SCOTLAND'S DIGITAL AMBITION

21st October 2010

Scottish Government welcomes success for Highlands and Islands superfast broadband bid

The Scottish Government has expressed its ambitions for Scotland's digital future, aiming for availability of superfast broadband throughout the whole of Scotland by 2020.

Published today, the Government's position paper - 'A Digital Ambition for Scotland' - also sets out an ambition that the rate of broadband uptake in Scotland should at least match the UK average by 2013, and should be the highest among the UK nations by 2015.

The paper - published during National Get Online Week - brings together strands that span the whole of Government, specifically highlighting the potential positive impacts on business, education and public services of increased availability and uptake of reliable and fast broadband.

Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop said: "In the digital age, connectivity is of tremendous strategic importance for Scotland. This paper sets out our ambitions for Scotland's digital economy and shows our commitment to doing all we can to realise those ambitions.

"We welcome the success of the bid led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise for one of the UK Government's superfast broadband pilots to be based in the region. This Government strongly supported the bid and the decision marks a major step forward for the nation's digital ambitions.

"We will continue to make the case to the UK Government for the whole of Scotland to benefit from improved infrastructure to the same extent as the other nations of the UK.

"Scotland leads the world in several areas of digital technology. For example, we have created Glow - the world's first nationwide intranet for schools. Along with our partners, we will continue to embrace digital technologies and encourage others to do the same.

"Increasing the number of public services able to be accessed online can increase efficiency of service delivery greatly. Online access can also make in easier for people to access these services, particularly in remote areas.

"One of the greatest challenges is to increase the relatively low levels of digital participation in Scotland. The paper published today sets out some of the action we are already taking to address this issue.

"We will publish a detailed Digital Strategy within the next few months setting out how we will ensure Scotland is best placed to reap the benefits of the digital revolution."

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'A Digital Ambition for Scotland' is published at www.scotland.gov.uk/topics/artsculturesport/arts/digitalambition

The successful bid for the Highlands and Islands to host a rural market pilot project for superfast broadband was led by Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The Scottish Government supported the bid, making representations to the UK Government and expressing the case for one of the four rural market testing pilots to be in Scotland.

More on National Get Online Week at http://getonlineweek.com