What is the Scottish Tech Army?

Founded by Edinburgh based entrepreneurs, Alistair Forbes and Peter Jaco, the Scottish Tech Army Limited is a not for profit company that is building a volunteer community that will work to help the third sector improve their understanding and use of technology.

Does the Scottish Tech Army have an agenda?

We are non-political and have no agenda other than wanting to help the third sector access the world class technical talent that we have in this country to support those on the front lines and in our communities. Please volunteer to help, we need you!

Where will the 'Army' come from and what tech skills do you need?

We will be looking for talented Scottish technical staff, with volunteers sought from the broad range of the tech development world including software developers, project and programme managers, social media and marketing, business analysts, application deployment, operations expertise and Salesforce design and customisation skills.

Who is helping the Scottish Tech Army to launch the company?

We are fortunate that many people across Scotland's business community have been supporting us in the formation of the business and volunteering their time and pro bono services. We would like to thank the companies and individuals who have supported us including legal services from MBM Commercial, logo design and branding support from Porridge Design, PR support from Hot Tin Roof and support from recruitment group, Head Resourcing who will help us recruit volunteers through their network and match people to projects. We will also work with Scottish venture capital firms, professional services firms and public bodies to publicise the call for talent to their extensive networks.

What type of projects is the Scottish Army looking for?

The Scottish Tech Army has seen great success as an organisation supporting pandemic response, we are now transitioning into a Tech for Good force.

How is the Scottish Tech Army funded?

The Scottish Tech Army is a not for profit company, limited by guarantee and run by its founders on a voluntary basis. The company was created with the pro bono support from Scottish legal, recruitment, public relations and design firms.
The Scottish Government has had many offers of support from organisations in the form of digital products and services, many of which are being offered on a pro-bono basis.
Everyone who joins the Scottish Tech Army will be doing so as a volunteer, offering their time and talents to help us deliver a wide range of projects to the third sector.

Are you duplicating effort – there are lots of schemes out there?

We have seen lots of great initiatives from organisations and individuals that are acting on their own initiative but there is nothing else like the Scottish Tech Army in Scotland. We have world class technologists here and we want to give these people a chance to support the third sector and those on the front lines by using their technology skills. We believe that it will help provide a sense of purpose during this challenging time and they will also have a chance to meet like-minded people, share skills and build their networks, all useful things to do at this time.

How many projects do you have? How many volunteers do you need?

At this stage we are still working with the Scottish Government and others to ascertain the number of projects that we will have, and the resources that each project will require, and this will be ongoing work. Also, until we launch our Tech Army recruitment drive, we will not know how many volunteer Tech Army members we will have to deploy on various projects.

Who is the Scottish Tech Army working with in the Scottish Government?

We are working with the team at CivTech and the Digital Directorate of the Scottish Government as we think that many of the requirements will come from the public sector and CivTech is coordinating digital projects across the Scottish Government.
The Scottish Government has had many offers of support from companies across Scotland and is busy triaging the results in terms of importance. The Scottish Tech Army will be able to help with direct action on some of these projects where we feel we can make a difference.

How will projects be chosen?

We will work with CivTech, the innovation group within the Scottish Government’s Digital Directive, to agree projects where the Scottish Tech Army can deliver most value, most quickly. All projects will be focused to support response to the challenges generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. We will have a CivTech project manager working with the Scottish Tech Army team to ensure smooth communication.

Who is in charge of the projects?

Each project will have a Scottish Tech Army team assembled to deliver the project, led by a Project lead who will report to and be supported by the Head of Projects and Programmes.

I am keen to volunteer but will my employer allow me?

Everybody’s situation is different at this time. We have had people who are still in full time employment approach us about joining the Tech Army as well as technologists who are furloughed and some people who have recently lost their jobs. You should definitely speak to your employer and let them know that you are joining the Scottish Tech Army.