An action plan to help Scotland’s technology sector reach new international markets has been unveiled by the Scottish Government.
The Technology Sector Export Plan (TSEP), produced in partnership with industry experts, identifies opportunities to build on strengths in key areas, including digital technologies and advanced manufacturing.
Following the publication of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, the new strategy encourages better collaboration between industry, the public sector and the Scottish Government to “unlock economic opportunities and better promote” tech businesses internationally.
According to recent data, Scotland’s technology businesses generated a total annual turnover of £21.6 billion in 2021 – accounting for 7.4 per cent of the £293.2 billion total Scottish private sector turnover.
The new action plan builds upon the Scottish Government’s Trading Nation strategy, published in 2019, which identified technology, digital and media among the top five sectors in Scotland, and included a commitment to create a sector export plan for the technology sector.
Trade minister Ivan McKee said: “Building on A Trading Nation – our plan to grow Scotland’s exports – this plan is one of a series of sector-specific plans critical to delivering our economic ambitions to grow exports to a quarter of GDP by 2029.
“An Export Plan for Scotland’s Technology Sector sets out how we can work in partnership with the industry to identify new markets and opportunities, helping to grow the technology we export around the world.
“Our ambitious strategy to transform Scotland’s economy prioritises investment in entrepreneurialism and development of new markets, and this plan will help to ensure securing new trade and investment opportunities are front and centre of our economic growth.
“The Scottish Government, our enterprise agencies and the wider public sector will work together to support the technology industry to capitalise on our export potential.”
The 15-page document outlines the potential for Scotland to match its competitors in international markets given its “global profile” and the “demand for high value Scottish technology products and services”.
The plan commits to:
- Providing export support to technology companies in Scotland
- Promoting the international presence of technology exporters
- Consolidating the partnership between technology exporters and government
- Working to improve the evidence and forecasting of technology export growth opportunities
It is hoped these aims will support businesses to adapt to new global markets and continue to grow internationally from the uncertainty created by the pandemic and Brexit.
Read the tech export plan in full here.