Scotland's International Framework: US engagement strategy (draft)

Strategic Objective 2 - Relationships and Partnerships

Aim: We will work with partners to share local knowledge and build bilateral relationships and networks. We will use these connections to create and shape opportunities of value to Scotland. We will continue to be a good global citizen, making distinctive contributions to addressing global challenges such as climate change, tackling inequality and promoting human rights.

Public diplomacy and governmental exchanges

Engagement with different levels of government within the US will allow us to exchange experience of policy development and the delivery of public services. It will help us to understand how political developments in the US might have an impact in Scotland. We will seek to promote those areas where Scotland has genuine best practice to share in policy development, while remaining open to learning lessons from national, state and local authorities. We will develop connections with federal level government and legislatures, through for example the Friends of Scotland caucuses in the Senate and House of Representatives. Engagement with individual state governments and agencies represents an opportunity to build connections with parts of the US where there is potential to develop partnerships that support Scottish interests in areas such as climate change. We will promote an awareness of Scotland in public discourse in the US by working with leading academic institutes, think tanks and other centres of expertise.

Diaspora engagement

The US is home to Scotland's largest overseas diaspora community, which most clearly manifests itself in the broad and diverse network of ancestral and cultural organisations that span the country. This community represents an enormous wealth of goodwill towards Scotland, celebrating and promoting Scotland's heritage and culture and offering connections to the business community. Other communities with a connection to Scotland, such as GlobalScots and university alumni, broaden the professional, academic and cultural networks available to Scottish organisations and help them understand and influence key issues in the US. Working with them will support our objectives across a range of sectors and topics.

Research, innovation and entrepreneurship

We aspire to be a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation. Maximising the impact of Scotland's science and innovation base is best achieved through collaboration with global centres of excellence. The US is the world's largest source of scientific research, innovation, technological development and entrepreneurship. It is a leader in fields as diverse as digital connectivity and content, healthcare and wellbeing, and energy generation and distribution. While there are many strong existing collaborations between the Scotland and the US, we will continue to draw heavily on links with world-renowned centres of expertise in entrepreneurship and innovation to strengthen this relationship further and to attract US investment in Scottish science and innovation.

What is our long-term ambition?

• Deepen our understanding and connections with federal government and legislatures, and identify opportunities to develop relationships with state and local levels of government where there is a potential for collaboration in key areas.
• Ensure a thriving community of organisations in the US with an interest in Scotland's culture, supporting activity that draws on the best of Scottish heritage and history while also celebrating all modern Scotland has to offer.
• Develop strong networks of individuals and organisations with a professional or academic connection to Scotland, ensuring their continued goodwill and seeking opportunities to work with them on matters of mutual interest.
• Broaden and deepen the connections between the US and the Scottish research, innovation and entrepreneurial communities and explore the potential and viability of an Innovation and Investment Hub in the US.