Talking-up Scotland

From Insider today:

‘The number of jobs in the industry in Scotland hit 48,448 last year, up 8% on 2016. The three Scottish tech hubs of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee are singled out in the report. Together they contribute £2.4bn, or three-fifths, of Scotland’s total tech turnover. The tech sector in Scotland is worth £3.9bn with digital tech turnover per employee reaching £80,000, according to the report. The Tech Nation report said that Scotland’s capital is home to two of the UK’s best known unicorns – Skyscanner, bought by Ctrip of China in 2016, and gaming company, Fanduel.’

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/scotlands-tech-sector-booming-12752350

This news follows previous stories of tech-based success in the Scottish economy. See:

New technology start-ups in Scotland surge ahead of UK average by 18%

Glasgow’s lower costs and supply of technology graduates tempting financial services firms away from London

Scotland earns £2.5 billion from space technology in 2017

First Minister puts her opponents in the shade with £45million of extra funding to help Scotland lead technological change

Finally, what is a ‘unicorn’? See this from techworld:

‘In investor circles and the tech startup ecosystem, a unicorn is something very different. In the simplest terms a tech unicorn is a company that has been valued by investors at more than one billion dollars. The use of the term in relation to business was first made by venture capitalist Aileen Lee in 2013 and has become part of the lexicon for public and private investors, entrepreneurs and anyone working in the technology industry.’

https://www.techworld.com/startups/what-is-tech-unicorn-3638723/

So, unicorns mean massive wealth and economists like to use the bull and bear images to describe economic change. Now, I wonder, what would three lions mean? I’m guessing they warn of the danger in chasing rainbows over a cliff edge.