The objective of our Digital Nation Action Plan is to identify the individual entrepreneurs visions for how to achieve a world leading Scottish digital nation, and aggregate these into one overall action plan.
As Digit reported a report from Scottish Enterprise highlighted how blockchain technology could be worth over £4 billion to the Scottish economy by 2030.
The global blockchain market is projected to reach $291bn by 2030, and Scotland is well-positioned to claim a significant share of this growth.
European Blockchain Leader
On The Crypto Standard podcast they interview Nick Jones of Zumo, exploring the details of their exciting venture pioneering a cryptocurrency payments app. Concluding the interview Jordan highlights how Wyoming is becoming a crypto and blockchain global hub, and asks if Scotland could replicate a similar success.
Nick believes this is entirely doable, given how Scotland is a small, relatively cash rich country with highly educated people, and with many pressing social inequality issues to address could act as an incredible ‘sandbox’ for cultivating innovative applications of the technology that leverage Scotland’s deep legacy of financial expertise.
To crystallize a strategy to unify Scotland’s many different initiatives and assets around a single vision of making Scotland the Blockchain Capital of Europe, Nick quantifies the end result through stating key metrics such as having 10 of the top 50 startups, three relevant university courses and a £500m venture fund for supporting the ecosystem.
Scaling Scotland’s Blockchain Ecosystem
Nick offers an ideal starting point for a Digital Nation Action Plan – A big audacious ambition and clear metrics for quantifying when it is achieved. By incorporating the equivalent views from other Scottish tech entrepreneurs we can refine a detailed strategy and set of steps for truly realizing the goal of building a world leading Scottish digital nation.
There is a rapidly maturing ecosystem of expertise and ventures taking shape to make this ambition achievable.
In particular Scotland’s Blockchain and Digital Trust Taskforce, alongside the Scottish Centre of Excellence for Digital Trust and Distributed Ledger Technology, is spearheading efforts to build capacity in Scotland.
As Peter Ferry and Sarah Forbes describe in this article and this one Scotland is actively advancing blockchain technology as a commercial product through initiatives led by the Blockchain and Digital Trust Taskforce and the Scottish Centre of Excellence for Digital Trust and Distributed Ledger Technology.
By embedding blockchain in public sector operations, Scotland is not only enhancing efficiency but also setting a global standard for responsible adoption. The Scottish Government’s commitment to ethical innovation ensures that blockchain serves people, not profits, aligning with the nation’s values of fairness and inclusivity.
Scottish Enterprise has developed a roadmap to support the incubation and acceleration of new ventures in Scotland. This charts a number of distinct technology sub-trends and opportunity segments, and provides a starting point and catalyst framework to enable industry-wide collaboration.
This could be extended to work with key industry driving pioneers like the British Blockchain Association, who have developed a UK blockchain roadmap.
Scotland has always been a land of pioneers—from the steam engine to the television—and blockchain is the next frontier. By leading with courage and clarity, Scotland’s public sector can inspire the world, proving that technology, when wielded with purpose, can transform lives and build a brighter, more trusted future.
