Charity calls for Scottish tech sector to help safeguard nation's digital future

“There has never been a greater collective realisation of the importance of digital skills for Scotland’s young people.”

All-girls Robotics After School Club at Kirkliston Primary School in Edinburgh, funded by Digital Xtra. Picture by Stewart Attwood

A technology education charity that has seen demand skyrocket for after-school coding clubs is calling for the tech sector to help safeguard Scotland’s digital future.

Digital Xtra warns that unless industry plugs the current government shortfall in funding, thousands of young people will not have the opportunity to learn vital future skills. It is calling on Scotland’s burgeoning tech sector to support the provision of extracurricular digital skills learning in schools and communities.

Over the past eight years, the charity has funded 163 digital skills learning initiatives to the tune of almost £1 million, reaching nearly 55,000 young people across Scotland, from the Borders to the Outer Hebrides.

Digital Xtra’s Kraig Brown said: “There has never been a greater collective realisation of the importance of digital skills for Scotland’s young people - but with government funding now unavailable due to budgetary constraints, we’re calling on the Scottish tech sector to invest in skills and work together to future proof local tech talent.

“Excitingly, in an industry that struggles with gender balance, over half of the young people we support are girls - making for a potentially more representative future tech industry. However, without funding for these projects thousands of Scotland’s young people won’t be able to take their first step to a future career in technology.”

Some top tech names have already committed their support, including travel search site Skyscanner. The Edinburgh-founded firm has donated more than £55,000, the single largest corporate contribution received by Digital Xtra to date. Other corporate partners include Baillie Gifford and Cirrus Logic.

Andrew Phillips, Skyscanner’s chief technology officer, said: “Scotland’s tech sector has the potential to be a leader in Europe, but from my own experience I recognise the systematic challenges we face. We have potential for our tech sector to grow even further - but without supporting young people to learn digital skills from an early age, we simply won’t have enough home-grown talent to do so.”

Digital Xtra appointed tech sector luminary Polly Purvis, chair of Converge Challenge and formerly chief executive of ScotlandIS, as its chairperson last year.

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