Business Focus: Co-operation will build a more inclusive and sustainable economy and help us prosper
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Scotland should be a living laboratory for innovation, says Grant Campbell, the SCDI's Highlands and Islands representative.
Last night we celebrated the people and groups who have kept the Highlands and Islands economy going this last year at SCDI’s Excellence Awards.
Networking is back as the region’s movers and shakers met and mingled virtually on tables of eight, hopping from table to table to reconnect and build back together. I very much looked forward to the event, meeting and greeting members, hearing the success stories and celebrating the achievements with the Highland business community during this most trying of times.
SCDI champions doing more of the same through our Productivity Clubs and we certainly seem to have squeezed a lot into June. We’ve spent the last year speaking to organisations across Scotland about what Scotland should be known for in 2030 and this month we launched the resulting blueprint, Making a Good Living.
The 10-year economic strategy addresses our economic challenges and calls for business and academia to work together with government and civil society, to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy and help Scotland prosper in the global economy. Extensive consultation with our members ensured a focus on what works for rural economies.
Together we want Scotland to become a living lab for innovation, a nation that invests in lifelong learning and is a healthy place to live and work for everyone. These aims are supported by 12 recommendations.
The report calls for measures the most pressing of which is the acceleration of the roll-out and adoption of full fibre broadband, 4G and 5G networks and smart technologies alongside private and public sector plans.
Other measures sought include the creation of ‘innovation neighbourhoods’, where businesses, centres of learning, the voluntary and public sectors come together to collaborate.
