spending over £55 billion globally in 2022.
Further, utilising BR-DGE’s position in the market, Discover Global Network will now have access to a global network that empowers merchants across travel, leisure, retail, and beyond.
This is set to support the strong global acceptance trajectory of Discover Global Network, currently sitting at 70 million merchant acceptance points and millions of micro-merchants.
This collaboration with Discover Global Network will help drive acceptance and enable BR-DGE merchants to provide greater payment optionality to customers seeing more from the checkout experience.
BR-DGE merchants will be able to accept cards that run on Discover Global Network, ensuring global customers can pay how, when and where they want. Earlier this year, BR-DGE research found that 32% of consumers say that availability of payment options is a high priority in their purchasing decisions, making it a key focus for merchants.
The collaboration will mean that BR-DGE’s merchants can expand their offering to international travellers, including the over 350 million Discover Global Network Cardholders around the world.
“Discover is a global leader in payments, and we are delighted to now offer our merchants the ability to meet the needs of hundreds of millions of Discover card users,” Tom Voaden, head of partnership at BR-DGE said.
“By joining with leading payment providers, such as Discover, we can continue offering merchants a platform that allows them to select the best payment solutions to help grow their business, build loyalty, and exceed consumer expectations.”
“BR-DGE is an innovative payment orchestrator that supports our focus in the travel and retail verticals, making it a valuable connection for us,” said Rajiv Gupta, vice president of international markets at Discover. “Our work together will enable access to our global payments network and help merchants streamline their payment processes.”
PayPal has announced it will cut 9% of its global workforce, which equates to around 2,500 jobs.
The fintech company made a similar move just last year almost to the day, laying off 2,000 people as part of Big Tech’s tirade of job cuts in 2023.
In a statement, PayPal president and CEO Alex Chriss informed his team that the cuts will be made “through both direct reductions and the elimination of open roles,” in an effort to “right-size our business.”
The CEO also said that PayPal needed to be more efficient, and should aim to “deploy automation, and consolidate our technology to reduce complexity and duplication.”
Chriss, formerly of Intuit, was brought into PayPal last year, hoping to turn the company around after the company’s share price fell by over 20% in the year prior to his appointment.
Other executive changes were made – Archie Deskus became CTO after serving as CIO, and Jamie Miller was appointed CFO.
PayPal’s November earnings exceeded the expectations of analysts, pointing to a turn around for the company.
The digital payments company, despite taking over competitors such as Venmo, is being challenged by Apple, Stripe, Zelle, and Block.
It is currently uncertain if the same trend of major tech layoffs will continue as they had the year before.
Last year, over 260,000 jobs were lost in the tech sector, according to Layoffs.fyi.
2024 has already seen around 25,000 tech layoffs from almost 100 companies, including Microsoft, Google, Meta, Amazon, Salesforce, and TikTok.
Tech layoffs last year were due to a number of reasons, with many pointing to overzealous hiring during the pandemic, a shift to focusing on AI and cutting expenses, and a trend of lessening junior staff.
In his letter to staff, Chriss made no specific reference to why layoffs would occur. Affected staff should be notified by the end of the week.
Is having a degree losing its importance in today’s workforce?
According to new research from Hays, 39% of employers in Scotland say it is no longer important to them that a job applicant has a degree, and that a willingness to learn (71%) is more important.
A further 46% of organisations say a degree is quite important but not essential when hiring, whilst only 15% say having a degree is essential.
A large percentage (79%) of employers would be likely to hire a professional who does not possess all the required skills, with the intention of upskilling them, rising from 73% who said the same last year across the UK.
The research is based on a survey of nearly 15,000 professionals and employers, including 886 respondents in Scotland.
“We’ve clearly seen an increase towards skills-based hiring in recent years,” Keith Mason, director at Hays Scotland, said.
“This marks a move away from traditional recruitment towards other routes to work, such as apprenticeships and academies where professionals can earn and learn at the same time.
“It’s encouraging to see employers are becoming more open-minded when it comes to hiring staff, especially in a skills-short market. Opening up routes to entry is so important for levelling the playing field for professionals, with many employers indicating that aptitude and willingness to learn are more important than existing skillsets.”
The research also shows there are some differences in skills hiring between the public and private sectors. Only 27% of public sector employers say that a degree is not important, compared with 40% in the private sector. Only one in five in the private sector said they would not consider an applicant without a degree.
Overall, of the employers who deem a degree essential when hiring (15%), 64% said they would prefer a level 6 qualification (such as a bachelor’s degree, graduate diploma), whilst a third (34%) said they would prefer a level 7 qualification such a master’s degree.
“Of course, there are still professions where degrees are required or preferred,” continues Mason.
“However, there are many more routes into the world of work. Employers who can support different options to access work, for example, focusing on skills and experience rather than qualifications, will be more likely to stand the test of time when it comes to having the talent they need.”
In a new statement, Apple has challenged new UK proposals to pre-approve or veto new security features introduced by tech firms before they are released to the public.
Apple has warned that this potential amendment to the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) 2016 could jeopardise the security of devices and delay important security updates.
The amendment would allow the UK Home Office to pre-approve or veto an update before it was introduced to the public – if the Home Office rejected the update, no tech firm could disclose this information.
“We’re deeply concerned the proposed amendments to the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) now before Parliament place users’ privacy and security at risk,” Apple said in a statement, as reported by the BBC.
“It’s an unprecedented overreach by the government and, if enacted, the UK could attempt to secretly veto new user protections globally preventing us from ever offering them to customers.”
But it is not just Big Tech that is concerned about the new powers: civil rights groups have also voiced their dismay at the proposed amendments.
They critiqued several other facets of the bill, however, saying it expanded the surveillance powers of the state and weakened safeguards for the collection of large datasets of personal information by intelligence services, threatening people’s privacy.
Rights groups have routinely critiqued the government’s push to increase their use of surveillance, especially in the realm of biometric and facial recognition.
A government spokesperson said in a statement as reported by the BBC: “We have always been clear that we support technological innovation and private and secure communications technologies, including end-to-end encryption, but this cannot come at a cost to public safety.”
The government made a similar statement when the Online Safety Act was still in deliberation, as it had proposed to scan messages before they were encrypted for illegal activity.
Innovation Minister Richard Lochhead will tell a gathering of potential investors meeting in Edinburgh today, 30 January, that Scotland’s cutting edge space industry can lead Europe.
He will set out Scotland’s ambitions, which include capturing a £4 billion share of the global space market, to the UK Space Agency’s Space Investment Forum.
Businesses could employ 20,000 within a decade in sectors from manufacturing small satellites to supporting rocket launches.
SaxaVord Spaceport in Shetland is in line to host the UK’s first vertical launch later this year – customers for small satellite launches have signed up from the US and Europe.
Mr Lochhead said: “We have big ambitions to be Europe’s leading space nation. The sector could be worth £4 billion and employ 20,000 people, that’s why space is one of the key industries the Scottish Government has pinpointed as an economic priority.
“Recent developments mean we are, quite genuinely, on the cusp of something new and exhilarating. We are ideally located for launching satellites into orbit and projects at SaxaVord and Sutherland are progressing well.
“Our biggest city, Glasgow, hosts a thriving satellite manufacturing hub and our space supply chain is working flat out to grasp the transformational opportunities presented.
“These range from developing zero emissions rocket launches to using data generated from space to tackle climate change. Space opens a window that allows mankind to observe our world with ever greater clarity.
“Scotland has set some of the most ambitious targets for cutting emissions anywhere. The space industry can propel our green and growing economy to new heights.”
The Italian Data Protection Authority (DPA) has claimed that OpenAI is in breach of GDPR, the EU’s data protection laws, in a new announcement.
This follows the initial ban the Italian authority placed on the creator of ChatGPT in March 2023, following concerns it did not uphold the EU’s onerous data regulations.
Though the ban was swiftly lifted after only four weeks, an investigation lead to the Italian DPA concluding that OpenAI had been in breach of provisions in the EU GDPR.
Prior to this, Italy’s DPA had said they were happy with the ‘measures’ OpenAI had claimed to take in order to meet GDPR compliance.
After their “fact-finding activity”, however, the authority has confirmed their suspicions and claims that OpenAI is in breach of GDPR.
If found in breach of GDPR, companies risk being fined up to €20M, or up to 4% of their global annual turnover, whichever amount is higher.
But more risky to OpenAI is that GDPR can force them to change their data handling practices to come under compliance, or risk being banned from the European market altogether.
While the Italian DPA did not disclose the exact provisions OpenAI was found in breach of, they did provide a list of concerns which lead them to the initial ban.
This included a lack of legal basis for collecting personal data to train their AI models, concerns over the AI models’ quirk to hallucinate false information, and child safety concerns.
Most detrimental, and potentially most pertinent, to OpenAI’s model is the legal basis they use to collect and process personal data.
In order to run their ChatGPT and other GPT models, OpenAI has essentially scrapped the internet of data, including potentially personal data.
The company made no attempt to ask for consent from web users before scraping the data of millions across the web.
It is increasingly difficult to track where ChatGPT got all this data from, and so it would also be rather difficult to prove that ChatGPT’s data harvesting was of legitimate interest, a legal basis which would also allow users to object to.
If these do get challenged, it could confound the very function of ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs).
OpenAI will have thirty days to produce a counterclaim against the alleged breaches, and the Italian DPA will take into account the work in progress with the EU task force formed to monitor AI.
By 2027, more than half of chief data and analytics office (CDAOs) will secure funding for data literacy and AI literacy programmes, fuelled by organisation failure to realise expected value form generative AI (GenAI), according to Gartner, Inc.
Few organisations are currently implementing AI literacy programmes, the analyst company found.
While the skills and capabilities of AI are concentrated to highly technical roles, the status of AI is rapidly changing as industry executives begin to realise the importance of a workforce knowledgeable in data, analytics and AI,” said Melissa Davis, VP analyst at Gartner.
“To build such a workforce, organisations require data literacy and AI literacy as core competencies. Critical-thinking and problem-solving abilities may decrease as AI natives depend more heavily on AI for information and decision-making, diminishing their need to analyse situations independently.”
Improving Data and AI Literacy
GenAI solutions are less trustworthy due to the complexity and opaqueness of the current algorithms and models, as well as the information used to fuel the models not being adequately curated.
This is why CDAOs must invest in their people to build strong data, analytics and AI skills. Without these skills, AI will fail to deliver the expected value and potentially introduce additional failure points.
“Improving data and AI literacy is critical to identifying relevant and value-adding AI use cases,” said Davis. “Yet, turning the general promise of AI into concrete business impact demands strong collaboration between business stakeholders and AI experts which requires a common ground in terms of understanding the main AI concepts and having realistic expectations about what AI can and cannot do.”
“Organisations should assess the AI readiness of their workforce for both data and AI literacy and be honest as to whether the workforce has the necessary skills to leverage AI techniques,” said Davis.
“For any area of planned investment in GenAI technology or AI use-case implementation, organisations should fund corresponding data and AI literacy education as a core workforce capability.”
Rocket Factor Augsburg‘s (RFA) chief commercial officer said that excitement is building ahead of their “Olympic gold medal” moment this summer – when they will try to achieve Europe’s first-ever launch delivering satellites into orbit.
The company is but one of the many vying to use the launch pads at SaxaVord Spaceport on the Isle of Unst, the most northerly of the Shetland Islands.
In December, SaxaVord was granted the UK’s first vertical launch spaceport license, allowing up to 30 launches into space each year.
Jorn Spurmann spoke to the PA news agency about RFA’s plans for the first launch of their RFA One launcher – a 30m-tall three-stage rocket which can deliver a 1,300kg payload to a sun synchronous orbit around earth.
He said “everything looks positive” for the first launch taking place in the summer but much will depend on their testing process.
Mr. Spurmann said: “We plan to be on pad in the summer and start the (testing) campaign.
“Then we have an anticipated first launch attempt and we see how it goes.
“We have on the Shetland Islands a dedicated launch pad purely for RFA. So, there’s no time pressure for us.”
After testing in Germany and elsewhere, the various components of the rocket and its cargo of satellites will be shipped to Lerwick in around a dozen containers before being driven to Unst up north.
“We do a full assembly and checkout testing in Augsburg and then we put it into a dozen containers roughly,” Spurmann said.
“Then the final re-mating of these stages and encapsulation of the fairing, final testing – that all happens on site at the launch pad.”
The “hot test” of the rocket’s first-stage engines at the launch pad is expected in the months head of the first flight.
Ultimately, RFA wants to re-use the lower stage of its rockets in order to generate savings, similar to the Falcon series of rockets used by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
While this will not take place on the initial flights, the first stage of the RFA One rocket would be parachuted back to splash down in the sea after propelling the upper parts of the vehicle high into the atmosphere.
The nine Helix engines on the lower part of the rocket make up the bulk of the vehicle’s cost.
“We’re planning mid-term to get to a launch cadence of once a month, so 12 a year,” Spurmann explained.
“That should happen over three years. Then it really depends where the market is – if the market needs more, we have flexibility to do more.”
As 2024 gets into full swing, David Goobrand, head of data privacy, and Andrew Macqueen, a trainee soliceter, of Technology and Commercial at Burness Paull have revealed some top data trends for the new year as regulation continues to change to keep pace with emerging technology and cyber risks.
Just after Data Privacy Day, it is important to freshen up on data compliance best practice as new laws and regulations come into view on the horizon
As data only expands in volume, the value placed on data increases on a complex scale, as do the risks associated with processing the data.
While firms are encouraged to stick to proper procedures, offer effecting training and awareness, and maintain accountability and governance, Burness Paull have delved deeper into what firms should keep an eye on in 2024.
New Year, New Laws?
2023 already saw the introduction of some major new regulatory laws in the European Union, with the introduction of the EU AI Act, the new Data Governance Act, the EU Data Act, the Digital Services Act, and the Digital Markets Act.
In the UK, the Online Safety Act was finally ratified after several legislative hurdles, aiming to dramatically change how the internet is regulated.
2024 will see the Data Protection and Digital Information bill introduced into the UK, their first major departure from GDPR.
The bill claims to be ‘business-friendly’, but experts are wary about the changes in the bill being friendly to anyone operating in the UK.
Burness Paul expects that the increasing number of regulations revolving data and the potential inter-relationship (or conflict) between these in the UK, Europe, and further afield can make compliance complex.
Artificial Intelligence
AI, especially generative AI, has captured the attention and investment of organisations across different sectors, with many rushing to embrace the benefits the emerging technology could bring.
The legal, regulatory and security risks, however, are starting to catch up, and need to be considered and managed carefully to ensure that AI remains an asset, rather than a liability.
Even as the ICO warns about a decline of trust in AI in 2024, adoption and reliance has not waned.
Burness Paull therefore urged a cautious approach to AI adoption, with risk management central to responsible adoption.
Considering and managing any data protection, discrimination, and bias related risks should also be a top priority for AI adoption.
Cyber Risks are Here to Stay
Cybersecurity continues to be the top risk of impacting all organisations in 2024. Cyber risk will continue to evolve in 2024, especially with the emergence of new and increasingly sophisticated threats with the use of AI and quantum computing.
Regulatory frameworks are looking to address this, in the UK and in Europe.
The Europe of the Critical Entities Resilience (CER) Directive has been adopted focused on resilience and incident response.
2024 will also see the UK’s Product Security and Telecommunications Act 2022 come into affect, setting out minimum security standards that consumer networks must follow.
With these new laws and more regulatory scrutiny, it has become more important than ever to ensure an organisation is prepared with appropriate procedures in place.
Data Transfers
2023 saw a dramatic new data transfer regime, with the EU and the US finalising another attempt to simply data transfers between the two regions.
The EU and US have radically different approaches to data protection and regulation, and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (DPF) is already expecting challenges from privacy advocates including Max Shrems of None of Your Business (NOYB), which broke down the last attempt to simply data transfers.
In fact, Nader Henien, VP analyst in data protection at Gartner, Inc, in an interview with DIGIT, confessed that he is on the record telling organisations to not rely on the DPF for data transfers as he is expecting the law to get challenged soon.
As the UK has essentially piggy-backed onto the EU-US framework, it will remain to be seen if the UK-US data bridge will also be challenged, and if it will be upheld.
Separately, the EU-UK Adequacy Decision is set to be reviewed this year. The agreement simplifies the data transfer process between the EU and UK, but may be scrutinised as the UK’s new DPDI bill is approved and changes some laws and regulations.
While Laura Irvine, partner and head of regulatory law at Davidson Chalmers Stewart LLP, and an accredited specialist in data protection law, says the agreement may be at risk, Henien says the agreement is likely to stay based on the other countries the EU has adequacy agreements with.
Further, towards the end of 2023, the ICO issued new guidance for organisations completing transfer risk assessments for transfers of personal data from the UK to the US – Burness Paull expects further guidance to come in 2024.
Burness Paull also expects a focussed effort from a number of organisations to implement the new EU standard contractual clauses (SCCs) and the UK Addendum or the UK standalone international data transfer agreement ahead of the March 2024 deadline.
Carcinotech has raised £4.2 million of funding as the company looks to build on its traction in the UK and Europe with US expansion planned later this year.
The company’s Carcino3D technology enables the manufacture of 3D printed micro-tumours using cells derived from patient biopsies and blood samples to precisely simulate the tumour microenvironment thereby accelerating ethical drug screening and the delivery of more effective cancer treatments to market.
Ishani Malhotra, CEO and founder of Carcinotech, said: “Our vision is to be at the forefront of cancer drug testing and provide personalised medicine testing to every individual suffering from cancer to improve their treatment and chance of survival.
“Working with global partners, leading pharma companies, surgeons, pathologists, and clinicians, Carcinotech aims to significantly accelerate oncology drug development.”
In October, Carcinotech announced a partnership with Gothenburg-headquartered CELLINK, leveraging CELLINK’s bioprinting solutions and Carcinotech’s expertise in producing bioprinted living tumours to develop cutting-edge cancer models.
Ishani Malhotra added: “As part of ongoing commercialisation, we have built strong industry partnerships in Europe, and are now actively engaged in replicating these in North America.”
Anne Muir, director of portfolio at St Andrews-based investment firm Eos, said: “Ishani and her team are breaking new ground in oncology, they combine a deep knowledge of the field with technology-driven systems that are set to bring about greater efficiencies in cancer research workflows.
“At Eos, we back innovative companies that positively impact the world and we are excited to continue our support as Carcinotech builds on its commercial traction and enters its next phase of growth from a base in Scotland.”
Kerry Sharp, director of entrepreneurship and investment at Scottish Enterprise, said: “Carcinotech has gone from strength to strength since we first supported it as a startup in 2018, and we’re proud to have been a part of its incredible journey to date.
“It’s great to see the company expand into the lucrative US market and further develop its potentially life-saving technologies. Human health is a key opportunity area for Scotland and we believe that innovative, scaling companies like Carcinotech have an important role to play in transforming our economy.”
Globally, an estimated 19.3 million cancer cases occurred in 2020 alone, with a fatality rate of almost 10.0 million cancer deaths, with breast (11.7%), lung (11.4%), colorectal (10%) and prostate (7.3%) being the most fatal. While cancer continues to affect millions, there are still a limited number of effective therapies available, and those that are available, have a high degree of variation from patient to patient.
2023 saw a slurry of lawsuits and ground-breaking cases for data regulation.
The EU’s GDPR challenged Meta’s main business model surrounding behavioural advertising.
Creative communities, both home and away, pushed back against LLMs being trained on copyrighted material as we witness a grapple to retroactively regulate a technology that, arguably, we should have better prepared for.
These two in cases in particular have drawn battle lines in the wider data handling discourse, as the UK continues its Brexit process by finalising its new Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, deviating from the EU’s strict legislation.
Further, third party cookies – the snippets of data used to track users from website to website, often leveraged by behavioural advertisers – are on their deathbed, as Google moves to promote its new sandbox, leaving advertisers scrambling to move away from a marketing model that’s proved so effective since the late 90s.
Throw the live grenade that is AI’s continued advancement and proliferation, what do all of these changes mean, for businesses, for the public, for governments, consumers, and users? What can we expect for data privacy in the coming year?
To try and answer that, we spoke to Laura Irivne, a partner and head of regulatory law at Davidson Chalmers Stewart LLP, and an accredited specialist in data protection law, as well as Nader Henein, a VP analyst for Gartner specialising in Data Protection.
Data Protection and Digital Information Bill
The Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (DPDI) promises to be business friendly and remove some of the EU’s oft-maligned legislative red tape, but what does the bill actually entail with regards to data privacy for businesses and consumers?
Essentially, it’s the UK’s first true departure from the EU’s GDPR, with the 2018 Data Protection Act only changing the regulations so that its adherence call fall under the scrutiny of the Information Commissioner’s Office, an independent regulator set to create guidelines and issue fines to data handlers.
Since then, the UK has had to maintain an adequacy agreement with the EU in order to maintain regular data transfers.
While the DPDI does make some changes and allows businesses to update their compliance, most changes appear minor, and both Irvine and Henein expect most businesses will not adopt these changes.
Unless a business only operates in the UK, they will still have to comply with other global data protection regulations, including GDPR. To operate in the rest of Europe, UK businesses will have to comply with the EU’s GDPR.
So, why would the UK government introduce a new regulation if businesses are unlikely to adopt it?
“We know the government does want to be seen to be reducing red tape: that was part of the driver for leaving the EU,” Larua Irvine, Partner and Head of Regulatory Law at Davidson Chalmers Stewart LLP Accredited Specialist in Data Protection Law, told DIGIT.
Nader Henein, a VP analyst for Gartner specialising in Data Protection, was less guarded in his words: “It’s because of Brexit. They committed to changing 600 EU era bills,” he explained. “Data protection is just next on the list.”
Only organisations purely operating within the UK may take advantage of the new framework’s more centralised approach, but these requirements are not dramatic enough to risk EU adequacy, both Irvine and Henein clarified.
However, the DPDI does make certain changes that puts consumers, and the UK’s EU adequacy agreement, at potential risk.
One of the major changes underpinning the bill is the dissolution of the independent powers of the ICO – the new bill will give ultimate oversight to the Secretary of State, allowing a political figure to overrule and override guidance from the Commissioner’s Office.
This will provide the Secretary of State the potential to influence the rulings and guidelines for automated decision making, the use of legitimate interests to collect data, and other regulations under the remit of the bill.
“I think that’s going to be the biggest loss that we’re going to have. We need independent regulators,” Henein said. “They cannot be government appointed.”
Irvine worries that the political alignment of the Secretary of State could interfere with data privacy rulings, making data governance a political question rather than one of privacy.
“It feels like there’s a lot more scope for political interference in relation to the ICOs functions,” Irvine said. “Some of the provisions in the bill allow the agenda to be fixed by a politician rather than by an independent regulator.”
The new law represents the UK’s struggle to align with the business interests of Big Tech companies, while maintaining enough data protections to keep their EU adequacy agreement.
“It’s a delicate balance, trying not to deviate too far away from Europe, and at the same time to remain close to the US, and serve the British public at large,” Henein said.
In 2023, the EU ruled that Meta could no longer rely on legitimate interest as a legal basis to collect user data for behavioural advertisement. The UK’s ICO made no move to match the EU’s ruling on this, meaning that Meta’s new compliance standards will not be rolled out to UK consumers.
“That is quite a significant divergence in the approach in the EU and in the UK,” Irvine said. “I think that’s the sort of concern that I would have for us as data subjects and as consumers, that these protections are going to be watered down in the UK.”
The Secretary of State could allow for further divergence from the EU regarding data protection regulations.
The big fear from this, Irvine says, is that big tech may get to have their way in the UK if decisions surrounding data protection are left to political officials rather than independent regulators.
Depending on who is selected as Secretary of State, the UK could see a data privacy renaissance, or they could see rights being stripped away to create a more ‘business friendly’ environment.
Beyond what’s already there, we need to be cognisant as nascent and emerging technologies begin to have more practical implications in things like data handling – , in this regard, regulations to protect consumers will become ever more critical.
“This is a crucial time amidst the development of all these technologies. As a society, we need to be able to understand what’s happening to our data, particularly biometric data because it’s so useful,” Irvine said.
“Allowing certain technologies to be used here more easily than in the EU, it’s definitely the wrong approach, in my view, if you are really interested in protecting individual rights.”
AI and Data Protection – Has the Train Left the Station?
Central to AI is data – large language models, like ChatGPT and GPT-4, require “insane amounts of information” to operate, Henein says.
ChatGPT scraped and continues to scrape the internet for data to train itself on – that’s how it can write a limerick about the fall of Constantinople, write a dissertation introduction on the effects of the industrial revolution on feminist theory, generate code for a first year computer programming course, and break down the difference between an IPO and a market value at the drop of a hat.
Public data has been, and continues to be, scraped and not even the EU’s landmark AI Act has anything to say about it.
“The AI Act has sidestepped that particular landmine, and it is a landmine because there’s really no way around it, because they {LLMs] will hoover up whatever they want,” Henein said.
GDPR may have something to say about that hoovering, however. Under the regulations, public data can only be used for its intended purpose – using someone’s email available on LinkedIn to subscribe them to advertising would be considered stealing under GDPR, Henein explained.
The same argument could be made for the information being hoovered up across the internet to power LLMs.
“That’s the intersection of potentially the AI Act and GDPR – that’s going to be fun to watch next year,” Henein said.
The Cookie Crumbles, But Tracking is Alive and Well
Third party cookies – the packaged morsels of user data bought and sold between sites for targeted behavioural advertising and statistical analysis – are being phased out , and the $600bn adtech industry is set to face a “seismic shift”, according to Henein.
The end of cookies, however, should not be regarded as the end of tracking altogether.
“The death of the cookie does not necessarily somehow herald a new age of privacy on the internet; tracking will continue to be there,” he assured.
Henein reassures that while Google pushes its new Privacy sandbox, which will transform how advertising businesses collect user data, platforms are already experimenting with different tracking methods.
“Until we come up with a model that is equitable, to a certain extent, it’s going to continue to be clumsy and messy,” Henein warned.
But what are these cookie-less options?
For one, many platforms are now prompting visitors to provide their email for a 10% discount –
“They’re looking to identify who you are,” Henein warns, “because they know that the cookies are going away. And their capacity to identify you is going away as well. So they need to start linking the data.”
While companies may be saying the effect won’t be dramatic, Henein calls their bluff.
“It’s the old saying ‘this is nothing but a flesh wound’. Some companies will be saying ‘we haven’t used cookies in ages’,” he said. “Yeah, that’s not true. It’s going to impact the industry in a very resounding way.”
Google, which has a 70% share in the adtech industry, is steering this massive transformation, but what this will look like for the adtech industry, consumers, and privacy rights, remains to be seen.
The company has already begun rolling out its privacy sandbox on Chrome to 1% of users – the privacy sandbox essentially uses Google data rather than cookies to sell to advertisers for targeted, personalised adverts.
“It’s going to be a very messy year, very beautifully messy,” Henein mused.
“It’s really one of those, grab the popcorn, sit back and watch companies that have previously been billion dollar darlings of the ad tech industry implode.”
A self-congratulatory opening for the Scotland: A Technology Nation debate, held in Scottish parliament’s chambers yesterday, was met with a flurry of front bench challenges from the opposition.
While Richard Lochhead, the Minister for Small Business, focused on Scotland’s well-documented successes, the Labour and Conservative parties brought up some of the glaring omissions from the innovation minister.
Lochhead introduced Scotland as something of a technology nation already, venerating its growth, its advancements in fintech and space, as well as progress on 5G.
He described Scotland as a rising star in the global tech sphere, congratulating the investment it’s attracted, the number of rising fintech startups in the nation, its rocketing space industry, and Dundee’s spinout successes and games industry in particular.
However, despite referencing the need to transition to a clean and green economy in his Linkedin post promoting the speech, Lochhead made no reference to energy consumption, green technology, emissions reduction, EV charging, or renewable energy in the opening of the debate.
Glaring omissions were soon quickly brought up by both the Labour and Conservatives attending – not just omissions in topics covered, but omissions in attendance of the ruling party’s cabinet members at the debate.
Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour MSP, pointed out that none of the cabinet secretaries of the Scottish National Party were in attendance despite the collaborative and overarching issue of technology.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives brought in their front benchers to discuss shortfalls in education, budgets, and yet-to-be-addressed advice laid out in the now ageing Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review, written by the government’s chief entrepreneurial advisor, Mark Logan, in 2020.
Johnson also brought up the paradoxical nature of the debate: “Technology is undoubtedly one of our strengths,” he said, “But are we a leader in technology, are we there yet?”
He mentioned that it was unlikely California, Taiwan, Estonia – globally regarded as technology powerhouses – would see the need for a similar debate.
“Frankly, a motion discussing technology that doesn’t even name check AI is behind,” he added.
Liam Kerr, Scottish Conservative MSP, overall concurred with his Labour colleague. “Surely if a debate in Scottish government is to interrogate a topic, to celebrate the successes absolutely, it must also acknowledge the challenges on the horizon.”
Kerr said the motion failed largely to do so, highlighting “the government’s inherent stifling tendency to think very much in silos.”
Opposition parties mainly spent time, however, scorning the SNP’s record on education for the technology sector.
“350 fewer science teachers, 300 fewer maths teachers, 180 fewer computer science teachers, with less coming through” Kerr lamented.
Oppositions lambasted the SNP’s budgeting for higher education as well, with 63% of colleges facing a budget deficit, according to Kerr.
The SNP snapped back, saying that they had no choice as the UK had cut the Scottish budget. To which, Kerr retorted that they should “cut the waste, grow the economy – then we’ll have the money.”
Johnson pointed out that industry is also pressing for education to be a priority to close the skills gap, which brings to question who the SNP is listening to – if the industry and the opposition are putting an emphasis on education, why did they omit this critical sector from their tech ambitions?
When challenged by Labour’s amendment, Lochhead went on the defensive, saying that the amendment made it seem as if the government had made no progress since the Logan Report.
Scottish Labour education and skills spokesperson, Pam Duncan-Glancy MSP, reiterated that the statistics were true; that the government had a shortfall of computer science teachers and were not hitting their targets, putting the skilled workforce at risk.
“There is a risk that we rest on our laurels. There are a number of challenging recommendations we have yet to tackle,” Johnson pointed out.
Richard Leonard, Scottish Labour MSP, also pointed out the conflicting nature of technology in Scotland, as colleagues had already pointed to the issue of Scottish inventions not staying in the nation to benefit its workforce.
He was the only minister to mention the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and Scotland’s near hypocritical position: “We welcome the humanitarian aid provided to Gaza, but what good is it if we are also providing public funding to the high tech arms providers with the latest technology to bomb the people of Gaza?”
He also pointed to the potential folly of listening intently to big businesses, mentioning that Amazon was inviting parliament to consider their research and development record. “I hope they tell us about their tax record, their trade union recognition record, their record as an employer, on worker’s rights.”
He urged the Scottish government to consider the shortfalls of technology and to consider how Big Tech could affect the people of Scotland. “I am more convinced now than ever that what we need is an alternative economic strategy. Not one to be found in either the politics of nationalism or the economics of market capitalism.”
Scottish Green representative, Maggie Chapman, was the only MSP to bring up clean energy and a greener Scotland, pushing for an alignment of sustainable innovation. She specifically called for the right to repair to be introduced to reduce waste.
While opposition leaders brought their front benchers, Lochhead lacked cabinet backup, and failed to even mention education again in his closing statements.
“The majority of members spoke about education today, yet we have nobody here from education from the Scottish government: no cabinet members, no ministers, yet opposition have deployed their front benches,” Tory MSP Pam Gosal said.
This accusation occurred toward the end of the debate, as more members casually entered the chambers after missing almost every opposition point.
The comment led to a political scuffle, with Bob Doyle – an SNP MSP who is neither a cabinet member nor on any education committee – saying that while he missed the debate, he had attended a Burns supper the night before at a school and spoke with teachers.
Even so, MSPs filled the chamber only after deliberations ceased to strike down both Labour’s and the Conservative’s amendments without hearing them out in the debate.
AI is expected to increase the global ransomware threat over the next two years, the UK cyber chiefs have warned in a new report.
The near-term impact of AI on the cyber threat assessment, published by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of GCHQ, concludes that AI is already being used in malicious cyber activity and will almost certainly increase the volume and impact of cyber-attacks – including ransomware – in the near term.
The prospect of AI allowing novice criminals to develop advanced phishing expeditions, and allowing cyber-criminals to draft and use AI-generated malware, stoked international fears.
But the NCSC report shows that many of these fears are already affecting the cyber-threat landscape – all types of threat actors, including state and non-state, skilled and unskilled, are already using AI to varying degrees.
Among other conclusions, the report suggests that by lowering the barrier of entry to novice cyber criminals, hackers-for-hire and hacktivists, AI enables relatively unskilled threat actors to carry out more effective access and information-gathering operations.
This enhanced access, combined with the improved targeting of victims afforded by AI, will contribute to the global ransomware threat in the next two years.
To tackle this enhanced threat, the Government has invested £2.6 billion under its Cyber Security Strategy to improve the UK’s resilience, with the NCSC and private industry already adopting AI’s use in enhancing cybersecurity resilience through improved threat detection and security-by-design.
In the UK, the AI sector already employs 50,000 people and contributes £3.7bn to the economy, but these advancements and investments in AI seem to come with a price in cybersecurity.
“We must ensure that we both harness AI technology for its vast potential and manage its risks – including its implications on the cyber threat,” NCSC CEO Lindy Cameron said.
“The emergent use of AI in cyber attacks is evolutionary not revolutionary, meaning that it enhances existing threats like ransomware but does not transform the risk landscape in the near term.
“As the NCSC does all it can to ensure AI systems are secure-by-design, we urge organisations and individuals to follow our ransomware and cybersecurity hygiene advice to strengthen their defences and boost their resilience to cyber attacks.”
Analysis from the NCA (National Crime Agency), suggests that cyber criminals have already started to develop criminal Generative AI (GenAI) and to offer ‘GenAI-as-a-service’, making improved capability available to anyone willing to pay. Yet, as the NCSC’s new report makes clear, the effectiveness of GenAI models will be constrained by both the quantity and quality of data on which they are trained.
The shift to ransomware-as-a-service, however, only cements the likelihood of this cyber-attack method to utilise the ease of AI to enhance their attacking profitability.
According to the NCA, it is unlikely that another method of cyber-crime will replace ransomware due to the financial rewards and its established business model.
“Ransomware continues to be a national security threat. As this report shows, the threat is likely to increase in the coming years due to advancements in AI and the exploitation of this technology by cyber criminals,” James Babbage, director general for threats at the National Crime Agency, said.
“AI services lower barriers to entry, increasing the number of cyber criminals, and will boost their capability by improving the scale, speed and effectiveness of existing attack methods. Fraud and child sexual abuse are also particularly likely to be affected.
“The NCA will continue to protect the public and reduce the serious crime threat to the UK, including by targeting criminal use of GenAI and ensuring we adopt the technology ourselves where safe and effective.”
The report did reveal facets of the rise of AI in cyber – while it does lower the barrier to novice cyber-criminals, advanced uses of AI in cyber-crime will be limited to those with quality training data, expertise, and resources.
However, the NCSC expects that cyber-attacks against the UK will be made more impactful by AI as threat actors will be able to analyse exfiltrated data faster and more effectively, and use it to train AI models.
Further, social engineering attacks will become more advanced and more difficult to detect.
Looking to 2025 and beyond, the commoditisation of AI-enabled capability in criminal and commercial markets will almost certainly make improved capability available to cyber crime and state actors.
Two in every five (41%) privacy professionals in Europe state their budgets are underfunded and over half (56%) expect them to decrease this year.
That’s according to new research from ISACA, the leading global professional association helping individuals and organisations in their pursuit of digital trust.
Anticipated drops in privacy budgets come despite half (53%) or organisations reporting that their technical privacy teams are understaffed.
Two in five (41%) of businesses also state that they have trouble retaining qualified privacy professionals.
“Reducing privacy budgets would be deemed normal if privacy operations were considered mature and mainstream. This however is not the case, and our research highlights that a combination of reduced investments with lack of skills in an increasingly sophisticated cyberthreat landscape is a recipe for disaster,” said Chris Dimitriadis, global chief strategy officer at ISACA.
“It is also proof that more holistic training at a board and privacy leader level needs to take place for both understanding and communicating the needs respectively.”
To combat some of the challenges they’re facing, organisations have been diligent about providing training to employees – 68% of privacy professionals say their company offers privacy training annually while 58% offer training when new hires are made.
71% of respondents say privacy training and awareness programs have had a positive impact on wider employee privacy awareness.
However, there is still a long way to go for businesses, as only 10% of respondents feel completely confident in their organisation’s privacy team’s ability to ensure data privacy and achieve compliance with new privacy laws and regulations.
It’s clear that a skills gap still prevails for core privacy staff: experience with different types of technologies or applications (65%), technical expertise (50%), and IT operations knowledge (42%) are the biggest skills gaps privacy professionals are facing within their teams.
Reassuringly, organisations are taking steps to reduce that skills gap, with 52% offering training to allow non-privacy staff to move into privacy roles, while 39% are increasing the usage of contractors or external consultants.
“Organisations clearly crave expertise when it comes to managing privacy compliance and issues. This starts with putting the right resources towards privacy training and prioritisation.
“Only then can they protect their data, build trust with consumers, and preserve supplier relationships. Better privacy ultimately benefits us all,” added Safia Kazi, ISACA principal, privacy professional practices.
FNZ, the global wealth management platform, has completed the acquisition of ifsam, International Fund Services & Asset Management S.A., a business-to-business (B2B) fund platform based in Luxembourg following regulatory approval.
The acquisition further strengthens FNZ’s global proposition for both asset managers and distributors, adding advanced product, research, data and service solutions to its existing end-to-end wealth management platform.
Luxembourg, the largest fund centre in Europe, will become FNZ’s centre of excellence for fund processing services in Europe.
Clients and distribution partners are set to benefit from broadened access and expertise to service alternative asset classes, such as hedge funds, private equity and venture capital funds, as well as reducing complexity and improving efficiencies across the wealth management value chain.
Customers will benefit from additional capabilities and increased efficiencies in fund dealing and custody services.
Adrian Durham, FNZ Group CEO, said: “This is another significant investment for FNZ and further enhances our capabilities in the wealth management sector, as well as expanding our footprint in the continent’s biggest hub for funds.”
“I’m delighted to welcome our new colleagues from ifsam into FNZ and we’re looking forward to working with them to deliver on our shared ambition to support our customers within the global wealth management industry.”
Luc Duarte, managing partner at ifsam, will continue in his role and oversee ifsam’s existing direct relationships with specialist fund distributors and 300+ major asset managers globally.
Duarte continued: “I am very excited for our team to join FNZ at such an exciting time in its growth. Together, we will expand FNZ’s market-leading offering, leveraging our combined market knowledge to better serve customers.
“As part of FNZ, ifsam has the opportunity to further accelerate its growth and broaden its suite of services. We are looking forward to putting our combined expertise to work.”
It represents another investment by FNZ in Europe – the firm acquired German software provider Diamos in 2022, and Authenteq, a German wealth management platform in the same year.
Techscaler, the Scottish Government’s technologystartup support programme, has partnered with Hometown Hub, a provider of collaborative workspaces in the South of Scotland to help drive entrepreneurial activity in the region.
This partnership marks a significant milestone in the Techscaler programme and the development of a burgeoning tech ecosystem in South Scotland, combining dynamic workspaces with a commitment to fostering tech innovation and entrepreneurship.
Hometown Hub is known for creating collaborative environments where businesses, professionals, freelancers and students come together to work, learn and thrive.
With a presence across the Scottish Borders, and hubs in Jedburgh, Eyemouth, St Boswells, Lauder, and Stow, Hometown Hub has become a cornerstone of the local business community, offering flexible workspaces and community-driven events.
Techscaler, operated by CodeBase, shares a similar vision, aiming to support, educate and mentor tech entrepreneurs, making tech entrepreneurship accessible to all.
Through this partnership, Hometown Hub and Techscaler will work hand in hand to establish a community of hubs, bringing together the strengths of both organisations.
This collaboration aims to provide a comprehensive ecosystem for tech startups, students and professionals, allowing them to access state of the art workspaces and a wealth of resources and support to help them succeed in their endeavours.
Techscaler head of regional engagement for the South of Scotland, Sarah-Jane Burns, expressed her enthusiasm for the partnership and its potential to foster a thriving tech community, highlighting the importance of such collaborations in achieving the Scottish Government’s tech innovation and economic development goals, saying:
“I’m thrilled that we’re launching this partnership and starting our engagement across the Borders. Techscaler is here to support the skills development of people, whatever their sector or background, to build and develop tech products and companies.
“Working with Hometown Hub means we have amazing spaces from which to build a tech community, deliver our education programmes and create connections across The Borders, and for Techscaler members to have spaces to work from, connect, interact with others and feel part of a welcoming community.
“Setting up a business, freelancing or exploring new avenues like technology for your work can be daunting, isolating and scary and we want people to know that there’s a community and spaces out there to help, support and welcome you to ask questions and be curious.”
Members of the Hometown Hub community will benefit from Techscaler’s education courses, mentorship and networking opportunities, while Techscaler members will gain access to Hometown Hub’s workspaces, fostering a creative and collaborative environment for tech entrepreneurs.
With a focus on community building, the partnership seeks to further strengthen the tech community by providing a platform for professionals, startups, and students to connect, collaborate, and innovate together.
Further, the partnership increases Techscaler’s geographical reach, and is now delivering events and opportunities to people across the Borders.
Commenting on the partnership, Andrew Earnshaw, founder of Hometown Hub said: “This is an exciting partnership for Hometown Hub and it ties in perfectly with our commitment to supporting local businesses, promoting growth and encouraging entrepreneurship across The Borders. With 5 hubs across the region, we’re able to provide office, coworking and meeting spaces in towns across the region, and we can’t wait to see what interesting innovations and ideas come through our doors with the support of the Techscaler programme.”
In order to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Meta is introducing a new set of allowances for users about how their data is shared across it’s platforms.
The DMA is attempting to regulate some of the biggest tech companies in world to ensure they do not use their market dominance to prevent competition and create an unfair environment for consumers and other businesses in the digital economy.
The landmark set of rules and regulations places stricter guidance for the biggest names in tech to ensure that their platforms offer interoperability and fair market choice.
In order to comply with the new set of rules, Meta is providing more options and allowances for users across the EU, European Economic Area (EEA), and Switzerland.
For Meta, the new rules will require them to give users options on how their data is shared across their platforms and services, with notifications informing people of their options will role in the coming weeks.
As announced previously, Meta will allow users in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland will be able to use Instagram and Facebook for free with ads, or subscribe and pay to stop seeing ads across the platforms.
People who have linked their Facebook and Instagram accounts will now be able to chose if they want to continue to keep their accounts connected, or if they would like to manage their accounts separately so that their information is no longer used across accounts.
Similarly, people will be able to separate their Messenger and Facebook profiles, as well as allowing users to separate their personal Facebook profiles from their use of Facebook Marketplace and Games.
Big Tech firms operating in Europe will have to comply with the new DMA regime by 7 March, or face strict fines and regulatory scrutiny.
Essentially, companies must treat their own platforms and services as separate, competing entities.
Time will tell if Meta’s subscription offer will be well received – Meta generates about 95% of its revenue from advertising, relying on user data for behavioural advertising as part of its service.
Tech Nation has just announced the 24 climate tech companies joining its Climate Programme for 2024.
Now entering its fourth year, the programme is designed to support the UK’s most promising climate tech companies with a curriculum tailored to tackling critical growth challenges and providing direct support on fundraising, acquiring multinational customers and advocating on climate policy.
Backed by Tech Nation’s Founding Partner, HSBC Innovation Banking, this year its focus on critical solutions across food, biodiversity and nature, material innovation, packaging, the built environment, energy and mobility.
Announcing the programme cohort, Tech Nation’s CEO Carolyn Dawson said: “Over 45% of the emission reductions needed to reach net zero by 2050 will come from the adoption of climate technologies that are still under development. Helping these amazing startups grow will deliver innovations with a dramatic impact on generations to come.
“Whether it’s creating a new world of mushroom tech or developing new tools to help businesses plan and install renewable energy infrastructure, Tech Nation helps these businesses to grow and deepen the UK’s reputation as the home for incredible new climate development.”
Edinburgh-based Zedify is among the climate cohort for 2024 for their electric cargo bikes delivery service, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 96% over the full life cycle.
Other winners include Carno, Spruce, and Furbnow, which are focused on installing domestic heat pumps to achieve net-zero emissions in at least 80% of homes by 2050, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee.
Other companies include soil health monitoring (PES), seaweed utilisation for carbon removal (Seafields), next-generation vertical farming (Future Greens), and innovative plant-based meat products (Adamo Foods).
The six-month programme is developed by a group of seasoned entrepreneurs, climate specialists, and thought leaders.
The programme’s steering committee includes leading names who have transitioned their focus to solving climate change, including Dhiraj Mukherjee, Co-Founder of Shazam; Marta Krupinska, fintech entrepreneur turned climate tech founder; Roee Goldberg, Co-Founder of OpenWeb; and Lubomila Jordanova, CEO of Plan A.
“This is the year of climate tech adoption,” Tech Nation’s head of climate, Sammy Fry, said.
“We are experiencing an inflection point, where solutions are slowly approaching cost parity across multiple sectors and environmental regulations are being enacted. Through the Climate Programme, we want to ensure we support this group of climate startups to reach scale and ensure their solutions are being adopted by the masses.”
Reflecting Tech Nation’s commitment to supporting under-represented groups, 40% of startups, in this year’s cohort area female-found or co-founded, and more than half are based outside London.
HSBC innovation banking CEO Erin Platts said: “HSBC Innovation Banking is committed to supporting all aspects of climate tech, from early-stage through to late stage. Tech Nation is playing a pivotal role in fostering the most innovative companies across the sector, and we’re excited to empower this promising cohort of scaleups at the forefront of climate tech.”
A rendition of the farm where Robert Burns wrote his famous Auld lang Syne has been launched on the computer game Minecraft in honour of the Scots Bard.
An educational version of the game is also being released for use in schools, just in time for the poet’s birthday, on 25 January.
The game recreates the 1788 farm – which still stands on the banks of the River Nith – in the world’s most popular computer game.
Bailey Hodgson, the Minecraft Society’s president and one of its founders, who has been playing Minecraft for a decade, said: “These new versions will make the game more accessible to many more people ahead of Burns night. We were delighted with the success of the PC game and have had so many expressions of interest – it even features in some university courses.”
Players of Explore Ellisland! Can hear an exclusive recorded version of Auld Lang Syne by the singer Emily Smith, as well as the epic poem Tam O Shanter, which was written by Ellisland, the best preserved of all Burns’ homes and the only one he built himself.
The project is a partnership between the University, Robert Burns Ellisland Trust which runs Ellisland Museum and Farm, and The South of Scotland Destination Alliance (SSDA), the connection with the University’s Games and Gaming Lab being made by Interface Online.
It was funded through the Scottish Government’s Tourism Leadership & Recovery Fund to support business and community-led tourism enterprises taking the lead in the sector’s COVID-19 recovery. It was designed to encourage more visitors to the farmhouse museum in Dumfriesshire.
Joan McAlpine, the project director of the Robert Burns Ellisland Trust said: “Our visitor numbers increased last year and the publicity surrounding the Minecraft Ellisland game definitely helped. The game is a very rich experience, using Scots language and several of Burns’s poems. It reaches out to a different generation and modernises the understanding of Burns and the time he lived. The mobile and education version of the game will help us reach many more young people.”
The PC version of the game, launched in 2022, was shortlisted in last year’s Knowledge Exchange Awards’ ‘Innovation of the Year’ and Scottish Games Awards’ ‘Best Educational Programme’. All three versions can now be downloaded from the Robert Burns Ellisland Farm website by anyone with Minecraft enabled on their device.
It was built by students in the University’s Minecraft Society and academics from its Games and Gaming Lab. The students worked hard to create the new versions of the game which are coded in a different computer language.
The Minecraft Ellisland project was led by Dr Timothy Peacock and Dr Matthew Barr from the University’s Game and Gaming Lab – a cross-disciplinary lab – based in the University’s College of Arts and Humanities – on how games and gaming can be used in research and teaching.
Dr Peacock, the lab director and a lecturer in History, based at the University’s School of Humanities (Sgoil nan Daonnachdan) said: “The success of Minecraft Ellisland has led to our being approached about similar projects. We are delighted with the interest in it, and in the opportunities provided to find new collaborative ways of exploring heritage through research-led gaming.”
Joan McAlpine, the project director of the Robert Burns Ellisland Trust said: “Our visitor numbers increased last year and the publicity surrounding the Minecraft Ellisland game definitely helped. The game is a very rich experience, using Scots language and several of Burns’s poems. It reaches out to a different generation and modernises the understanding of Burns and the time he lived. The mobile and education version of the game will help us reach many more young people.”
Sarah Macdonald, project lead of the South of Scotland Destination Alliance said: “The mobile version of Explore Ellisland! in Minecraft will help us in our quest to raise the profile of Burns in Dumfries and Nithsdale and reach even more potential visitors to South Scotland. We hope that children and young people who play the game will encourage their parents to visit the heritage site in real life and in 2024 many more of them will be able to access it. With 140 million players a month worldwide, the potential is enormous.”
Google has announced it is investing $1 billion into a new data centre in the UK to match demand for the nation’s data needs.
Based in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire in England, the 33-acre site will create construction and technical jobs for the local community.
Once complete, Google says that this investment will bring crucial compute capacity to businesses across the UK, supporting AI innovation and helping to ensure reliable digital services to Google Could customers and Google users in the UK and abroad.
As more and more Brits rely on data centres to power their services, and as AI continues to be adopted across different industries, technical infrastructure has become vital to ensure continued growth.
According to a survey from Linklaters, data centre-related deals have consistently grown over the last few years, with a compounded annual growth of 32% from 2017 to 2022. And the same survey found that 2023 matched this growth, with 2024 likely to keep momentum as AI requires more and more data power.
“It’s a huge vote of confidence in the UK as the largest tech economy in Europe, bringing with it good jobs and the infrastructure needed to support British businesses,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a post on X.
The £790m investment in the Waltham Cross data centre is just Google’s latest foray into UK – “a key country for our business and a pioneering world leader in AI, technology, and science,” Debbie Weinstein Vice President of Google and Managing Director of Google UK & Ireland, said.
It builds on Google’s $1bn purchase of its Central Saint Giles office in 2022, a 1 million square foot development in King’s Cross, and the launch of its Accessibility Discovery Centre.
Google also claims the data centre is part of their green initiatives, saying they will explore how to use waste heat, and ensure the facility has provisions for off-site heat recovery.
“This new data centre will help meet growing demand for our AI and cloud services and bring crucial compute capacity to businesses across the UK while creating construction and technical jobs for the local community,” Ruth Porat, president & chief investment officer, chief financial officer of Alphabet and Google said in a statement.
“Together with the UK government, we are working to make AI more helpful and accessible for people and organisations across the country.”
Snugg, the home energy efficiency firm, has secured nearly £2 million in funding from the UK government to help develop their Green Home Hub.
The significant funding boost is part of the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Green Home Finance Accelerator initiative, funded through the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio.
The Green Home Hub (GHH), in partnership with leading finance providers Perenna and Scroll Finance, follows the earlier success of a £170,000 government grant awarded to Snugg to develop a prototype of the hub during Phase 1 of the programme.
The GHH is a digital consumer platform which enables financial institutions and energy providers to help their customers make their homes more energy efficient.
It aims to simplify decision making by addressing issues that deter homeowners from acting, like complexity, high costs, long paypacks, confusing grants, the lack of green finance solutions, and the shortage of reliable installers.
Using a wide range of data sources, GHH can provide a personalised user experience and effectively assess which improvements are most suitable for a customer’s home.
The hub will provide cost and savings analysis, as well as pointing homeowners to relevant financial support, to maximise overall savings while staying green.
Like Snugg’s existing green home solution, the GHH will allow homeowners to track the costs and progress of their installation, as well as monitoring their energy and carbon emissions in real time.
The GHH will integrate with various data sources and industry partners to ensure that home assessments and installation recommendations are both accurate and accessible.
To bolster this, Perenna Bank will be integrating its long-term rate mortgage products into the GHH, simplifying the user journey and where appropriate improving the terms of some loans to incentivise customers to make green upgrades.
Scroll Finance will be developing and integrating the Green Shared Equity Mortgage into the GHH, again simplifying the user journey and where appropriate improving the terms of the loan and verifications.
The partnerships will provide homeowners with sufficient choice to finance their improvements and reward them for making energy-efficient installations.
Since its launch in early 2022, Snugg has been instrumental in guiding thousands of people towards more energy efficient homes.
The introduction of the GHH is set to extend this service to a broader audience, facilitating a seamless and informed journey towards making homes more energy efficient.
The development of the GHH underpins Snugg’s commitment to supporting the UK’s net zero targets. With recent shifts in government policy, the role of such innovation has become increasingly vital.
“Receiving the UK Government’s backing to build the Green Home Hub is a win for everyone,” Robin Peters, CEO at Snugg said.
“Millions of homeowners will be able to improve their home’s energy efficiency more easily and affordably than before. Banks and energy providers will have better opportunity to progress their journey towards Net Zero.
“And we’ll all benefit from lower energy demand and improved air quality as more homes are retrofitted to higher energy efficiency standards.”
Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) has today announced that it has raised £22.5 million in a Series C fundraise to support significant global expansion as the business deploys its vertical farming technology to customers worldwide.
The innovative waste-to-value farm will have the ability to recycle more than 50,000 tonnes of food waste and grow two billion plants each year.
The Series C fundraise was led by existing institutional investors, with COFRA Holding AG, DC Thomson, and S2G Ventures, supported by Cleveland Avenue LLC, Ospraie Ag Science, and Scottish Enterprise. Private shareholders and IGS staff also contributed to the Series C raise.
Andrew Lloyd, former Deputy CEO, takes over from David Farquhar as CEO to lead the company as it readies to deliver the world’s first GigaFarm. Sonya Hotson, who has supported IGS as interim CFO since July, also joins the company full time. The new CEO and CFO join the IGS board.
Andrew said: “This year will be transformational for IGS as we prepare to deploy the most advanced indoor farm in the world. The scale and scope of the opportunity in the Middle East promises to be market-defining and will begin to make a genuine difference to food security. With the backing of our institutional investors and shareholders, we are equipped to deliver this game-changing project.
“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to David Farquhar, under whose visionary leadership IGS has grown from an innovative concept to a world leader in vertical farm technology.
“Working with our institutional investors, Sonya has been instrumental in securing this funding, and I am delighted to confirm her appointment. Her experience, alongside the talents of the IGS team and our partners, combine to deliver the essential ingredients for scale-up success.”
Latest research from TIGA, the trade associated representing the UK video games industry, has revealed that UK games studios are cautiously optimistic about their business in 2024 – but have highlighted some key challenges for the year ahead.
Video games companies are building on a positive performance in 2023, as 41% of respondents reported that their company’s net profits increased year on year.
Further, nearly two thirds (62%) stated that their workforce grew in 2023.
Staff and Recruitment
Looking ahead to 2024, recruitment remains key to sustaining and growing businesses in the industry.
Nearly three in four (73%) of respondents plan to grow their organisation’s workforce over the coming year, just shy of 75% in 2022.
A fifth expect their workforce to remain at its current levels, while only 6% anticipate their workforce will diminish.
A third (33%) have cited skills shortages and skills gaps as the biggest obstacle to the success of their business in 2024.
However, this compares to 53% in TIGA’s previous Business Opinion Survey.
Investment
When it comes to investing in their business – covering areas such as R&D, training, new games development, ect – businesses seemed mostly positive, but still conflicted.
44% of respondents said their investment outlooks were more optimistic than last year, with 36% saying their outlook was unchanged.
About a fifth (19%), however, said the outlook for investment was less optimistic than it was a year ago.
Performance
70% of respondents reported that their company was performing either ‘very well’ or ‘well’, compared to 75% last year.
About a quarter (27%) said that their company was performing ‘neither well nor badly’, while just three per cent said that their company was performing ‘badly’ or ‘very badly’.
Still, 46% said they were optimistic about their prospects compared to last year, and 54% forecast an increase in their net profits over the coming year.
While last year, 66% believe that the economic and business climate was fair to the video games industry, this figure dropped 20%.
Costs and Pricing
As in many other industries, costs are rising, with 77% of survey respondents anticipating that their company outgoings on staff, equipment, energy, etc., are likely to increase this year.
This compares to 86% who said the same last year.
When it comes to passing those costs onto consumers, 35% of games businesses expect to increase prices, but the lion’s share – 56% – anticipate their prices will remain the same.
Obstacles to Success
The UK video games development and digital publishing sector is operating in a challenging environment which is characterised by higher business costs and relatively suppressed consumer and business discretionary expenditure.
This was reflected in the survey, with a third (33%) of businesses citing skills shortages and skills gaps as the biggest obstacle to the success of their business, compared to 53% last year.
Another third highlighted discoverability as a struggle, with 12% referring to a limited access to finance.
Brexit has also brought its own woes for the games industry, with 71% saying the UK’s exit from the EU has harmed their business.
Some of these respondents reported that it was becoming harder and more time consuming to recruit skilled workers from the EU because of the end of free movement, the cost of visas and because the UK was seen as a less hospitable location.
In previous surveys, respondents have also expressed concern at not being able to access EU funding schemes like Creative Europe or Horizon 2020.
29% reported that the UK’s decision to leave had not had any repercussions, and no respondents said that the UK’s departure from the EU had had a positive impact.
Dr Richard Wilson OBE, CEO of TIGA, said: “Our report reveals a cautiously optimistic outlook among UK games studios, building on a positive performance in 2023. This includes increases in net profits for 41% of respondents, workforce growth for 62% of organisations, and widespread utilisation of Government tax incentives and schemes.
“However, it is important to acknowledge the challenges we face, including rising costs and a relatively suppressed consumer and business expenditure environment. Skills shortages, discoverability, access to finance, and other obstacles remain concerns.
“To address these challenges, TIGA is advocating for several measures, including an increased rate of relief for the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC), the creation of a Video Games Investment Fund (VGIF), and the resurrection of the Skills Investment Fund (SIF). We also recommend continued support for the UK Games Fund, funding for BTEC qualifications, and the introduction of an Industrial Secondments Programme (ISP).
“The UK video games sector is a high-skills, high-technology industry with significant export potential. By maintaining and enhancing support for these initiatives and ensuring a migration system that facilitates the recruitment of highly skilled individuals, the UK can continue to be a global leader in video games development. Together, we can navigate the challenges ahead and power our sector forward.”
The UK is aiming to become a scale-up powerhouse, the technology secretary has announced, adding onto the country’s ambitions to be a science and technology superpower.
Michelle Donelan, the science and technology secretary, outlined the government’s plans to increase the UK’s number of unicorns and build its tech sector.
“Now the UK is delivering on its commitment to become a Science and Tech superpower by 2030 and I believe there has never been a better time to be a science and tech entrepreneur wanting to scale-up across the UK and beyond,” the secretary said.
More specifically, the secretary is aiming to make the UK account for at least half of all new European unicorns. The UK currently boasts around a third of all European unicorns, with the Secretary saying that the UK’s $1 trillion tech sector is the largest in Europe.
Another ambition looks outside of Europe: the secretary aims to close the gap on the US and match its VC investment at share of GDP by 2023.
To accomplish these goals, Donelan is announcing the creation of a new scale-up forum.
“The forum will capitalise on government’s convening power to bring together leading figures from across our growing science and technology sector,” she said. “From innovative tech companies and business support organisations to investors and regulators.”
The forum will be starting a new pilot programme – a science and tech focussed scale-up support service – in order to help up-and-coming companies in the UK, building on recommendations from the Startup Coalition.
20 of the most promising science and tech businesses aiming to scale-up will receive targeted government support to aim them in overcoming key barriers to their high-growth ambitions.
“We will guide businesses around the obstacles and help them burst through any barrier that stops them reaching their potential,” the secretary said. “Connecting them to the best possible advice, whether that’s help with generating innovative IP, creating skilled employment, or expanding into overseas markets.”
To start the process off, the Secretary, with the support of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, will host events designed to bring together some of the most promising UK businesses with lead UK investors.
Further to this, UKRI, the UK’s research and innovation body, has made a new declaration to businesses, committing to simplify and expand its support for firms.
InnovateUK is aiming to reach a million innovators by the end of the year, as well as halving the average time it takes to receive grant funding for those who apply.
In addition to this, the Secretary is reviewing recommendations provided in the Regulatory Horizons Council report, aiming to develop a support service for science and tech companies to navigate the regulatory landscape.
“No business should be daunted by regulation – our job in government is to ensure regulation provides the clarity and the certainty that businesses in complex science and tech sectors need to navigate and go forward and grow,” Donelan said.
The Secretary also mentioned plans to make data access a government priority for the year.
“Where government can unlock opportunities to help data-driven businesses scale-up through responsible access, we will do so,” she said.
All of these new ambitions are part of Donelan’s commitment to a ‘scale-up sprint’ to kickstart 2024 with new growth for tech businesses.
“There is no silver bullet that will move the UK’s success story onto the next level overnight. It requires us to layer up our policies and deploy the right support at the right time,” she concluded.
Generative AI (GenAI) solutions, such as ChatGPT, were the catalyst for the rise in prominence of AI, immediately grabbing the global attention of both business leaders and consumers.
Organisations recognised the potential of this technology to democratise the workforce, deliver rapid scalability and cut costs considerably. In fact, 98% of global executives believe AI foundation models will play an important role in their companies’ strategy in the next three to five years, according to report from Accenture.
However, according to Bartek Roszak, head of AI at STX Next, while exploration into GenAI solutions is important, business performance will be severely impacted in the short-term if mature AI services that can deliver quick ROI – such as in risk management, fraud detection, or automated customer interaction – are overlooked.
Roszak said: “There’s no denying that GenAI is an exciting prospect with the potential to overhaul the way we live and work, but the reality is most organisations are far from ready to deploy this technology.
“GenAI remains in its experimental phase and the bulk of companies lack the data infrastructure and safety controls to deploy GenAI solutions at scale.
“Continued research into GenAI is vital, as it has a central role to play in the evolution of our business landscape. However, it should not come at the cost of other forms of AI that have emerged from the testing stage and are ready to be implemented.
“It’s time that we begin placing practicality over hype. For example, in the fintech space there are a swathe of solutions that are ready to be integrated and can deliver immediate ROI for the sector’s incumbents.
“Risk management, fraud detection and customer categorisation can all be enhanced through the use of AI, while AI algorithms can also provide trading insights that can increase returns.
“Further, interactions with customers can be significantly improved without turning to GenAI solutions. Simple AI models are able to create and send out messages or emails that respond to a specific group of customer queries, relying purely on internal company data. This improves customer satisfaction, increases security and saves time, as employees no longer have to deal with each inbound request manually.”
Roszak concluded: “Businesses must be pragmatic when evaluating AI’s potential and avoid getting swept up in the furore surrounding the most advanced use cases of this technology.
“Focusing on how AI can help grow a business in the immediate term, while keeping an eye on how GenAI development is progressing, is the most effective strategy for maximising the impact of the technology.”
Abacus Group, a managed service provider to alternative investment firms, is opening a new office in central Edinburgh to expand its research and development and customer support capabilities while leveraging the rich local talent pool in the area.
The move follows the company’s 15% growth in revenues last year, building on the 21% recorded in 2022.
The new office is already being utilised by a number of employees, and Abacus expects to fill additional roles by early 2024 to support projected growth of 19%, whilst having the added benefit of providing new jobs to the area.
As it looks to increase headcount by 10-20% this year, Abacus anticipates using its Edinburgh facility as a base to recruit for security analysts, cloud architects and systems engineers, in addition to offering prospective candidates posts in a wide range of customer service, or helpdesk support roles.
Key to the decision to opt for Edinburgh is the opportunity the city provides to support emerging talent looking to get into the sector, its reputation of boasting a highly skills and diverse workforce, as well as being a renowned research and innovation hub, especially in sectors like technology and finance.
Abacus says it will actively be speaking to universities in and around the Edinburgh region, with a view to getting involved in graduate recruitment schemes in the future.
Tom Cole, Managing Director, UK & Europe, Abacus Group, said: “We uncovered that there is a rich pool of cybersecurity expertise in the Edinburgh area. There is a consistent cadence of talent coming through the education system in Scotland and the new office directly enables us to capture a share of those skills.”
The office opening forms part of the company’s ambition for sustainable growth, driven by demand from clients in Scotland, the wider UK, and by the opportunity to extend support to clients across the EU, after it expanded its client base significantly in 2023.
It also acts as a strategic extension of Abacus’s London office, backed by the expertise of the 40+ strong team based in the English capital.
According to Cole: “Abacus is growing strongly in the UK through our quality of service and delivery. We are laser-focused on client satisfaction and the new Edinburgh office extends our capability to provide a consistently high level of quality to our customers throughout the UK. Critically though, it gives us a presence in Scotland, and we are ready to bring our expertise to regulated financial firms across the region.”
The new office will accommodate 15 employees, with plans to be considering larger office options in the next 12-24 months.
Barclays Eagle Labs have launched an online skills platform for budding entrepreneurs looking to become the leaders of the next tech giants.
The new Eagle Labs Academy, funded by the Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT), will provide curated learning experiences, where users can access self-paces, on-demand and interactive content covering key challenges faces when starting and scaling a technology focused business.
The platform aims to help the next generation of tech entrepreneurs, with classes ranging from raising finance to creating their first business plan.
“This is another fantastic addition to the range of programmes and support that Barclays Eagle Labs offer tech startups and their founders,” Amanda Allan, director of Barclays Eagle Labs said. “The Eagle Labs Academy is an exciting platform which we hope will encourage the next wave of tech entrepreneurs to start and grow their ideas into a lucrative business.
“The digital economy continues to experience huge growth and this platform is a great starting point for anyone who is thinking of entering this space and becoming a tech entrepreneur.”
Initially, the skills academy will include a total of 14 modules, underpinned by 60 individual lessons including founder videos, insights, and additional templates to download for users.
Users can track their progress on their own unique dashboard, and the site will be mobile friendly allowing people to access content on the go.
“The UK’s startup ecosystem stands unrivalled, home to more tech unicorns than France and Germany combined,” Saqib Bhatti MP, minister for tech and the digital economy said. “That achievement is no coincidence; it’s a result of our ongoing commitment to support and grow our tech sector.
“The Eagle Labs Academy, supported by our £12 million Digital Growth Grant, will help to nurture and develop the skills of the next wave of tech entrepreneurs which will in turn drive economic growth and help to create new jobs.”
The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) has partnered with Disability Rights UK and Silver Voices to shed light on the 95% of over-65s and vulnerable individuals that could suffer from the national landline copper line switch off.
Legacy landline phone lines made from copper are set to be switched off by 2025, as fibre optic cables continue to be rolled out across the country.
While this will thrust more areas into the future of 5G, Silver Voices has been leading a national petition calling for a review of the timetable for phasing out traditional landlines, and push this back from next year to 2030.
Coupled with the landline switch off are planned switch offs for 2G and 3G networks to pave the way for 4G and 5G coverage, but roll out has not been even across the board.
The DPA and Disability Rights UK are teaming up to bring awareness to how this switch off will affect some of the most digitally vulnerable people in the UK.
Due to a lack of communication around the switchover, individuals often lack resources or knowledge about the transition to a digital landline, or the ability to delay switching their service.
This has raised safety and ethical concerns for the partnered organisations who are calling for greater awareness of the issue.
In response, at the end of 2023, UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan asked “all providers not to force people to switch over until enhanced protections are in place.”
One of the commitments that addresses this, shared by Donelan, is that no vulnerable user should be migrated to digital landline services without the provider, customer or telecare company confirming they have a compatible and functioning telecare solution in place.
However, the DPA and Disability Rights UK have highlighted that many customers are not aware of the need to inform their telephone provider of their age or health conditions, and that lists of such customers are not up to date, which will leave many disabled and older people vulnerable if the digital switchover is not done well.
The partnered organisations highlight a general lack of awareness around the landline switchover, especially against the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis causing affordability issues to buy new phones and equipment.
This is alongside a lack of digital literacy, particularly among older individuals, to set up routers.
Elizabeth Anderson, CEO of the Digital Poverty Alliance, said: “There are 1.8 million vulnerable and elderly customers relying on essential landline services in the UK for basic needs such as medical telecare, or reaching family members in a power cut.
“If major landline providers go ahead and switch off these networks, these vulnerable people could end up more isolated, lacking access to technology, digital skills and connectivity to switch to a digital or mobile device.
“There needs to be greater communication around the switchover and fuller guidance widely shared from the telecom providers to ensure millions aren’t left disconnected. It is imperative that government, industry and wider society recognise the dangers of taking away services such as traditional landlines.
“Many aren’t aware that digital phones won’t work in a power cut now, and until everyone has universal access, emergency coverage and the skills to set up new services, we are concerned that millions could be disadvantaged.”
The DPA also warned of a wider connectivity issue for those in rural areas that may not have mobile signals to reach critical emergency services in times of urgent need, as well as the behavioural change needed for those who aren’t regular users of mobile phones needing to keep these charged and ready.
Disability Rights UK has suggested that government and regulatory bodies must call for further action to help protect vulnerable citizens against rising and pass over costs of the digital landline switch.
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices said: “Politicians must get to grips with what is happening to thousands of vulnerable customers as a result of this rushed and under-publicised infrastructure upheaval. Older people are having their traditional landlines switched off, without permission, and replaced with an inferior digital system which places their personal safety at risk.
“There are serious unanswered concerns about personal alarm systems not working and the inability to make emergency calls when there is an extended power cut or internet outage. The current timetable to complete the switchover by 2025 is completely unrealistic if vulnerable customers are to be protected and Silver Voices is calling for the Government to insist that the timetable be extended by at least five years.”
Kamran Mallick, chief executive of Disability Rights UK, commented: “People broadly aren’t aware of this issue and the telecoms providers don’t advertise the immediate impacts of the switchover. What’s worse is that a lot of these switchovers happen during a contract renewal without being clearly stated.
“When I contacted BT to reduce my broadband costs, BT turned off the copper landline and sent a new router without letting me know the landline had been turned off. Companies like BT should be the ones being proactive in this instance, and we must also see more from government and regulators to protect citizens against rising costs and hidden switchovers.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined food delivery company HelloFresh £140,000 for a campaign of 79 million spam emails and one million spam texts over a seven-month period.
“In issuing this fine, we are showing that we will take clear and decisive action where we find the law has not been followed. We will always protect the right of customers to choose how their data is used,” Andy Curry, the head of investigations at the ICO decisively said.
HelloFresh failed to inform users that they would receive marketing via text in an opt-in statement where users agreed only to marketing emails.
Still, the reference to these emails was made in an age confirmation statement, which likely incentivised customers to agree.
Further, customers were not informed sufficiently that their data would continue to be used for marketing purposes for up to 24 months after cancelling their subscriptions.
As found in the ICO’s investigation which began in March 2022, HelloFresh continued to contact some individuals even after they had requested this to stop.
Specifically, the ICO found the company, officially called Grocery Delivery E-Services UK Limited, contravened regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 and it has now been served with a fine of £140,000.
“This marked a clear breach of trust of the public by HelloFresh. Customers weren’t told exactly what they’d be opting into, nor was it clear how to opt out,” Curry added. “From there, they were hit with a barrage of marketing texts they didn’t want or expect, and in some cases, even when they told HelloFresh to stop, the deluge continued.
“The investigation that led to this fine began following complaints filed by the public, both to the ICO and to the 7726 service. This shows just how important it is that if you are being contacted with nuisance calls, texts or emails, that you report it straight away.”
Led by Abertay University and École Intuit Lab, the agreement signed at Vibrabt Gujarat Global Summit in India on 10 January contains a commitment to work towards collaborative R&D, and innovation for the video games industries in Dundee and Mumbai, as well as joint degree programmes, student articulation, and cultural exchange opportunities.
The Memorandum of Understanding agreement was signed by Naman Merchant of Abertay’s School of Design and Informatics and Yan Garin, country head & director at École Intuit Lab, Mumbai, during a special event at Vibrant Gujarat – an international forum for business networking, knowledge sharing, and strategic partnerships, opened by prime minister of India, Narendra Modi.
“This partnership will add significant value to both Dundee and Mumbai as we build on the strong ethos of international collaboration fostered between Abertay and our overseas partners,” said professor Liz Bacon, principle and vice-chancellor at Abertay University.
“We’re pleased to be working with École Intuit Lab and looking forward to exploring opportunities for future collaboration between our institutions and respective industry networks.”
Abertay’s School of Design and Informatics and École Intuit Lab will explore mentorship and work experience opportunities for students with local games industry partners and seek to collaborate on research projects that tackle problems being faced by industry in both countries.
Based in Dundee, Abertay University has taken advantage of its surroundings recognised as a hub for video games designed and an established reputation for excellence as the birthplace of the Grand Theft Auto franchise and the home of the console and handheld editions of the best-selling games of all time, Minecraft.
The Dundee games cluster has a mix of established studios, SMEs and start-ups, and has more games developers per head of population than anywhere else in the UK, employing graduates from Abertay’s internationally leading games degrees.
In August last year, a report from BiGGAR Economics showed the InGAME R&D project led by Abertay is expected to generate an estimated £84.7m GVA for the UK economy by 2032 and generate 115 jobs within the Tay Cities Region alone.
With campuses in Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Bengaluru, École Intuit Lab is a leading provider of video games design education in India. The country has also enjoyed a major expansion in recent years and is now one of the world’s fastest-growing video games markets, with an estimated 400 million active gamers across the country.
Yan Garin of École Intuit Lab said: “The collaboration between École Intuit Lab and Abertay University marks a pivotal moment for Game Art students, as they get immersed in both Indian and UK educational environments.
“This unique alliance not only empowers students with a rich and diverse learning experience but also cultivates a new breed of professionals for the gaming industry. By providing these educational cultures, we are shaping individuals with a much broader cultural vision, poised to elevate the gaming industry with innovation and global perspectives.”
Generative AI had a rapid impact on the skills landscape over the course of 2023, and its influence is set to grow into 2024.
Against this backdrop, new data from Coursera’s Job Skills of 2024 Report, find that interest in AI skills has skyrocketed, with searchers from enterprise learners for teams such as ‘AI’, ‘ChatGPT’ and ‘generative AI’ increasing 271% year on year.
The report, which identifies the fastest growing skills, based on insights from five million leaders affiliated with 3,000 businesses, 3,600 higher education institutions, and governments in over 100 countries, also highlights a 157% year on year increase in enrolments in generative AI courses on the Coursera platform.
Within this rapidly growing field, reinforcement learning (which enables learners to build machine learning models) is the fastest-growing AI skill, both overall and across all verticals – with particularly fast growth among government-affiliated learners.
Amid an estimated shortfall of more than 3.4 million cybersecurity workers, the report also finds that cybersecurity skills make up half of the ten fastest-growing skills in the tech domain.
While three out of these ten are developer skills, with demand reflected across verticals, the 2024 report found that seven out of ten of the fastest-growing skills overall are business skills.
As technology and consumer behaviour continues to evolve, digital marketing skills make up half of the top ten fastest-growing business skills, with e-commerce, media strategy and planning, and search engine optimisation the top three overall.
Audit ranked the ninth fastest-growing skill overall and the sixth top business skill- showcasing a growing focus on applying regulatory frameworks, protecting data, and deploying new technologies such as AI safely.
As emerging technologies like AI shift the demands of the workplace and businesses continue to face macroeconomic disruptions, Coursera finds growing demand for leadership skills that enable institutions to navigate change.
These include people management, negotiation, influencing, and employee relations which all sit at the top five fastest growing leadership skills.
Nikolaz Foucaud, managing director, for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Enterprise, at Coursera, commented: “The meteoric rise of AI is only set to continue in 2024—with demand for related skills accelerating alongside it. Businesses and institutions looking to capitalise on the promise of greater productivity and increased competitiveness will be seeking AI specialists with a range of skills.
“Yet rapid technological change can also lead to new risks. Cybersecurity has also seen significant growth this year, alongside audit skills—both of which are vital to keeping data protected, secure, and compliant. Meanwhile, demand for leadership skills has become more prominent, as institutions seek people capable of steering teams and businesses through these times of change and innovation.
“Together, these changing contexts only cement the need for institutions to identify and invest in the right skills for their learners and employees; those that both empower career success and fuel the sustainable growth of businesses and governments in 2024 and beyond.”
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today published an overview of how it intends to operate the new digital markets competition regime as currently proposed by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Bill.
This will include tailoring the CMA’s actions to the specific problems that are identified; focusing on where it can have the most impact for people, businesses and the UK economy; engaging with a wide range of stakeholders; and operating with transparency.
In the document, the CMA has detailed how it the new digital markets competition regime will only apply to firms designated as having Strategic Market Status (SMS) in relation to one or more digital activities.
To qualify as a SMS, firms must have a substantial and entrenched power in a digital activity linked to the UK, a position of strategic significance, and a global turnover of £25bn or a UK turnover of more than £1bn.
In the coming year, the CMA expects to start three to four SMS investigations, and once an SMS is designated, the CMA can then take action to address or prevent problems.
The CMA also plans to convene groups representing UK consumers, businesses and tech professionals that will be consulted and help prioritise its work. This is in addition to the nine tech experts appointed last year, who have been assisting the CMA in preparing for the new regime.
With 11 principles guiding how the CMA will carry out its new role, the CMA plans to address champion competition as the “primary lever” to deliver better outcomes for users across digital markets.
After establishing a SMS is using their status to gain an unfair competitive advantage, the CMA will take targeted and proportionate action to address this behaviour. This could include imposing conduct requirements on firms in relation to the digital activity for which they have been designed.
Examples of this include preventing SMS firms from preferencing their own products and services, or making them provide competitors with better access to data and functionality.
SMS firms may also be required to offer interoperability with competing firms, providing users with an effective choice.
More specifically, the CMA may require SMS firms to trade on fairer terms or require them to increase transparency with respect to aspects of their algorithm.
The Scottish tech sector rounded off 2023 with a series of appointments, partnerships, and awards to end the year on a high and gave plenty of reason for optimism before well deserved hibernation.
As the new year ramps up and companies continue to look forward, some Scottish companies already had their eye on the future with new hires and deals, while others closed out the year’s end highlighting some special achievements.
Let’s take a look back at what the last month of 2023 had in store for the Scottish tech scene.
Recruitment
Scots Investment Firm EOS Makes Executive Appointments
Eos Advisory, the St Andrews-based impact investment firm, has grown its headcount to 11 with a number of executive appointments aimed at supporting the firm’s growing portfolio, which now totals 18 companies.
Anne Muir joins the firm as director of portfolio from the University of Dundee, where she was deputy director at its research and innovation services, as well as the head of IP and commercialisation. Rob Halliday also joins Eos as investment director from SIS Ventures, where he was a senior investment manager.
They join recent recruits Jill Arnold, the former head of SIS Ventures who is now investment relationship director at Eos, and Calum Keddie, investment executive at Eos, who began his career on Rolls-Royce’s commercial graduate programme before taking up a financial analyst role with Dutch bank ING.
Andrew McNeill, Eos’s managing partner, said: “The growth of the portfolio and the overall quantum of our investments means we needed to build more capacity and expertise.”
UK-based orbital launch services company, Orbex, has announced the appointment of John Bone as its new chief commercial officer. This key appointment comes as Orbex advances its preparations for the launch of Orbex Prime, expected to be the UK mainland’s first vertical rocket launch.
John Bone brings a wealth of experience to Orbex, with over 20 years in the space industry, including 18 years in director or C-level positions.
In his new role as chief commercial officer, John will be responsible for driving the commercial strategy of Orbex, leveraging his extensive experience and network to establish and nurture key partnerships and expand Orbex’s presence in the global space market.
John Bone commented on his appointment, “Joining Orbex at this exciting time is a great honour.
Brightsolid, a Scottish cloud services organisation, announces Nick Riley as its new head of cloud solutions.
Riley joins the managed hybrid cloud services provider from the omni-channel retailer New Look, and brings extensive experience in DevOps, Azure, and AWS to his new role. At New Look, he oversaw the hybrid cloud strategy and design, as well as Azure adoption.
“I’m really excited about the direction of travel for Brightsolid.” said Riley. “The company has made huge strides over the past 18 months by adding some very impressive talent and launching new products and services. I’m looking forward to adding my passion for all things cloud, especially the Microsoft stack, to Brightsolid as the business grows and expands.”
Resillion, the engineering and cybersecurity services firm, has appointed Yaron Kottler as its new executive chairman.
Yaron brings 20 years of industry expertise, most notably as a co-founder of quality engineering giant Qualitest. There, he was instrumental in developing and delivering a global growth strategy, including targeted acquisitions and development of strategic alliances.
Resillion, which started life as Edge Testing Solutions in Strathclyde Business Park, was bought by French business group Eurofins in 2018 and has since broken away. In addition to its global locations it has two Scottish offices, on West Nile Street in Glasgow and Mitchell Street in Edinburgh. UK managing director of Resillion, Sharon Hamilton, is also based in Scotland.
EDF and Snugg Partner on Energy Efficiency Platform
Snugg, the Scots energy efficiency tech startup, has launched a new digital platform with EDF to help homeowners make their homes more energy efficient.
The Home Efficiency Hub on EDF’s website gives homeowners a view of the best ways to make savings on their energy bills and reduce the carbon emissions of their homes.
It identifies areas where improvements could be made, from air source heat pumps, solar PV panels, and insulation to cheaper options such as draught-proofing. It also shows estimated energy bill savings.
“With the Home Efficiency Hub, we are making it easier than ever to access home efficiency upgrades and the financial support customers need, making sustainability easier for everyone, and helping Britain in the journey towards Net Zero,” Dan Hopcroft, zero carbon heat director at EDF said.
IGS Enters Partnership for New “GigaFarm” in Dubai
Food Tech Valley has signed an agreement at COP28 with ReFarm to start construction on a 900,000 sq. ft. “GigaFarm”. The waste-to-value farm will be capable of recycling more than 50,000 tonnes of food waste and growing two billion plants each year.
ReFarm was established in the UAE by SSK Enterprise and Christof Global Impact (CGI) as a group of companies with a focus on projects with circularity and clean technologies. The brand chose vertical farming technology developed by Scottish infrastructure supplier Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS).
In what’s being dubbed as a global first, six complementary technologies will be co-located on the Dubai Food Tech Valley site as part of a closed-loop circular waste-to-value system, establishing a self-contained ecosystem designed to maximise resource efficiency and prevent any waste going to landfill.
FinTech Scotland, Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow
FinTech Scotland has announced the launch of the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab (FRIL), a new initiative to help revolutionise and shape the future regulatory landscapes in the UK and around the globe.
In partnership with the University of Strathclyde and University of Glasgow, FRIL will deliver a wide-ranging research agenda, led by—and actionable for—the financial sector, to help advance understanding and adoption of new and emerging technologies.
As well as integrating academic research with an industry-relevant agenda, the Financial Regulation Innovation Lab will engage participants in industry-led innovation challenge calls, design and implement a skills and education programme, and facilitate knowledge exchange through workshops, roundtables, conferences, and trade missions.
“FinTech Scotland is uniquely positioned within the Scottish fintech industry to lead such an initiative as it will work to inspire collaborators across Scotland, the UK and globally, enabling those around the world to see Glasgow’s financial services capabilities,” said Nicola Anderson, CEO of FinTech Scotland.
Spire Global, Inc., the Glasgow-based global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, was awarded a space services contract by Lacuna Space, a leading satellite IoT connectivity provider.
Under the agreement, Spire will initially build and launch six satellites carrying Lacuna Space’s payload and antennna, with the opportunity to scale the constellation to dozens of satellites. Lacuna Space will operate its payloads and receive encrypted data at its Harwell headquarters.
“Satellites play a critical role in providing IoT connectivity across the globe, particularly to remote, underserved, and developing areas of the world. These services are transformational in enabling new applications across a wide variety of industries and solving some of the biggest challenges facing humanity today,” said Frank Frulio, the general manager of Space Services at Spire.
£1.5 million was invested into 38 early stage, high-growth businesses at the Scottish EDGE Awards.
The investments were dished out during the 22nd round of the Scottish EDGE awards, which took place in Glasgow for the first time since 2019 and was hosted by the Royal Bank of Scotland, and supported by The Hunter Foundation, the Scottish Government, and Scottish Enterprise.
“As businesses across Scotland find themselves facing challenging circumstances, there’s never been a more urgent need to drive creativity and innovation. The winners of the 22nd round of Scottish EDGE are testament to the incredible potential within Scotland’s startup landscape,” said Evelyn McDonald, CEO of Scottish EDGE.
The event saw the unveiling of the £1000,000 Pathways Award backed by the Scottish Government, aimed at empowering female entrepreneurs, which went to a probiotic fermented sauerkraut company, Good Nude Food.
Following Codebase’s acquisition of CodeClan following its sudden closure, the final cohort of Professional Software Development students officially graduated on Friday the 1st of December.
Students were joined by instructors, support staff, friends, and family on the day to toast the accomplishment of completing the course.
Darren Lackie, student representative for the cohort, said: “It was an emotional ceremony that really felt like the end of an era. There was a great deal of emphasis on gratitude to people across the tech community who made it possible, from the instructors who stayed on, the students themselves who persevered, and the likes of FanDuel, who provided a home for lessons to continue.”
Yasmin Sulaiman, VP of partnerships at CodeBase said: “Collectively, we are so thankful for the widespread support across Scotland, without which we wouldn’t be celebrating these graduations.”
Professor Bill Buchanan Wins Award for Innovative Teaching
Professor Bill Buchanan OBE, the cryptography and cybersecurity academic teaching at Edinburgh Napier University, has been named Most Innovative Teacher of the Year at the 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) Awards.
The Times Higher Education awards are recognised as the “Oscars of higher education” and its judges praised Buchanan on his curriculum, rapport with students, his dynamic external speakers, and the promotion of cybersecurity literacy beyond higher education.
The award is but the latest accolade for the Scottish professor. Buchanan was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2017 for his services to cybersecurity. He’s also a fellow of the British Computer Society (BCS), a principal fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA), and has won multiple student-voted awards for teaching excellence.
Speaking on the award win, Buchanan said: “The past year or so has been amazing – with such great students who have been so eager to learn.
“In fact, it has been great fun, and I have loved every minute of it.”
Heriot-Watt Announced Global Innovation Challenge Winners
More than 500 innovators from across four continents have unveiled solutions to tackle a range of global challenges, including crop disease management, sustainable shopping, and healthcare.
The international university competition, organised by Edinburgh-based Heriot-Watt University, trains new student and academic-led companies across sectors with 13 winners receiving a share of £30,000 to progress their businesses and prototype development.
Following a competitive pitch event, Heriot-Watt Online student Annie Mamvura, founder of GreenGraceWear in Nairobi, Kenya, won the Health and Care-led Business award.
“Heriot-Watt has a long track-record of supporting entrepreneurs along a growth pathway,” Danielle Moran, enterprise manager at Heriot-Watt University said.
FinTech Scotland and Smart Data Foundry have announced the winners of their UK Fintech Innovation Challenge.
The challenge aimed at discovering innovative solutions to strengthen the relationships between financial institutions and their SME clients.
Fintech companies Xpand and Skwile Ltd have each been awarded £50,000. This investment will fuel the development of their propositions, fostering innovation, and supporting the economic growth within central Scotland.
FinTech Scotland has a track record of running successful innovation calls for established financial firms and, thanks to its collaboration with Smart Data Foundry, it has sought to take those calls to the next level.
Bryn Coulthard, chief product and technology officer at Smart Data Foundry commented: “We are delighted with the success of our first innovation call in partnership with FinTech Scotland, the first in a joint programme of innovation calls to help drive economic growth in Scotland’s fintech sector.”
Microplate Dx Wins Best ‘Startup’ Business at Barclays 2023 Entrepreneur Awards
Glasgow-based healthtech company Microplate Dx has won a best “startup” award at the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards 2023.
The startup award, sponsored by FreshBooks, aimed to honour new businesses that are challenging the current “status quo.”
Microplate Dx won the award for their antimicrobial resistance technology which combines hardware and software to test antibiotic susceptibility testing for urinary tract infections.
At a separate event in December, the firm’s co-founder Dr Poonam Malik also won the “Woman of the Year” award at the 16th Scottish Asian & Business Awards event.
Fife College Lecturer Receives Awards from Adobe
Fife College Creative Industries Lecturer Colin Maxwell has been honoured with a special award from the global leader in creative software, Adobe.
Colin’s contributions to the software giants’ education and online training offering, through Adobe Training Partner Edge Gain, have earned him the title of Instructional Excellence Trainer for 2023.
Colin, who teaches on Fife College’s animation and computer games courses, provides online training for teachers worldwide across a wide range of Adobe including Photoshop, Illustrator, Animate, After Effects and Adobe Express.
“Receiving this award is a tremendous honour, particularly given the high calibre of tutors associated with Edge Gain. I strive to tailor my courses to the right level and incorporate feedback so I’m very pleased that these efforts have been acknowledged,” Colin said.
Scotland’s animation and VFX gathering, MOVE, brings together international creatives, industry leaders, students, and educators to Edinburgh on the 21 and 23 February 2024 to celebrate the joy of making things move.
Based on the Pleasance Courtyard in Edinburgh, MOVE covers three days featuring a range of events, including talks, workshops, creative reviews, screenings, an exhibition and recruitment fair, tech demos, networking and business development, all with a focus on the latest and greatest in animation and VFX industries.
MOVE brings together, according to the organiser, ‘animation creatives in celebration of their artistry and technical accomplishments, providing an opportunity to hear from world-class studios, discover how the latest projects were made, get insights into how creative challenges were overcome, learn new tricks and tips, and see some unique works-in-progress.’
Beginning in 2017, MOVE Summit was co-founded by animator and Oscar winner Tom Bryant, the director of Interference Pattern.
Since its first year, MOVE Summit has expanded its offering and attracts around 1,000 delegates over its three day event.
The Summit is developing a line up of speakers including Jane Wu (Blue Eye Samurai), James Williams (The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Illumination), Emilie Bach (Julián, Cartoon Saloon), Troy Quane (Nimona, Netflix), Torsten Schrank (Klaus), and Nathan Jurevicius (Scarygirl), with more to be announced.
Building on previous years, the Move Summit 2024 will also be hosting a Business @ Move strand, a dedicated business programme bringing together independent studios and producers with commissioners, broadcasters, agencies, and industry bodies to explore mutually beneficial opportunities and new practices of getting work made.
The first day of the event will be aimed at students, with the latter two days dedicated to animation industry professionals across 2D and 2D animation, VR/AR, VFX, motion graphics, design, and games.
MOVE Summit 2024 is made possible with the support of funders and partners including Screen Scotland, Interference Patter, ScreenSkills Animation, Eyebolls, and HeeHaw.
Tickets for the event are now available and can be found here.
Half of supply chain leaders plan to implement generative AI (GenAI) in the next 12 months, with an additional 14% already in the implementation stage , according to a survey by Gartner, Inc.
The survey data also showed that chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) are dedicating 5.8% of their function’s budget, on average, to GenAI.
“CSCOs see GenAI as supportive of their broader digital transformation objectives,” said Noha Tohamy, distinguished VP analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain Practice.
“Many supply chain leaders were already leveraging supply chain technologies and advanced analytics, and it’s clear from this data that the majority also see the value in GenAI to enhance productivity, improve business agility and reduce costs. The challenge for many of these organizations over the next 12 months will be in scaling their pilot projects to broader adoption.”
Gartner surveyed 127 leaders from the industry in November 2023 on their plans to utilise GenAI within their function for 2024. Nearly two-thirds of respondents plan to, or are already in the process of, implementing the technology, with just 2% of respondents having no plans to do so over the next year.
The survey responses seem promising for AI adoption, but notably lag behind other enterprise functions, like marketing and sales, in adoption.
This could present an opportunity for supply chain organisations to establish themselves as “fast followers” by capitalising on early learnings and technology investments from other functional partners.
On the other hand, supply chain leaders may be more cautious in adopting emerging technology as their security and functionality concerns may be greater than other enterprises uses cases with less high stakes, like advertisement.
The survey data did also show that the most impactful supply chain use cases for GenAI include areas such as code augmentation, providing more insights into supply chain key performance indicators and staff assistance chatbots.
Supply chain leaders are also backing up their implementation plans with significant budget allocations – they’ve pledged 5.8% of their budgets to the technology, as well as to incremental employee spend to deploy GenAI.
Nearly two thirds (65%) of respondents said the will hire dedicated staff and experts to help deploy the technology in 2024.
Tohamy said that the projected budget data shows that supply chain leaders are serious about making progress on GenAI solutions this year and that they also recognize the need for additional resources to successfully move beyond small-scale pilots.
“CSCOs may also be factoring in impacts on employee roles required of their staff as they shift to higher value-add activities, while lower-level tasks are increasingly automated,” said Tohamy.
The introduction of new technologies, however, is not the only thing supply chain leaders need to be concerned about, according to an earlier Gartner study.
People management will therefore also be integral to the adoption of any new technologies in order to ensure the success of any digital transformation efforts.
Ahead of their annual meeting, the World Economic Forum has claimed that the biggest short-term risk affecting the globe is misinformation and disinformation, driven by AI advancements.
In their Global Risks Report 2024, the WEF has disclosed the ten biggest risks for the next two years and the next ten years. While environmental fears have topped the list for the biggest risks of the next ten years, technology risks also found their place on both the short-term and long-term outlook.
Overall, the report was dismal, revealing a world “plagued by a duo of dangerous crises: climate and conflict.”
Behind these two overarching global threats is the undercurrent of rapidly evolving technological advancements and economic uncertainty exacerbating inequalities.
More than half (54%) of the respondents of the report expected a significant amount of instability and a moderate risk of global catastrophise just over the next two years.
Expanding this out to the next decade, the pessimism grows: nearly two thirds (63%) expect a stormy or turbulent status quo by 2034.
However, the top risk for the next two years is misinformation and disinformation, the report found, and is largely driven by AI advancements.
Extreme weather events came in second place, potentially reflecting the bias of current climate disasters affecting the poorest communities largely in the global south.
Misinformation and disinformation was directly linked by the report to AI: the WEF echoed fears that if AI got into the hands of bad actors, they could use it to drive false narratives, inciting conflict, crisis, and climate denial.
Over the next two years, the report states, “foreign and domestic actors alike will leverage misinformation and disinformation to widen societal and political divides”.
Several elections are to take place in the next two years as well, including in major economic powerhouses like India, the US, and the UK, only exacerbating this short term concern.
Extreme weather however, is the top concern for this current year, with 66% of the vote, with AI-generated misinformation and disinformation following behind at 53%.
Societal and political polarisation (46%), the cost-of-living crisis (42%), and cyber-attacks (39%), rounded out the last of the list.
The looming threat of cyber-attacks have hit the global stage as international conflicts play out on both on the ground and in the cybersphere, heightening the importance of national cybersecurity.
Further, as the world moved evermore onto the online sphere, cyber-attacks became more frequent, and AI advancements have created new sophistication in ransomware and phishing attacks.
While AI is a driver of the most major threat in the next two years, over the course of the next decade the WEF considers it a threat in its own right.
By 2034, the WEF has listed the adverse outcomes of AI technologies as the sixth biggest threat to society, outdone by climate emergencies and misinformation.
These looming threats are not directly specified, whereas environmental crises increase in specificity as they become reality across different parts of the globe.
Meta has introduced new content policies for teens across its social platforms as international governmental pressure mounts to protect underaged users.
The tech conglomerate will hide an increasing amount of sensitive content across Instagram and Facebook from teenagers using the social platforms.
The new rules follows the finalisation of the Online Safety Act, as Ofcom is beginning to role out guidance for major tech companies to keep children safe online before they formally take on more regulatory powers.
Meta will automatically place teen users into the most restrictive content control setting across its two social media platforms – this will apply to new teen users and current teen users.
These restrictions will make it more difficult for sensitive content to appear on people’s feeds, even if they go looking for it on Search and Explore, or even if it is shared by someone they follow.
Content discussing self-harm, suicide, and eating disorders is the main target of these new restrictions.
While users can still share their own experiences involving these topics, Meta will not recommend this content to teen users. Further, if teen users search for these topics, they will hide related results and will instead direct these users to expert resources for help.
Meta says it already hides related content for self-harm and suicide, but now will expand this protection to include more terms.
Instagram and Facebook will also prompt teens to regularly check and update their privacy settings via their notifications.
Greater strides will be taken to ensure that only underaged users’ friends and followers can message them, and will hide age-inappropriate content from teenagers even if it is from friends and people they follow.
“Meta is evolving its policies around content that could be more sensitive for teens, which is an important step in making social media platforms spaces where teens can connect and be creative in age-appropriate ways,” Dr Rachel Rogers, associate professor of Applied Psychology at Northeastern University.
“These policies reflect current understandings and expert guidance regarding teen’s safety and well-being. As these changes unfold, they provide good opportunities for parents to talk with their teens about how to navigate difficult topics.”
Further, Meta is facing allegations from the US and Europe that its platforms are addictive and have harmed youth mental health.
33 US states have sued Meta, claiming it misled the populous on how dangerous its platforms are for kids.
In a testimony to the US Senate, a former Meta employee claimed that the company was aware of the harms of teens, including harassment, and failed to take action against them.
In Europe, the EU Commission is seeking clarity on protections Meta offers children from illegal and harmful content.
With the UK already taking landmark action through the Online Safety Act, we may expect to see more efforts from Meta to quell these allegations and questions.
Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator, has reportedly been plundering staff from Big Tech companies as it prepares to further regulate the internet with its new powers legislated by the Online Safety Act.
According to a report from the Financial Times, Ofcom has added 350 new hires to tackle online safety regulation, with senior hires from Meta, Google, and Microsoft, eyeing to add 100 more jobs this year.
The hires as a response to the new powers for Ofcom outlined in the Online Safety Act, a landmark piece of legislation set to retroactively regulate the online world in an attempt to protect users, especially children.
During its long legislative life, the Online Safety Act faced scrutiny and controversy as legislators grappled with the dichotomy of online safety and online freedom. Issues around encryption, freedom of speech, protecting the most vulnerable, and managing social media for children drowned the bill in a debilitating quagmire of some of the greatest questions of the technology age.
Now, set in stone, much of the regulatory powers will be piloted and carried out by Ofcom. It will be no small feat, as this is somewhat a world first – the internet has not faced such an overhaul of regulation since the 1990s, and with the advent of social media, the online world has transformed dramatically.
Ofcom has already been testing the waters of their newfound regulatory powers, and has produced its first guidance for online companies. The guidance included rules mainly aimed at regulating and protecting children’s experiences on social media by limiting their suggested friends list and and making children’s profiles unseeable to other users.
While their enforcement powers, including their ability to fine and even jail executives for breaches of the law, will come into effect over the next couple of years, the guidance aims to alert companies to the rules they will soon need to comply to.
The swath of new hires is likely to aid its behemoth regulatory task, but Ofcom may still struggle with the unprecedented regulation as the UK sails into uncharted regulatory waters.
In an effort to tackle the Scottish tech skills gap, ScotlandIS has announced a new partnership with tutoring organisation, Saturday School Ltd, to launch, The ScotlandIS Scholarship – a programme designed to empower young people to shape, change and drive Scotland’s digital economy.
The scholarship will support 12 ScotlandIS Scholars from Glasgow and The West in securing their National 5 Maths qualification. This support includes six weekly lessons in National 5 Maths at Saturday School in The Glasgow Academy, attendance at The National 5 Matsh Grade Booster Day to prepare for the final exam and unlimited online support from Saturday School’s fully qualified maths teachers.
Successful candidates will also get the opportunity to meet and learn from senior leaders in Scotland’s digital sector.
ScotlandIS Scholars who complete the programme will have the opportunity to be fast tracked into further education and will be offered a place on a relevant course at either Glasgow Clyde College or City of Glasgow College. Courses accessible through the scholarship include NCs, NQs and HNDs in a variety of topics ranging from cybersecurity and software engineering to esports and computer game design.
According to the most recent ScotlandIS Technology Industry Survey, 81% of Scottish tech businesses reported they’re likely to recruit university graduates in the next 12 months, as they seek to circumvent a technology skills gap that threatens to curtail the growth of the sector in Scotland.
ScotlandIS CEO, Karen Meechan, said: “We hope, by giving the 12 ScotlandIS Scholars this opportunity, we’ll be supporting some of the industry’s future leaders to take their first steps towards a long and successful career.
“Helping to cultivate the next generation of Scottish tech talent is a key part of what ScotlandIS does and we look forward to working alongside Saturday School to deliver a positive and valuable experience for the young people selected.
“A shortage of skilled staff is regularly raised by our members as one of the biggest challenges they face. Unless we, as an industry, find a way of tackling the skills shortage then it will significantly restrict the growth of a sector crucial to Scotland’s economic prosperity. It’s vital the solution is forward thinking and long term so engaging with young people approaching the end of their schooling and considering what career options are open to them is a natural place to start.”
In a letter to the House of Lords committee on communications and digital select, OpenAI has admitted that it would be impossible to train their large language models without copyrighted work in order to meet the “needs” of people today.
The admittance was provided in a document of written evidence for the committee’s inquiry into large language model, which asked the creators of GPT-4 and ChatGPT about the future of LLMs, the risk of frontier AI, and regulatory intervention on the AI landscape.
At the same time, OpenAI has stated that they respect and have complied with all requirements of copyright laws, though they contend that “we believe that legally copyright law does not forbid training.”
The prolific AI company went on to say that they have introduced tools for creators to stop the company from using or accessing their work, exclude their content from their web crawler – a tool that the company uses to scan the internet for data to train their AI – and has created an opt-out process for creators to exclude their work from DALL∙E training material.
OpenAI’s logic for using copyrighted material appears relatively sound, if one accepts the modern nature of the availability of intellectual material – “copyright today covers virtually every sort of human expression,” the letter argued, including photographs, software code, blogs, and government documents.
Limiting AI training models to opensource material and data would therefore not reflect the modern world, nor its diversity in language, experience, and expression, disabling AI systems from meeting “the needs of today’s citizens.”
These “needs” however, appear relative.
And, while OpenAI has introduced certain features enabling creators to block their material from being used as training data, the company has already faced numerous lawsuits from authors, artists, and researchers for using their copyrighted material without prior consent, or offering any compensation.
Further, OpenAI’s opt-out model challenges more progressive data protection regulations, including GDPR, which typically require an opt-in option for harvesting user data that is not integral to the functioning of a service.
At the very least, consumers would need to be made aware that their use of, posts on, and interaction with a website may be used to train an AI model.
For some, OpenAI’s opt-out policy is also too little, too late.
At the start of this year, the New York Times issued a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft for using the work of its journalists to train their LLMs. This is after the media company took advantage of OpenAI’s new policy and blocked their web scraper from using their published material.
Two more writers also filed a lawsuit just this week in New York alleging the same thing of their nonfiction work, following authors and celebrities like Sarah Silverman and George R.R. Martin.
Further, a class action lawsuit in California claimed the very nature of data scraping to train AIs is invasive, though this case was dismissed later without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled by the plaintiffs.
In the letter, OpenAI has put its cards on the table, in a way, and challenged the House of Lords to accept their admittance as fact. Either allow copyrighted material to be used, or say goodbye to advanced LLMs as we have grown to know them.
Whether the government, the public, and creators accept this, however, will remain to be seen.
Apple has started to make payments to US complainants following a class action lawsuit which accused the tech giant of deliberately slowing down their iPhones.
The case began in December 2017, and accuses Apple of misleading users over upgrades on older iPhone models that would improve their performance, which actually resulted in slowing the phones.
As part of the case, Apple did admit a software update released in January 2017 slowed down performance in older models in order to keep these phones from shutting down completely as their lithium-powered batteries aged.
While this move would keep the phones functional, it does show that Apple did deliberately slow iPhone performance on older models with newer updates, and did not explain this result or their reasoning to customers.
Further, while Apple did admit that the batteries would slow older iPhone models, consumers would have to replace their own iPhone batteries out of pocket, or be forced to purchase a new iPhone
The US lawsuit included the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X models.
Apple did respond at the time by offering a reduced price on battery replacement to fix the problem, though they maintained they did no wrongdoing.
However, Apple did agree to settle the lawsuit as they were concerned with the ongoing cost of the legal process.
Amounting to a total of $500m (£394m), the complainants will receive about $92 each, which is more than a $79 (£59) iPhone battery replacement.
A similar case is currently underway in the UK, which may take its lead from the US ruling. However, the UK lawsuit has widened its iPhone range to the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X.
Started by Mr Justin Gutmann, the UK lawsuit allegesthat Apple slowed down iPhone performance by up to 58%, while Apple claims their 2017 update would only lead to a potential 10% performance slow down.
As the discussion around how AI may impact on working life continues, new research by Hays has found that more Scottish organisations are currently using AI tools than six months ago, rising from around a quarter (26%) to nearly a third (32%).
The research, based on the firm‘s survey of nearly 15,000 responses from employers and professionals, including 886 from Scotland, found that whilst AI usage in the workplace is on the rise, the number of people who do not feel their employer is helping them to prepare for its use is on the increase at 61%.
Although the number of professionals who are using AI tools has increased in the last six months, the majority of professionals in Scotland (80%) are not using AI in their current role.
Still, this looks like it will continue to increase, with over half (59%) of employers expect to allow their staff to use AI in the future but will monitor usage. However, 20% expect to ban the use of AI in the future.
“Attitudes towards how the growing presence of AI in the workplace could impact jobs are mixed,” says Justin Black, business director of Hays specialising in technology.
“The research shows that just over a fifth (21%) of professionals think AI tools will have a positive impact on their job. There are still only a small number of professionals who believe AI will negatively impact their job, dropping in the last six months from 12% to 6%. And a small number of organisations in Scotland have already banned the use of AI in the workplace.
“Although some employers would prefer to turn a blind eye to AI and ban their staff from using it, we’re seeing more organisations eager to reap the benefits AI has to offer. It is, however, essential for employers to put in place sufficient opportunities to train and upskill individuals to be able to get the best out of these new technologies.”
Black cites GDPR concerns as a barrier to using AI as many organisations are not willing to expose their IP and data to an AI system. There are also concerns around the extent to which AI tools and technologies can be trusted, as they can make mistakes and produce inaccurate information.
“There are also some skills shortages”, continues Black, “but this is due largely to there not being enough people in the field already. When OpenAI was launched for free, people came to see the value it could bring very quickly and this created a surge in demand. However, skills in AI have not scaled as quickly as the technology, thus leaving a large gap in skills vs demand.”
Positively, the number of employers experiencing extreme skills shortages when it comes to AI usage has reduced from 48% to 36% in the last six months.
The research also reveals a decrease in the number of professionals who believe they don’t have any of the right skills to make the best use of AI, from almost a third (29%) six months ago to just over a quarter (26%) today.
“Employers are still falling short when it comes to supporting their staff in upskilling to take advantage of AI,” continues Black. “And the number of employees who feel their employer isn’t helping them to prepare for the use and incorporation of AI in the workplace is on the increase.
“In order to move with the times and make progress, employers must upskill staff and bring them along the journey as they invest in AI. It’s also crucial they communicate their intentions around developments in AI. This includes being honest with staff about how they need to be using AI tools, and if usage will be monitored.”
STEM Returners has signed up to the national Tech Talent Charter to enhance its ability to help people on a career break return to work.
Since it was launched in 2017, STEM Returners, based near Southampton, has helped more than 450 STEM professionals back to industry.
The organisation joins more than 700 other signatories to address the UK’s tech talent shortage and diversity problem.
Last year it was reported there were on average 52,000 unfilled IT jobs in the UK and women make up just 20% of the current tech workforce.
STEM Returners works with leading technology, science and engineering organisations to support professionals who have had a career break by facilitating 12-week paid work placements.
These act as a return ship, providing candidates with real work experience and mentoring during the placement, as well as supporting them to seamlessly adjust to life back in work.
With the UK tech skills and gender gap widening, there is no better time to sign up to the Tech Talent Charter,” said Natalie Desty, founder and director of STEM Returners.
“The importance of unlocking the potential of an inclusive and diverse tech sector cannot be underestimated, and we love the Tech Talent Charter’s action-led engagement based on measurable insights and industry commitment.
“Collaboration is really important to STEM Returners and the Tech Talent Charter is something we really believe in.
“We are delighted to be lending our voice and expertise to driving diversity and inclusion within tech and supporting talented and dedicated returners back into the industry.
“We look forward to working with the other organisations who have signed up to the Charter. Only by working together, will we make a positive difference for those returning to the tech industry after a career break and to improve representation across the sector.”
Created in 2015 through collective action, the Charters goal is for the UK tech ecosystem to be a diverse and inclusive community where people from all backgrounds are welcome and valued for their contributions.
CEO Debbie Forster, MBE, said: ”The importance of greater diversity and inclusion in tech is, thankfully, no longer up for debate. Sectors and organisations now need to work together to shift the dial – and this will happen faster if we pool our successes, failures, and key learnings to bring about real structural change.
“No group can do it alone, which is why we’re asking organisations to join our 700+ Signatories who are working together to drive diversity and inclusion in tech.”
Google Chrome has begun phasing out third-party cookie to one percent of its users, as Google moves to transform the way organisations can track online users.
Cookies refer to the small files websites store on your device to track and collect data for analytics, personalised advertisements, and browsing practices.
The new “test”, named Tracking Protection, began on 4 January for 1% of Chrome users, and will involve a new feature that limits cross-site tracking by restricting website access to third-party cookies by default.
Cookies have been in the web for nearly thirty years, and enabled websites to track user activities, as well as supporting a variety of online experiences such as account log ins and showing relevant advertisements.
But as part of Google’s Privacy Sandbox policy, Google plans to fully phase out the use of third-party cookies in Chrome throughout 2024 in an attempt to improve privacy while still enabling advertisers to provide personalised, targeted ads to users.
This objective appears somewhat conflicted, however. Third-party cookies enables websites to track where users are based, what users do on a site, and importantly, what sites they visit after.
The latter point is where advertisers make the most money – if companies can see that users are looking to buy a product, go on a holiday, or select a vendor, then they can begin in advertise their own products directly to a user across different platforms by tracking users via cookies and sharing this data with third parties.
The reliance on cookies have made advertisers wary of Google’s Chrome plans, as Chrome is the most popular internet browser in the world.
Previously, users across many websites could accept or deny the use of third-party cookies on various sites. Now, selected users will have third-party cookies disabled as a default.
If a website is unable to function without third-party cookies, or if Chrome notices that certain important features are disabled without third-party cookies, users will be provided the option to enable third-party cookies temporarily for that specific site.
Advertisers are yet to see the full benefits in Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox proposals, which would include new methods to move further away from cookie-reliance, including the use of password keys.
The Privacy Sandbox does offer advertisers Google-specific APIs, allowing advertisers to directly ask Chrome what a user is interested in based on their web searches and practices, instead of using third-party cookies to track users across multiple webpages and sites.
With Sandbox, Google will provide advertisers with designated topics and browsing information to provide targeted advertising without the use of third-party cookies tracking specific website activity.
The full plans for Sandbox however will need to be approved by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority prior to coming into effect to see if it will give Chrome an unfair advantage or hurt market competition. Currently, the APIs for Sandbox are free, but the default disabling of third-party cookies is likely to face major backlash from advertisers.
“As we work to make the web more private, we’ll provide businesses with tools to succeed online so that high quality content remains freely accessible — whether that’s news articles, videos, educational information, community sites or other forms of web content,” Anthony Chavex, VP of Privacy Sandbox at Google Chrome said in a blog post when the move was first announced in December.
However, back in 2021 as Google initially proposed its Privacy Sandbox sparking a CMA investigation, CMA Chief Executive, Andrea Coscelli, found that the new protocol could add to Google’s search and publishing monopoly.
“As the CMA found in its recent market study, Google’s Privacy Sandbox proposals will potentially have a very significant impact on publishers like newspapers, and the digital advertising market,” she said.
Critics have said that, while third-party cookies enable more advertisers access to personal information, Google’s sandbox would potentially provide the tech behemoth with a monopoly on personalised data, making it more able to provide targeted and personalised advertising than other vendors and sites on the Chrome browser.
As part of their plans to improve customer experience and drive business growth, small businesses in the UK are planning to invest in new technology, according to new research from American Express.
The survey focused on independent and hospitality businesses throughout the UK, which found that spending on new technology topped the list of 2024 priorities (30%).
Just over a quarter (26%) plan to ramp up sales and marketing activity, while a similar amount (24%), said they would bolster their online sales capabilities as they look to unlock additional consumer spending.
Overall, more than a quarter of those surveyed (28%) said attracting new customers is a challenge.
Further, the survey highlighted that just over a third (34%) will be sharpening their focus on customer experience in 2024, with the goal of building loyalty and further boosting sales.
Technology spend could play an important role in achieving this, with over two-fifths (43%) of retailers indicating that they had bolstered their business tech ahead of the festive peak period in an effort to improve customer experience.
Previous research has shown that small businesses are remarkably upbeat about their 2024 growth prospects in 2024, with nearly nine in 10 (89%) expecting growth in the next twelve months, and 93% confident about the future of their business.
“It’s encouraging to see so many of the UK’s small retailers entering 2024 with an optimistic outlook,” Dan Edelman, general manager, UK merchant services at American Express, said.
“However, they know that they can’t stand still if they want to grow their business. Investing in new technology unlocks operational efficiencies, frees up valuable resource and ultimately improves the customer experience.”
Besides technology, small businesses in the UK are also looking to embrace collaboration, with just under eight in ten (79%) of owners surveyed agreeing that collaboration between local community businesses had increased over the past year.
Almost three quarters (74%) said they always try to work with local, independent suppliers where possible, and the same proportion (74%) agreed it was important that small businesses team up to navigate the current uncertain economic climate.
Nearly half (47%) of businesses have now implemented machine learning (ML) into business processes, but half (50%) do not have a single member of staff employed in an AI, ML, or data science role.
This is revealed by new research from STX Next, a software consulting company, which surveyed 500 global CTOs about the biggest challenges facing their organisation in their 2023 Global CTO Survey.
Further growth in ML and AI could be hindered by some of the findings, as companies embark on AI adoption without hiring the appropriate specialists.
Still, 41% of technical leaders surveyed said they have yet to implement any AI technologies at all, underlying the scale of the progress that still needs to be made.
Some of the key findings showed that despite AI’s rapid growth, some of its adoption appears to be haphazard – just a quarter of companies have a separate AI/Data division, and only 38% have between just one and five members in a dedicated AI/ML or data science role.
This draws to question what AI is being used for if dedicated teams are not implemented with equal fervour.
The most common AI solution with businesses STX identified in the survey at present is image detection/segmentation (23%), followed by recommendation systems (20%) and optical character or text recognition (19%).
However, more complex AI tools are on the way, with 24% of companies saying they have now implemented natural language processing at their business, with 22% saying they have implemented deep learning.
“AI’s popularity this year has been driven largely by the success of large language models like ChatGPT. However, AI has many use cases beyond models like these and can support many business functions. In 2024, we hope to see an increase in uptake of AI and ML in other business processes,” Bartek Roszak, head of AI at STX Next said.
“That said, the existing applications of AI that the survey uncovered are largely unsurprising, as AI’s ability to tackle repetitive processes and recognise patterns within images and text is clear and evident to those working in technical roles. What is surprising is that these are still only adopted by a quarter of businesses. AI can and will revolutionise many industries, but there is still work to be done in educating the market on its capabilities.
“Our survey results have also revealed that while many leaders acknowledge AI’s potential, there is still a need for more investment in specialised resources to support its development. Implementing machine learning in one form or another will soon be crucial in keeping pace with changes in the industry and meeting customer expectations.
“This will no doubt become more prominent over the next year and beyond as organisations look for more ways to economically and efficiently scale their business and tackle new challenges. In many cases, leaders will need to assess the extent to which off-the-shelf ML solutions can support their businesses, and work out how much they need to invest in R&D to deliver the required level of expertise.
“AI and ML’s popularity shows no sign of slowing over the coming twelve months. CTOs should embrace it’s potential, balancing the needs of the business with the unique needs of clients and customers. Those that are able to leverage its potential by enhancing their skillsets will reap the rewards in 2024.”
Gartner, Inc. has revealed its top nine workplace predictions that HR leaders will need to address in 2024 and beyond to successfully position their organisations to attract and retain top talent and drive business outcomes.
We have seen several shifts affecting the workplace, including the emergence of generative AI (GenAI), pilots around establishing a four-day workweek, and changes to traditional careers,” said Emily Rose McRae, senior director analyst in the Gartner HR practice.
“This year’s predictions highlight the aspects of work that HR leaders must prioritize over the next 12 months.”
While the predictions are specific to HR leaders, they reflect general workplace trends, providing an overall picture for what the future of work could look like in 2024.
Cost-of-Work Crisis Reaches Breaking Point
Employees who have been working remotely or in a hybrid environment have experiences what it is to work without bearing the costs – financial, time, and energy – associated with going into an office daily.
As many employers implement a mandate for remote employees to return to the office after long periods of remote work – even Zoom is asking employees to come back to the office – employees now have a sharper awareness of what they “spend” to go to work.
In 2024, organisations looking to attract and retain talent will not just try to find the ideal hybrid strategy, but they may have to tackle the cost of work head on.
Gartner has identified two strategies companies may adopt: by sharing the tanglible and intangible costs of returning to the office or by finding ways to reduce the total costs.
Practically, this may include things such as caregiving benefits, housing subsidies, financial well-being programmes, or the ability for associates to bring their pets to work.
Gripes about travelling into the office may remain if companies do not offer direct compensation for transportation costs, but equally, many may turn to a warm cosy office amid the cost-of-living crisis to avoid the higher energy bills from being in the home throughout the day.
AI: Creator or Diminisher of Workforce Opportunity
Despite anxiety and significant discussion around how GenAI will impact jobs, in the short- to medium-term, generative AI will fully replace few jobs.
GenAI will lower the level of technical skills needed for many roles, widely increasing the roles for which candidates can qualify.
Gartner predicts that many jobs heavily impacted by GenAI will be redesigned and will have new responsibilities that include interacting with GenAI tools.
This year, leaders should partner with HR to assess how GenAI investments should change their teams’ roles and workflows, and how to identify potential internal candidates for newly redesigned roles.
HR must also evaluate the impact on hiring strategies, identifying which technical requirements and assessments are now unnecessary for open and upcoming roles and determining how to assess talent against any new skill needs.
Four-Day Workweeks: Radical or Routine?
A four-day workweek has become a centrepiece of large-scale studies in performance, union negotiations, and the preferences of many workers.
Embracing a shorter week will require organisations to rethink the cadence of the work week and re-examine what is necessary to get work done.
Organisations in 2024 will use four-day workweeks to improve talent outcomes – including employee engagement, performance, and well-being – and business outcomes, including eliminating inefficiencies, increasing talent attraction, and retention and driving competitive advantage.
Employee Conflict Resolution Is a Must Have Skill for Managers
Gartner claims that conflicts between employees are poised to be at an all-time high in 2024 due to geopolitical crises, labour strikes, climate change, pushback on DEI efforts, and upcoming elections for half the globe.
Conflict resolution requires actively working through challenging moments, pulling employees back from ostracizing colleagues with opposing viewpoints to focus on areas or mutual respect, or at least neutrality.
“Managers who can effectively navigate and manage interpersonal conflict among employees will have an outsize positive impact on their organizations; the question is how many really feel trained and prepared to do so,” said Peter Aykens, chief of research in the Gartner HR practice.
Organisations should therefore consider bringing in dedicated conflict management trainings, creating shadowing and coaching opportunities for new managers to see how experienced leaders resolve intense conflicts between employees, and finding ways to recognise and reward effective conflict resolution at all levels of the organisation.
Generative AI: Hard Lessons and Painful Costs
Enthusiasm, hype, and a strong fear of missing out or being left behind are driving executives to push for the implementation of GenAI within their teams and organizations.
Companies will need to actively manage the risks of GenAI, including more rigorous access and file classification policies internally, and solid quality control and judgment when utilizing the outputs of GenAI tools.
While these risks may not outweigh the potential benefits of GenAI, they will lead organisations to train employees to develop judgement around not just information validity, but also how and when to use GenAI.
Smashing the Paper Ceiling: Skills Over Degrees
College degrees are the top requirement of yesterday’s job descriptions. Organisations today are increasingly shredding the paper ceiling – the barrier workers without degrees face – and embracing skills-based hiring, even for some corporate jobs long considered degree-dependent.
Removing degree requirements from job posting will enable organisations to attract qualified talent by hiring form a much broader talent pool that includes both internally developed talent and workers via Skills Through Alternative Routes (STARs).
Leading organisations are increasingly touting their in-house universities and business schools – and expanding apprenticeship programmes – as tailored credential programmes that prepare talent with the specific skills they’ll need to advance.
Climate Change Protection Becomes the New In-Demand Employee Benefit
Severe climate change-related events are shifting from localised and episodic to widespread and persistent, and organisations are responding by making climate change disaster response a more visible component of benefits packages.
In 2024 and beyond, organisations will begin to highlight and promote direct climate change protections as a key part of their benefit offerings.
These will include explicit commitments to physical safety (such as plans to offer shelter or energy provisions when natural disasters arrive), compensation to impacted employees, and mental health support.
There has been a growing sense of disillusionment with DEI over the past few years, in the US, there’s even a sense of direct pushback. However, the critical need for diverse, equitable and inclusive workforces remains, leaving organisations uncertain about what to do next.
“In 2024, companies will begin to pivot from DEI existing solely in a silo to having it embedded throughout the organization,” said McRae.
“In this new model, DEI will shift to a shared way of working as organizations fully integrate DEI values into business objectives, daily operations and culture.”
Career Stereotypes Collapse in the Face of Workforce Change
The traditional career path where employees rise up the ranks and retire at the peak of their career is going away. Many employees don’t retire at all or do so after a career shift or break.
Workers are also facing involuntary disruption to careers due to economic cycles, displacement during conflict and natural disasters, and shifting responsibilities as technology and business models evolve.
As typical career paths become mainstream, the well-entrenched talent stereotypes that underpin most talent management strategies will prove a growing barrier to talent acquisition and retention.
For example, employees may break with the stereotype of career continuity by offering job sharing, gig work, or reduced hours to provide greater flexibility.
To take advantage of expertise where it exists, regardless of tenure, organisations will break the mould of a step-by-step progressive career trajectory.
OpenAI, the prolific AI company behind ChatGPT, has announced plans to change its official data controller for EU customers to Ireland in a bid to assuage concerns over data protection breaches.
The announcement follows the opening of OpenAI’s Dublin offices in September, but also follows a series of concerns from EU member states over its processing and keeping of personal data.
Particularly, data rights specialists and organisations have claimed that OpenAI lacks a justifiable legal basis for its data practices.
A lawsuit based in Poland has accused the company of violating a swath of GDPR violations, including a lack of legal basis, and not being transparent with users on what it does with their data.
But Poland is not the only country questioning OpenAI – Italy initially banned ChatGPT as it was concerned overall on how the product would comply with GDPR.
This also prompted the EU’s overriding data protection board, the EDPB, to create a dedicated task force to regulate the compliance of OpenAI and to foster cooperation with the company.
In their move to Ireland, OpenAI is handing over the EU data supervision tasks to the Irish Data Protection Authority to handle all EU laws, following the likes of other major US companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Google, who also have their European headquarters based in Dublin.
While this will make it easier for the EU to work closely with the company, the Irish DPC has faces backlash for being lenient on big tech companies in their rulings on data breaches, with the EDPB requiring the Irish authority to increase fines and compliance mandates in past cases.
This leniency is however, a major attraction for foreign companies to base their EU headquarters in Ireland in attempts to lessen the blow of major GDPR fines.
While the move will change regulation to be under the EU, the US-based company will still be headquartered in the US, where data protection laws are notably less strict, which sparked the original EU concerns.
New UK laws mandating the switch to electric vehicles have commenced, setting out the ambition to produce 100% zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) in the UK by 2035.
Following extensive consultation with industry and manufacturers, the mandate provides them with the certainty they have called for to safeguard skilled British jobs.
The ZEV mandate sets out the percentage of new zero emission cars and vans manufacturers will be required to provide each year up to 2030. 90% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Britain will now be zero emission by 2030, with aims to increase to 100% by 2035.
This follows the decision taken by the prime minister to delay the ban on new diesel and petrol cars from 2030 to 2035, putting the UK in line with other major global economies such as France, Germany, Sweden, and Canada.
“Alongside us having spent more than £2 billion in the transition to electric vehicles, our zero emission vehicle mandate will further boost the economy and support manufacturers to safeguard skilled British jobs in the automotive industry,” technology and decarbonisation minister, Anthony Browne, said.
“We are providing investment certainty for the charging sector to expand our charging network which has already grown by 44% since this time last year. This will support the constantly growing number of EVs in the UK, which currently account for over 16% of the new UK car market.”
In a boost for the economy, the new laws will help households make the switch to electric, supporting growth of EV sales in the second-hand market and incentivising charging to roll out more widely across the country.
The government’s schemes to lower the upfront and running costs of owning an EV includes the plug-in van grant of up to £2,500 for small vans and £5,000 for large vans until at least 2025 and £350 off the cost of homeplace chargepoints for people living in flats.
Latest government statistics from September 2023 show that there has been a 41% increase in zero emission vehicles registered for the first time.
The UK’s charging network continues to grow as well – there are now over 500,000 public chargepoints, with 44% more than this time last year, putting the country well on track to reach 300,000 chargepoints by 2030. The certainty of the ZEV mandate will give industry renewed confidence to invest in our infrastructure.
Additionally, last month in UK and EU agreed to extend trade rules on electric vehicles, saving manufacturers and consumers up to £4.3 billion in additional costs and providing long-term certainty for industry.
To support the rollout of EV infrastructure, applications for the first round of the £381 million Local EV Infrastructure Fund are currently being assessed by the government.
This funding will deliver tens of thousands more chargepoints in local areas across England and transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking. The government has also launched a £70 million pilot to support the deployment of ultra-rapid charging points at motorway service areas.
A partnership between the UK Government, Glasgow City Council, and the Smart Things Accelerator Centre (STAC), including significant government investment, has been launched with the aim of transforming Glasgow into Europe’s largest smart things and Internet of Things (IoT) innovation hub.
Centring around new a 250-desk facility at SkyPark, Finnieston in Glasgow named “thebeyond”, the £2.5m private and public sector investment includes £257,000 of grant funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
The partnership aims to make Glasgow a frontrunner the predominant technologies over the next decades spanning drones, robots, AI, IoT, nanotech, medtech, and cleantech, in a bit to revolutionise industries while yielding substantial economic, social, and environmental impact.
Paul Wilson, CEO and co-founder of STAC, and driving force behind the partnership, said: “Glasgow can be a powerhouse in the key technologies that will enhance life and industry for the next decades. As we build the leading tech cluster around STAC’s thebeyond we will gain a reputation and attract international investment. That’s the goal, ambitious and realisable. We believe thebeyond will be Europe’s largest Smart Things and IoT space.”
“Glasgow has all the elements – talent, innovation, and a collaborative spirit – needed to lead in what is known as the ‘Era of Things’. We believe we are on the cusp of something extraordinary. From thebeyond tech companies will develop tomorrow’s technologies to compete in global markets.”
Building on STAC’s work to date, projections are for Glasgow to evolve into an innovation leader with a focus on industrial, lifestyle, health, and sustainability technologies, with a view to as many as 100 companies being up and running by the end of 2024.
Through the partnership, Glasgow City Council and the city, the third largest city in the UK, is set become a test bed for homegrown innovations via STAC, which was launched in 2021.
The initiative is supported by industry executives from leading organisations including Dyson, Plexus, Meta, Blackberry, Motorola, and Volvo Cars.
“Technology innovation being driven through STAC’s accelerator programme can provide companies like Meta a vital source of first of kind technologies that will change how people live, communicate, and play in future. That’s the play here at thebeyond”, said Sean Murphy VP, global supply chain at Meta and STAC advisory member.
Councillor Ricky Bell, deputy leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “This collaboration will help Glasgow become a leading technology-driven city, with our services and buildings powered by homegrown innovation to the benefit of everyone who lives, works and studies here. We will empower Glasgow’s start-ups to hone their technologies here and then compete internationally, enhancing our position on the global tech stage and bringing a great number of new jobs and careers in this sector.”
Glasgow is building momentum in Smart Things with a number of technology companies already winning UK and international market share – including Utopi, Beringar, and IOpt in proptech, Krucial in space and satellite tech, Novosound in ultrasound technology, and Kingdom Technology in robotics.
DataKirk is taking action to educate ethnic minority teens in Scotland whose education is at risk due to their parent’s immigration status.
According to a survey conducted by DataKirk, an Edinburgh-based charity group working to address the diversity and attainment gap in the data economy, teenagers aged between 16 and 19 had their undergraduate education prospects at risk due to their parent’s immigration status.
Migrants, including vital and essential healthcare workers, earning typically less than £25,000 per annum, and their children are facing the challenge of paying international fees amounting to £20,000 to £35,000 per year for higher education.
The financial burden is compelling many to abandon or postpone their higher education aspirations, which hurts their educational progress and economic mobility, as well as stalling prospective workers from filling in the technical skills gap.
In response to this issue, DataKirk’s team is taking proactive measures by offering a Diploma in Data Analytics at SCQF level 8 to these disadvantaged teenagers.
It is crucial to ensure that young people who have completed a significant portion of their schooling in Scotland are not left behind.
Beyond addressing the challenges faced by underprivileged teenagers, DataKirk is committed to narrowing the gender gap and addressing the data divide in Scotland. The organisation’s 2024 empowerment programmes include:
· Girls in Tech for ethnic minority girls
· Women in Tech for ethnic minority women, and
· Data Visualisation for ethnic minorities with parental responsibilities.
The registration for these 2024 training programmes is now open.
To enrol in these initiatives, eligible individuals can register for free or fully funded programmes by accessing DataKirk’s website: https://lnkd.in/eDtHebqe.
Previously, DIGIT has had the pleasure of attending and covering DataKirk’s Scottish Black Talent Summit which discussed and addressed some of the many challenges migrants and ethnic minorities face in the Scottish job market, as well as the opportunities offered by harnessing the Scottish black talent pool.
Despite recognised benefits across the board, employees remain more hesitant over AI adoption than business leaders.
This is according to a new research report from Zoom, showing that, while AI can reduce busy work, improve efficiency, and provide more time to workers, employees are far less enthused by the emerging tech’s widespread adoption than their employers.
The global survey of over 10,000 full time workers, including employees and team leaders, found that even as enthusiasm levels varied across regions, employees were consistently more hesitant over AI adoption than business leaders.
AI Begets Big Benefits
The discrepancy could be due to the varying level of benefits AI offers to leaders vs employees, as team leads say that AI could help them accomplish busy tasks like drafting messages and taking meeting notes.
92% of leaders, according to the survey, found fewer repetitive tasks as a benefit of AI, along with completing work faster.
Similarly, 89% of employees found fewer repetitive tasks and more time as the top benefits of AI.
Employees listed automating repetitive tasks (53%), finding and organising information (44%), and summarising meetings, chat messages, and notes (43%) as being the top reasons they would use AI.
For leaders, AI uses tended to revolve around meetings, listing real-time help during meetings (41%), summarizing meetings and notetaking (35%), and better audio and video quality during meetings (33%) to be the top reasons they would use AI.
AI Avoiders
Despite these noted benefits, AI is still being avoided by employers and employees, which is costing businesses time.
Those who still haven’t taken up AI tools recognise that they would if it could save them time. The data shows, it does.
74% of employers say that AI saves them at least an hour a day, with 46% of employees saying the same.
Both employees and leaders agree that this extra time could help them develop better workflow processes, help them learn new topics and upskill, and allow them uninterrupted focus.
Yet, employees remain hesitant.
The Employee-Leader Gap
88% of leaders say they were favourable or very favourable toward AI, compared to 63% of employees.
Further, while over four in five (82%) of leaders say they were excited about AI, only 57% of employees shared this excitement.
While the majority of employees are favourable and excited about AI, the discrepancy between them and their employers is notable.
Familiarity may play a part: while 90% of leaders say they were familiar with AI, and 73% say they use it at work, only 65% of employees claim to be familiar with the technology, with just shy of a third (32%) using AI at least a few times a week.
Nearly of quarter of employees (23%), however, say that they never use AI for work or personal use, compared to 4% of team leaders.
Still employees seem to be clear about the drawbacks of AI.
Employees are concerned about the potential human job loss resulting in AI adoption, a company’s data being less secure, and trusting AI’s accuracy – all valid concerns for the adoption of any new technology.
Leaders appear to see different drawbacks, with with the majority saying that AI requires too much training, is too impersonal, and that employees risk becoming dependent on the tech.
Bridging the Gap
Of the employees who say they do not use AI at work, over half said it is because their company does not utilise AI tools as a whole.
Of those that do use AI, only 63% say their company does provide AI tools, meaning over a third (37%) must seek out these tools on their own.
Further, leaders appear to not believe in their own teams capabilities, with 69% saying that their team wouldn’t know how to use AI if it was introduced, and 67% agreeing that their team just isn’t tech savvy.
Training and education therefore would be vital in introducing AI to companies in a way that benefits both leaders and employees.
70% of software projects fail to be delivered on-time, despite 83% of software engineers rating the importance of on-time completion as high or very high, according to new research from Haystack.
The research also found that the vast majority of business leaders consider on-time delivery of software as essential, but are concerned about it at work.
Research conducted by Dr Junade Ali CEng FIET and J.L. Partners on behalf of Haystack has also found that 77% of business decision-markers in the UK and 90% in the USA report on-time delivery as the main way they measure the performance of software engineering teams.
Despite this, 81% of business decision-makers in the UK and 89% in the USA are concerned about the on-time delivery of software projects in their organisations.
Further, while on-time delivery is of such importance, recent industry solutions have focussed on using surveys to measure developer experience and productivity.
However, research from November 2023 conducted by Dr Junade Ali CEng FIET has found a variety of failures in such approaches.
Quarterly surveys are not only too slow to address early signs of delay but research indicates software engineers are concerned to voice their true opinions.
Over half (59%) of software engineers said they did not speak out against unrealistic deadlines or expectations because they feared retaliation, and three in four (75%) who did speak up about something they’ve seen at work reported facing retaliation.
The research also shows that “those with the lowest programming skill” are most likely to be the most over-optimistic at evaluating software delivery performance in large projects.
Further, about a third (31%) of software engineers felt their achievements at work were not well celebrated or only acknowledged to a small extent, fostering a negative environment.
All of these factors reveals a gap between engineers, project managers, and executives as far as realistic expectations on delivery.
Dr Junade Ali CEng FIET’s research pointed to the ineffective use of surveys to track work and delivery times, which could foster inequality, lead to increased biases, and exacerbate inflated expectations.
“Given the risks engineers face of retaliation, the fear of speaking up, alongside other cognitive biases that operate at a team/company level which we detect at a population-wide level, it is my recommendation that where software delivery performance is measured, it should be done objectively and empirically,” his report read.
Hospitality and tourism on the Highlands and Islands are set for an IoT refresh thanks to technology developed by CENSIS, Scotland’s innovation centre for sensing, imaging, and IoT.
In partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise area team on the Isle of Lewis, the HIE Innovation team, and the Outer Hebrides Cruise Forum, the a new pilot IoT system has been installed at the Calanais Stones.
Ahead of an anticipated growth in cruise tourism in 2024, the team at Calanais has turned to technology to help monitor busy periods that have a knock-on impact on other businesses in the community such as shops and cafes.
The new internet-connected visitor monitoring sensors are helping hospitality and tourism businesses on Lewis to understand these patterns in visitor numbers.
“This technology can provide accurate real-time data that will undoubtedly support the booming tourism industry in the islands, and we’ve seen success from similar initiatives in the past involving sites on the West Highland Way,” Ally Longmuir, business development manager at CENSIS, said.
“We hope to expand the initiative to cover additional sites that will paint a more detailed picture of how visitors are interacting with the Islands key heritage sites.”
Starting with the standing stones – one of Scotland’s best-preserved Neolithic monuments, erected around 5,000 years ago – the partnership already has a view to expand the technology to cover other popular areas and attractions.
The IoT sensors collect information about the number of people attending the site at one time, allowing patterns to be identified. Data collected is then displayed via an app-based dashboard where the Calanais team can monitor numbers in real-time.
If the data dashboard shows the site is particularly busy as soon as visitors arrive on Lewis, for example, they could be advised to visit the attraction at a quieter point of the day.
The Calanais Stones, which pre-date Stonehenge, currently attract over 130,000 visitors per year. However, a £60m Deep Water Terminal set for completion next year will boost tourism in the islands – with the new infrastructure enabling larger cruise ships to berth in the Stornoway port.
The Outer Hebrides Cruise Forum was established to help communities maximise the economic opportunity, including the introduction of new technology.
Mark Davies, project manager of the Calanais 2025 project said: “The Calanais Stones are a must-see for visitors to the island and while the site has coped with large visitor numbers, car parking is often limited. We have an opportunity to better manage the peaks and troughs throughout the day.
“Visitors to the Islands bring fantastic opportunities for the local community and businesses, but it is important that we ensure they have the best possible experience while here and we have the infrastructure and capacity to make their visit memorable.”
John Mackenzie, senior development manager innovation HIE said: “This is a great example of a technology driven innovation project in the tourism sector adopting a data driven approach to understanding and managing visitor numbers to enable strategies to be developed to maintain the quality of the visitor experience whilst managing infrastructure capabilities across the island and taking into consideration environmental factors.
“This is a great example of IOT, sensing and data being used to help achieve a specific output.”
AI photo apps have rapidly took over social media as the technology improved and hit the mainstream.
From people creating AI generated avatars of themselves to 90s inspired yearbook photos, professional headshots, and even photos of what future babies may look like, AI photo apps have reached peak popularity.
However, this fad is not altogether wholesome – AI photo apps, like many social media applications, track user data, and even use uploaded photos to train their AI model.
A new study, conducted by mobile phone retailer Fonehouse, has analysed twenty of the most popular AI photo apps to reveal the most intrusive to privacy and what happens to user data.
Using Apple’s app store, Fonehouse investigated the privacy labels for each app, which consists of 14 different categories, and investigated just how invasive these AI apps are
Training AI Tools
AI relies on data, be that image data, audio data, or text data. In order to better train AI models, developers often incorporate AI-generated material and uploaded data to better refine AI models. This is no different if a user inputs a sentence of uploads a phot.
Fonehouse found that over a third of apps say that they use user data to help train their AI tools or machine learning.
Only five percent clearly state they won’t do this, but 60% of apps were also unclear or did not specify what they do with user uploaded data.
Are They Keeping Your Selfies to Themselves?
Further, one in four AI photo apps store a user’s facial data after an image is created.
While 60% of apps delete facial data after an image is created and no longer store this data on their service, a quarter do, and 15% do not disclose what they do with the data or how long it is stored.
This data can be stored for different amounts of time depending on the app, ranging from no longer than seven days to up to three years from the data an account becomes inactive.
Alarmingly, the study also found that 75% of AI photo apps require users to grant a license within the terms and conditions to allow the app to use your content for a range of promotional purposes.
Some apps even state that by agreeing to the terms and conditions, users are granting them permission to use private photos in this way for perpetuity.
Based on how much data the apps collect overall, the app which came out on top was Photoleap, which collected eight out of the 14 categories (57%) of personal data.
When using the app, it collects contact info, user content, identifiers, diagnostics, usage data, purchases, location and other data categories.
This was followed by Picsart, Facetune, and Videoleap apps, which all collect data across seven categories.
Is Your Data Secure?
The study also used the Google Play App Store to analyse the security practices for each app too.
Some apps are designed to let users transfer their data to another site or service, mainly to share across social platforms like Instagram and TikTok.
These apps may declare in their data safety section that your data is transferred over a secure connection, however, one in five AI photo apps do not encrypt data that it collects or shares while its in transit.
The international university competition, organised by Edinburgh-based Heriot-Watt University, trains new student and academic-led companies across sectors with 13 winners receiving a share of £30,000 to progress their businesses and prototype development.
Following a competitive pitch event, Heriot-Watt Online student Annie Mamvura, founder of GreenGraceWear in Nairobi, Kenya, won the Health and Care-led Business award.
Providing reusable incontinence wear for women and girls facing urinary incontinence due to disability, aging or the menopause, Annie’s business is focused on dignity and comfort while contributing to sustainability goals by minimising waste from disposable products.
Receiving the Audience Awards, five engineering graduates behind Dubai-based company SMEFA (Shopping Mode Effortless For All) have developed a smart scan supermarket trolley designed to simplify and support shopping for those with disabilities and allergies such as automatic basket lifting, secure payments, and managing allergy checks.
From the Edinburgh campus, robotic engineers Aswath Ganesan Indra and Adip Ranjan Das received a runner up aware for their semi-autonomous catering service which aimed to address the significant cost disparity between healthy and ultra-processed food.
Powered by their proprietary autonomous technology, GI Healthcare minimises energy, reduces food ware, and increases accessibility to affordable freshly prepared and healthy food.
The annual competition, which is bolstered by a 10-week workshop series, is open to all Heriot-Watt students, staff and alumni across the university’s five global campuses and Heriot-Watt Online, a worldwide education initiative increasing accessibility to world-class skills development. This year has seen participation grow by 140% compared to 2022.
The Global Innovation Challenge is supported by Santander and match-funded by the Robert M. Buchan Early Stage Business Fund. Igniting passion for entrepreneurship through sessions with internal and industry experts, this year’s guest speakers included Censis, Barclays, Johnston Carmichael, Too Gallus, Converge, Morningside Music School and Steer Energy.
“Heriot-Watt has a long track-record of supporting entrepreneurs along a growth pathway,” Danielle Moran, enterprise manager at Heriot-Watt University said.
“Previous participants of The Global Innovation Challenge have gone on to win key industry awards such as Rosie Bristow of Fantasy Fibre Mill, a winner at this year’s Converge. By connecting creative minds across the globe, we are transforming our international reach into an engine for innovation, tackling some of society’s biggest challenges and effecting positive change across multiple sectors.”
Professor Gillian Murray, deputy principal for business and enterprise added: “The Global Innovation Challenge is a fantastic demonstration of the power of partnerships and collaboration in driving impactful innovation.
“As this year’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai continues, this workshop series highlights how our global campuses and networks can unite to address worldwide challenges, addressing challenges across sectors and disciplines.
“By fostering an international innovation ecosystem, we can make meaningful progress on some of the world’s biggest issues, including sustainability and waste reduction.”
A cohort of major tech companies including Google, Meta, and Qualcomm have teamed up to support the generation of open digital ecosystems in response to the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
The coalition, called Coalition for Open Digital Ecosystems (CODE) aims to encourage open platforms to propel growth and innovation across Europe.
The other seven members of CODE include HONOR and Lenovo from China, Lynx of France, Motorola of the US, Nothing from the UK, the Norwegian company Opera, and Wire from Germany.
The DMA, which came into effect in 2022, requires “gatekeeping” companies to allow third party platforms to inter-operate with their services, battling against monopolistic tendencies and platform lock-ins.
Gatekeepers refer to large digital platforms providing core services, like online search engines, app stores or messenger services – the DMA is the first such act to attempt to regulate these massive tech conglomerates on the market to dissolve monopolies and anti-competitive practices.
The DMA also allows company’s users to promote their own offers and conclude contracts with their customers outside of the gatekeeper’s platform.
Central to this is open-access to digital platforms to create a more democratised ecosystem and allow for more fair market competition, compelling companies to innovate.
The coalition formed by some of the biggest tech companies operating in Europe, deemed gatekeepers by the DMA, to meet this new goal and regulatory framework, as well as upholding this new standard in future frameworks.
By working with policymakers, companies, and academics, the coalition aims to promote digital openness.
“We have had a number of conversations in the past few months about what ‘good’ looks like when it comes to digital ecosystems in Europe, what fosters innovation, and what will positively impact competitiveness. We think openness is the crucial element,” Lynx founder Stan Larroque said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.
NHS Scotland has adopted a new cloud-based platform providing assistance and tools to radiology clinicians.
Radiologists across Scotland report on five million scans a year, detecting bone breaks and fractures, and serious illnesses and cancers.
The new 10-year agreement is between NHS National Services Scotland and Sectra, an international medical imaging IT company based in Sweden, which hosts the cloud platform.
Sectra will provide a fully manged software as a service (SaaS), Sectra One Cloud, to all of Scotland’s 14 regional NHS boards, and to NHS Jubilee, which hosts the Scottish National Radiology Reporting Service.
Clinicians will be able to utilise radiology, breast imaging, and orthopaedics modules available through the enterprise imaging service.
Implementation will involve the migration of more than 55 million radiology studies to a single instance of Sectra’s enterprise imaging service.
Managed through Sectra One Cloud, the service aims to provide ongoing support and upgrades for users, local business continuity within each NHS board, as well as enabling ease of scalability for NHS Scotland’s future requirements.
“Our new partnership with Sectra will provide Scotland’s NHS radiology teams with an enterprise imaging service that will support our professionals as they deliver efficient and effective diagnoses for patients,” Mary Morgan, the chief executive of the NHS National Services Scotland, said.
“The service creates additional potential to support the direction set out in the new Scotland Radiology Model and opens up further possibilities around enhanced cross-site working.”
All of NHS Scotland’s acute radiology, orthopaedic, and breast screening services will be covered by the new contract, which also creates the potential to extend support to additional diagnostic services in the future and allow the exploration of further technology.
A single log-in profile will allow clinicians to access imaging from their patients in a single national source, accessible regardless of where in Scotland imaging acquisition has taken place.
Further, collaboration across clinical specialities will be supported by having a single system, enabling radiologist and orthopaedic teams to access the same surgery and planning decisions support.
“The potential for NHS Scotland from embracing a cloud-based enterprise imaging system is exciting,” Jane Rendall, UK and Ireland managing director for Sectra, said.
“This will create new opportunities for innovation and for collaboration between Scotland’s NHS radiology teams. Scotland’s NHS boards are known around the world for delivering excellence in care, and I look forward to Sectra supporting their professionals in the years ahead.”
The contract was signed in December 2023 for an initial 10-year term, with two optional extension periods. Sectra will replace Scotland’s current supplier contract in 2026.
Consumers may be AI-curious, but the emerging technology has yet to gain their trust when used in particular applications like finance and banking, new research has found.
According to FIS‘s Trust in Generative AI research, almost one third (30%) of UK consumers say that they do not trust GenAI at all.
This sentiment only increases for older age groups, with 44% of Boomers expressing a total lack of trust, compared to 30% of Gen X, 21% of Millennials, and just 12% of GenZ consumers in the study.
For those respondents with little or no trust in the technology, the most important factor in increasing their trust is more transparency into how data is used (66%), the introduction of regulation or legislation at government level 62%, as well as knowing there is a human overseeing the technology (61%).
On the other hand, 39% of UK consumers expressed curiosity about AI, signalling an openness to learn more.
The research suggests that more education is needed, with 42% of consumers admitting they do not currently know how to use this technology.
Nearly half (48%) of consumers in the study said they are learning about GenAI through social media, compared to just 23% saying they have personal experience through their online activities.
A Banking Blindspot
The study also probed participant’s perspectives on the role of GenAI in financial services. It found that almost three quarters (74%) of UK consumers have no idea if their bank uses the technology within its operations.
Half of the respondents in the study expressed that they would be either somewhat, very, or extremely comfortable with their bank using GenAI, while the other half expressed varying levels of discomfort.
However, a quarter would be less likely to continue to use their bank if they knew it was deploying the technology.
Silvia Mensdorff-Pouilly, senior vice president and general manager of banking and payments EMEA at FIS commented, “Although still in its infancy, GenAI is already being deployed across a number of use cases in financial services—for example, to power customer service chatbots and to detect fraud.
“In fact, around half of financial institutions in the UK are already using some form of GenAI in their operations, showing that consumers may be unaware of how GenAI is embedded in many of the financial services they’re already using.”
The research also found that more than half (57%) of UK consumers surveyed would not be interested in using a GenAI-powered application or service for financial tasks such as completing their tax return or planning their finances if one became available in the future.
Of the remaining 43% of respondents who would be interested in using such an application or service for financial tasks, the most compelling factors are that the technology would save them time (53%) and that it would be more cost-effective than using a human financial service professional (40%).
Mensdorff-Pouilly concluded, “When mobile phones were first introduced, many consumers thought they didn’t want or need one. If we fast forward to today, that technology has not only been accepted, but it’s transformed our society—we now couldn’t imagine life without these devices.
“We will likely see the same with GenAI over the next few years as the technology matures and more use cases are identified. Financial institutions have an opportunity to educate their customers on how they are embracing innovation with this new technology.
“Crucially, they must be transparent about how they are using data if they are to succeed in winning trust.”
Judges will be allowed to use ChatGPT to help write rulings despite warnings that AI can invent cases that never happened.
The Judicial Office has issued official guidance to thousands of judges in England and Wales saying AI can be useful for summarising large amounts of text or in administrative tasks.
However, it did admit that chatbots are a “poor way of conducting research” and are prone to making up fictitious cases or legal texts.
The guidance also warned that the rise of bots such as ChatGPT could end up being widely used by members of the public when bringing legal cases and that deepfake technology could be used to create fake evidence.
Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, said that AI “offers significant opportunities in developing a better, quicker, and more cost-effective digital justice system.”
He said: “Technology will only move forwards and the judiciary has to understand what is going on. Judges, like everybody else, need to be acutely aware that AI can give inaccurate responses as well as accurate ones.”
Earlier this year, a senior judge, Lord Justice Birss, described ChatGPT as “jolly useful”, saying he had used the chatbot to summarise an area of law he was familiar with, and copy and pasted it into a court ruling.
He said on Monday that he had used ChatGPT as a test and that it had been used within the guidance because he had not entered any secret or confidential information into it.
Sir Geoffrey said that lawyers were potentially subject to perjury and criminal sanctions if submissions penned by a chatbot produced false evidence.
“Nothing changes just because they may have got what they said falsely from an AI chatbot instead of out of their own head,” he said.
Suid Adeyanju, CEO of cyber company RiverSafe said: “The rise of AI use in legal rulings brings with it great opportunities, but also opens the door to major cyber risks. Hackers have already proven adept at infiltrating and exploiting security loopholes to steal data, and in this scenario could also lead to widespread evidence tampering.
“It’s vital that organisations using this technology tread carefully, and ensure they have the necessary security systems in place to keep cyber criminals locked out.”
Josh Boer, director at tech consultancy VeUP said: “This is the latest example of AI reshaping critical functions, saving time and money by managing administrative tasks. The technology has huge potential to turbocharge the next generation of UK SMEs, providing crucial support in the back office.
“Yet far too many companies lack the skills and support to embrace it. That’s why its crucial that organisations get to grips with the latest generative AI capabilities, by embracing AWS and other key platforms, to boost growth through the cloud for the long term.”
Ahead of marking ten years since its inception, The Data Lab, Scotland’s innovation centre for data and AI, has published an impact report outlining the benefits it has brought to both the Scottish economy and job creation.
The report, available on the centre’s website, outlines how The Data Lab has been central to generating £200m in additional revenue for the data and AI sector in Scotland, as well as creating and safeguarding more than 1,350 jobs.
Through the partnerships cultivated by the centre over the last decade, more than 145 projects have been collaborated on. This has included Scottish universities and colleges across the length and breadth of Scotland, covering projects in Shetland, Inverness, Dundee and across the central belt.
The Data Lab has also secured £90m in funding with Scottish, UK, and EU consortia for projects related to health, the built environment, and transport.
Such projects have included the Smart Manufacturing Data Hub led by Ulster University, as well as working with NHS Highland, to speed up bowel cancer diagnostics using AI-assisted colon capsule endoscopy.
Commenting on the report Brian Hills, CEO of The Data Lab, said: “The landscape of data and AI has completely changed over the last decade, leading to a greater understanding and appreciation of this technology. In the last 12 months alone, AI has become a technology no one can ignore and something that is set to completely revolutionise how organisations operate.
“However, embracing the use of data and AI requires skill, and it is reassuring that so many people recognise this. The fact that 80,000 people have registered for online courses created or funded by The Data Lab – with attendees coming from all levels within an organisation – is recognition of the huge desire to increase adoption of data and AI. Supporting so many people in their learning journey is an honour.”
As part of creating a thriving, connected society powered by data and AI, the innovation centre has also established a flourishing data and AI community which has grown to more than 3,500 members from across 60 countries since it was established in 2021.
Brian Hills added: “Growing a thriving network of individuals to collaborate, network, engage and learn at various stages of their career is no mean feat, yet we are seeing people come together from all over the world to learn from each other. For years, we have recognised the value AI will bring to organisations. However, we also have seen an increasing demand for people to come together and exchange ideas within our community.
“With more people continuing to join the community each month as they recognise its value and the opportunity to connect with peers, we are proud of the journey of The Data Lab Community to date and can’t wait to see how this continues to evolve over the coming years. Ultimately, our vision is to create the world’s most impactful data community.”
The UK Court of Appeals has ruled that the government must change the current immigration exemption in the Data Protection Act 2018 to improve its clarity.
The ruling, which comes following a case brought by the3milllion and the Open Rights Group, requires the government to set out safeguards, particularly around how people in a potentially vulnerable position within the immigration system are able to access the information held about them.
According to the Open Rights Group, the Home Office relies on the immigration exemption to deny migrants access to their own data in 66% of cases.
“It’s shameful how this government is fighting tooth and nail to deny migrants our fundamental data rights, sidestepping parliamentary scrutiny. We suspect the Home Office use the Exemption especially to justify data transfers abroad, large scale processing and profiling exercises,” Monique Hawkins, the Co-CEO of the3million, a rights group dedicated to European citizens living in the UK, said.
“We expect that the government will drag its feet to try and delay giving effect to this judgment until its new Data Protection and Digital Information Bill becomes law, by which point everyone’s rights will have been weakened. Automated processing and profiling will be made easier, with reduced scrutiny from both Parliament and the Information Commissioner’s Office.”
The Immigration Exemption affects the data protection rights of anyone who has had any contact with the UK Home Office.
More specifically, it effects the right to “subject access requests” which is guaranteed in The Data Protection Act 2018 – this includes knowing what data the Home Office holds, and being have to appeal decisions based solely on automated processing, and have data corrected or deleted.
The exemption allows the Home Secretary to restrict these rights if they are thought to get in the way of what they deem “effective immigration control.”
This might include investigating if someone is abusing the immigration system through a sham marriage or fake degree.
While the Home Office is allowed to create exemptions to data protection rights, there must be appropriate safeguards to prevent the abuse, and these must be set out in legislation.
Currently, the Home Office has merely stated that there must be a policy document containing said safeguards, but this is not part of legislation, nor did they explain to Parliament what the safeguards were.
Therefore, the Court of Appeal has said that the Immigration Exception is incompatible with the Data Protection Act 2018, and has given the government three months to fix the legislation.
The Information Commissioner was an interested party in the claim, and raised concerns that previous actions from the government, including guidance, did not provide enough clarity to an exemption that is used in a significant number of cases.
“This ruling is about giving migrants greater clarity in how their information is used to inform life-changing decisions about where they have the right to live,” John Edwards, the Information Commissioner, said.
“It doesn’t change the immigration process, but it does mean that people will have greater confidence when they ask to see what is happening with their information, those responding to their requests will have the guidance they need to treat people fairly and with greater empathy, and it will be easier for my office to scrutinise where those requests for information have not been handled correctly.
“Given the importance of people’s right to request information about themselves, we are pleased that the court has been clear that the government must clearly set out safeguards when it restricts this right – even when these restrictions are for important purposes like immigration control.
“Protecting people’s rights, particularly where those people may not even be aware those rights exist, is a key part of the role the ICO was set up to fulfil. We were pleased to be able to offer our expertise around this case, and we’ll continue to provide advice to the government to ensure these safeguards are applied in practice.”
The ruling must come as a blow to the Home Secretary as the UK government continues its crackdown on immigration, including its recent plans to stifle legal immigration by raising the minimum wage for the skilled worker visa, as well as raising the minimum wage for the family visa, to over double the current minimum wage.
The new ruling could at least provide immigrants more clarity on how decisions regarding their right to live in the UK has been handled.
“The question now is whether the government will finally act after yet another court tells it that the Immigration Exemption is unlawful or whether they will continue to waste taxpayers’ money on trying to undermine migrants’ data protection rights,” Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, said.
“This victory shows how important strong data protection legislation is in helping us stand up to a government that is intent on undermining human rights. Unfortunately, through the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, the government is taking away the control we have over our data and handing more power to government departments and corporations.
“We call on the government to set out safeguards as instructed by the court but also for parliamentarians to stop further government attacks on everyone’s data protection rights.”
Five years on, GDPR has put the realm of data protection through many trials and tribulations as company’s grapple with changing definitions and the public’s awareness of data privacy increases with targeted advertising, behavioural algorithms, and AI come to the forefront in major court cases and landmark fines.
Here, we’ll go through the top ten largest GDPR fines of 2023.
Meta Platforms – £1.2bn
In May, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, was fined a record breaking £1.2bn by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC).
This was the largest fine ever imposed for an infringement of the EU’s GDPR regulations, and for good reason.
Meta was fined for mishandling how it transferred data between the EU and the US.
Essentially, Meta relied on a standard contractual clause to transfer data between the EU and the US, but the EU was concerned that Meta did not offer the proper safeguards to protect EU data from the US’s lax data privacy laws.
The decisions was not just high-profile because it was a record-breaking fine, or because it was against one of the biggest tech companies in the world, but due to the potential precedent it could issue to data transfers.
It challenged the contractual clause Meta relied on to transfer data to the US, which until recently, was restricted.
The fine and decision came after two lengthy legal battles that originated in 2018, after GDPR was first introduced to the EU.
Each case, one against Instagram and one against Facebook, dealt with the way Meta obtained a legal basis for using consumer data to generate personal advertisements.
The complainants in both cases alleged that the contractual consent, which required users to accept their personal data was being used for personalised or behavioural advertising, was actually ‘forced consent’, as users could not use the service without agreeing to these terms.
In this case, which was originally brought up in 2021, users questioned if TikTok was in violation of GDPR for having users under the age of 13 on the platform despite what was deemed to be insufficient age-verification methods.
While TikTok has a minimum user age of 13, the DPC was made aware of and found instances of children under 13 using the social media platform.
Further, failing to protect these underage users from the view of the public is also put TikTok at fault, resulting in the fine.
4. Criteo – €40m
Criteo, a major European advertising tech company, finally received a fine from the French data protection authority for a case which began in 2018, shortly after GDPR was introduced.
Privacy International first brought up the concerns that Criteo was using manipulative data-processing techniques for behavioural advertising.
An initial decision was made in 2022, but was appealed. In 2023, the French data protection agency decreased the fine from €60m to €40m, but Criteo was still found in failure to demonstrate user consent, transparency, and respecting the right of access.
5. TikTok – £12.7m fine
This one brings us back to the UK, where UK GDPR still upholds many of the European version’s laws and regulations, but falls under the jurisdiction of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
“There are laws in place to make sure our children are as safe in the digital world as they are in the physical world,” John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner said. “TikTok did not abide by those laws.”
The ruling followed much of the same conclusions as the European case did – TikTok was found to have processed the data of 1.4m children under the age of 13, failing to protect these users and conduct adequate checks.
Italy’s DPA fined this telemarketing company for its abusive call centres, and even illegally published personal data in public telephone records without the consent of those consumers.
Reportedly, the company has more room for improvement when it comes to call centre protocol and privacy considerations.
WhatsApp was found to have forced users to consent to personal data collection by putting the clause in their terms of service.
As users could not access the service without agreeing to their personal data being collected and processed, the complainants argued this was forced consent and in breach of GDPR.
This case escalated to the EU’s overriding data protection authority, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), which found that WhatsApp could not use the contract legal basis to gain user consent to their personal data, fining WhatsApp and giving them six months to get policies GDPR compliant.
8. Clearview AI Inc. – €5.2m
Clearview AI, the AI facial recognition company controversially employed by law enforcement authorities, was issued a penalty fine in 2023 after failing to comply with GDPR after an initial fine was imposed in 2022.
The fine began in France, where the data protection body imposed a fine of €20m, and ordered the company to not collect and process data on individuals in France without a legal bases, and to delete data of any of these individuals after responding to requests for access it received.
The company failed to provide any proof of compliance, and therefore received the penalty fine.
9. Spotify – €4.9m
Spotify was fined in Sweden for it’s lack of transparency in how it used the data it collected from its users.
While Spotify did release the personal data it processes when requested, it was found to not offer clear enough information on how this data was used by the company.
Since Spotify has users across the globe, the decision was taken in cooperation with other data protection authorities in the EU.
The case was originally brought up by noyb, the privacy and digital rights group, in 2019, which alleged that Spotify did not provide users with the data they requested, or international data transfers.
10. Trygg-Hansa – €3m
Swedish insurance company Trygg-Hansa was found to have failed to prevent the unauthorised access to the data of 650,000 data subjects.
The data included information ranging from names and contact details, to health details, social security numbers, insurance holdings, and financial details.
The alarming findings showed that this data was accessible in plain text on the internet without any authentication required.
Recruitment for technology professionals is set to increase in the coming year, but firms will face rising salary costs as skills shortages continue despite previous layoffs, according to new research by Robert Half, the recruitment firm.
The company’s 2024 Salary Guide – which analyses and reports on market salaries, hiring trends, and skills requirements across the UK – revealed that half (50%) of tech hiring managers plan to increase headcount for permanent roles in 2024, following a year of turbulence in the tech sector.
According to the data, despite the initial layoffs noted in larger tech businesses at the beginning of the year, demand for technology experts has remained buoyant, particularly in the SME space. This is largely being driven by strong tech talent hiring demands within the financial services, e-commerce, and fintech industries.
A more detailed analysis of the data shows that mid-level Applications Support experts in Software Development and Testing have reported the largest pay increase of 24% so far this year. Demand for junior Product Managers has also driven up wages for these professionals by 14.3%.
Besides this, first line support for cloud and infrastructure at the junior and mid level are expected to increase in salaries by 14.1% and 12.1% respectively.
Data analysts, at the mid-level, are also expected to see a wage increase of about 10.5%.
“It’s been a turbulent year for technology professionals, but despite the significant layoffs we saw at the beginning of 2023, demand has remained buoyant for tech expertise across industries and particularly with SMEs,” Kris Harris, regional director, UK technology solutions at Robert Half, commented.
“As we look to the New Year, the pay rises that many professionals have commanded aren’t showing significant signs of shifting. While pay inflation isn’t sustainable on the current levels we’re seeing, employers will face increased competition throughout 2024 and will need to look at creating a broader benefits package that appeals to these individuals instead.
“That includes offering perks such as healthcare or dental insurance, which are currently of particular demand, mainly driven by the NHS crisis. Other benefits tech professionals have ranked high on their list as per our 2024 Salary Guide are financial allowance for working from home, paid sabbaticals, flexible benefits programmes and fuel allowance.”
2023 saw a breakthrough year for AI advancement and development, and the technology has swiftly become conversationally mainstream. But AI is still emerging from our pre-concieved notions of its possibilities, and still proliferating across applications, industries, and ethical conundrums.
So what can we expect from AI in 2024?
Below, Antti Nivala, founder & CEO of M-Files, a work automation company, details his predictions for AI in 2024.
Knowledge Management Will Become More Holistic
The productivity of knowledge workers is critically important to the growth and profitability of businesses. Knowledge workers work best in a state of flow, where they can be creative, think freely, and problem solve.
Anything that detracts from that “flow state” creates a distraction from higher value-added work. Over the next year, we can expect to see organisations approach knowledge work in a more holistic manner to increase the productivity of knowledge workers by embracing automation.
Automation can eliminate information chaos and improve process efficiency, reducing the amount of time-consuming busywork to allow employees to work smarter and drive better customer experiences.
Generative AI Can Help Tap into New Sources of Knowledge
With the emergence of Generative AI, knowledge work is facing the next level of transformation.
We can expect to see businesses benefit from being able to automate the classification of data, extract its meaning, and interact with that data using natural language.
Knowledge workers can more easily harness the knowledge embedded not only in documents, but virtual meetings and conversations, such as video calls and virtual chats.
By unlocking all the organisation’s intellectual capital, knowledge workers will be more productive, insightful, and deliver better customer experiences.
Ethical AI Will Take the Spotlight
Artificial intelligence has become the new focus of regulation by governments across the globe, with Biden’s executive AI order and the EU AI act aiming to provide stability and guidelines for the rapidly expanding technology.
Mass adoption of AI presents one of the most significant opportunities in corporate history, and organisations must ensure they are leveraging solutions built on a foundation of high-quality data.
With data quality at the heart of the AI conundrum, it is imperative for organisations to take an ethical approach to AI and understand how Large Language Models (LLMs) operate and where they pull their knowledge from. LLMs can be powerful tools, but only if grounded in trusted information.
To better contribute to the safe and responsible development of AI, we’ll see organisations start to treat AI like an intern and consider its findings to be a recommendation rather than instructions.
We will also see regular audits and human involvement increase to ensure AI solutions can be fully trusted.
Generative AI Will Continue to Gain Traction, But Not Without Overcoming a Few Hurdles
Generative AI is gaining increasing traction in the financial services industry, with applications in customer service, fraud prevention, risk management, coding, and data analysis.
It has the potential to save the industry billions of dollars annually by automating repetitive tasks and enabling employees to focus on more creative, profitable work.
However, challenges such as customisation for specific use cases, reliability of generated output, regulation, and a shortage of talent with expertise in generative AI need to be addressed.
Generative AI is promising, but its full potential in sensitive tasks like investment decision-making is still a way off.
Financial services organisations must carefully assess the safety, security, and regulatory implications of AI before widespread adoption can occur.
Integrations & Data Curation Will Become Imperative
Lack of integration between systems prevents the flow of information and creates silos artificial intelligence can’t easily overcome. For any AI application to work, the application needs access to the data it is supposed to process.
In addition to access, organisations need to ensure only relevant and correct data is given to the AIs. In 2024, we can expect organisations to prioritise the curation of data across tools to ensure they can effectively feed their AI tools the right data across curated topics to gain a leg up from the competition.
The Year of AI Assistants
As the new tool in our toolbox, it can take time to figure out how to best incorporate AI assistants to unlock their full potential.
Despite AI assistants having a wide variety of uses, in 2024, we can expect to see vendors tailoring AI assistants for specific, high value tasks within software to help knowledge workers embrace fast access to information, assist with creative tasks, and support ease of use.
AI assistants will become more industry-specific, as well as more personalised. Users can expect the assistant to understand their industry jargon and tailor responses based on their job role and task at hand.
Data Governance Will Be a Key Component of AI Success
With AI assistants relying on quality and current content to provide reliable responses, data governance will become a key focus in the upcoming year.
A general misconception is that you can point an AI assistant to any pile of documents and get reliable results. However, the reality is that content integrated across sources must be cleaned and validated for AI to work effectively.
We will see organisations turn to metadata in 2024 to better achieve data governance.
AI Will Become More Accessible
With the global economic uncertainty, it’s imperative for organisations to evaluate long-term investments carefully.
There will be a fine line between balancing risk, cost, and the fear of missing out on the latest, innovative technologies. While the surge of upsold AI features has historically put pressure on the budget, we can expect to see adjustments to make AI more affordable to small and mid-size organisations.
Instead of being strictly offered as an add-on, AI will become more accessible as customers determine the value they’re willing to pay.
The European Union finally reached a provisional deal on the AI Act, a landmark set of rules and regulations meant to govern the development and deployment of artificial intelligence.
After a near 24-hour debate and 15 hours of deliberation, EU member countries and the European Parliament created the political agreement, which puts the EU one step closer to fully ratifying the EU AI Act in the laborious legislative process.
Member nations and the parliament are set to finalise some of the details in the coming days before it is fully ratified by the parliament and countries early next year, coming into force two years after that.
“Artificial intelligence is already changing our everyday lives. And this is just the beginning,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.
“Used wisely and widely, AI promises huge benefits to our economy and society. Therefore, I very much welcome today’s political agreement by the European Parliament and the Council on the Artificial Intelligence Act.”
What’s In the AI Act?
The EU is taking a multi-faceted approach to AI regulation, rating risks and having specific rules for what they deem to be ‘general AI.’
Applications falling under minimal risk – including basic AI recommender systems or spam filters, will get a ‘free pass’ from specific obligations.
High risk applications, however, will be required to follow strict risk-mitigation regulations, such as using human oversight, keeping high quality data sets, and having a high level of accuracy and cybersecurity.
AI applications deemed high-risk include certain critical infrastructures, systems for recruiting, and those in law enforcement.
The EU has also listed certain applications as being of unacceptable risk, which are those considered a clear threat to the rights of people.
These include AI systems meant to manipulate behaviour, and those which enable social scoring. Some uses of biometric systems will also be banned.
Transparency will also be key to the regulations in an effort to ensure users are aware if AI is being used and if they are interacting with an AI machine rather than a human.
In terms of governance, the EU will create a new European AI Office within the EU Commission to ensure coordination of enforcement.
This office would be empowered to issue fines from €35 million or 7% of global annual turnover (whichever is higher) for violations of banned AI applications, €15 million or 3% for violations of other obligations and €7.5 million or 1.5% for supplying incorrect information.
“The EU’s AI Act is the first-ever comprehensive legal framework on Artificial Intelligence worldwide. So, this is a historic moment. The AI Act transposes European values to a new era,” von der Leyen continued.
“By focusing regulation on identifiable risks, today’s agreement will foster responsible innovation in Europe. By guaranteeing the safety and fundamental rights of people and businesses, it will support the development, deployment and take-up of trustworthy AI in the EU.
“Our AI Act will make a substantial contribution to the development of global rules and principles for human-centric AI.”
However, not everyone is so excited about regulating AI.
Despite many AI developers causing for a halt in development earlier in the year to curb the risks of AI, over 150 people signed a letter against the EU’s AI Act, saying Europe risked being left behind if their regulation went too far.
Signatories included those from Meta and Renault, as well as Siemens in Germany, and Airbus in France, who wrote against the legislation.
It was also found that, despite its founder signing the initial letter against AI’s unhindered proliferation, OpenAI lobbied against the EU to stop their ChatGPT model from being classified as high-risk.
Over this year’s third quarter, Scottish businesses were found to have experienced a downturn in all their activities, with more firms reporting a fall in sales than those reporting an increase.
The report covering Q3 was dismal, with nearly half of firms having cancelled or delayed planned investments in the past 12 months, higher than the two in five firms reported in Q2.
Businesses are also citing government policy decisions as more of an issue over affordability and economic uncertainty, which were not as much of a concern as they were last quarter.
Costs are continuing to squeeze companies, but the nature of costs is changing. Two in three firms have experienced increased costs over the quarter, with workforce costs being the largest cost pressure.
Energy costs, however, have eased slightly, but still remain a major concern form most businesses, with half expecting energy costs to rise over the next six months.
Due to this expected increase in cost pressure, two in three firms expect to retaliate with their own price increases over the next six months, with wages and employee costs expected to be key drivers.
Scottish businesses are expecting that economic and business uncertainty (84%), staff availability (79%), and political uncertainty (74%) to be important over the next three months in guiding their business activity.
However, there is some good news gleaned from the report, as supply chain issues seem to be easing. Now, only about a quarter (24%) of firms find it difficult to source goods and services, down from 2021 Q4’s peak of 52%.
This appears to be where the positive outlook ends, though. Businesses are reporting high vacancy levels and difficulty finding new staff, with three in four firms stating they are more concerned than normal about the availability of new staff.
Of the 45% of Scottish businesses with current vacancies, 86% report they have found it difficult to fill these vacancies.
The main reason for difficulty in finding staff appeared to be a lack of skills or experience – within this, technical skills gaps (79%) were the main issue reported, followed by problem solving and critical thinking (42%).
Retention is also a concern, with a quarter of businesses reporting difficulties, and 71% more concerned than normal about retention.
Troublingly, nearly half (47%) of firms have cancelled or delayed planned investment in the past 12 months. While most of this has been in physical assets (74%), some of it has included investment in the workforce (41%), and technology and information systems (36%).
These latter two could be disastrous for firms looking to bolster their digital transformation efforts, as new technology and skilled workers are vital as new technology emerges and becomes essential to business success.
Economic uncertainty, affordability, and the cost of borrowing has driven these abandoned investments.
Despite this, firms are looking to the future, with 42% saying that they were likely to invest in the next 12 months.
Spire Global, Inc., the Glasgow-based global provider of space-based data, analytics, and space services, was awarded a space services contract by Lacuna Space, a leading satellite IoT connectivity provider.
Under the agreement, Spire will initially build and launch six satellites carrying Lacuna Space’s payload and antennna, with the opportunity to scale the constellation to dozens of satellites. Lacuna Space will operate its payloads and receive encrypted data at its Harwell headquarters.
“Satellites play a critical role in providing IoT connectivity across the globe, particularly to remote, underserved, and developing areas of the world. These services are transformational in enabling new applications across a wide variety of industries and solving some of the biggest challenges facing humanity today,” said Frank Frulio, the general manager of Space Services at Spire.
With six satellites manufactured by Spire at its facility in Glasgow, UK, in addition to Lacuna Space’s ten earlier satellites, Lacuna Space will be able to scale its IoT network for low-cost, reliable global connections to sensors and mobile equipment.
“With Spire Space Services, we have streamlined the process to architect, build, launch and operate satellites reliably, and at a much lower cost than it would typically require new space companies to build infrastructure in space, allowing revolutionary technologies, like Lacuna’s IoT network, to reach the market faster,” Frulio added.
Lacuna focuses on IoT services for agriculture, maritime, logistics, remote infrastructure and environmental monitoring, with applications such as measuring soil moisture for farmers in remote regions to improve crop yield or tracking the movement of assets.
“This contract is a very important step in Lacuna’s progression into commercial operations, and represents over five years of intensive development work to refine the concept and achieve the scalability and reliability required to provide a global commercial service,” said Rob Spurrett, CEO and co-founder of Lacuna Space.
These satellites feature Lacuna’s new proprietary, ultra-high density Gentoo satellite gateway. The satellite gateways work in conjunction with Lacuna’s ground scheduling network, which enables adaptive regional, fine frequency algorithms developed using AI from years of satellite-based spectrum scans.
“Glasgow produces more satellites than anywhere else in Europe, and this contract between Spire Global and Lacuna Space is a fantastic example of how the UK’s strong heritage in space manufacturing is accelerating our progress towards global connectivity and new commercial applications for telecommunications,” said Craig Brown, investment director at the UK Space Agency.
“This collaboration will unlock opportunities for businesses, using satellites to transfer data and information between millions of sensors on the ground that make up IoT, with the potential to scale up further. I’m looking forward to watching the constellation come to life.”
The company has designed, built, and launched more than 170 satellites, and handles the end-to-end management of the satellites, from manufacturing and launch, to satellite operations and customer operates.
While companies are racing to adopt AI, Ivanti’s research shows office workers have not fully bought into the promise of advanced AI. Yet, companies can’t power the AI revolution without employees on board as allies.
For instance, office workers were found to be six times more likely to say that generative AI benefits employers than employees.
Further, over a third (36%) of IT workers are very concerned that generative AI tools will take their jobs in the next five years – in 17 points higher than what office workers said.
While company leaders continue to laud the benefits of AI, workers remain unconvinced.
Leaders report that the top benefits of AI in their organisations are automating mundane tasks (62%), and higher employee productivity (60%).
However, just one in ten office workers say that AI will deliver ‘high improvement’ in productivity.
Enterprise leaders to tech work aren’t aligned on the specifics of how AI will benefit the organisation.
Leaders are significantly more optimistic about the promise of AI. The report uncovers why tech professionals aren’t as enthusiastic – high levels of stress, a fear that AI will poach their jobs and concerns that generative AI will increase the bottom line at their expense.
“Although companies are racing to adopt new use cases for AI, their employees are divided about what it means for their careers,” said Dr. Srinivas Mukkamala, chief product officer at Ivanti.
“Companies can’t afford to shy away from this subject and preaching all the benefits of AI isn’t enough. Executives need to be clear in their communication about AI strategy and how it impacts the future of the employee experience, productivity and career progression. Without employee support and oversight of generative AI, companies will be slow to leverage the gains, and may have unintended consequences without the needed human oversight.”
Additionally, since IT workers will be doing the day-in and day-out work to operationalise AI and automation, they should have an active role in setting the agenda for how companies will use AI – especially where it impacts IT operations and security preparedness.
The report outlines steps companies can take to leverage generative AI while enlisting IT to help define the AI vision and agenda.
Mukkamala continued, “All organizations need to ensure the security, safety and privacy of the data that is collected and fed into AI systems.
It must be taken seriously, and it is non-negotiable to protect the data against misuse, threat actors or malicious intent.
“As guardrails are constructed for AI models, we cannot neglect constructing the guardrails that avoid AI bias, data bias, model/algorithmic bias – and importantly human bias. As we’ve seen in the research, most users and employees are sceptical of AI, so it is important that we establish trust globally with proactive security and AI system resilience.”
Diversity in tech continues to be a hot button issue, not just for the moral implications of equality, but to drive business success – but how is the UK fairing after DEI initiatives have been implemented across the board, and as GenZ continues to enter the workforce.
GenZ, or generation Z, represents the generation falling between 26 and 11, born between the years 1997 to 2012, depending on who you ask.
Defined as digital natives, GenZ are known for their social media savvy, commitment to social justice issues, and care for spending some of their key developmental years in the pandemic.
Now spanning the entire swath of 18 to 26 year olds, generation Z have formally entered the workforce, and have reportedly brought their values with them.
But how is this playing out with the youngest generation in the workforce?
Wiley Edge, the tech recruitment company, released their 2023 Diversity in Tech report, focusing again on GenZ’s experience of gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic diversity in one of the UK’s wealthiest industries.
Education and Employment: Bridging the Gap
Many GenZ are struggling to enter the tech workforce, with over half (54%) saying it took them between four and nine months to secure their first role in the industry. Two thirds (62%) said it was harder to secure their role than expected.
Businesses say they are struggling to find the right talent, with over two thirds (68%) reporting it a challenge to hire digital workers.
Research exposed a gap that may be contributing to this conundrum, with nearly half (45%) of business saying that candidates for entry-level positions often lacked the core technical skills required for a job, despite holding a relevant degree.
Because of this skills gap, some 42% of companies are opting to cut the number of roles requiring a degree in an effort to expand their talent pool, with 53% of companies considering doing the same over the next year for certain roles.
Still, one in three (27%) of businesses are saying they exclusively hire from top universities, which already have their own diversity shortages.
These varying tactics have often left GenZ workers in the lurch, confused on their best route into the business.
Prolonged discussions about the digital skills shortage have brought on the proliferation of many tech and coding bootcamps, which may be enough for GenZ to enter certain roles, but not necessarily progress or compete against those with degrees.
Further, some GenZ may have the perception that a computing science degree is enough to secure a role, but businesses appear to have lost faith in purely traditional forms of tech education.
Despite all this, GenZ are still aiming for roles at some of the biggest tech companies, even though the mass layoffs of 2023 showed these roles to not necessarily offer the stability one might hope for.
Diversity and Inclusion: Perception vs Reality
While 40% of companies in the report admitted they lacked gender diversity, 41% lacked ethnic diversity, and 31% lacked neurodiversity, and 34% lacked socio-economic diversity, 21% claimed to be making no attempts to address their diversity issues.
However, 42% of businesses knew they lacked diversity and actively sought to achieve greater balance across gender, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity.
Around half (47%) of businesses said they implemented initiatives to expand the available talent pipelines, 40% said they did so to increase productivity, and 42% to promote innovation and creativity.
This evidences that the business benefit to DEI initiatives is becoming more apparent.
Some of the most common initiatives companies are adopting revolve around diversity target strategies, including anti-bias training for recruiters (43%), neutral job descriptions (44%), and blind CV (31%).
These efforts are not lost on GenZ tech workers, with only 6% feeling that diversity was not a priority to their employer during their own recruitment journey.
Moreover, a third (34%) believed that diversity was also a significant focus of their recruitment efforts, and 42% notices more efforts recently.
Overall, businesses that do not employ diversity recruitment measures appear to be outliers, and genZ appear to recognise these efforts.
But working towards diversity is only half the battle: inclusion is key to retention.
Three in five (60%) of GenZ tech workers are reporting feeling uncomfortable in a role due to their gender (12% of men vs 33% of women), ethnicity (16%), socio-economic background (14%), or neurodevelopmental condition or other disability (25%).
The reasons for this uncomfortable feeling range from a lack of diversity in the room, a lack of mentors or support, bias treatment, or unwelcoming culture.
Overall, 46% of respondents cited a lack of personal support as the primary cause of their negative experience.
Still, 78% of GenZ workers still claimed to have a mostly positive exprience in the industry so far, with 58% attributing this t0 enjoyment of their work and 49% finding their work interesting.
Further, 54% said they had received either professional or personal support in their roles. Part of this might come from employee resource groups, where employees form groups based on shared characteristics.
35% of businesses surveyed had at least one of these groups, up from 32%, perhaps contributing to a more positive work culture.
Despite all of these initiatives and more positive reports from GenZ tech workers, 76% of businesses reported that they still lack diversity within their teams.
“It’s encouraging to see the beginnings of a success story start to emerge, as employers of tech talent take action and introduce strategies to help improve workforce diversity,” Khadijah Pandor, head of partnerships, EMEA & NA, at Wiley Edge, commented:
“The positive outcomes that many employers are seeing only reinstates the value of this type of work, setting a positive example for other industries facing challenges to follow suit.
“However, there is still more to be done to encourage talent from diverse backgrounds to consider and feel equipped to pursue a career in tech.”
Following Codebase’s acquisition of CodeClan following its sudden closure, the final cohort of Professional Software Development students officially graduated on Friday the 1st of December.
Students were joined by instructors, support staff, friends, and family on the day to toast the accomplishment of completing the course.
Darren Lackie, student representative for the cohort, said: “It was an emotional ceremony that really felt like the end of an era. There was a great deal of emphasis on gratitude to people across the tech community who made it possible, from the instructors who stayed on, the students themselves who persevered, and the likes of FanDuel, who provided a home for lessons to continue.”
CodeBase, the tech ecosystem support organisation, acquired CodeClan’s assets in August following the digital skills academy’s liquidation.
Since then, CodeBase has been focussed on supporting the affected students and instructors, coordinating spaces, teaching, and guidance so that impacted courses could be brought to completion.
This support has been made possible thanks in large part to the collective efforts of the broader tech community, including financial support from The Scottish Government.
But the sudden liquidation did not start out with such support – news of Codeclan’s closure spread on LinkedIn, with all staff being made redundant, and paying students left unable to finish their courses.
Further, many questioned why the Scottish Government had not intervened sooner to save CodeClan from its liquidation.
CodeClan’s CPO at the time, Cari Shaw, wrote on LinkedIn, addressing some of thse questions, that the company had been in contact with the government dicussing financial assistence.
“For whatever reason, they were unable or unwilling to offer financial support when it came down to it, despite positive indications up to that point,” she wrote.
However, a Scottish Government spokesperson then told DIGIT “The Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise worked intensively with CodeClan, including employing independent financial consultants, to explore every possible option to help the organisation secure a sustainable future.”
Codebase had been awarded £42 million from the Scottish Government just over a year before CodeClan’s closure, and soon acquired the digitalskills academy, enabling students to complete their courses.
Now, the last graduates from CodeClan have completed their course, a happy ending after so much tumultuous uncertainty.
Graduates will continue to receive career guidance and support for a number of months as they seek work placements, led by CodeBase and with help from across the Scottish tech ecosystem.
A number of graduates have already secured employment, and CodeBase is actively engaged with multiple organisations across Scotland to support this process.
Yasmin Sulaiman, VP of partnerships at CodeBase said: “Collectively, we are so thankful for the widespread support across Scotland, without which we wouldn’t be celebrating these graduations. This has been an immensely challenging and uncertain time for students, instructors, and affected staff. If there is a call for action, it is for as many organisations as possible to consider employing these talented and resilient individuals.”
Further, a graduate directory has been set up at CodeBase so that prospective employers seeking tech talent can access bios and information on SQA qualified software developers, and data analysts, which can be filtered by specialisms including backend, frontend, java, css, python, javascript, and data science.
As part of the bootcamp course, students undertook projects to showcase their learning and identify real world applications. One such project is Binday.info, a calendar application which gives users reminders for curbside packaging, glass, garden, food and landfill bin pickup dates across Edinburgh.
The project was created by a group of CodeClan students (David Bujok, George Tegos, Lewis Ferguson) and their instructor (Pawel Orzechowski). The app is now available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
As the final cohort concludes, CodeBase is looking ahead to rebuilding a sustainable mechanism that serves the strategic tech talent pipeline needs outlined in the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review (STER), authored by Mark Logan in 2020.
While his later statement claimed that CodeClan’s business model was unstainable, he also said at the time of Codebase’s acquisition that the strategic requirement for Scotland to operate a credible and sustainable tech talent channel has not gone away.
“I’m delighted that all students affected by the closure of CodeClan have been able to fully complete their training courses. That this has been possible is a testament to how Scotland’s business community, in partnership with the government, came together to support affected students,” Logan commented on the graduations.
“The next priority is the launch of a new CodeClan. CodeClan 2.0 is being shaped in partnership with industry to be fully relevant to today’s business environment, it is being designed from the ground-up to be highly scalable, able to meet the needs of prospective students across Scotland, and with a hardened, robust business model. I look forward to its launch in early 2024.”
As part of CodeBase’s commitment to reestablishing this vital channel, a consultation period for the community to share their views on how best to meet the needs of the ecosystem has been established.
An open survey has been launched for interested parties to share their feedback and insights from which will help inform the next iteration of digital skills provision. The results of the consultation period and next steps are expected to be announced early next year.
Climate tech investments now make up to 70% of the built world’s VC investment, up from just a fifth five years ago.
This is according to a new report by A/O, a European built world VC investor, which found that despite a decrease in total investment this year, reflecting the global funding slowdown, investment in building efficiency grew 73%.
Pressure to decarbonise the built world and accelerate the energy transition of the real estate and construction industry somewhat insulated decarbonisation firms from a difficult funding environment.
The built world constitutes any human-made enclosures, spaces, structures, and infrastructure created to adapt the natural environment for human use. The industry accounts for 37% of global green house gas emissions, meaning decarbonisation efforts in the sector are vital to meet climate targets.
The European energy crisis and global regulatory commitments further catalysed interests from investments, meaning the built world only saw a fall in 17% in total capital invested, compared with a 36% year on year fall in the wider VC sector.
Total venture funding fell dramatically in the first half of 2023, by nearly a third (-32.3%), with climate tech also experiencing a 40% decrease in capital investment.
Built world climate tech, however, was much less badly affected with only a 13% decrease in investment. The built world climate sector is projected to raise $11.8 (£9.36) billion in total funding this year, down from $14.3bn (£11.3) in 2022.
Road to Recovery
Despite the fall off in investment, there was an improvement in built world climate funding between Q1 and Q2 of 2023, an increase by nearly half (48%), showing climate tech for the built world may be on the way towards recovery.
A combination of the European energy crisis and the US Inflation Reduction Act is continuing to drive interest in VC investment in energy themes, particularly built world technologies focused on efficiency, electrification, and grid solutions.
Other themes, such as climate management funding for real estate companies focusing on climate risk have not fared so well.
Venture investment for indoor farming tech and carbon capture/storage for industrial real estate is expected to fall this year by more than two-thirds.
In comparison, the wider climate tech sector is struggling to recovery as quickly. In the first half of 2023, investment was down -40%. Overall, climate tech funding end the year down -26% compared to last year.
“The built world is not immune to the wider macroeconomic challenges in the tech and startup world in 2023,” Gregory Dewerpe, founder and managing partner at A/O, said.
“However, climate themes have proven more resilient relative to the wider venture market, and within the built world specifically, we have observed both a more muted downturn and faster recovery – highlighting the underlying tailwinds supporting this transformation and urgency of decarbonising construction and electrifying existing estates.”
As well, for the first time, the total investment in European and North American early-stage built world climate tech has reached parity, though a funding gap exists in the later stages.
In fact, the UK had the third most funding, after the US and Germany, for early stage built world climate tech investment, attracting $1.1bn (£872m) in 2023.
The UK’s level of investment in built world climate tech grew by over a quarter (27%) according to the data despite the overall landscape still in decline.
Some of the fastest growing areas for built world climate investment included retrofit installation, grid storage, infrastructure monitoring, and renewable energy procurement.
Grid storage accounted for more than 40% of the total investment in the UK, followed by climate risk, which accounted for around a fifth of funding activity.
Still, the UK lagged behind Germany, Europe’s largest market, which raised $1.4bn (£1.11bn), and the US, which raised $5.6bn (£4.44bn).
“It’s great to see Europe’s ecosystem continue to grow with early-stage investment in Europe on par with North America for the first time, showcasing that some of the most exciting innovation is coming out of the continent,” Dewerpe said.
“As we get closer to 2030, there is increased pressure on global corporations to cut emissions and make progress on their net zero targets. This new generation of built world companies will be there to help them solve this urgent problem.”
With COP28 launching to tackle the ever-pressing matter of climate change, investment in green technology is timely.
With Gartner predicting that low code will account for 75% of new application development by 2026, making it the norm for the majority of application development in the enterprise, many organisations would be fair to ask if it’s living up to such great expectations.
Evoke Technologies, the IT consulting company, set out to discover if low code is delivering tangible results for those who have adopted it.
Of the 250 UK IT leaders who participated in the research, over three quarters (83%) agreed that low code is living up to its promises, with the majority giving glowing reviews to for its applications and collaboration improvements.
The two key advantages reported the most by leaders were the tech’s impact on collaboration between business and IT (79%) and the increased speed of application development (78%).
Other benefits of the development technology highlighted included lower costs (75%), higher speed of charges/updates (76%), and a reduced need for developer expertise (79%) were also highly significant for respondents.
Over half (58%) of respondents say they are already using their low code platforms to develop mission-critical applications, with nearly three quarters (72%) or organisations saying they will use it to build these applications within the foreseeable future.
AI’s Turbocharging Impact
The report further showed how respondents saw AI as a potential solution to some of the challenges of utilising low code in their organisations.
78% said they planned to use AI capabilities in their low code, with 73% saying that AI advancements will lower the barriers to use the development tools.
Businesses, however, also expected software and service providers to help with this adoption, with 77% expecting guidance on the use of generative AI in their developments.
Barriers to Low Code Adoption
IT leaders cited security (80%), scalability (78%) and platform licencing pricing and vendor lock in (71%) as the three major barriers to further low code adoption.
But organisations also had a range of solutions to increase the use of low code in their organisation.
Solutions included hiring experienced developers with skills in the platform (44%), increasing reliance on providers to deliver low code initiatives (41%), and to educate non-developer staff about low code development opportunities and shorter development lifecycles (37%).
Adrian Bignall, who leads international sales for Evoke Technologies, said: “This research shows that companies will be looking to low code in the future and that choosing the right partner is a vital component on their low code adventure.”
IT leaders continue to grapple with the skills shortage as AI exacerbates existing knowledge gaps and challenges tech teams to adopt new platforms.
This trend was confirmed in a recent Red Hat Inc survey of 300 UK IT managers of large enterprises, which found that about three quarters (72%) of leaders think the AI skills gap needs to be addressed with a matter of urgency.
But it’s not just AI: strategic thinking and business skills (73%) must also be strengthened to ensure business success.
Cybersecurity, agile deliver, automation, and people and human skills are also a top concern for leaders, with 69% of those surveyed cited each as a key skill priority.
But what factors are driving these skills shortages across the tech landscape?
The Problems Behind the Problem
High workloads preventing people from finding the time to upskill (44%) and a lack of budget for said upskilling, training, or recruitment (44%) were some of the top reasons IT leaders cited when asked to ponder this conundrum.
Further, working in silos which prevent cross-team learning opportunities (35%) was also thought to contribute, as well as an inability to keep up with a fast moving, complex software landscape (34%).
But whether the skills shortage derives from a skills or a platform problem remains contested.
A third (33%) of those surveyed believe they do have the right systems in place to serve their business needs, and insist they do not have the right skill sets within the organisation to maximise their platforms’ potential.
On the other hand, nearly half (46%) of leaders said they need new systems to better serve the needs of their business.
Threats to Innovation
When asked about the current barriers to innovation in their organisation, 36% of IT managers pointed to slow adoption of the latest and most efficient processes, while 35% again highlighted the lack of budget for effective training and upskilling.
Further, around a third (30%) said an inability to recruit and retain the right talent was a barrier to innovation, with another 30% saying a lack of access to the right tech platforms to speed up software delivery was the main problem.
Similarly, 27% said that not enough automation was adopted to speed up tasks and increase free time was an issue, and a quarter (25%) cited an insufficient headcount amid a growing demand for services.
When asked what would be top of their wish list to help their team and organisation innovate more and better, the ability to recruit and retain the right talent in the coming year was number one, with a third (33%) saying this topped their list.
This was closely followed by having enough budget for effective training and upskilling (30%).
A quarter of respondents are seeking the right technology platforms to speed up software delivery (25%), and the ability to measure the impact of innovation on business profitability, team satisfaction and performance (24%).
Tech Investment
Looking ahead, IT leaders were asked how they might invest to mitigate these barriers in order to scale their business.
Around a third (30%) of leaders plan on investing on IT modernisation in order to embrace new technologies such as AI, cloud, and containers.
This seems almost in contrast to their continued worries about skills shortages projected to only worsen because of the introduction of these emerging technologies.
Holly Cummins, senior principal software engineer, Red Hat said: “This survey highlights the classic challenge many individuals and businesses face: they don’t have enough time to implement the very changes that will save them time
“The responses also show that people are a core part of the technological landscape. We know that developer experience – for external developers and those inside a company – is one of the most important determinants for business success. This means when providing any new technology, developers need time to get it set up for success and to upskill.”
It does seem that IT leader’s ‘wishlists’ provided in the survey are not in alignment with their actual investment plans, which could be exacerbating the continued skills shortage, putting more pressure on IT workers to adapt without time to upskill or retrain.
