Question reference: S4W-01699
- Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 18 July 2011
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Current status: Answered by Alex Neil on 11 August 2011
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to increase participation in the digital economy in all communities.
Answer
Scotland’s Digital Future: A Strategy For Scotland, published on 3 March 2011, sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring that Scotland is at the forefront of the digital economy. Our ambition is to ensure that the rate of broadband uptake in Scotland is at or above the UK average by 2013.
The strategy also sets out our commitment of ensuring the availability of next generation broadband to all by 2020, with significant progress being made by 2015. This will ensure the rollout of next generation broadband to all rural communities, allowing them to participate fully in the digital economy.
To achieve this, we are working to ensure that education in all its forms takes account of the aims of the strategy, exploring options to make cheaper computing equipment available, and establishing a project team to plan an awareness-raising campaign on the benefits of digital technology. We are working with stakeholders across communities to ensure that no one is left out of the digital economy.
Our work also includes ensuring that businesses have the correct skills and training to take advantage of the opportunities that digital technologies bring and to ensure that we provide the right support environment to allow companies developing digital technologies to grow and flourish. We are working with the enterprise agencies and other stakeholders to develop a plan to take this forward.