The Data Lab has been commissioned by Scottish Enterprise, in partnership with Optimat, to explore the potential for a Scotland-wide Artificial Intelligence (AI) cluster. The work forms part of the Scottish Government’s Innovation Strategy and the development of the emerging Scottish Cluster Scheme, which aims to strengthen collaboration and accelerate innovation across key technologies and sectors.
Artificial Intelligence is already recognised as a key enabling technology for Scotland – driving innovation, productivity and inclusive economic growth across sectors from health and manufacturing to financial services, energy and the public sector. This feasibility and demand assessment will examine whether there is sufficient appetite, critical mass and shared ambition to support a coordinated national AI cluster.
Rather than launching a cluster outright, the focus of the work is to understand where a cluster could genuinely add value. Guided by the Blueprint for Developing Clusters, the assessment will explore how an AI cluster could support collaboration, help scale innovation and enhance Scotland’s global competitiveness. Given AI’s cross-cutting nature, the study will also consider whether AI could act as a foundational cluster – supporting multiple sector-focused clusters across the Scottish economy.
Engagement with Scotland’s data and AI community and ecosystem is central to this feasibility work. Organisations across business and industry, academia and education, public sector and the wider ecosystem are being invited to share their views through a short online survey. The survey asks where a Scottish AI cluster could make the biggest difference, what challenges it might help address, and how organisations may want to engage in future activity.
The work is grounded in principles of responsible AI, inclusive growth and collaboration. By bringing together diverse perspectives, the assessment aims to identify opportunities to strengthen high-value AI-producing activity in Scotland while ensuring benefits are shared widely across society.
This is an opportunity for organisations already working with AI, as well as those shaping its future, to influence what happens next. By contributing your insight, you can help determine whether a coordinated Scottish AI cluster should move forward, and how it can best support innovation, skills and global impact.
Take part in the survey here by 28 February and help shape the future of AI collaboration in Scotland.