Beyond Year 3

As we come to the end of delivery year 3 of the Strategy and enter into years 4 and 5, it has become apparent the actions outlined in the strategy are not as relevant as they were over 3 years ago.  

Coupled with the recent independent review commissioned by Minister Lochhead, the Scottish AI Alliance have revised their mission and objectives going ahead and will change their governance going forward as detailed below. These changes will be rolled out over April/May 2024.  

Revised mission and objectives 

Our mission: 

Delivering on Scotland’s vision to become a leader in trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI 

We will do this by empowering Scotland’s people, supporting Scotland’s businesses and organisations, and influencing policy affecting Scotland 

Our objectives: 

Empowering Scotland’s people 

• Convene a cohesive AI skills and education plan across all stages of learning 

• Support AI literacy efforts across Scotland 

• Engage and collaborate with unions and workers’ rights groups 

• Engage with organisations from the third and voluntary sector to reach marginalised groups 

• Engage and collaborate with human rights organisations to provide guidance on a human rights approach to AI 

• Provide guidance through signposting to relevant resources 

• Be a trusted voice on AI by providing thought leadership 

• Develop a mechanism for the people of Scotland to feed into and influence decisions on our shared AI future 

Supporting our businesses and organisations 

• Engage and collaborate with enterprise agencies to provide guidance and support for businesses to realise the benefits of AI in a trustworthy, ethical, and inclusive way 

• Engage and collaborate with organisations from the third and voluntary sector to provide support and guidance to realise the benefits of AI in a trustworthy, ethical, and inclusive way 

• Support workforce access to upskilling and reskilling opportunities 

• Support collaborations across sectors 

• Develop a charter for trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI  

• Champion AI activity in Scotland across all sectors 

Informing policy affecting Scotland 

• Advise on trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI across all Scottish Government policy areas 

• Advise on trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI across all Scottish public bodies 

• Engage and collaborate with the UK Government and UK bodies 

• Seek opportunities to engage, collaborate and exchange knowledge with other devolved UK administrations 

• Seek opportunities to engage, collaborate and exchange knowledge with international organisations and governments 

Revised governance 

Taking on board feedback, the governance of the Scottish AI Alliance will change going forward.  

More opportunities for the wider ecosystem to get involved will be made available through the convening of additional outcome focused advisory groups centred around communities, businesses and skills and education, whilst the Leadership Group will evolve into a smaller Governance Group providing strategic oversight.  

These changes will take place over the coming months with the aim to be in place by June 2024.  

State of AI Report → Impact Report 

From Year 4 onwards, we will be replacing the annual State of AI progress report with an annual Impact Report.