Julia McMurdie leads digital infrastructure investment as the Digital Renewal Manager at North Ayrshire Council. She oversees the Ayrshire 5G Innovation Region, advancing 5G and wireless technologies to drive regional growth. Collaborating with partners like the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, Ayrshire College, University of the West of Scotland and the Scotland 5G Centre, she works to position Ayrshire at the forefront of digital innovation and business growth. As the local authority lead for the Regional Digital Economy workstream, Julia engages with the telecom industry to influence and shape investment to deliver optimal results.  

Dr Clarisse de Vries is a lecturer at the University of Glasgow. She works on the development and testing of AI for breast screening, aiming to make sure that AI in healthcare is safe and benefits everyone. Before her appointment in Glasgow, she was a Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, where she contributed her data science expertise to the evaluation of an AI breast screening tool called MIA. Her work has been published in scientific journals and noted by popular news outlets, including the BBC. Last April, she also received the Rising Star Award at the 2024 UK Advancing Healthcare Awards, recognising her contributions to this emerging field. 

Kim McAllister is a freelance journalist and event host, as well as a communications consultant for Connect. She has presented seven series of Clever About Cash on BBC Radio Scotland as well as contributing to other radio shows across the network. She writes business features for the Herald and has been published in many major newspaper titles. She spends a lot of her time producing podcasts for clients across the UK and is a trustee of The Yard, a charity for children and young people with disabilities. 

Ivan McKee was appointed Minister for Public Finance in May 2024 where he supports the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government. 

His career has involved a number of senior roles in manufacturing and business, managing companies in the UK as well as Poland, Finland, Croatia and Bosnia. 

Early in his career, Ivan spent two years with VSO in Bangladesh. He is currently a trustee of the charity CEI, which supports education and health projects in Bangladesh. 

Ivan has been MSP for Glasgow Provan since May 2016. He was brought up in Glasgow where he studied at the University of Strathclyde. He also studied at the University of Newcastle. 

He was previously the Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation and Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise. 

Iain Pilbeam-Cornfield is a seasoned Digital Infrastructure Manager at Aberdeen City Council, bringing over 14 years of experience in the digital sector across both public and private settings. He leads large-scale digital transformation projects aimed at improving local outcomes and driving cost savings through competitive procurement and innovative technology solutions. With expertise in cloud, data centre, and on-site infrastructure, Iain successfully delivers multi-million-pound projects that focus on business outcomes, ensuring the best possible solutions to meet organisational goals and end-user needs. 

In 1999, Mr Lubi started working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was an Economic Adviser at the Estonian Embassy in London 2002-2006. After that, he worked as a Director of the General Affairs Division in the EU Department. In August 2009, Mr Lubi took up the position of Economic Adviser at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, DC. In 2011, he was seconded to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in Estonia. In 2013, Mr Lubi took up office in New Delhi as the first residing Estonian Ambassador to India. After 3 years, he served as a Vice Minister for Economic Development in Estonia. Since 2021, Mr Lubi has been the Ambassador of Estonia to the United Kingdom. 

Paula Olin is a Home services leader with 27 years of experience working in the Social and Healthcare sector. She has a Masters degree in Administrative Sciences (Social and Healthcare Management) and is currently working for a Welfare area in Finland. She is interested in technology and how it could be an everyday part of clients living at home. 

Geoff Huggins is Director for Digital at the Scottish Government.  Previously he was Director of the NHS Education Scotland Digital Service working to create the NHS National Digital Platform.  From 2013 to 2018 he was Director for Health and Social Care Integration and from 2017 to 2018 also Director for Digital Health and Social Care.  Prior to that he was Head of Mental Health for nine years.  From 1991 to 1998 he worked for the Northern Ireland Office working on security and political development.  He holds degrees in law and criminology from Queen’s University, Belfast.  He is a non-executive director of Cornerstone, Penumbra and the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership.  He runs a little, takes photographs and watches films.  

Adrian is passionate about empowering local authorities to innovate and better serve their communities through secure, scalable cloud solutions. Through his work at AWS, Adrian strives to be a true partner to local governments, helping them navigate the complexities of digital transformation and realise the full potential of cloud technology in serving their communities. 

Founder of Storm ID and Lenus Health with over 20 years of experience in driving digital transformation across a range of industry sectors. Paul was an early proponent of using machine learning to develop predictive analytics, resulting in a spin-out of the Lenus business from Storm in 2020 to bring a highly innovative AI-based solution to the health sector to support the diagnosis and management of people with long-term health conditions. 

As the most senior civil servant in Scotland and head of the civil service supporting the Scottish Government, the Permanent Secretary is the principal policy adviser to the First Minister and Secretary to the Scottish Cabinet.

JP leads the Scottish Government civil service to deliver the full range of devolved powers and duties set out in the Scotland Act. As the principal accountable officer for the Scottish Government, JP is personally responsible to the Scottish Parliament for the exercise of his responsibilities. This includes the management of the Scottish Government’s £59 billion budget and the economic, efficient and effective use of all related resources.

Leading more than 7,000 civil servants who work for the Scottish Government in Scotland, London and around the world, JP supports the development, implementation and communication of government policies. This work is undertaken in accordance with the Civil Service Code, upholding its four core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

Married with two children, JP was born in the Channel Islands and lives in Scotland. JP is committed to building a world-class, values-led civil service which excels in serving the public.

Clinical Director, North East of Scotland Breast Screening Programme

Consultant Radiologist, NHS Grampian

Vice Chair, RCR British Society of Breast Radiology

National Innovation Fellow, Chief Scientists Office

Dr Gerald Lip is the Clinical Director for breast screening in the North East of Scotland and the Principal Investigator of the GEMINI prospective evaluation of mammography artificial intelligence supported by the NHS National Strategy for AI in Health and Social Care.  He has recently completed a 4-year retrospective research project in the same topic with the Industrial Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Diagnostics in Scotland.

Dr Lip has recently been awarded a two-year Innovation Fellowship by the Chief Scientists Office of Scotland to lead innovation adoption in the NHS. Dr Lip is the vice chair of the British Society of Breast Radiology and sits on the UK Royal College of Radiology Informatics committee, on the Advisory Board of the Centre for Doctoral Training for Biomedical AI in Edinburgh University and is a scientific advisor to the National Covid Chest Imaging Database.

Dr Lip is active in research, education and training publishing on work with radiology trainees in AI, opinions on the member of the public and professional colleagues on AI and also sits on the British Institute of Radiology AI special interest group leading on education.

A graduate of Trinity College Medicine, along with his medical degree he also qualified with an Msc. in Health Informatics and completed his radiology training in Aberdeen. He is an honorary senior clinical lecturer in the University of Aberdeen. Dr Lip has published and spoken on topics nationally and internationally such as patient engagement, innovation in breast imaging techniques, quality assurance and safety and monitoring in AI.

Myra Hunt has spent the last 25 years leading large scale digital and data transformation programmes.  As CEO (job share) of the Centre for Digital Public Services, she is driving the development of devolved services in Wales to deliver the national digital strategy. She has led global programmes for both the BBC and British Council, moving these from traditional analogue businesses into multimedia digital organisations, in both multilingual and commercial services. She served as Chief Digital Officer at Defra from 2017 to 2021, supporting Brexit farming and environmental service changes.  She has also worked as a NED in the NHS and university sector. She is a qualified IPA major projects reviewer.  

Ann-Marie was appointed by NHS 24 as Chief Information Officer in April 2017 leads the Information, Communication and Technology directorate. 

Ann-Marie has over twenty years of IT experience and has held a number of senior roles across the public and private sectors including Chief Information Officer for National Trust for Scotland, Chief Information Officer for Care Visions Group, Head of Technology for Glasgow City Council and Compliance and Data Warehousing Manager for National Australia Group Europe.  Prior to this Ann-Marie held a number of technology based positions after graduating with a B.Eng in Software Engineering.  This was a significant change in having started her career as a State Enrolled Nurse. 

Paul is currently the Deputy Secretary in the Department of Finance responsible for the delivery of Digital, Security and Finance Shared Services across the Northern Ireland Civil Service. 

He is the Senior Responsible Owner for the Integr8 Programme, which will transform how Finance, HR and Payroll services are delivered across Central Government, enabled through the introduction of a new integrated, cloud-based technology solution. 

Paul is a Fellow Chartered and Certified Accountant and is a graduate of the Major Projects Leadership Academy and the Orchestrating Major Projects programme at the Saïd Business School at Oxford University.   

Sarah Forbes is a Digital Economy Specialist at Scottish Enterprise specialising in delivering economic growth and productivity through the delivery of a diverse range of digital projects.  

With over 12 years’ experience leading people, projects and change in the Retail sector, Sarah pivoted into digital tech 2 years ago and focuses on scaling Scotland’s tech sector through enabling collaborative opportunities to connect demand with supply across Scotland’s industry verticals.   

She currently leads on a number of regional, national and European digital projects with a specialist focus in Blockchain and Digital Trust and has been a key driver behind the development of the recently established Scottish Blockchain & Digital Trust Taskforce as well as representing SE on other national digital groups.  

Jarmo Eskelinen is an urban data and smart cities expert leading the Data-Driven Innovation (DDI) initiative. DDI is a 15-year, £661m investment and innovation programme delivered by the University of Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt University and external partners. As part of the Edinburgh City Region Deal, DDI has launched a data innovation platform of six centres across ten industry sectors, from creative industries to fintech, agritech and robotics, to educate 100,000 data scientists, support 1000 to build success with data and launch or scale up 400 start-ups, establishing Edinburgh as the Data Capital of Europe.  

Andres Raieste began his career as a digital government expert in Estonia, one of the most digitalised countries in the world. He is an established thought leader in public administration and digitalisation who has co-authored white papers and advised governments throughout the world on digitalisation, transformation, and the creation of a digital society.  

Jonathan is the Chief of Staff and Chief of Global Affairs at Recorded Future, where he is responsible for the company’s key strategic relationships across the 5 Eyes, and with Nation State partners worldwide.  Previously he founded Epsilon Advisory Partners, a strategy and advisory firm, and CyLon Ventures, Europe’s leading early-stage investor in cyber and national security technologies. Jonathan also co-hosts GAINS, a Summit exploring the impact of AI on National Security.From 1998-2012 Jonathan was a senior British Diplomat, serving as an advisor to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street, specialising in national security issues, technology and innovation. 

Nia is an experienced leader of digital transformation who has helped the Scottish public sector deliver services that are more efficient to run and meet the raised expectations of today’s customers. She now helps organisations transition to working in the cloud.
Before that Nia spent 19 years working in both the Welsh and English public sector delivering policy improvements, community development, digital connectivity and business transformation.

Eilidh McLaughlin is the Deputy Director for Digital Ethics, Inclusion and Assurance and is head of the Digital Citizen Division.  The Division is new within the Digital Directorate and covers the Connecting Scotland programme and the Ethical Digital Nation team.  It also comprises Information Management and Assurance teams, thus considering digital citizenry from an internal and external perspective. This role combines Eilidh’s previous experience in corporate governance, equalities and information management.  The ethos of the Division is to make sure that No One is Left Behind and to ensure that digital work is done in an ethical, inclusive way.  

Moira Mackenzie is Deputy Chief Executive at Scotland’s Innovation Centre for Digital Health and Care (DHI). DHI is hosted by the University of Strathclyde in an exciting collaboration with Glasgow School of Art. DHI’s recently published 10 year strategy sets out how it will achieve its mission to “transform great ideas into real solutions”. DHI inspires, enables and combines world-leading expertise with service, business and technical innovation to design and develop person-centred digital innovations which positively impact society. Moira’s extensive cross-sectoral expertise includes previous senior roles within the Scottish Government, NHS and Local Government. 

Jacqueline is the Head of Service for the National Clinical Safety Assurance Service within NHS Scotland. She reports directly to the CCIO of NHS National Services Scotland within the National Clinical Informatics Service for Scotland. She is an experienced Clinical Safety Engineer (Officer), working with various health IT across NHS Scotland. Jacqueline leads and helped to develop a multidisciplinary team of experienced Clinical Safety Officers and Clinical Safety Engineers who work collaboratively to complete Clinical Safety Cases to the Scottish Approach, aligning with ISO 14971. She also leads the Quality Team who complete Medical Device Regulation Clinics and lead on Compliance of Medical Devices, specifically focusing on Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and ISO 13485. She is a nurse by background, formerly working as an Emergency Nurse in the United States. She has masters degrees in Nursing and Business Administration. 

Neil joined Sopra Steria in May 2024 to lead the UK Data & AI Practice. His role is to partner with Sopra Steria’s customers to deliver efficient, ethical Data & AI solutions and services, as industry and government transform their organisations through the adoption of AI. 

Neil has worked in a variety of industries and roles during his career, always with a focus on generating business value from technology. Prior to Sopra Steria, he spent 4 years as Futures Director at Roke leading a technology & AI business, he spent 11 years at Siemens Rail in a variety of leadership roles including Business Development, Strategy, Transformation and IT, and has led technology transformation programmes at the BBC.  

Neil has a Business Economics degree from Cardiff University. 

Alan Gray is the Head of National Cyber Security and Resilience for The Scottish Government. A Security leader with over 15 years of experience within government, professional and public sector organisations, Alan has managed a wide range of security activities from strategic capability development to operational response. Previously as Chief Information Security Officer for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with responsibility for the cyber security of all core technologies and services both at home and across posts and embassies worldwide, he was also a member of the Government Security Board as representative for the CISO community across government. Drawing on past experience in National Security, academia, central government and the private sector, Alan has joined the Scottish Government to drive the consolidation and expansion of Scotland’s cyber security and cyber resilience activities, and to lead the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre (SC3). 

As Innovation Lead for the Digital Security by Design Programme within InnovateUK, UKRI, Nuala is accountable for driving the market development of the challenge and working in partnership with Government, Industry and Academia to gather the real industry benefits to create demand and onboard advocates for this transformational technology. Nuala presently manages the DSbD Technology Access Programme and is delivering the UK and International Engagement Strategy. Nuala has spent over 25 years promoting education/industry integration across the private, public and 3rd sector and has demonstrated expertise in Innovation Consultancy, Funding, Programme Management, Enterprise Development and Strategic Partnership Engagement. Nuala is a STEM and EDI ambassador and is an avid supporter of Women in Tech. 

Mags Moore has been working in the problem-solving IT industry for 34 years, supporting government outcomes and public services. With a keen focus on technical and commercial innovation, and her heart firmly in Scotland, Mags has helped to make public services better for citizens and employees right across the UK.  

Mags is currently the Business Development Director for Sopra Steria’s UK Government and Transport business. Her experience in central, local government, healthcare and transport has helped to define citizen-led solutions, underpinned by the pragmatic application of digital innovation. The tech building blocks of this innovation are based on AWS, Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce and ServiceNow. With of course AI, data, cyber and ethics at the core.    

Her passion for leadership had led to her mentoring people from a wide variety of backgrounds. She is currently part of the Sopra Steria and Prince’s Trust partnership supporting young people into work. 

Robbie has been Head of the Digital Connectivity Division in the Scottish Government since 2018, leading the delivery of a number of flagship infrastructure projects that are enhancing Scotland’s digital infrastructure and extending access to connectivity. Robbie has worked in several roles across Scottish Government – previously managing European Structural Funds programmes and helping to set up SPRUCE, the first investment fund specifically established to support urban development and regeneration activity in Scotland.

Tom is the Chief Data Officer at the Scottish Government, with extensive hands-on experience working across Data Science, Data Analysis, Data Architecture, Software Development and Data Engineering. With his wealth of experience working in various UK government departments, he has spent several years developing and improving organisations’ use of data to inform policy and operational decisions.

Isaac Smith is Deputy Director Digital Components within the Digital Directorate of the Scottish Government.  Previously he was Deputy Director for Cloud and Digital Services, Deputy Director of Product, Delivery and Capability (interim) at the Department of Health and Social Care where he provided leadership to the DDaT profession. Prior to this he was Head of Technology at NHSX working to create sustainable digital transformation in health and care. Since 2014 he has specialised in Digital with a focus on technology and user centred design within the Department of Health and Social Care, the Home Office, and the Department of Work and Pensions. He holds degrees in Law and History from The University of Dundee.

Steph has a diverse background ranging from astrophysics to genomics in academia and film & TV to dance in the arts and the third sector. A project and programme management professional, she loves to develop and build collaborations across organisations to help people with their data/AI journey. 

 Steph led on Data Lab’s efforts in support of the Scottish Government in developing Scotland’s AI Strategy and she’s now leading on the delivery of the strategy’s vision for Scotland to be a leader in the development and use of trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI. She is also Co-Founder of Diverse AI (a not-for-profit working to increase diversity in AI) and was recognised as one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics in 2023 and one of the Top 10 Women in Tech in Scotland in 2023. 

Katie Murrie is the Lead Educator at the Service Design Academy in Dundee and the first SDN Accredited Master Trainer in Scotland. She played a key role in developing the Professional Development Award in Service Design and serves on the SDN accreditation committee. A co-founder of EduJam, Katie has worked with clients including the Scottish Government, Department of Health and Social Care, and Education Scotland. She is also an author and guest editor for TouchPoint journal and co-author of “Transforming Higher Education using Human-Centred Design,” advocating for the power of service design across sectors. 

Sarah is Programme Director for broadband initiatives at the Scottish Government. She leads the team delivering the £600m Reaching 100% programme, which is one of the most ambitious digital infrastructure programmes in Europe, taking faster broadband to some of the hardest-to-reach communities in Scotland.  

Sarah also leads the team playing a key role in delivering Project Gigabit in Scotland. The UK Government funded scheme, which is being managed by the devolved administration in Scotland, will help extend access to gigabit capable broadband, building upon the successful rollout of R100. 

With a commercial background in fibre and mobile deployment, Sarah promotes an inclusive and holistic environment on the regional boards and working groups that she sits on. She’s an advocate of collaboration and brings a unique mix of skills, experience, and knowledge to her work with a keen eye on delivering improved outcomes for the public sector and the citizens of Scotland. 

Hugh Wallace is Chief Information Officer at Research Data Scotland (RDS), an organisation that helps researchers find and make use of data that can improve the lives of people in Scotland.

Prior to RDS, Hugh led a high-profile programme to deliver a common payments platform in Scottish Government and support digital service development within Scotland’s Social Security agency. His previous roles include leading the digital teams at Oxfam and National Museums Scotland, as well as heading up the design function in a digital agency.

Alisdair is recognised by his peers as one of Scotland’s prominent professional advisers amongst Scotland’s technology, digital and engineering sectors. Alisdair leads the development of Glasgow City Innovation District – Scotland’s leading Innovation District and is the founder of Framewire, Scotland’s first advisory practice focused on developing Scotland’s Digital and Tech Ecosystem.

Alisdair dedicates his time to supporting founders create, develop, invest, and scale their tech, digital or deep tech business and through Glasgow City Innovation District, is guiding the development of Glasgow’s Tech Sector as Scotland’s leading Innovation Hub.

Alisdair led the creation of the first tech week for a Scottish City – Glasgow Tech Week and is the co-founder of the internationally acclaimed Turing Festival (now Turing Fest). At the inaugural Scottish Tech Startup Awards, Alisdair was awarded Scotland’s first Tech Ecosystem award where his peers independently recognised his expertise and commitment to developing Scotland’s Tech Ecosystem. Alisdair has also been awarded the Principal’s Special Award for his outstanding contribution to the success of the University of Strathclyde and was a Barclays Entrepreneur of the Year finalist for Scotland. Alisdair is an Independent board advisor to Barclays Eagle Labs and is a strategic advisor to Amiqus and VeryConnect and member of Johnston Carmichael’s Tech Advisory Board.  

Dan is a leader in Zuhlke’s Data and AI practice and has extensive experience working across a diverse range of sectors including government, transport, telecoms and manufacturing. As a skilled engineer and strategic advisor, Dan effectively connects the needs of leadership with the technical expertise of teams to successfully drive data transformation initiatives for organisations. He brings a unique combination of strategic thinking and deep knowledge of data and engineering to his consulting work.

Yasmin Sulaiman is SVP of Ecosystems at CodeBase. CodeBase helps people build better startups, and since 2022 have run the Scottish Government’s Techscaler platform. Yasmin started her career in journalism, becoming Editor-in-Chief at Scottish arts publication The List, and then joined Creative Edinburgh as Executive Director, where she worked with and advocated for the capital’s creative community. Since joining CodeBase, Yasmin has worked with hundreds of founders to help bridge the gap between the creative and tech sectors. Yasmin is also a Trustee at the Edinburgh International Festival. 

Jude McCorry is CEO of the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland. She has over 20 years’ experience in the Technology sector and started her career with Dell computers in Ireland, she joined the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland in April 2020 from The Data Lab where she was Director of Business Development working with industry and academia to maximise the value of data for Scotland.
She is one of the founders of the Unicef Data Hub for Children, and always ensures there is a social aspect to everything she does in order to benefit the people of Scotland or further afield. Jude is a board member of Parkinson’s Scotland and the Policy Board at SCDI.

Is your data match fit?. Understanding your data assets and getting them in good order to start transforming services

One of David’s focus areas has been on data quality to support initiatives such as child poverty as part of cross public-sector working between Scottish local authorities, the Improvement Service and Scottish Government.

David is the Data Programme Manager at Argyll and Bute Council, and has overall responsibility for steering the local authority’s data programme. The aim of the programme is to make it easier for the council’s services to more effectively use data for service design and delivery, through implementation of the council’s data strategy and action plan.  Prior to joining the council in 2017 David was an ICT and project manager in various roles in the private sector, with effective use of data always running as the core thread through twenty-five years’ experience of delivering organisational change in complex environments.  

Hayden Edwards is the Director of the Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN) for BT Business, with accountability for all aspects of BT performance including service, delivery, contract performance, service evolution and innovation. Before this, he led Business Development in Scotland for BT, including go to market strategy and leading strategic major business deals, across Health, Government, Emergency services, Local Councils and Universities.

Hayden has been at BT since 2009 and has worked in a variety of roles covering Major Deal Architecture, Programme Delivery, Contract Management, IT transformation and as Chief Technology Officer for Local Government. Having worked in public sector for over 20 years, he has developed significant insight into the challenges of transforming citizen experiences using technology and communication solutions.  A creative and innovative thinker, he enjoys bringing practical thinking to customer challenges, and firmly believes in not just doing the same things differently – but doing different things.

Hayden is a Community Councillor for his local Ward in East Lothian, taking a particular interest in digital inclusion and how technology can support education and place based transformation. An undergraduate and recent Masters graduate from the University of Aberdeen Business School, he now lives in Aberlady with his wife and two children. Oustide of work, he is a lifelong rugby fan, having played and refereed at all levels of the game.  Any other spare time is spent on his home golf course at Craigielaw.

Mike Crockart is the Service Owner of the Scottish Government’s ScotAccount, a safe and secure way for people to prove who they are and that they are eligible for a public service or benefit online. Mike has a wide experience encompassing many roles across the private and public sectors from police officer to programmer to politician. Before his move to Scottish Government, he was Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West and served on the Scottish Affairs and the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committees in Westminster. Prior to that he spent 12 years with Standard Life as a developer, project manager and latterly Service Support Manager for Standard Life’s Healthcare systems.