Blog Part 2 | From fibre to future: how broadband can help build sustainable rural Scotland

I finished my last blog by saying that we’re moving closer to having the core building blocks in place to better understand what will be served through current interventions, but questions remain around what’s left and where there’s still the need to do more.

At first, they may appear to be two similar questions, but one focuses on the desire to achieve total coverage, which is a black and white metric. The second question focuses on the benefit or impact achieved.

I’m a firm believer in fostering stronger island and rural communities to help attract people and families to areas that are suffering from depopulation. As the Highlands and Islands Regional Economic Partnership point out, if high quality and affordable housing for residents can be put in place that has all the ‘mod-cons’ of which good and reliable Wi-Fi is one, then this should better enable community sustainability and resilience that will in turn create a foundation for long-term wellbeing and revitalise rural areas.

If there’s a skilled workforce in place or one that can be attracted, then this draws investment and entrepreneurship that can support the delivery of national goals, for example the production of offshore energy, and utilise untapped potential of under-represented groups, such as women and young people.

The Scottish Government’s broadband team is working with the likes of Highlands and Islands Enterprise and South of Scotland Enterprise to identify where fibre connectivity aligns with their strategic priorities and objectives.

Why do we do this? Well, besides trying to maximise gigabit-capable coverage we have a key governmental role to play in recognising strategic factors such as reversing depopulation and economic deprivation, and trying to do something about it.

Broadband infrastructure programmes like ours make a bigger impact than just providing access to the latest internet speeds. That’s why I’m proud that the Scottish Government is being entrusted to oversee more than £1 billion of publicly-funded broadband initiatives, including the UK Government-funded Project Gigabit roll-out in Scotland.

By having clarity on what success looks like, having our targets and tools in place, and working closely with partners, suppliers and other key stakeholders my intention is that we can make a real difference to the communities and people of Scotland and help ensure that every community can play an active part in our digital economy.

Sarah Eynon

Broadband Programme Director