A Year of Innovation and Disruption: Reflecting on tech in 2024

This year, the tech industry has once again proved its power to reshape the world - although not always for the better.

Deepfakes became one of the biggest challenges for regulators, while the possibility of a cyber-fuelled world conflict became increasingly real. This year also served as a wake-up call for children’s internet safety, with research on the growing rate of child online sexual abuse sending shockwaves across the UK.

However, 2024 hasn’t all been bleak, as it’s seen Scotland’s space sector lift off, and one of the most awaited band reunions spark an end to the unfair harvesting of data for profit.

Holyrood takes a look at the highs and the lows in what has been a defining year for the sector.

1. To AI or not to AI?

The cutting-edge technology has once again fired up a debate across the UK, between those who think it means there has never been a better time to govern and those who believe it is not a cure-all solution for everything.

One of the year’s buzzwords is generative AI. The technology has attracted the interest of academics, policymakers, health workers and business leaders.

But in a year marked by elections worldwide, with half of the global population heading to the polls, all eyes have been fixed on the cutting-edge tool’s power to influence democracy.

Ahead of the general election on 4 July, a survey revealed almost two thirds of IT professionals were worried on the impact deepfakes would have on the election.

And their concerns were not unfounded.

In the run up to polling day, a number of politicians were targeted by AI-generated content. Health secretary Wes Streeting, who was then fighting to be re-elected as the MP for Ilford North, came under fire on social media after a doctored clip of him calling fellow politician Diane Abbott a “silly woman” went viral on X.

The user behind the video called the current health secretary a “disgraceful human being”, adding that the Labour Party was “full of really nasty people”.

And last month research by Ofcom revealed that more than 40 per cent of UK adults had seen misinformation or deepfake content ahead of election day, with UK politics ranking as the most common target for misleading or false information.

North of the border, recent research has also highlighted the need to strengthen security measures; after finding that the Scottish Parliament livestream service was at risk of becoming a target for deepfakes and other online attacks.

And there is evidence to support this call to do more. Shortly after becoming first minister, John Swinney was the subject of an AI-generated clip where he is made to suggest that after the general election, the SNP planned “to do whatever we want”. Material for the deepfake was obtained via Scottish Parliament TV.

In July, Holyrood spoke to the X user behind these viral deepfakes targeting Scottish politicians and he told the magazine his intention was only to take “the mickey out of politicians” and insisted that it was “pretty obvious” his videos were manipulated. However, comments on his posts suggested otherwise, with users accusing MSPs of being “beyond nuts” and “lunatic”. 

In August, despite their landslide victory, Labour started off on the wrong foot with the sector, after it shelved £1.3bn of funding for technology and AI projects, which had been promised by the previous Conservative government.

Amongst the projects cut was the exascale supercomputer which was being developed at the University of Edinburgh. A decision that experts claim will have “without a doubt” an “impact on the economic opportunities for Scotland”.

Speaking at Holyrood’s Public Sector, Cloud Infrastructure & AI conference, David Ferguson, head of data at ScotlandIS, said the cut would have a “knock-on effect right across the technology sector” and urged the government to re-consider its decision.

Days later, the UK Government announced a £32m investment in AI research to boost productivity across industries.

Although two Scottish projects received a part of the cash injection, the support fell short of including Edinburgh University’s supercomputer. No further updates have been given since.

Also, much like its predecessor, the new Labour government is set to make the UK an AI safety hub.

The King’s speech confirmed the government would strengthen AI regulation by introducing new measures to target those developing the most powerful models.

Although it marked a shift from former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s pro-innovation approach to AI regulation, it echoed his intention for the UK to become a leader in the area.

2. Cyber war

Over the past 12 months, the cyber industry has seen some major achievements, including the take down of what was believed to be the world’s largest criminal ransomware group LockBit and the creation of a new cyber and fraud division in Police Scotland.

However, cyber-attacks have been rampant, with Scotland suffering one of its worst ever in February, when NHS Dumfries and Galloway was hit by a breach which led to a “large amount” of personal data being leaked on the dark web.

And, in June, the attack posed one of the first significant challenges for health secretary Neil Gray, who had only been recently appointed to the job. According to an FOI request, Gray attended just one meeting on the matter, held on 9 May, but excused himself before Police Scotland briefed attendees on how to mitigate the risk to patients and staff and gave an update on the investigation.

This year has also seen tension grow regarding the risk of a cyber-enabled global conflict. In March, the then Conservative UK Government linked China to a series of “malicious cyber campaigns” targeting the Electoral Commission and a number of MPs, including then SNP MP Stewart McDonald.

However, the Chinese embassy claimed the accusations were "completely fabricated" and accused the government of slander.

North of the border, the Scottish Parliament was quick to react to the growing cyber threat, introducing mandatory cybersecurity training for MSPs in April.

Yet, last month, intergovernmental minister Pat McFadden again raised concerns of global cyberwarfare after he warned Nato of a looming Russian cyber-attack.

3. The kids are not alright

This year has been marked by shocking figures on child sexual and online abuse (CSEA).

Research by the Edinburgh-based Childlight Global Child Safety Institute, revealed more than 300 million children worldwide had been victims of online sex abuse in the 12 months prior, and a separate study found more than 150,000 children in Scotland had been victims of the crime.

Speaking at Holyrood’s International Law Enforcement in a Digital Age summit, which ran alongside the INTERPOL General Assembly in Glasgow, Paul Stanfield, head of the institute, said CSEA was on a scale akin to Covid and that "current methods globally are simply not enough to protect children".

Concerns echoed all the way to the chamber in May, when First Minister John Swinney pledged to fight sextortion and said keeping children safe online was a priority for his government during First Minister’s Questions.

It’s also been a year where the new Online Safety Act has come under fire/

Research by the Molly Rose Foundation revealed social media platforms have been significantly underperforming in their duty to remove harmful content, with 95 per cent of content moderation decisions made by only two sites.

However, Ofcom has taken its gloves off and in October it told social media platforms “the time for talk is over”. The regulator said 2025 would be a “pivotal year” for online safety and earlier this month, it took the first step in its timeline to implement the act, publishing its first illegal harms code of conduct and guidance.

The regulator said the new 40 safety measures, designed to tackle online grooming and protect children from harm, mark “a major milestone” in creating a safer online world.

In August, the debate on social media-related harm was taken into schools when the Scottish Government introduced new guidance which “empowers” headteachers to introduce mobile phone bans at schools, following evidence on how it disrupts learning and teaching.

However, similar to the Online Safety Act, the guidance also faced significant criticism, with some experts saying the new measures were just passing the buck onto schools.

Swinney has ended the year with a big question mark over the issue, saying he is considering implementing an Australia-like ban on social media.

Australia made history in November when it introduced the world’s strictest rules for social media use by banning those under the age of 16 from creating a profile.

4. Don’t look back in anger

The return of the Oasis to the stage triggered a move to restrict the use of dynamic pricing in the UK.

The Gallagher brothers and Ticketmaster came under fire for ripping off customers, after thousands of fans reported waiting hours in an online queue to find out the tickets had more than doubled in price due to demand.

 The controversy echoed all the way to the House of Commons, where a new law has been proposed to improve transparency on pricing.

The Sale of Tickets (Sporting and Cultural Events) Bill is going through its second reading in the Commons, and if passed ticket sellers would be required to notify fans of maximum prices at the beginning of the buying process.

5. Shooting for the stars

In March, Scotland’s role as a space hub was recognised after it secured it’s first-ever UK Space Agency (UKSA) office.

Located at Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh, the new site formed part of UKSA’s "transformational" expansion plans.

Later in the year, Scotland made another important move in its bid to become “a leading global space player”, when it launched a new space cluster.

It is hoped the cluster will attract international companies to set up base in the area.

Scottish universities also aimed high, with the University of Edinburgh and the University of Strathclyde amongst those to receive a share of a £9m UKSA fund for research on how space can help fight climate change.

However, despite significant accomplishments, 2024 has also been a rocky journey for the industry, as suggested during the Scottish Affairs Committee inquiry into Scotland’s space sector. 

While giving evidence to the committee, deputy chief executive of the SaxaVord spaceport Scott Hammond called for a “senior politician” to be directly responsible for the sector, adding that unclear UK leadership was a significant barrier for the industry.

And launch activity specifically is what business minister Richard Lochhead described to delegates at the Space-Comm Expo in Glasgow as the “last piece” for Scotland to have “end-to-end capability” in the sector.

6. Start-ups

The year started off with a bleak outlook for the start-up sector, with experts telling Holyrood entrepreneurs faced the “valley of death” when trying to become a mature business.

However, the Scottish Government seems to have heard their calls to fix the scale-up funding gap with its draft budget placing enterprise and innovation “at the heart” of the economic strategy.

Finance secretary Shona Robison vowed to invest £321m to help establish Scotland as a top performing start‑up economy, adding the Scottish Government shared employers’ and investors’ “ambition”. As part of the draft budget, the government will also invest £4m in encouraging female entrepreneurs in a bid to make the sector more inclusive.

With this budget being the first the SNP delivers since becoming a minority government in April, could it be the turning point that makes Scotland the best place to grow a business?

7. Digital inclusion

Closing the digital skills gap is perhaps the biggest failure in the government’s 2024 record.

The year kicked off with Sally Dyson, head of digital and development at SCVO, telling Holyrood that failing to close the digital exclusion gap would only widen the poverty gap.

And, later in the year research by Audit Scotland showed one in six adults lacked the digital skills needed for everyday life, warning it could be impacting their human rights.

Months later, Holyrood heard from those who were leading programmes to boost digital skills amongst the most vulnerable that they were at risk of closing down if funding didn’t come through soon.

However, their calls for urgent change were not heard, as the draft budget fell short of announcing a new cash injection to fix the issue.

The lack of commitment came under fire from the sector, with a report from the Mhor Collective, a non-profit team which focuses on improving digital inclusion, saying: “We let these people down at every stage, and now we’re failing them again. It’s shameful."