Growing our digital economy

A £25 million fund will help businesses utilise digital technologies and enhance workforce skills.

The DigitalBoost Fund offers small to medium-sized businesses grants, on a 50/50 investment basis, worth between £2,500 and £20,000.

The fund has already helped more than 2,200 businesses, from all sectors across Scotland, invest in hardware, business management software, e-commerce and data analytics. This additional investment will allow businesses to access expert advice on how to adopt the technology and skills needed to increase their competitiveness, productivity and resilience.

Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said:

“The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated just how important digital technologies are for businesses. I am delighted that so many businesses have adapted to working with new technology and innovated how they work at great pace.

“This additional £25 million investment in the DigitalBoost Fund will support even more businesses to invest in their digital capacity.

“This 100 day Scottish Government commitment reinforces our determination to support businesses to improve their digital skills and technologies to ensure they can help drive forward our economic recovery and support net-zero.” 

Managing Director of The Power Within Training, which was awarded DigitalBoost funding in January 2021, James Fleming said:

"The support we received through the Business Gateway DigitalBoost programme has been essential for the growth of our business during the pandemic. Our operations during this time were significantly impacted because of lockdown, with 97% of our revenue disappearing almost overnight.  The grant helped us build a new virtual training platform, with an inbuilt CRM system and an e-commerce system. This has helped us reach new markets and ensure our training materials are more accessible to a greater range of customers. The funding has accelerated our growth and ensured we have built greater resilience into our business operations. We are very excited about the future now that we have improved our digital offering.”

Chair of Business Gateway and COSLA spokesperson for the Environment and Economy Cllr Steven Heddle said:

“Scottish local government is again delighted to welcome the DigitalBoost Development Grant Scheme. Together with the existing free expert advice and online support from both DigitalBoost and the wider Business Gateway service, available across Scotland as part of the business support councils provide locally, this grant will help Scottish businesses strengthen, advance and rebuild their platforms, processes, systems and people to help local economies thrive."

Background

https://digitalboostdevelopmentgrant.co.uk/

DigitalBoost | Business Gateway (bgateway.com)

This is the latest funding round of the DigitalBoost Fund after £20 million was allocated in January 2021.

The fund is administered by the Lanarkshire Enterprises Services Limited and in conjunction with Business Gateway National Unit.

In the recent Digital Economy Business Survey (2021) 75% of business reported digital technologies had positively impacted their productivity, innovation and/or low carbon working.