15,000 More Jobs in Scotland Thanks to Broadband Investment

The Scottish Government has predicted that its £200m+ investment strategy to bring “world-class digital access” to all of Scotland by 2020 will result in the creation of 15,000 new jobs across the economy. It will allegedly also help job seekers, older people and those with disabilities gain access to employment.

Scotland’s current plan will make superfast broadband ISP speeds of up to 80Mbps available to 85-90% of premises by 2015 and extend speeds of at least 30Mbps to 100% by 2020. This is supported by £100.8m from the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office, £79.5m from the Scottish Government, around £25.5m from Europe (could be increased) and must also be matched by the private sector and local authorities (e.g. councils).

On top of that some related funding will come from part of the £150m Urban Broadband Fund (UBF) for “super-connected cities” and the £150m Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) for extending mobile coverage, not to mention the new £5m Community Broadband Scotland Initiative (CBS).

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister, said:

“The huge potential and massive opportunities are clear. In addition to creating around 800 jobs building the infrastructure over the next five years the investment in improving Scotland’s digital connectivity is forecast to support around 14,000 jobs in the wider Scottish economy over the next 15 years.

Our commitment will mean new, high quality jobs in cutting edge areas like e-commerce and digital engineering. But investment in our digital economy will not only boost jobs, it will transform our businesses, raising productivity and opening up new markets to attract inward investment.

Broadband, just like roads and railways, is a vital part of Scotland’s infrastructure, and that is why we are committed to delivering a world class digital infrastructure to the people of Scotland by 2020.”

Apparently these new jobs are expected to be created in the e-commerce, engineering, social media, tourism, laser technologies, cyber security and research and development sectors. In reality it is very difficult to accurately predict how many new jobs will be created by the technology upgrade itself.

But certainly there will be many benefits and the improved business and home infrastructure should help to boost productivity in areas that previously suffered from slow connectivity.