Scotland's Technology Council 2025-26 Report

Introduction: About Scotland’s Technology Council

Scotland’s Technology Council was established in May 2025 as a non-statutory advisory body tasked with guiding the nation’s tech-driven economic ambitions and future. Its creation fulfilled a Scottish Government Programme for Government commitment to convene a council of global industry, business, and academic leaders to advise the Scottish Government on how best to apply and benefit from emerging technological trends.

The Council brings together leading experts from across industry and academia, appointed by the Minister for Business and Employment, Richard Lochhead MSP, who has also served as Chair. Collectively, members contribute extensive experience across digital, innovation, research, and commercialisation.

The overarching purpose of the Council is to support the development of national interventions that harness technology to address Scotland’s major long-term challenges — including climate change, health, productivity, and cost of living pressures — while enhancing economic growth and international competitiveness. In fulfilling this purpose, the Council provides strategic advice on emerging technology trends, identifies priority sectors for future investment, and shares insight on global market opportunities. Its role also includes fostering stronger collaboration between government, industry, and academia to ensure Scotland remains competitive within a rapidly evolving global innovation landscape.

The Council is conscious of the Scottish Government’s efforts in delivering its four key priorities for 2025–2026: eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling the climate emergency, and sustaining public services. Economic growth is recognised as essential to funding these ambitions, with emphasis on job creation, innovation, and improving competitiveness.

The Scottish Government’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation set out a vision for a wellbeing economy – one that delivers fairer, greener, and more sustainable growth. Complementing this, the Scottish Government’s National Innovation Strategy aims to position Scotland as one of the world’s most innovative small nations, using innovation as a driver of equality, prosperity, and environmental progress. The Green Industrial Strategy further identifies Scotland’s areas of strength and opportunity to build globally competitive industries as the country transitions to Net Zero.

Council members act as ambassadors for Scotland’s technology ecosystem, promoting its strengths, capabilities, and opportunities internationally. The Council’s core membership consists of:

• Prof. Qammer Abbasi, CEng, SMIEEE, FRSA, FEAI, FIET, FRSE, Professor of Applied Electromagnetics & Sensing with the James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow.
• Prof. Caroline Barelle MBA, CEO, Elasmogen
• Michael Boniface, group CEO Kythera AI & Intelligent Artefacts
• Sherry Coutu CBE, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director, Raspberry Pi Trading
• Gerard Cunningham, Chair of EntourageAI biotech, founder of McKinsey Clean Tech Practice, founder of Betfair USA (FanDuel)
• Sheila Flavell CBE, President, TechUK
• Sheryl Newman, Founder and CEO, Appetite for Business - Board Member, ScotlandIS
• Prof. Peter Proud, CEO and Founder, Forrit
• Prof. Michael Rovatsos, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh
• Jim Rowan, Board Member, Lotus Tech, former CEO of Volvo, former CEO of the Dyson Group, and former COO of Blackberry
• Prof. Ifor Samuel, Professor of Physics, University of St Andrews
• Dr Graham Spittle CBE FBCS FRSA, Dean of Innovation, University of Edinburgh
• Prof. Melissa Terras MBE FREng, Professor of Digital Cultural Heritage, University of Edinburgh
• Elizabeth Vega OBE, CEO, Informed Solutions

A number of observers have also joined meetings, including senior representatives from Scotland’s enterprise agencies (Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Enterprise, and South of Scotland Enterprise), as well as the Scottish Government’s Director for Economic Development, Colin Cook, Chief Entrepreneur, Ana Stewart, and Chief Scientific Advisor, Calum Semple. Other individuals have been invited to join specific meetings where appropriate, and a full list of attendees at each meeting has been recorded as required by the Scottish Ministerial Code.

The Council’s original Terms of Reference (ToR) can be found at Annex A. Please note:

• the Council’s membership list has changed during the course of the year, with some members having resigned due to other commitments.
• the ToR will be reviewed as part of the Council moving forward.