Delivered by Business Gateway on behalf of Digital Scotland, DigitalBoost has been nominated for the Public Sector award in the Herald Scottish Digital Business Awards 2018.
In addition, Business Gateway National Unit Marketing Manager, Jacqueline MacDougall, has been nominated in the Digital Professional of the Year category for her work on both Business Gateway and the DigitalBoost programme.
Kate Forbes, Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy for the Scottish Government said: “Digital media and technology now plays a massive role in business by opening up and reaching new markets as well as improving efficiencies within organisations. Making sure Scotland’s SMEs have the proper skills to use digital is at the heart of the DigitalBoost programme.”
Hugh Lightbody, Chief Officer at the Business Gateway National Unit said: “Since its launch in 2016 thousands of Scottish SMEs have benefitted from the DigitalBoost programme, resulting in improved digital knowledge and skills. Receiving these prestigious award nominations is a tremendous endorsement of the work the whole DigitalBoost team delivers.”
Sally Loudon Chief Executive of COSLA said: “The DigitalBoost programme, which has been created and delivered by a committed team at COSLA working with Scotland’s local authorities, has been rightly recognised with these respected industry award nominations. Local government is committed to delivering innovative services for businesses throughout Scotland.
“I’m delighted that Jacqueline has been nominated for an individual award which recognises her important role with the DigitalBoost programme and Business Gateway.”
Since launching in July 2016 DigitalBoost has delivered a programme of free support - including online tutorials and guides, digital health checks, one to one advice and a comprehensive workshop programme - that has helped Scottish SMEs enter new markets, trade internationally and increase business efficiencies.
More than 1,900 workshops have been held across Scotland with over 14,000 attendees benefiting from the free half-day seminars. The programme has also delivered over 1,400 1-2-1 support sessions of up to 21 hours with digital experts, while over 6,000 online healthchecks were completed and almost 17,000 DigitalBoost guides downloaded.
In May 2018, the Scottish Government committed a further £1.7m to extend the DigitalBoost service bringing Scottish Government investment in the programme to over £6 million since 2016.
The Herald Scottish Digital Business Awards 2018 will take place in Glasgow on Wednesday, October 10, 2018.