The Scottish Government's Digital Influence

Interviews

65. A limited number of semi-structured interviews were carried out with a sample of people with responsibilities for international communications and engagement in the Scottish Government, its public bodies, and in the higher education sector.^[46] The roles of interviewees were in external relations policy, trade and foreign investment, service delivery and technical support. Interviewees were selected by DIIL with support from the Scottish Government.

66. The aim of the interviews was to describe the current level of understanding, activity, and contextual awareness of digital influence in relevant bodies in Scotland. This would not be enough to constitute a formal baseline but would inform the development of policy and strategy.

67. A qualitative approach was taken to gain an in-depth understanding of the situation, reflecting the fact that there was a small sample of participants (n=11). The interviews were semi-structured to leave enough flexibility to elicit detailed responses to a core set of standard questions (see Appendix A). Responses were entered onto a grid to facilitate comparison against a list of standard categories designed to conceptually organise the findings. The data were disaggregated, broken down into manageable segments, and attributed to these categories, but they were not coded (i.e. identifiers were not attributed) due to the small sample size. This approach generated valuable insights into what was the current understanding and dialogue on digital influence within the Scottish Government and the wider Scottish public sector, and what topics and issues were on the minds of participants. The small sample means, however, that the results need to be treated with some caution.

68. The following paragraphs summarise the analysis of the responses of participants. They follow the order of the core questions.

69. There was a good level of understanding of digital influence among all those with responsibility for communications both within the Scottish Government and in external agencies. The most common understanding of the definition was that it concerns the use of digital channels to influence people's thoughts and behaviours, with a smaller number who stressed influence on perceptions of Scotland. Policy participants with external relations responsibilities emphasised their role in soft power and contribution to Scotland's ability to exert international influence.

70. Interviewees were asked which dimensions of digital influence were most important in their work. Two dimensions were universally identified: raising awareness and changing behaviour, with influence over perceptions coming a close third. The dimensions of engagement on specific topics (such as climate change) and the development of productive networks were relevant to the work of a smaller number of interviewees despite the potential they offer to raise the profile of Scotland in relation to issues of common concern, or for Scotland to shape opinion by forming online networks to build coalitions and communities of interest. This last point is relevant to Scotland's attempts to exert influence in multilateral settings where small countries, in particular, need to work with others to achieve results.

71. The target audiences for digital influence were other governments, consumers and individuals, and businesses. The focus on individuals was mostly found in the external agencies, while the Scottish Government focused more on governments, topic-based networks, and multilateral organisations. Engagement with existing stakeholders to further improve the understanding of domestic and international audiences was stressed as an important activity in the conduct of bilateral relations.

72. It is important to understand who Scotland's 'competitors' for influence in the digital space are if it is to develop effective policies and strategies. There was consensus that these were similar-sized countries with similar characteristics including those with highly educated and English speaking populations. However, the countries identified varied depending on the context. In the European Union, the list included Ireland and the Nordic countries. In Asian export markets, Belgium and New Zealand were also significant. The competition for Scotland in these markets was increasing, and came both from comparable exporting countries and from fast-developing local interests. In relation to competition for foreign students, the competition came from English speaking countries with good higher education systems, such as Australia or Canada, and countries offering English language courses such as Germany or the Netherlands. One interesting comment was that in relation to raising awareness among individuals and/or consumers, there was enormous competition for attention from global entertainment media.

73. There were divergent views of the current state of capacity and capability in digital influence.^[47] While some expressed that Scotland had been active in the digital space for a long time and was well able to leverage its small scale to achieve results, others also mentioned the need for further skills and capacity building.

74. There was universal support from this second group of interviewees for the development of a strategy for digital influence. Although there is a strategy for international strategic communications and digital plays a role in this, the Scottish Government would benefit from further exploration of the role of digital in the international context.

75. Development of a digital strategy would mean:

75.1 Building greater resources in SG to focus on growing markets, influencing existing stakeholders, raising awareness of Scotland, developing networks, changing perceptions and contributing to the shaping of preferences in favour of Scotland; and

75.2 Increasing coherence between policy and communication activities and between teams.

76. Interviewees were invited to suggest what were Scotland's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, in relation to digital influence. There was consensus in all areas, with the exception of opportunities, but the differences there were only of the level of ambition, rather than disagreement as to what could be done.

76.1 Strengths: Scotland has a high level of recognition for a small country with a strong online brand.

"...a strength is there is already a good perception or a positive perception of Scotland. So we are building from a good start." (Scottish Government official - International Office)

"[Scotland has a] ...recognised online brand, where the trust values are high. So, things that we tend to put out, people tend to listen to them and particularly if they're fronted by the First Minister, where she is a strength from a digital perspective." (Scottish Government official)

76.2 Weaknesses: Two key challenges were identified by interviewees. Firstly, there were issues relating to the strategic coherence and coordination of narratives. Secondly, interviewees suggested that Scotland suffered from a lack of resources compared to 'competitor' countries, especially in-country.

"I think it's the resource constraints in tailor-making campaigns for in-country. I think that is probably the key weakness or it could be a risk there. Actually a risk ... is making sure the comms people, are always linked up to the substance." (Scottish Government official - International Office)

"... a lot of our engagement is one way at the moment. And there are ongoing discussions about that, because it's very much a capacity issue." (Scottish Government official)

76.3 Opportunities: There were two views. Firstly, there was an evolutionary approach which stressed the need to build on Scotland's existing reputation and high level of recognition, making better use of existing resources through improved cohesion, and stressing innovation. Secondly, there was a desire to turn the Scottish Government and its agencies into digital-first organisations, capitalising on the digital turn during COVID to build new networks and promote a stronger, more differentiated identity. There was consensus that Scottish Government would need to further build capability in this area.

"... with the COVID pandemic and everything going digital, I think Scottish government has a real opportunity now to look a bit more into this space and try and find the right platforms or different ways to get more into the digital space. And I think also the Scotland's AI strategy is a good opportunity." (External agency)

"...we could have more cohesion and coordination within the Scottish Government where there are areas where we need to have influence to have a, kind of, multi-channel approach." (Scottish Government official)

76.4 Threats: There was consensus that cyber security was the principal threat (though only one actual incident was cited^[48]). Other threats were mixed and inaccurate messaging, and increased international competition.

"...cybersecurity. Increased international competition - make sure that our content is up to date, is current, is relevant." (External agency)

"Threat to security: thinking we need to do on the extent to which when we're trying to present an accurate, authentic perception of Scotland others are less keen to do so or could actively present a picture that's not accurate or interpret our position on issues in a way that's not accurate. We know how quickly an idea can take hold in the digital space when it's left unchallenged or when it attracts a certain amount of following." (Scottish Government official)

77. Interviewees were asked how they would describe their current levels of comfort with three elements of digital influence. They were asked first about digital diplomacy, identified in the literature review as the most useful concept from which to consider digital influence and the most prominent practice of digital influence in the context of international relations. They were then asked about their familiarity with social media, as the main tool of digital influence, to assess the extent to which practitioners increasingly rely on them to inform publics about their activities.^[49] Finally, they were asked about their familiarity with the use of data and analytics to measure impact.

78. There were variable levels of familiarity with the three concepts, with a clear divide in understanding and comfort levels between those whose roles required them to use social media or analytics in their daily work, and those who did not need to do so. Understanding of digital diplomacy was highest among practitioners of digital communications. In relation to social media and the use of data and analytics, there was a clear divide between specialists who were very familiar with social media and others who were not familiar several reported that they had received training which had helped grow their skills and confidence and communications specialists said that familiarity with digital media tools was a requirement at the recruitment stage.

79. Interviewees were asked to describe their vision of success by suggesting what could have changed in three years' time. There were some differences in emphasis between Scottish Government and external agency staff, but overall there was a sense that Scotland had potential to further increase its digital influence as a way of helping it achieve its international goals.

79.1 Outcomes: Scotland would have brought influence to bear on the international stage and there would be an evidence base which would allow Scotland to measure and benchmark that influence. Scottish values would be better understood and better known to international audiences. There would be evidence of successful exercise of influence on specific international partners. Scotland would be recognised as a leading small country where that was the case. Scotland would have better recognition in key markets and that would be translated into economic gains from increased exports and foreign direct investment. Scotland would be seen as an active contributor at a global level.

79.2 Policy and strategy: There would be a more coherent approach to influence. Digital influence would be integrated into policy development at all stages. There would be better links between the Scottish Government's domestic and international activities. There would be more emphasis both on high-level strategic communications, narratives and messaging, with a consistent approach to all channels, and on the development of networks of very localised (by country) channels for in-country engagement.

"Thinking about influence right the way through, from the genesis of policies right the way through to delivery, trying to ensure how we hope to achieve particular influence with other partners internationally and the digital component of that will be the forefront, it will be the part people really are thinking about." (Scottish Government official)

79.3 Organisational change: The Scottish Government and its agencies would be 'digital first' organisations, recognising that this would require culture change and adopting a more agile, modern mind set. Digital outputs and social media would be essential tools for the work that everybody in the organisation does. Business and organisational processes from Human Resources to Procurement would support this and there would be a growth in data-driven approaches and the use of analytics and metrics.

"...if we were able to raise people's awareness of digital influence in this sort of sense and its importance for delivery both internationally and domestically then that would be a good place to be in 3 or 5 years' time." (Scottish Government official)

"In an ideal world we would have more capacity. The world's a big place, if we were able to have more resources in terms of highlighting that message in key markets ... allow people to focus on what they're brilliant at doing ... equip all of our colleagues to have that confidence that they've got resources to then go out and share to their own networks about the work that we are doing." (External agency).