A Changing Nation - how Scotland will thrive in a digital world: progress report 2021 – 2024

2. Objective 1: “People and place”

2.1 What was the aim?

Digital connectivity, essential digital skills, equality of access and transparency are the foundations for all of our digital ambitions in government. Our joint objectives in the Strategy were that:

• all businesses and people, wherever they may live in Scotland, have access to good quality connectivity;
• everyone is equipped with the skills and confidence at every stage of life to thrive in the digital world; and
• digital products and services are designed and delivered in a way that is inclusive, ethical and seeks to uphold people’s digital rights.

2.2 How are we delivering this?

Connectivity

Enhancing Scotland’s superfast broadband coverage and maximising the availability of gigabit-capable broadband infrastructure is critical because digital connectivity is an economic enabler and a key part of our plans for green and resilient economic growth. It enables people to work and learn remotely, to keep in touch with friends and family and provides local businesses with the opportunity to conduct business worldwide.

When the Strategy was published in 2021 the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme had extended fibre broadband access to more than 950,000 homes and businesses across Scotland. This transformed access to broadband in rural areas, with 65% of premises in Orkney, 75% in Shetland and 79% the Western Isles able to access superfast broadband. We made commitments in the Strategy to go further than this and to ensure broadband coverage for all.

The ‘Reaching 100%” (R100) programme is investing over £600M in digital infrastructure across Scotland, with the R100 contracts expected to continue to deliver gigabit-capable connections until 2028. This is a huge and complex civil engineering undertaking which requires the construction of many miles of new ducts and cables. Where a premises is beyond the reach of the R100 contracts or commercial build plans, the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme offers up to £5,000 to eligible premises to secure, as a minimum, a superfast connection.

At the same time, the Ofcom ‘Connected Nations’^[5] report noted that approximately 20% of Scotland’s landmass – mostly harder to reach rural areas – did not have mobile 4G coverage from any mobile company. In recognition of this, the Strategy committed to improve rural mobile coverage to ensure that our hardest to reach communities had access to 4G mobile services.

Digital skills

Good connectivity is just one of the founding principles of a digitally inclusive nation. Everyone, not just people directly involved in the tech sector, needs sufficient digital skills so they can benefit from digital technology. When the Strategy was published in 2021, research indicated that 75% of all job advertisements required basic digital skills – such as the ability to use spreadsheets – so that people lacking even these skills had significant barriers to entering the labour market^[6].

The Strategy made commitments to:

• strengthen the digital capabilities of the current workforce to respond to the changing requirements of the current workplace; and
• increase the diversity of the current and future workplace, so that digital solutions are more representative of society.

Digital inclusion

Even in 2021, digital technology had become so crucial to our everyday lives that people without sustainable digital access were unable to access essential services. When the Strategy was published, data from the Scottish Household Survey stated that digital access in the most deprived areas was lower than in the most affluent areas (82% compared to 96%); and that the number of adults aged over 60 accessing the internet was significantly lower in comparison to adults of all ages (66% as opposed to 88%).

Our commitment in 2021 was to extend the Connecting Scotland Programme. Connecting Scotland’s vision is to create digital opportunity for everyone in Scotland and provide internet-enabled devices, connectivity, and digital skills support to people across Scotland who are digitally excluded. This vision is underpinned by three principles: empowering people to thrive and improve their wellbeing through digital access; enabling organisations to work together and improve digital inclusion services; and engaging with users to ensure that what we do meets their needs, and no-one is left behind.

Ethics

The final area in terms of people and place concerns ethical use of digital technology. Research indicated that the UK scores lower than most European countries on the public sector’s ability to safeguard the data of its citizens’ privacy, and reduce misinformation^[7]. The Strategy committed the Scottish Government to develop and embed an ethical framework; and to continue to work in partnership with stakeholders and the public to develop principles underpinning the design and build of digital public services and conducting digital trade.

The Strategy also reinforced the commitments set out in the Open Government action plan: 2021 to 2025 to promote transparency and accountability to ensure that people are empowered to gain insight into how data is used in the design and delivery of services.

An ethical approach to data also becomes increasingly important when considering the growth and expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into everyday life. It is vital that Scotland can maximise the potential economic and social benefits of AI. To address this, in 2021 the Strategy committed to publishing an AI Strategy which would have as its core principle open and meaningful dialogue with the public and stakeholders. The aspiration is for Scotland to set the global standard for responsible ethical and trusted development and application of AI.

2.3 What progress has been made?

Connectivity

We are exceeding our Superfast Broadband commitment by delivering full fibre connections for the vast majority of premises included in the R100 contracts. This can enable download speeds of up to a gigabit (1,000 megabits per second) – 30 times faster than our strategy commitment – and establishes resilient rural connectivity for generations.

The programme has laid 16 new subsea cables in preparation for terrestrial build, to connect 15 Scottish islands and enhance Scotland's digital infrastructure resilience for generations. By the end of 2023, over 36,000 connections had been built through the R100 contracts, with delivery of a further 9,000 premises unlocked thanks to R100 contract build in those areas.

Case Study – Superfast Broadband Subsea Cables connecting Fair Isle

A subsea cable now stretches the Shetland to Orkney Islands, with a spur connecting Fair Isle almost two years ahead of schedule.

“We are a small population and want to grow and encourage people to be a part of our community. Getting a full fibre connection so that people can more easily work and live here is a major part of that. We need all hands on deck to make the island run.” (Fiona Mitchell, Postmistress).

In what is believed to be a world first, our delivery partner Openreach had to deploy innovative engineering to boost the signal strength due to the distances involved.

“Regular fibre signals just couldn’t go the distance, so we had to get creative with some world first engineering to transmit life-changing ultrafast broadband over 100 kilometres to islanders. We had to do everything differently on Fair Isle, from planning around bird nesting seasons to setting up flat-packed cabins for our crew.” (Fraser Rowberry, Openreach Chief Engineer for Scotland)

In addition, around 3,700 connections had been delivered via the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Case Study – Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme Recipient in the Scottish Borders.

“…with this connection I can chat, video call and even send e-cards to everyone. If I didn’t have the connection, I would feel alone and quite honestly wouldn’t be very happy”.

By December 2023, the Scottish 4G Infill Programme had built and activated 55 mobile masts covering 1,823 households and 388 businesses in rural and island Scotland.

In Local Government, councils within the Tayside City Region completed an Infralink Exchange pilot with Scottish Futures Trust (funded by the UK Government) to provide greater access to data about current mobile coverage, and the availability of council assets in the region that could be used to host telecommunications equipment to telecommunications providers.

Case study – S4GI Impact Rhins of Galloway, Dumfries and Galloway

“Prior to the mast being installed we didn’t have mobile phone coverage which left us feeling isolated and being left behind “technically”. We used to have to walk into a field to try and get a signal. We can now enjoy the freedom of going online, being able to make and receive calls and are not afraid of missing any business calls which is especially reassuring for our business”.

Digital skills

Over £4 million has been invested via Skills Development Scotland to upskill the current workforce and improve diversity. This resulted in initiatives including:

• The Digital Start Fund to support people on benefits or low incomes to move back into the workforce, or from existing jobs into higher value tech jobs;
• The Digital Skills Pipeline which provided funded courses for people on low incomes to begin building their digital journey so they can progress into digital careers such as cyber security, software development and data analytics; and
• Grant funding to Code Your Future which supported vulnerable people, including refugees, to progress into jobs in the tech sector.

Case study - how Code Your Future has helped Ahmed to go from asylum seeker to software developer

Case study - how Code Your Future has helped Colette find employment in the digital tech sector

Scottish Government has awarded £170,000 to Digital Xtra to support their 7th and 8th round of grants in 2021/22 and 2022/23. They provided grants of up to £5,000 to organisations delivering extra-curricular computing and digital technology activities for young people.

In 2021/22 this supported 35 grants covering 24 Local Authorities and included 23 primary schools, 3 secondary schools, 3 colleges or universities, 2 libraries, and 4 additional educational bodies. In 2023/24 This funding supported 26 schools and educational organisations. The 26 grants covered 18 Local Authorities and included 13 primary schools, 4 secondary schools, 1 school for pupils with additional support needs, 2 councils, 1 library and 5 additional educational organisations.

Case study - how Digital Xtra has made a real impact on people’s lives

Since 2022/23, the Scottish Government has provided funding of £430,000 for public sector organisations to upskill their employees in cyber security qualifications and certification to help strengthen their cyber security defences. The first phase of this funding in 2022/23 benefited 85 workers from across 30 organisations including 17 Local Authorities, 12 NHS Scotland Boards (including Scottish Fire and Rescue and Scottish Ambulance Service) and The Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Digital inclusion

To address digital exclusion, Connecting Scotland has provided 61,000 devices delivered in collaboration with key partners, including SCVO, Local Authorities, COSLA, and third sector organisations. Devices came with a minimum of 2 years free connectivity and skills support training.

Research shows the extent to which Connecting Scotland has impacted on their lives:

• 86% told us they were more able to stay in touch with family and friends;
• 83% stated they were more able to find interests to stay mentally active;
• 74% said that their mental health has improved;
• 86% told us that their digital skills had improved during their time with Connecting Scotland.

Since publication of a Full Business Case in 2023, the programme has evolved to provide a wider range of models to support more people in different ways.

Case studies – users have shared their experiences of the support provided by Connecting Scotland:

“Now I can go on FaceTime and everything and see my daughter and grandkids. It’s brilliant, it’s changed my life. It’s like day and night.”

“That’s my lifeline. It might not sound a lot, but in my mind it makes me in my body feel better, not as tense as what I am. If that wee green button is on, I can contact anyone at the touch of a button. In your flat, you could batter the windows and doors and nobody would know”.

“It’s saved my sanity to tell you the truth. The thought of being on my own with no one. It’s opened up my life and let me live a bit more. It’s kept my brain ticking and kept me sane.”

“It’s been life-saving just to have the Mi-Fi connection… I had been homeless for 3 years and it was daunting - trying to keep in touch with people and trying to find work.”

“It’s been very helpful, before this device I could not use a computer. There are lots of different things that I have been able to do….looking for work and [managing] my Universal Credit.”

The Digital Participation Charter Fund invests in community digital inclusion projects across Scotland, with a focus on digital skills. It provides small grants to help a range of organisations tackle poverty, social isolation, and other forms of inequality in society through embedding digital upskilling in day-to-day activities. The support given through the Fund enables organisations to help the people they support to realise the benefits of digital and build their skills and confidence.

Ethics

We commissioned an expert group on digital ethics to outline priority recommendations for digital ethics. An action plan on these recommendations is now under development and will be published later this year.

Full progress update on the open data commitment to promote transparency and accountability to ensure that data is being used in an ethical way

We also launched the Unlocking the Value of Data programme in March 2022 to support ethical decision-making by data controllers regarding private sector access to Scotland’s public sector personal data. This was initially steered by an Independent Expert Group whose final report^[8] was published in August 2023, along with supporting evidence, and we are now considering the group’s recommendations.

Scotland’s AI Strategy was published in 2021 and has delivered several key products as we work towards our aspiration for trustworthy, ethical and inclusive use of AI in Scotland. Key products delivered as part of the AI Strategy include:

• AI Register^[9], developed in collaboration with Finnish start-up Saidot as part of a CivTech challenge. Launched in March 2023, it makes transparent the development and use of AI in the public sector;
• AI Playbook^[10], guide to AI in Scotland. It provides a one-stop source of information and shared best practice which everyone in the Scottish AI community can use and contribute to;
• Living with AI course^[11], a free online course, Developed by the Scottish AI Alliance in partnership with The Alan Turing Institute, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and the non-profit We and AI;
• AI and Children programme^[12], a collaboration with The Alan Turing Institute and the Children’s Parliament. Phase 1 explored children’s rights in AI, working with Primary 5 to 7 classes from four schools in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Doune and the Shetlands. Phase 2 began in April 2023;
• Scottish AI Summit^[13], the annual flagship conference of the Scottish AI Alliance, showcasing trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI activity across Scotland.