Interactive Scotland predicts digital media success

’The iPhone changed everything. It burst open the stranglehold of the major operators in the mobile device market and has changed that market forever,” says Alisdair Gunn.

Speaking to redwasp at the massive GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as Scottish Enterprise launched its Interactive Scotland project, the man designated as the project director pinpointed key sectors of the digital media industry where Scotland can excel.

“In wireless and mobile software development, gaming, next-generation learning and so on, Scotland has a track record and can continue to grow and influence its markets,” believes Gunn, who previously ran Wireless Innovation (one of Interactive Scotland’s precursors).

“Wireless Innovation worked for seven years. It’s fair to say that nearly three years ago the iPhone and its platform revolutionised the sector. Every major handset manufacturer has had to change its business model and adapt to this evolving market,” Gunn told redwasp.

“We have mobile handsets that are evolving into ‘mid devices’, surfing the Web in a meaningful way. The platforms are opening up to advertising as well as publishers, broadcasters, and the creative industries as a whole.”

The coming arrival of Apple’s iPad tablet device – due in UK stores next month – is also predicted to have a significant impact on the market.

“Within Scotland we are beginning to see where the new opportunities might lie. Interactive Scotland will provide advisory support to help the sector to evolve and capture those opportunities that are being presented for cross-platform services and applications.

Gunn predicts that key opportunities will present themselves in mobile banking, mobile health and wellness, energy management and those vertical markets whose structure will support a mobile / wireless solution.

His points seemed borne out at the Mobile World Congress, where Scottish companies found themselves at the heart of a massive show of strength by software application developers and vendors who are gearing themselves up around the iPhone operating system, and its rivals including Google’s Android OS, Nokia and Microsoft, who launched its Windows 7 Mobile product in Barcelona.

Interactive Scotland is funded by Scottish Enterprise and its contract for operation was awarded to Innovation Centres Scotland in partnership with Glasgow based New Media Partners. Both companies have won numerous SE contracts in recent years, and ICS runs the Innovation Centres at Hillington and Alba, Livingston.