Scotland’s tech trade body opens search for two new board members | FutureScot

Scotland’s tech trade body has opened the search for two new board members in a bid to strengthen its marketing and ‘scaleup’ expertise.

ScotlandIS launched the hunt for senior industry representatives to add those skillsets to its leadership team – with the board already featuring 12 members.

The 2019 Digital Scotland summary report valued the Scottish digital technologies economy at almost £5 billion. This is a figure many industry experts say has risen considerably since then, with a recent report estimating the value of Scottish tech startups at £16.6 billion.

As ScotlandIS looks towards ambitious growth targets, both in terms of member numbers and overall impact, the new board members will help craft the strategic direction of the organisation for the short, medium and long term, and will serve in post for three years.

There will be a clear focus on maximising the positive impact for members, as well as driving policy discussions at the highest level. is designed to add additional expertise and experience to the organisation.

In addition to a passion for growing and supporting the Scottish technology sector, candidates must: 

• Be a senior leader in their organisation        
• Have experience in PR and marketing or represent a scale-up organisation
• Be part of an organisation that is a ScotlandIS member

ScotlandIS’s focus this year will be to increase sector-focused activity around Scotland’s managed service providers, cybersecurity and space sectors. There are also numerous training, networking and speaker events that are already planned.

Dermot Murray, ScotlandIS chair, said: “It’s an incredibly exciting time to be part of ScotlandIS as we look to further increase the positive impact we have on the sector as a whole. At a time of great change, both in terms of our nation’s politics and the increased adoption of technologies like AI, it’s more important than ever for Scotland to have a strong technology industry capable of competing on a global stage. 

“Our small in-house team, led brilliantly by our CEO Karen Meechan, does a terrific job of representing and promoting our members’ best interests, but it’s important we have the right balance of experience and expertise at board level to best support them. We have proactively identified specific areas where we think we are currently missing particular knowledge, and this is what’s driving our current recruitment. 

“Scotland is particularly well placed to take advantage of the rapid growth in industries like space and cybersecurity and it’s vital that ScotlandIS plays a leading role in effectively positioning our tech sector to take maximum advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead.”