Data and AI skills should be part of a ‘sustained’ national industrial strategy according to a new report published by the University of Edinburgh.
Academic experts have urged ministers not to treat investment into data and AI skills as part of ‘discretionary’ education spending, and to ensure it is ‘foundational’ to the national economic development plans.
The new Governing the Future: Recommendations from the Edinburgh Data and AI Exchange, published today, emerged from a cross-sector event which set out the ‘practical priorities’ for Scottish and UK governments on AI infrastructure, workforce skills and democratic governance.
The report draws on a day-long Stakeholder Assembly held at the Edinburgh Futures Institute this Spring, which saw the University of Edinburgh bringing together participants from central and local government, the NHS, finance, academia, civic society and the wider public to work through the practical implications of the Scottish Government’s AI ambitions.
The recommendation reflects a growing body of evidence that Scotland’s AI ambitions are being held back by a skills gap at their foundation. Research by The Data Lab found that 62% of Scottish business leaders rate their organisations’ data and AI literacy as moderate or low. Without sustained investment in workforce capability, the report argues, AI infrastructure cannot be used well, applications cannot be governed properly, and governance frameworks cannot be understood or scrutinised by the people they are meant to serve.
The call sits alongside a broader set of asks directed at Holyrood. On skills and education, attendees at the event also called for AI to be integrated into the school curriculum, with adequate training and support for teachers to deliver it effectively.
Attendees also called for an AI infrastructure strategy on a significantly long-term planning horizon, modelled on the approach taken with energy and transport, and for any new commercial data centre development in Scotland to establish a community benefit trust, ensuring tangible returns for the communities that host it.
Professor Michael Rovatsos, chair of artificial intelligence and dean of research and innovation in the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, said: “Scotland has a genuine opportunity to show what responsible AI leadership looks like in practice – not just in ambition, but in how it equips its workforce with the skills to use these technologies well and ensures its communities see tangible benefit from AI. Working to create a dialogue between government and the public underlines the university’s commitment to playing its role as a civic institution in shaping how we will collectively navigate a future that may well be transformed by these technologies.”
On health data, attendees also called for a statutory public benefit requirement for any private sector access to NHS Scotland data, tested against a triple bottom line of societal benefit, commercial benefit, and contribution to scientific discovery, with consent standards that are specific, informed and freely given.
Professor Julie Jacko, professor of health informatics and data science and dean of innovation & engagement, College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said: “The opportunity for AI to transform health outcomes, in particular, is real and it is time-sensitive. But realising that opportunity depends on getting the governance right first – being clear about who can access patient data, on what terms, and to whose benefit. The framework this report proposes, grounded in societal benefit, scientific value, and meaningful consent, is the right place to start. Getting that governance right is not a barrier to innovation. It is what makes innovation trustworthy.”