Scotland's Artificial Intelligence strategy 2026-2031

Glossary of Terms

AI Ecosystem – The interconnected network of technologies, data, skills, organisations, and regulations that enable the development, deployment, and responsible use of AI. It includes developers, users, infrastructure, policies, and supporting industries.

AI Growth Zone (AIGZ) – A designated area or policy framework designed to accelerate AI-related innovation, investment, and infrastructure deployment. AIGZs typically offer tailored regulatory, connectivity, or planning advantages to support rapid scaling.

Clusters – Groups of related industries or organisations located within a region that benefit from shared skills, supply chains, and innovation networks. Clusters often accelerate investment, competitiveness, and growth.

Commercialisation – Commercialisation refers to the act of turning an idea into commercial products or services.

Compute – The processing power computers need to run AI systems and process large amounts of data. It is essentially the capacity of computers to perform complex calculations quickly.

Data sovereignty – The principle that data is subject to the laws and governance structures of the nation where it is collected, stored, or processed. It ensures organisations manage data in compliance with local legal and ethical requirements.

Distributed Compute – A computing model that spreads processing tasks across multiple geographically dispersed devices or data centres. This improves resilience, reduces delay, and enables more scalable AI workloads.

Green Compute – Energy-efficient computing practices and infrastructure that minimise environmental impact. This includes using renewable energy, optimising hardware and reducing carbon emissions associated with digital technologies.

Heat reuse – The practice of capturing and repurposing waste heat generated by data centres or computing systems. Reused heat can support district heating, industrial processes, or nearby buildings, improving energy efficiency.

Inference – The process by which an AI model applies what it has learned to new data in order to make predictions, classifications, or decisions. It typically occurs after the model has been trained.

Innovation – Innovation is the process of creating something new or improving upon something that exists already. It can be a new product or service or process that increases efficiency, improve quality, or create new value for customers. It can happen in a variety of forms, from incremental changes to radical breakthroughs and can be driven by advancements in technology and changes in regulation/policies.

Living Labs environments - Are open innovation ecosystems where research occurs in real-world settings. They use co-creation to prioritise citizens and end-users, ensuring solutions are innovative and practically relevant

Machine Learning – One particular form of AI, which gives computers the ability to learn and improve at a task from experience, without being explicitly programmed for that task. When provided with sufficient data, a machine learning algorithm can learn to make predictions or solve problems, such as identifying objects in pictures or winning at particular games, for example.

R&D – Research and development (R&D) defines the action that organisations undertake to innovate. This is usually the first step an organisation will take in the innovation process.

Sandboxes – A secure, isolated environment where software, code or applications can be run and tested without affecting the main system or network.

Scale-ups – A scale‑up is a business that has moved beyond the start‑up stage and is growing quickly, usually in revenue, customers, or staff. It is a company that has proven its product works and is now expanding at pace.

Scaling – The process through which a business grows and increases revenue and output without a matching increase in costs. It refers to expanding efficiently so the business can handle more customers, sales, or activity without losing quality or becoming overwhelmed.

Semiconductor – A semiconductor is a material that can conduct electricity under certain conditions, making it essential for electronic devices.

Spin-Outs – A spin-out is when an already existing business splits up the parts within itself to create a new company or area focused on a specific line of work.

Start-Ups – A start-up refers to a completely new business that wants to bring new ideas to a market and create innovative products and services.

Unicorn-Scale – Describes a company, product, or project valued at or capable of reaching a valuation of over $1 billion. Often used to signal high growth potential or exceptional market impact.

Value Chain – The full sequence of activities required to create and deliver a product or service, from research and development through to production, distribution, and customer support. It helps organisations understand where value is added.