Cyber resilience strategy 2025-2030: equality impact assessment results

Recommendations and Conclusion

Actions to Be Implemented Based on EQIA Findings

The Equality Impact Assessment has informed several key actions within the Strategic Framework for a Cyber Resilient Scotland (2025–2030) to ensure it is inclusive, accessible, and equitable. These include:

• Targeted awareness-raising campaigns tailored to groups at greater risk of cyber harm, including older adults, disabled people and those with limited English proficiency.
• Accessible information formats to ensure that guidance and messaging are inclusive of people with disabilities and neurodivergent individuals.
• Promotion of cyber careers to underrepresented groups, particularly women, through initiatives such as the CyberFirst Girls Competition and collaboration with partners like Education Scotland, ScotlandIS, cld, colleges and universities.
• Embedding cyber resilience in lifelong learning, ensuring that digital literacy education is inclusive and responsive to learners’ diverse needs and contexts.

Addressing Negative Impacts and Advancing Equality

While no unlawful discrimination was identified, the EQIA highlighted areas where certain groups may face barriers to engaging with cyber resilience initiatives. The actions above are designed to:

• Mitigate exclusion by improving the accessibility and relevance of cyber resilience messaging
• Advance equality of opportunity by supporting participation in digital learning and employment
• Foster good relations through inclusive, community-based approaches to cyber awareness

Where specific mitigating actions were not taken (e.g. for characteristics where no differential impact was identified), this was due to a lack of evidence of impact rather than oversight. The strategy remains open to future adaptation as new evidence emerges.

Equality Monitoring Mechanisms and Review Schedule

To ensure ongoing compliance with equality obligations, the following monitoring mechanisms will be put in place:

• Regular review of outcome indicators, including participation in cyber learning programmes, uptake of cyber security measures, and engagement with awareness campaigns
• Ongoing stakeholder engagement, particularly with equality groups and delivery partners, to assess the effectiveness of actions and identify emerging needs
• Periodic review of the EQIA, aligned with the strategy’s implementation milestones and reporting cycles

The EQIA will be formally reviewed at key points during the strategy’s lifespan, with updates made as necessary to reflect new data, feedback, or policy developments.