AI for Impact Wildcard Challenge 10.11

Why does this Challenge need to be solved?

There is lots of support available for businesses in Scotland from both public sector and private sector initiatives. Some is provided face to face, whilst other support is provided online – some of which comes from recognised bodies in Scotland and others from different sources (including individual entrepreneurs) all over the world. Support includes advice, practical tools (for example on writing a business case), useful contacts and access to funding.

This challenge seeks to explore how technology could be applied to develop new innovative models of business support.  It seeks to understand, explore, and realise the value that the public sector can add in a crowded landscape of information provision and how to ensure that the support available to entrepreneurs in Scotland is best in class and able to increase the number of start- ups in our country. This should consider how technology can improve the spread, quality, relevance and accessibility of information to entrepreneurs in different sectors and at different stages of understanding and maturity – and help make entrepreneurship something that everyone can do.

We want to help as many people as possible see entrepreneurship as an option that is open to them.  We want Scotland to be seen as a start-up nation and for local growth companies to create jobs and attract investment.

Support on that journey can come from a really broad range of different sources that include both public sector initiatives and support available through private sector/commercial routes. That support can include finance and funding; tax reliefs; advice and mentoring; skills and networks and collaboration. We want to ensure that this advice is the best it can be and tailored to specific circumstances and access requirements.  We want it to be delivered in ways that work for business people rather than being limited by office hours / locations - and we want the system to be as efficient as possible. 

The quality of the support offered will be higher – we support scale ups to access training from Silicon Valley because we know that it is the best available – we want the same assurances for the support we provide at earlier stages in business development.

How will we know the Challenge has been solved?

Put simply, the number of start-ups will grow – and they will be more successful. 

Successful challenge outcomes include;

• Businesses will find it easier to identify the range of different business support services which are relevant to them (i.e., the right support)

• The structure of the evolving system will facilitate the continual improvement of service delivery. 

• Entrepreneurs will find it quicker to access the business support services through digital approaches.

• Improved effectiveness of support for businesses and entrepreneurs.

• Improved data on effectiveness of support for businesses and entrepreneurs.

Who are the end users likely to be?

The end user may be anybody who is thinking about starting a business or who runs a business in Scotland

There will be a particular focus on supporting:

• Entrepreneurs – people looking to start or establish a business in Scotland

• Entrepreneurs and businesses entering growth stages  

• Under-represented groups within these communities (particularly women and minority groups for instance, people with diverse ethnic backgrounds).

Has the Challenge Sponsor attempted to solve this problem before?

The Business Support landscape comprises many different organisations. Many key public sector support suppliers have come together in the Business Support Partnership (BSP) which incorporates Scottish Government Economic Development Department, Enterprise Agencies, Local Government [via that national association of Scottish councils, COSLA] and Business Gateway, Skills Development Scotland, and sector specific agencies such as VisitScotland and Creative Scotland. There are also numerous private sector initiatives that provide valuable support – for example Entrepreneurial Scotland, FinTech Scotland, Techscaler and The Scottish GovTech Cluster.

There has been a growing understanding that within the current system there could be opportunities to harness technology in ways that ensure the customer is truly at the centre of every offering, that economic outcomes are achieved, and that it is simple for business to access the support it requires.

The current system does not take advantage of developments in technology [including but not limited to AI] and has often suffered from a level of service fragmentation, in which initiatives are not automatically joined up so that the same high-quality service that should be uniformly available is not there for everyone and every business in Scotland.

Are there any interdependencies or blockers?

Our aim is to develop a solution that is technology and organisationally neutral. Because we want to explore what truly innovative and ambitious approaches could offer, we want to avoid limiting ideas through pre-determined interdependencies or other obstructions.

Will a solution need to integrate with any existing systems / equipment?

Our aim is to develop a solution that is technology and organisationally neutral. Again, because we want to explore what truly innovative and ambitious approaches could offer, we are not looking for this to integrate with existing systems. That said, there is much of value in those existing systems that you might want to consider ‘building in’.

Any technologies or features the Challenge Sponsor wishes to explore or avoid?

This is an AI for Impact CivTech Challenge because we believe that an imaginative and ambitious use of AI could produce considerable benefits to the issue. Much is currently being made of the potential of advanced AI, and in truth just about all the products CivTech has developed over the past few years have AI as part of the tech stack, using componentry such as machine learning and pattern recognition, or indeed LLMs.

But there is no obligation on your part to go down a particular route: as long as the proposed solution offers the opportunity to solve the Challenge in question, we will consider it.   

Eventually a solution will need to be capable of integrating with current and developing, relevant Scottish Government digital infrastructure. For example, we CivTech with the Business Support Partnership (BSP) is developing a business Master Customer Record and a Data Spine, both of which have the potential to massively and positively impact the business environment in Scotland (company involved: DeepMiner); and CivTech is developing a benefits realisation system for organisations, projects and businesses that also has massive potential benefits (company involved: PortF).

Other projects, products and initiatives that can be explored include -

• ‘Front of house' AI-empowered Chatbot for Citizens Advice Scotland [HelpFirst]

• Mentoring network system [VeryConnect]

Applicants might also consider the set-up and lessons learnt from exemplar projects in Scotland and elsewhere, including -

• Techscaler [for scaling businesses]

• CivTech's post-Accelerator mentoring system [built along the lines of the highly successful Andreesen Horowitz model] [for scaling businesses]

• The CivTech Business Growth Workshop System [for start-ups]

• Entrepreneurial Scotland’s mentoring system

• They might also engage with the Scottish GovTech Alliance and Interface, who will have other assets to offer. And Korero Studio, who engaged with CivTech in earlier re-envisioning exercise that produced a number of valuable insights.

What is the commercial opportunity beyond a CivTech contract?

The initial focus on this Challenge is on the prestart and early-stage business support. There could be opportunities beyond this initial focus for solutions which can address the needs of a wider range of companies.

Many of the issues Scotland faces in terms of business support are common to the rest of the UK therefore there are likely to be commercial opportunities in those markets especially with the continuing focus on driving economic growth.

Who are the stakeholders?

• Techscaler

• SOSE (South of Scotland Enterprise)

• The Business Support Partnership

Who’s in the Challenge Sponsor team?

Scottish Government, Directorate for Economic Development

What is the policy background to the Challenge?

It is core priority that the Scottish economy is more prosperous, more productive, and more internationally competitive.  This ambition to be realised before 2032 is set out in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET)

NSET includes commitments to:

• Promoting an entrepreneurial mindset and culture.

• Building an ecosystem that supports entrepreneurs to start and scale a business.  Much of this is centered on the Techscaler network, and increasingly action is being taken to integrate this with other initiatives.

• Increasing access to entrepreneurship (The Pathways Report; An independent review into women in entrepreneurship in Scotland, authored by Ana Stewart and Mark Logan).

• e-cluttering the landscape of support activities.