It was on a layby on the A9 that now Chief Entrepreneur Mark Logan got the call from Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy Kate Forbes asking him to conduct a Scottish Government-backed short-life review into how the Scottish tech sector can contribute to the wider economy’s bid to bounce back from the pandemic.

What came as a result was the Scottish Technology Ecosystem: Review (STER) in August 2020.

In its overview, it stated that the sector must aspire to a “tipping point” – the point at which the ecosystem hosts a “critical mass of viable startups and scaleups”. At this point, the review stated, “several virtuous network effects start to spontaneously operate to continually strengthen the ecosystem without further intervention being required”. 

To reach this point, the STER laid out five major recommendations, punctuated by 34 further actionable recommendations.  

The recent unveiling of Scotland’s Tech Scalers saw the official implementation of one of these major recommendations.  

At the event, DIGIT sat down with Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy Kate Forbes – in one of her last interviews before going on maternity leave – to discuss the broader goals and implementation of the Logan Review.  

The Covid Recovery 

A lot can change two years, and with the pandemic having such a profound effect on so many facets of the Scottish economy, it’s put a lot of pressure on the Logan Review’s recommendations. However, Forbes is optimistic that these two years have been productive, and the review has borne fruit. 

On this, she says: “I think there have been two great changes in the ecosystem. The first is a renewed sense of confidence that the government cares about the tech ecosystem and believes in its potential – you saw that through Covid, for example, where we worked very closely with the sector. 

“The second is a more practical and substantive one. There’s investment being made to transform. For example, the ecosystem fund – this has made fundamental change and had a huge impact on businesses and organisations/third sector organisations. So, I think there has been a renewed confidence and a real appetite to grow.” 

With Covid putting huge pressure on the Scottish Government’s coffers, and the Logan Review’s recommendations universally requiring large investment to be realised in any kind of meaningful way, it seems salient to wonder just how much pushback STER received from not only Scottish backers, but those with a wider interest in the country’s economic affairs. 

Without getting overly-specific, the Cabinet Secretary seemed content with the overall response to STER’s recommendations, saying: “I think that there has been widespread support, not just within Scotland, but there’s been interest across the UK – specifically from the UK Government – and beyond in STER, with regards to our international stakeholders.”  

Winning over stakeholders isn’t the only challenge in a project of this scale, delivering it in a timely fashion is, of course, of paramount importance. On this, Forbes alludes to the fact that the pandemic perhaps had a longer lasting effect than anticipated, two years ago – a fact that may have contributed to the Logan Review’s major recommendations not being implemented as quickly as the Cabinet Secretary would like. 

On this, she says: “You can’t get away from the fact that Covid has disrupted a lot in the last two years. In some case, it’s accelerated progress as tech businesses have really stepped up but in other cases, a lot of the focus has been on just getting through the pandemic and supporting businesses. 

“I think that process has disrupted things, but I am very pleased with the progress and the announcement of Scotland’s Tech Scalers is pretty critical.” 

Investment and Scotland’s Tech Scalers 

A recurring theme in the Logan Review is the need for investment – not only for visible, high-profile tech undertakings, but creating frameworks so that funds can be matched up with exciting projects ready for early-seed, series A stage funding.  

Has STER had the intended effect of changing that landscape to be more welcoming for early-stage businesses? 

“I think [the landscape] has evolved,” says Forbes. 

She adds: “It’s evolved because there’s a more joined up approach. A lot of funders have really come in behind STER because they believe in what they see.” However, on this issue, the Cabinet Secretary concede that there’s “a lot more still to be done”. 

Marking the success of big government takings like this is often a nebulous undertaking, especially with something like Scotland’s Tech Scalers – a network that seeks to aid over 300 businesses over the next five years. It’s interesting then to hear Forbes’ take on what the metric for success is for something like this. 

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On this, she says: “The ultimate mark of success is – in my view – for any of us to travel anywhere in the world in 10 years’ time and to hear that Scotland is known for its tech ecosystem, because it has built far more successful businesses. However, that’s a very intangible thing, as it’s about reputation. 

“The tangible is, ultimately, more successful businesses and seeing really successful clusters of businesses working together.” 

As Tech Scalers is a five-year project, what will be the metrics for success or failure by the time it’s over? How do we avoid engendering a dependency mentality with those participating? 

While it’s impossible right now to see just how effective the implementation of the Scottish Technology Ecosystem Review will be, the fact that we’re seeing huge investment to bring something like Scotland’s Tech Scalers to light at the very least, speaks to the fact that the Scottish Government is confident in its progress and clearly stands its decision to self-assess with regards to Scottish tech.  

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