Claire has worked in the skills sector for almost 20 years and within digital technology skills since 2014 when Skills Development Scotland launched the first Skills Investment Plan for the tech sector.  The overarching aim is to support employers to fill the 13,000 digital technology jobs in Scotland each year.   To achieve this, Claire leads a small team who works with technology employers to influence digital skills education, and where appropriate to develop additional interventions in response to employer need.   To bring the work of the team to life some examples of our projects include –

• CodeClan – reskilling individuals for tech jobs
• Digital World – promoting tech as career of choice
• Digital Xtra – industry support for tech clubs
• Discover Cyber Careers – live online lessons

The team works closely with Scottish Government and local authorities and is currently the delivery lead for Scottish Governments Digital Start Fund, their Digital Economy Units digital skills funding, and the Safer Communities Cyber Resilience Skills Action Plan.  We also work with Glasgow City Council and support delivery of the skills actions in their Digital Glasgow Strategy.

Claire is Law graduate of the University of Strathclyde and has a Degree in Business and Entrepreneurship Studies at the University of West of Scotland.  And she likes to combine her worlds with a keen interest in internet law.

Stephen is the Executive Chair of FinTech Scotland, the independent enterprise focused on delivering positive economic outcomes through financial innovation.

He has led FinTech Scotland since its formation in 2018, initially as Chief Executive, to be recognised as one of Europe’s top financial technology (fintech) economic cluster bodies, a status awarded in 2020.

This economic and innovation progress has been achieved by bringing together diverse participants such as entrepreneurs, large businesses, government, citizen and universities to drive positive economic outcomes whilst contributing to the global fintech movement.

Throughout his career, Stephen has been an influential advocate of making the financial world more open, creative and inclusive through innovative digital and data initiatives, encouraging progressive ways of working and collaboration across diverse stakeholders .

Stephen’s career over four decades has earned a track record and reputation for leading the implementation of customer focused, technology enabled initiatives in a wide range of financial firms, including executive roles with large institutions such as Standard Life and Barclays as well as a number of early-stage innovative enterprises.

Today, Stephen is also Member of the UK Government’s Innovation Expert Group, advising on how innovation can improve productivity across all sectors of the economy, as well as a Non-Executive Member of the University of Strathclyde Court, a member of the Scottish Government’s Financial Services Advisory Board and the UK Dept of International Trade FinTech Steering Board.

Living in Edinburgh with his family and enjoying his other passion of being a competitive long distance runner.

Rahim Tafazolli, Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, IET, WWRF and is Regius Professor of Electronic Engineering, Professor of Mobile and Satellite Communications, Founder and Director of 5GIC, 6GIC and ICS (Institute for Communication System) at the University of Surrey. He has over 30 years of experience in digital communications research and teaching. He has authored and co-authored more than 1000 research publications and is regularly invited to deliver keynote talks and distinguished lectures to international conferences and workshops. He was advisor to Mayor of London (Boris Johnson) on London 2050 Infrastructure.

Dr Mike Short CBE joined the Department for International Trade as the first Chief Scientific Adviser in December 2017.
Mike leads the science and engineering profession in the department and ensures its policy is informed by the best science, engineering and technical advice. He advises on technical aspects of future trade deals as DIT looks to create new arrangements following Brexit, and works with the UK’s research, development and academic communities to boost scientific and engineering exports.
Mike has over 40 years’ experience in electronics and telecommunications and served as Vice President of Telefonica, the parent company of 02. He managed the launch of 2G (GSM) and 3G mobile technologies in the UK and led research and development for Telefonica Europe.

Martyn leads the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government which was set up in October 2016 to look at creating, delivering and accelerating innovative digital solutions to help Scottish Councils with the challenge of balancing their budgets whilst still delivering critical front line services.

Martyn is also the Senior Responsible Officer for the Analogue to Digital  Telecare Switchover programme which he works in partnership with Technology Enabled Care , Scottish Government and Health & Care colleagues.

Before joining the Digital Office and indeed Public Sector, Martyn’s career has been in the tech sector working with Private & Public Sector clients to understand and innovate with new Digital technology for over 20 Years. He has worked for companies including Capita Secure Digital Solutions, Telefonica O2UK, BlackBerry, Computacenter and Compaq plus been a board advisor to some start-ups.