Gavin Brown

Answer · John Swinney · 16 Nov 2015

The cross-disciplinary nature of e-commerce means that the many courses in computing, business, marketing and web design will contribute to the skills pool supporting e-commerce. However, the granularity of available data does not allow for the relevance of specific programmes contributing to e-commerce to be confirmed with any certainty. It is also not typical for e-commerce to be demanded by businesses, or supplied by educational institutions, as a standalone discipline. The number of privately run training courses is unknown at this time.

Answer · John Swinney · 16 Nov 2015

Scottish Enterprise does not include questions about absolute values of online sales in its trends research for account managed companies. However, Scottish Enterprise recently undertook an analysis of account managed companies’ use of IT over a six-month period (October 2014 to March 2015) and the responses suggested that on average, their account managed firms currently conduct 18% of their sales online. They anticipate this to increase to 25% in the next two to three years.

Answer · John Swinney · 16 Nov 2015

Scotland’s Digital Future: A Strategy for Scotland sets out the ambition for Scotland to be at the forefront of the digital economy.
This strategy recommended that Scotland’s enterprise and skills agencies work collaboratively to enhance business support on digital issues through the Business Excellence Partnership (BEP), backed by an additional £13.6 million of Scottish Government funding. E-commerce is a recurring theme within the business support programme delivered for the BEP and led by Scottish Enterprise. This programme includes the digital voucher scheme supporting around 450 companies (with e-commerce as a key project focus); the Supplier Development Programme focused on stimulating public sector e-commerce via e-procurement; Digital Tourism Scotland featuring e-commerce as a theme, and the new National Digital Engagement Programme which will include e-commerce advice within a portfolio of digital support including workshops, one-to-one advice and digital health checks.
The Scottish Government has no current plans to produce a specific e-commerce strategy. However, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International are fully committed to ensuring that e-commerce is incorporated into their wider digital support across all sectors. Details of the support provided are set out in the answer to S4W-28313 on 16 November 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.