Miranda Savage is a senior Civil Service leader and experienced digital transformation specialist, with a track record of delivering complex, user-centred change across government and the public sector. Miranda specialises in digital product leadership, service transformation, organisational change, and building high-performing teams. 

She leads the Trade and Regulatory Services portfolio at UK Govt’s Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. Her teams are responsible for digital services that support businesses in navigating trade and regulatory requirements, underpinning the UK’s economic growth and trade ambitions. This includes work to modernise the licensing regime, overhauling the current fragmented experience for businesses. 

Neil Duggan is Service Owner for mygov services in the Digital Directorate of the Scottish Government, responsible for delivering the capabilities and infrastructure that will enable personalised content and services across the mygov.scot website, mygov apps and other channels. Before this he worked in product roles on the Scottish Government reusable components, delivering the Digital Mailbox service and identity verification for ScotAccount. 

Ms Goodlad studied Geology and Chemistry at the University of Glasgow and completed a Masters degree in Petroleum Geology at Imperial College London. 

Prior to entering politics, Ms Goodlad worked internationally in the energy industry for Norway’s state energy company, Equinor and held senior leadership roles in renewables and hydrocarbons across the company. She is also co-founder of Scotland’s first outdoor sauna company. 

Ms Goodlad was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in May 2026 as MSP for the Shetland Islands. 

Read more about Ms Goodlad on the Scottish Parliament website. 

David Stibbards is Director of Digital and IT at NHS Lothian. His work sits at the intersection of technology, data, people and organisational change, with a particular interest in how digital tools can enhance human judgement, capability and service improvement rather than becoming ends in themselves. Drawing on experience across the NHS and other complex organisations, David brings a practical perspective on transformation: how organisations create the foundations for responsible innovation while navigating governance, risk, legacy technology and the growing opportunities presented by data and AI. 

Julian Glendinning is a senior cyber security leader with nearly three decades of experience in security architecture, secure solution design and enterprise security. He leads teams embedding security into technology strategy, digital transformation, cloud adoption and critical business services. 

His expertise spans zero trust, identity and access management, cloud and infrastructure security, regulatory compliance and secure-by-design methodologies. Julian translates complex security requirements into pragmatic solutions that balance risk, resilience and business innovation. 

A trusted advisor to senior leaders, he champions security as a business enabler. Today, his focus includes harnessing agentic AI to enhance client security and developing cyber security capabilities to protect AI systems. 

Ethan Owens is the Technical Product Manager at Brightsolid, the Dundee-based managed service provider. He leads the development of Brightsolid’s cloud and cyber security services and helps organisations across the UK improve their security and modernise their technology. 

 Before joining Brightsolid, he has held roles at regional, national and global service providers.  

Tim Carter is a Senior Solutions Architect within the Public Sector team Elastic, focusing on UK Central Government, the Devolved Administrations, healthcare, and the NHS. A Chartered Engineer with 18 years of hands-on experience in data, development, and engineering, Tim has delivered critical solutions for central UK Government departments, National Security, Defence, the NHS, and the UN. 
 
Passionate about data platforms, knowledge management, and integrating AI, Tim has driven technical innovation, strategic insight, and hands-on engineering to support complex mission requirements. As a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, a City of London Livery company, Tim advocates the use of technology between the UK Government, Defence, and wider industry.  Also, being a STEM Ambassador, Tim is devoted to evangelising the power of technology to young people, emphasising sustainable and ethical engineering practices, the need for skills development, opportunities, and a more diverse engineering workforce. 

Richard Woodfield heads up Solutions Services for the UK AI Growth Zone at DataVita, Scotland’s sovereign Tier III data-centre operator. He works with universities, government and the NHS on sovereign AI, research computing and trusted research environments. 

Eamon works closely with organisations to help them get more value from Microsoft 365, making technology work harder for people and the business.  

With over 20 years’ experience connecting technology with business performance, productivity and governance, Eamon takes a pragmatic, down-to-earth approach. He’s passionate about helping organisations cut through the hype, understand what AI really means for them, and make confident decisions about how to adopt it in a way that works for their people and their business.

Stacey is Head of Strategic Architecture at Condatis, focused on helping organisations turn strategy into tangible, measurable outcomes. With a career spanning enterprise architecture and cybersecurity, she specialises in bridging the gap between vision and execution – ensuring transformation is not only well-designed but sustainable and aligned to real business need. 

Previously at Microsoft, Stacey spent five years at the forefront of the company’s cybersecurity capabilities, most recently as a Global Black Belt – Cybersecurity, bringing innovation to customers at scale. 

Today, she works with organisations to cut through complexity, elevate architecture into a strategic capability, and ensure decision-making remains grounded, human and outcome-led in an environment defined by rapid technological change. 

Neil Smith is an experienced cyber security professional and Account Director at CyberLab, with a strong focus on helping organisations understand and defend against real-world cyber threats. With a background spanning technical and client-facing roles, Neil bridges the gap between complex cyber risks and practical solutions 

As Chief Technologist: Cross Solutions in Computacenter’s European Technology Office, I focus on the challenges that matter most to customers. These challenges rarely fit within a single technology area: AI, security, cloud, applications, workplace, networking and data centre are increasingly interconnected. I bring expertise from across these areas together to develop clear points of view and turn strategy into practical action. 

I have spent nearly 30 years at Computacenter, progressing from Customer Engineer through consultancy and solution architecture. Most recently, I spent six years as Chief Technologist for Workplace, leading our UK workplace technology strategy. 

Throughout my career, I have worked closely with senior technology leaders to shape strategy and build trusted, long-term relationships. I also collaborate with key vendor partners to understand their direction and align on shared goals that benefit our customers. 

My focus is on the foundations that make AI and digital transformation work in practice: secure, connected, and well-managed technology that delivers measurable business outcomes. 

Heather specialises in helping public sector organisations realise value from Microsoft Business Solutions and Power Platform. Heather works with customers to drive digital transformation, improve services, establish effective governance, and increase adoption, delivering practical solutions that streamline processes, enhance user experiences, and enable better use of data. 

With over 14 years’ experience in consultancy and business analysis, Sheena helps organisations get more value from Microsoft 365, Power Platform and Copilot. Specialising in change management, adoption and customer engagement, she combines technical expertise with a practical, people-focused approach to transformation. Sheena is passionate about bringing Microsoft Copilot to life responsibly, with strong data governance at its foundation. A trusted advisor and experienced presenter, she excels at translating complex technology into clear, engaging solutions that build confidence, drive adoption and help people embrace new ways of working. 

Tony Fergusson has more than 25 years of experience in networking, security, and IT leadership across a variety of industries. Described as having a “visionary mindset,” Fergusson was one of the earliest adopters of zero trust networking principles in 2015. A passionate advocate for reducing enterprise attack surfaces, he was the very first Zscaler customers to implement Zscaler Private Access for his organisation and to apply zero trust principles to OT devices.  He sees innovation and out-of-the-box thinking as keys to understanding and outpacing cyber adversaries. 

Mark is SCC’s Central Government CTO, bringing over 30 years’ experience across UK public service. Having held senior technology, transformation and delivery leadership roles across HMRC, Defra and the UK Hydrographic Office, he has led major programmes to modernise government services and improve operational outcomes. 

Alex is a senior enterprise SaaS leader operating at the intersection of technology, government, and AI. Alex leads EMEA & Canada government industry strategy and growth at Pegasystems, working with senior public sector leaders to scale mission-critical platforms and accelerate digital transformation.

With more than 40 years of experience in providing technology-based outcomes, Christopher is a public sector leader having worked in the health, culture, and government communication sectors. He has worked with the Government Digital Service in their development and application of public cloud and Agile based services. He now works for Public Service Delivery Scotland leading transformational, Cloud technology programmes in support of the health and social care workforce and strategic transformation of frontline clinical services. 

Emily Middleton is the Interim Director General for Digital Transformation within the Government Digital Service (GDS) at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. She is responsible for catalysing cross-government digital transformation from within the Government Digital Service. This includes digital strategy, performance and assurance, service transformation, the public sector adoption of AI, plus the foundations that enable transformation such as data, technical architecture, the service manual, and digital skills and capability in the civil service. 

Emily was previously Interim Director General for Digital Transformation within GDS at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). 

Emily was also previously a partner at the consultancy Public Digital. She set up the firm’s international practice, working with multilateral development banks, UN agencies and philanthropies. She has worked with governments around the world to develop digital strategies and to design, scale and reboot digital and data units.   

Prior to joining Public Digital, Emily led the design of the London Office of Technology and Innovation. Earlier in her career, while at the Boston Consulting Group, she worked on digital strategy and transformation programmes in Europe and Southeast Asia. She has also worked for UNICEF Innovation and the European Union Delegation to Ethiopia. 

Heather is an education, policy and research specialist with a background spanning classroom teaching, educational research and digital assessment. With a particular interest in the future of assessment, she works on AI and digital assessment and chairs Qualification Scotland’s Internal AI and Emergent Technologies Working Group – using data and technology to improve services and outcomes. Heather has led major assessment and policy projects, including for STA and DfE, and worked with stakeholders across the education sector. A former Early Years teacher and SENCo, she brings practical classroom experience alongside research and policy expertise. She is passionate about exploring how emerging technologies can transform assessment while keeping the needs of learners and educators at the heart of innovation.  

Leigh Ivan Smith is Director of Product Management – AI at Freshworks, where he drives customer and partner engagement for the company’s flagship Freddy AI platform, including Freddy Copilot, Freddy Insights, and AI Agents. Leigh specialises in translating complex generative and agentic AI capabilities into tangible business value. He works closely with global enterprises, mid-market clients, and strategic partners to deploy AI solutions across Customer Experience (CX) and Employee Experience (EX)—enabling teams to deliver higher-impact service with significantly less effort. 

Barbara is Deputy Programme Director at CivTech, the Scottish Government’s flagship innovation programme. Over more than eight years, Barbara has helped shape how public bodies across Scotland approach innovation, from defining mission-driven strategies to changing how they buy from and partner with startups and SMEs. 

Barbara has led CivTech’s operational growth from a pilot into a multi-million-pound programme, directing a team that delivers projects across health, environment, housing and economic development. She has also championed new models of commercial procurement, governance and contract management that give public sector organisations the confidence to invest in R&D and bring innovative solutions into frontline services. 

A committed advocate for collaboration between government and the innovation community, Barbara is driven by a simple aim: help the public sector deliver innovation that solves real world problems. 

Theo is a Digital Manager within Qualifications Scotland’s Digital Assessment Services team, where he oversees their digital learning provision and explores the integration of emerging technologies into qualifications and assessments. With a diverse background leading digital transformation across the private, public, and third sectors, Theo currently chairs the organisation’s External Artificial Intelligence and Emergent Technology Group. In this role, he drives cross-sector collaboration and research to address the opportunities and challenges of AI within the Scottish education system. 

With over 25 years’ experience in policing, Caine has held a diverse range of operational, investigative and leadership roles across Police Scotland.   

As Head of Firearms and Explosives Licensing, he played a key role transforming a locally delivered disparate function into a national operating model.   

Now he leads the national Frontline Support Services project within the Policing for Our Communities programme. His work focuses on improving public service, efficiency and decision-making through technological modernisation, data analytics, service design, and collaborative working.  

 Passionate about sustainable transformation and people-centred change, he brings practical experience of delivering innovation within a complex, highly regulated public sector. 

Yor Turner is currently the Chief Operating Officer for Digital in the Scottish Government. He leads the development of the Digital, Data and Technology profession as well as initiatives responsible for building digital skills, capability, talent, and diversity across the public sector in Scotland. He is responsible for leading the Digital Strategy for Scotland, digital portfolio management, and a range of other functions to support the adoption of common digital solutions. 

Joe joined Fife Council’s IT team right at the start of major project to give Fife residents more digital ways of engaging with the Council. From a cold start he was involved in development of over 200 online forms to apply for things, report issues and make enquiries. At the end of the pandemic a need was seen for change in education – Joe implemented the first digital enrolment for Nursery applications in Fife Council, now being improved with the appropriate application of AI tools to reduce administrative overheads in schools. 

Carley is an experienced digital leader, focused on supporting organisations to use shared technology and approaches to deliver the transformation of public services. With a background in user-centred content design and efficient content publishing, she wants to find ways to offer a multi-channel experience of public services that meets the rapidly-changing expectations of people in Scotland. She is currently the service owner for the Scottish Government’s new mygov.scot app, and has previously been responsible for the Scottish Government website www.mygov.scot. 

Pippa Milne has served as Chief Executive of Argyll and Bute Council since January 2020, following her role as Executive Director of Development and Infrastructure. With over 30 years of experience in local government across the UK, Pippa brings extensive expertise and a deep commitment to delivering the council’s vision: that Argyll and Bute is a place where people choose to live, learn, work, and do business.  

As Chief Executive, Pippa leads an organisation of around 4,000 dedicated employees, providing a diverse range of public services across one of Scotland’s most beautiful and varied regions. Her focus is on partnership working to achieve the best possible outcomes for communities, and she is passionate about promoting the many opportunities Argyll and Bute offers.  

Beyond her role in the council, Pippa is Chair of SOLACE Scotland and portfolio lead for Leadership and Development, playing a key role in shaping the future of local government leadership. She sits on the Chief Executives Working Group on Transformation and the PSR Board, facilitates the Leadership Practitioner Forum, and hosts the SOLACE Springboard Programme, supporting the next generation of public service leaders.  

Pippa is a strong advocate for values-based, ambitious, and future-focused leadership. Her work reflects a commitment to organisational culture, collaborative transformation, and unlocking potential for communities and public services alike. 

Anthony is Head of Digital and Customer Service at Dundee City Council, leading organisation wide digital, data, and customer transformation.  Having worked in both private and public sector organisation he is known for driving change in fast paced environments, with experience leading international projects.  Anthony focuses on empowering people by creating space for innovation, reducing unnecessary risk, and removing low value work so teams can focus on outcomes that matter. 

James Buchan is the Founder and CEO of ePass, the shared infrastructure for licensing, registration and permitting, developed with and now live across the Scottish Government. With a decade of leadership in technology and digital transformation, and a mission to modernise licensing for governments, he believes we should be building services for both the human and the agent, and that the main barrier to AI in public services is not the AI itself but the fragmented infrastructure beneath it. 

Verity Hislop is a dynamic Senior Project Manager driving Scotland’s most ambitious digital transformation programmes across local government. Verity leads with a rare blend of strategic clarity and practical delivery, shaping national initiatives such as Digital Maturity Assessments, data literacy programmes, AI governance frameworks, and sector‑wide process optimisation. 

A champion of collaboration, Verity influences the delivery of Scotland’s refreshed Digital Strategy, strengthens digital and data capability across all 32 councils, and empowers the workforce through platforms like the M365 Skills Hub and emerging national learning ecosystems. Her leadership in responsible AI adoption, data‑driven decision‑making, and shared service design has positioned her as a trusted voice across COSLA, Scottish Government, and public‑sector partners. 

Energetic, people‑centred and future‑focused, Verity is committed to building a digitally confident, innovative, and resilient public sector that delivers meaningful impact for communities across Scotland. 

Martin has worked in and around primary care in NHS Scotland for more than 30 years, including managing the Community Health Index (CHI), Scotland’s national patient index. In 2022- 2024 he led the CHI transformation programme, successfully migrating this valuable national resource to a new cloud-based, modern platform. 

He continues to seek opportunities for CHI to support transformation for the people of Scotland: working across the NHS, with COSLA and private care providers; ensuring CHI underpins mycare.scot delivery; and as Vice Chair of the CHI Management Board, oversees the governance of CHI, its data and roadmap 

Don Smith leads the Threat Research team in Sophos Counter Threat Unit: a global team of experienced threat analysts, researchers and data scientists who, through the application of established intelligence practices, deliver technical capabilities and actionable intelligence products on the most relevant threats to protect and inform Sophos clients.  
 
Don is a member of the UK Cabinet Office National Cyber Advisory Board, the industry co-chair of the Strategic Cyber Industry Group in the National Cybercrime Unit at the UK National Crime Agency and a member of the Scottish Government NCRAB (National Cyber Resilience Advisory Board). 

Alison is a recognised  digital leader in Scotland with a wealth of experience of many ground-breaking digital programmes across the public sector.  She has worked with many organisations across the Justice sector including Disclosure Scotland, Scottish Prison Service, Scottish Courts and Crown Office.  Her experience also includes a 2.5 year secondment as Head of the Digital Transformation Division of the SG Digital Directorate, during which she was involved in the Digital Justice DESC programme.

Alison is a former Chair of ScotlandIS and now works as a digital transformation strategist working with public and private sector to drive digitally enabled change. 

Working for and with government organisations, at various levels and around the world, Tom has spent a decade developing and improving use of data and AI to inform policy, strategy, and operational decisions. He has extensive hands-on experience working across Data Science, Data Analysis, Data Architecture, Software Development and Data Engineering, and has provided technical advice to blue chip companies and startups as well as intergovernmental organisations.

Nils Krichel is Head of Service for Information Security and Governance at Public Services Delivery Scotland. PSD Scotland hosts the Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE), NHS Scotland’s national cybersecurity capability, providing crucial security solutions and operational support to all Scottish Health Boards. Through close partnerships across the public and private sectors, the CCoE is uniquely positioned to develop and deploy cybersecurity services that support a strategic, coordinated, and progressive approach to keeping NHS Scotland’s national digital infrastructure safe. Nils joined PSD Scotland in 2023, having previously spent over 15 years helping Scottish high-tech SMEs on their digital transformation journeys. 

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.  

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). 

With over 35 years of experience spanning Private Sector, Local Government, NHS, Central Government, and Social Security Scotland, Jayne Purcell brings a wealth of expertise in strategic policy design, policy delivery, service design and transformation, and operating model innovation. Her career has been defined by a commitment to improving public services through systems thinking, user-centred design, and inclusive digital transformation. 

Jayne has led major initiatives across social care, regulatory bodies, NHS commissioning, and social security, consistently delivering accessible, efficient, and impactful services. Her approach blends digital and non-digital solutions to meet diverse user needs, ensuring services are not only technologically advanced but also empathetically designed.  

At the heart of Jayne’s work is a belief in designing with—not just for—citizens. She champions designing organisational capabilities to meeting citizens needs, iterative design cycles, cross-sector collaboration, and evidence-based decision-making to reimagine how public services can better serve communities in the digital age. 

Chris is Director of Digital & Innovation for Scottish Water and a member of the Executive Leadership Team. Chris has over 30 years of extensive leadership and experience across regulated, asset-intensive infrastructure including strategy & regulation, operations and major capital programme delivery. Chris has enterprise accountability for the strategic development and execution of Scottish Water’s digital transformation and innovation strategies in partnership with global IT partners and world-leading research institutes in pursuit of better outcomes for customers and the environment at lower cost and carbon.   

Chris is a Chartered Civil Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and holds an Engineering Masters degree from Birmingham University and an MBA from Edinburgh University. Chris won a UK utilities competition to attend the Leadership Programme at Harvard Business School and in 2025 was named one of the UK’s top 50 inspiring individuals leading the charge towards decarbonisation. He is also a Duke of Edinburgh expedition leader. 

Suzanne Angell has spent over 20 years advising the Public Sector on how technology can transform their services and currently heads up the Scott Logic public sector business. She has worked with many organisations across the Public Sector including Scottish Government, HM Courts and Tribunals, Department for Work and Pensions and HM Land Registry.  
She is passionate about innovation and delivering solutions that enable the public sector to become more self-sufficient. She brings a deep understanding of the challenges of accelerating delivery in the public sector and enjoys taking an active role in supporting Scott Logic’s customers. 

Jonti is Behavioural Science Lead at Sopra Steria Next. He is a design thinker, with a rare combination of applied business psychology, human-centred design, and facilitation expertise. He identifies and delivers value from behavioural insights and has an in-depth understanding of organisational behaviour/culture. Jonti is currently redesigning major services by taking an evidence-based, data-driven approach to applying behavioural insights to practical problems and business challenges.

Martyn Wallace is Chief Digital Officer for the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government, leading national digital, data and AI strategy, policy and programmes across local government, health, care and education. He founded the Digital Office in 2016 to support public service reform and improve outcomes for citizens and communities. A recognised leader in digital enabled transformation, Martyn serves as Senior Responsible Officer for major national programmes and was a board member of The Data Lab, Scotland’s data and AI innovation centre. He is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker and an eight-time CIO100 UK award winner. 

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.

A Service Owner in the Digital Directorate in the Scottish Government, currently leading on the delivery of Component-Based Services. This project is about identifying reusable components within the Scottish Government, and building end-to-end services that save time and money as we help move services from legacy services, new legislation needing a component-based solution, or even the replacement of existing services to increase cost savings.  

Prior to this he worked in linking data within Warm Scottish Welcome for Local Authorities, and the building of payment and accounting solutions within Social Security Scotland. 

Heather joined The Data Lab in 2018, leading the £8m data and AI skills programme, including   The Data Lab Academy MSc Programme. She was appointed to the Executive team in 2021, serving as Interim CEO from April 2024 before being appointed to the role of Chief Executive Officer in February 2025. Heather is responsible for setting the direction, strategy and culture of The Data Lab, driving collaboration and innovation forging partnerships and engaging with stakeholders to deliver economic growth and societal impact. Holding previous roles with Epicor, GE Energy, and ION Geophysical, Heather is a thought leader and board member with over 20 years cross-sector experience in leadership, developing funding proposals and establishing global skills programmes.  Heather is a STEM ambassador, with a keen interest in raising awareness and supporting skills development across marginalised and underrepresented groups.  She has previously volunteered on the DELL STEM Aspire programme and works closely with social enterprise DataKirk.  

Robert Thorburn serves as Openreach’s Partnership Director for Scotland, managing the company’s commercial and funded programs to deliver ultrafast broadband to cities, towns, rural villages, and island communities. These include the £600m Reaching 100% and £157m Project Gigabit contracts with the Scottish and UK Governments, along with collaborations with Local Authorities, Housing Associations, and Managing Agents to provide full fibre access in buildings. Robert oversees the direct engagement with various communities through the Fibre Community Partnership programme, which aims to deliver local, co-funded ultrafast digital networks. Robert has nearly 30 years of experience in the IT and communications sector, with extensive expertise in managing large-scale programs. Robert is a member of the Openreach Scotland board, where he is responsible for business development and engagement with senior stakeholders. His duties also include direct media involvement and participation in the steering group for sustainability.

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.  

Paul is Co-founder of Storm ID, where he leverages over 20 years of experience in leading digital and data transformation. He now focuses on AI strategy development, advising senior leadership and boards across public and private organisations on how to integrate AI into their core products, services, and business processes. Paul’s guidance is grounded in his deep experience with real-world applied AI, particularly in healthcare and the wider public sector, where he has delivered solutions that improve both patient outcomes and service efficiency 

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. 

Sidsel is the newly appointed Digitalisation Councillor at the Danish Embassy with a responsibility for fostering government to government cooperation on public sector digitalisation. 

She has a background as Head of Digitalisation in several councils and has worked in KOMBIT, a municipally owned IT company operating critical IT infrastructure and solutions for the 98 Danish municipalities.  

Most recently Sidsel has worked as Senior Innovation Manager in DigitalLead at the Danish national cluster organisation for digital technologies. 

Eilidh McLaughlin is the Deputy Director for Digital Ethics, Inclusion and Assurance and is head of the Digital Citizen Division.  The Division is 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.  

Jamie brings a wealth of experience from over two decades in technology delivery, technology leadership, and innovative digital solutions.

A significant portion of his career has been dedicated to supporting governments in their digital transformation journeys, on both UK and international platforms.

Currently steering business development in Scotland for Leidos, Jamie plays a pivotal role in advancing technological solutions tailored for the Scottish Public Sector. His extensive career has seen him at the nexus of both prominent global IT entities and a dynamic Scottish scale-up, offering a depth of perspective based on extensive experience in the digital realm.

In a notable stint with a leading IT consultancy, Jamie was instrumental in driving digital transformation programmes for the Scottish Government. His expertise was crucial in overseeing application development projects and in architecting transformative service strategies.

Earlier in his journey, Jamie championed several government digital initiatives, from pioneering elections solutions to laying down foundational ICT architecture frameworks.

As he engages with government and industry peers, Jamie consistently brings a synthesis of deep experience and forward-thinking insights, contributing richly to discussions on digital transformation in Scotland and beyond.

She has spent 30 years at the intersection of technology, strategy, and public services, witnessing and driving change across both large enterprises and agile, fast-moving organisations. Since joining Sopra Steria in 2010, she’s taken on a variety of leadership roles focused on strategy, growth, and delivery – always with the goal of making a real difference in how services work for citizens, consumers, and employees. 
 
At the core of her approach is what she calls “joining the dots” – understanding policies and strategies, applying the right change techniques, and leveraging the right technology to drive impact. Whether through transformational shifts or incremental improvements, she focuses on simplifying user journeys by integrating data, processes, and digital solutions in meaningful ways. 
 
As Scotland Director at Sopra Steria, she leads the organisation’s work across the public and private sectors in Scotland, bringing together our full suite of capabilities – from strategic consulting to cutting-edge digital solutions.  
 
Beyond her professional role, she’s passionate about driving positive societal impact – from inspiring young people to explore careers in IT, to empowering women through leadership programs like Empowering Women to Lead Digital Transformation. 

Isaac Smith is Deputy Director for Digital Components and Infrastructure in the Scottish Government. Before joining Scottish Government Isaac worked in a range of digital transformation roles in UK Government most recently in the Department of Health and Social Care.   

In his current role Isaac is focused on delivering high quality, user centred reusable components, and platforms to enable digital transformation across the public sector in Scotland. 

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

Sarah also leads the team delivering Project Gigabit in Scotland on behalf of the UK Government. The project will help extend access to gigabit capable broadband, building upon the successful rollout of R100. Sarah is focused on the alignment and optimisation of the two programmes to make the investment in Scotland go further. 

With wider ranging commercial background in fibre and mobile deployment, Sarah promotes an inclusive and holistic viewpoint on the regional boards and working groups that she sits on. She’s an advocate of collaboration across the public and private sector, 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 

Thomas Rysgaard Christiansen is a Partner at Netcompany, working with governments across Europe to drive digital strategies and transformation. He joined Netcompany in 2023 as the Group lead for digital government, overseeing key initiatives, including the large-scale EU EUDI-Wallet project. 

Before joining Netcompany, Thomas gained extensive international experience in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, he served as CEO of KOMBIT, Inc. for 14 years, leading the procurement, development and implementation of efficient, integrated, and user-friendly IT solutions for Denmark’s state and local governments. Drawing on his technical and business expertise, he played a pivotal role in modernizing critical case management and self-service systems, while ensuring the implementation of new digital infrastructure across all Danish municipalities. 

A strong advocate for digitalization and a connected public sector, Thomas brings extensive experience from both the public and private sectors to his approach to digital transformation. He is an active member of expert boards and facilitates several networks focused on digital development and transformation. 

Ian Carrie is Head of Architecture at the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS), Ian connects the dots between business ambition, user needs and technical reality. Working across strategy, service design, enterprise architecture and AI, he helps turn complex change into practical outcomes. Known for asking awkward questions early, Ian believes a little constructive discomfort upfront can prevent much bigger problems later. He is passionate about simplifying complexity, challenging assumptions and designing services that work in the real world, not just on PowerPoint slides. 

Jane is CEO of South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE), Scotland’s economic and community development agency for the South of Scotland. Since its establishment in 2020, she has led an organisation with a pioneering mission to deliver sustainable economic growth while enhancing community wellbeing and environmental outcomes. 

A former CEO of ScotlandIS, Jane played a leading role in national digital transformation initiatives, including Connecting Scotland, and was named Digital Leaders National and Regional Champion in 2020. With more than 25 years’ experience in strategy, transformation and business leadership across the public and private sectors, she also serves on a number of national boards and advisory groups, including as Chair of Culture & Business Scotland, and as a Lay Governor of GSA. 

Maggie is an extremely experienced and respected Leader, Board Chair and Advisor. She worked within national law enforcement for over 30 years and then a further 5 years in the Finance sector. Her last position was Director Intelligence and Incident Response at Lloyds Banking Group. She combines that unique blend of a senior private sector career with the highest level of international law enforcement management.   

Within her current portfolio she chairs the Scottish Government’s National Cyber Resilience Advisory Board and, in 2025, was appointed as the Board Chair at Cyacomb, an Edinburgh based digital forensics company. Cyacomb’s technology quickly and thoroughly scans digital devices for known harmful content and enables law enforcement agencies worldwide to detect evidence of child sexual abuse.  

Maggie is also a strong advocate for new and emerging sectors and skills.  She is a mentor and advocate for promoting diversity in cyber skills.  

David works for the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government and leads the team responsible for delivering Scotland’s Digital Telecare programme. He is also responsible for workstreams focused on the Digital Front Door, CHI in Local Government and the Integrated Digital Health and Care Record. Prior to moving into this role, he was a Senior Manager with the Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership for more than 10 years, providing senior-level leadership to a portfolio of services including Community Equipment, Telecare and Citywide Supported Housing.

With a demonstrated history of working in Technology Enabled Care, Housing and the Third Sector, David is skilled in Strategic Planning, Business Development, Organisational Development and Change Management, and is a qualified Agile Practitioner. David also holds a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Public Sector Leadership. In February 2026, he won the Holyrood Connect Digital Leader Award.

Closing the Implementation Gap – Turning AI Ambition into Operational Reality:  Keith Dargie is Chief Digital Information Officer at COPFS, Scotland’s independent prosecution service, where he leads digital and information services across a complex national justice organisation.  He brings extensive senior executive experience across government and the public sector, with a strong track record of translating digital ambition into delivered outcomes and improved citizenfacing services.  Keith’s current priorities include the strategic delivery of innovative digital casework systems, scaling AI, data analytics and process automation from pilots to impact, and enabling practical, trustworthy digital transformation at enterprise and system level. 

Lee Dunn is Head of the Digital Academy at the Scottish Government, leading the Digital and Data Profession and advancing digital skills and capability across the public sector. With over 28 years’ experience in education, technology, and leadership, he has worked as a schoolteacher, Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, and product manager. Lee is a Chartered Manager Fellow (CMI), a member of the Institute of Leadership (IoL), and a professional coach with XSectorMentor. 

David is ICT & Digital Manager at Argyll and Bute Council, with responsibility for driving digital transformation, data improvement and technology-enabled change across the organisation. His work focuses on helping council services make better use of digital technologies and data to improve service design, delivery and outcomes for communities. David has been involved in a range of cross public-sector initiatives involving local government, the Improvement Service and Scottish Government, with particular interests in digital and data innovation, information management and evidence-based decision making. Prior to joining the council in 2017, David held a variety of ICT and project management roles in the private sector. He brings more than thirty years’ experience delivering organisational change in complex environments, with a strong focus on using technology and data to achieve better business outcomes 

Dougie Shirlaw is the Chief Digital Officer at the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), where he has spent the past 20 years leading digital transformation across Scotland’s 32 councils. He played a key role in developing myjobscotland, the national recruitment platform that has modernised how public sector organisations attract and recruit talent across the country. 

A strong advocate for technology that delivers genuine value, Dougie focuses on turning strategic ambitions into practical, people-centred solutions. His work is guided by a belief that collaboration and shared innovation are essential to building effective and sustainable digital public services. 

Kira Levy is the Head of Healthcare for the UK, where she is accountable for driving the AWS’s UK strategy to accelerate cloud adoption and enable healthcare customers to deliver their digital transformation goals. Kira has over twenty years of healthcare strategy and product development experience, supporting both the National Health Service as well as international health markets. She is passionate about helping customers unlock insights in their data to improve decision making and previously worked for a global health service provider, developing population health management and clinical decision support tools for the NHS. Kira holds an MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.  

Ishbell has enjoyed a 30 year career in the technology sector, holding a range of Sales Director and General Manager roles across the UK & Ireland. In 2025, she joined BT Business as Head of Scotland, with a mandate to strengthen collaboration between government, healthcare, academia and the business community as they address the shared challenges and opportunities of using technology to drive sustainable growth, resilience, innovation and positive societal impact. 

Before joining BT, Ishbell held senior leadership positions at Cisco, with responsibility spanning both Scotland and Ireland. Prior to that, she spent 14 years at Dell Technologies, where she combined sales and site leadership responsibilities to foster high-performing teams both in the UK & India, champion an inclusive culture and help create a workplace where people could thrive. 

A passionate advocate for talent development, Ishbell is both a proud mentor and lifelong mentee. Throughout her career, she has been committed to identifying, nurturing and creating opportunities for emerging talent, particularly through STEM-related initiatives. She is also a strong supporter and ally of diverse and inclusive communities, recognising the importance of representation, belonging and equal opportunity in the workplace and beyond. 

Growing up within Scotland’s island communities gave Ishbell a deep appreciation of the transformative impact that connectivity and technology can have on economic prosperity. This perspective continues to shape her belief that timely investment in digital infrastructure is essential to supporting growth, enabling hybrid ways of working and helping rural and remote communities not only survive, but flourish.