THE FUTURE is waiting. Nobody can say precisely what it will bring, but we can be assured that it will involve both great opportunities and massive challenges - and that if Scotland doesn't meet it head on, the countries locked in direct competition with us most certainly will.

This was the message that emerged from the Sunday Herald's Digital Future Debate, a massed gathering of industry leaders and academics convened to discuss how best to sustain 21st-century prosperity for Scotland. Led by a panel of the most influential high-tech figures, the session underlined the growing momentum behind the campaign to create a long-term national technology strategy.

"We need to develop and build the benefits we already have. There are over 70,000 highly skilled ICT jobs in Scotland already, and these will become a cornerstone of the economy. We've got some great businesses with products and services both here and around the world, and many of the planet's biggest technology companies already have Scottish bases focusing on cutting-edge research," said Polly Purvis, chief executive of high-tech representative organisation ScotlandIS.

"We must celebrate these successes and encourage more companies to launch themselves globally. In short, we need a game plan that we can all get behind and ensure Scotland's digital future."

A 120-strong audience of analysts, entrepreneurs, digital media experts and public sector representatives participated in the lively debate at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall. In a wide-ranging discussion covering a diverse range of related topics, a clear consensus emerged to the effect that any strategy should concentrate on three key but diverse areas: infrastructure, innovation and education.

INFRASTRUCTURE Broadly condemning the Labour-led former Executive for failing to invest in promoting fast broadband when the prospect was debated in January this year, the panel was unanimous in agreeing that Scotland's current majority maximum of eight megabits per second falls well short of ideal. Calling on the SNP administration to mount a national push to develop the existing digital infrastructure, they expressed unease over the government's failure to prioritise the issue.

Steven Thurlow, technical director of Graham Technology, said: "The fact that we're even having a debate about infrastructure is frustrating, because there's a bit of a no-brainer element to the entire issue. My personal view is that the government missed a trick when privatising BT by not separating the back-end network from customer services, which eventually happened in 2005 and investing as heavily in digital infrastructure as it has in roads and rail. But it can still play a role by incentivising private companies to lead the creation of a state-of-the-art broadband network.

"We're looking for a step change and not incremental change. Having the right core infrastructure is what levels the playing field, and it is the crucial factor that means the next eBay, Google or YouTube is just as likely to come from Scotland as it is anywhere else."

The precise nature and technical specifications for such a development will be the subject of prolonged, detailed and exhaustive debate, but the assembled crowd urged Scotland's leaders to consider all possible routes. Responding to questions from the audience, BT Scotland director Brendan Dick advanced the view that, rather than shoot for the ideal, we should consider all practicable workarounds to deliver the network we need at a price we can afford.

"While it's broadly accepted that a fibre-optic system would be the best solution in an ideal world, we don't live in an ideal world. There would be huge costs involved in laying such a network throughout Scotland, and such a process could take years to complete, so certainly technologies such as wireless and WiMax will have to be part of the mix, particularly in rural areas," he said.

Responding to suggestions that such a large-scale national investment is unnecessary when the up-to-8Mbps speeds available to most households are capable of handling anything the internet is capable of throwing at them, the panel was unanimous in branding such arguments as short-sighted. Indicating progress in competitor countries towards introducing 1GB connections by 2012, they argued that Scotland must think further ahead than next year.

"I fundamentally disagree with the notion of limiting ourselves. Rather than asking ourselves how fast we need broadband to be, we should be asking ourselves what might be possible if we give Scots the unlimited potential a truly high-speed network would bring," said Cisco Scotland and Ireland chief Gordon Thomson.

INNOVATION Roundly judged as a vital component to be included in any national strategy, encouraging businesses and citizens alike to use technology to innovate and invent was flagged up by the panel as a key area for investigation. The idea of creating national digital tsars charged with leading and inspiring the national effort to embrace high-tech was floated and broadly accepted by the entire panel, while BT's Brendan Dick called for every school pupil in Scotland to be given their own computer.

"Can we get to a point where every kid has a laptop?" he said. "I know it costs money, but if we're saying ICT is going to be a central part of everyday life, we need to make sure our children are properly equipped to carry on learning and interacting in a productive way," he said.

While concurring, bigmouthmedia's Steve Leach argued that no matter how well equipped or trained its people, Scotland needs to learn to market itself. Lamenting the flood of outward-bound Scottish talent, he called on the government to market the nation's expertise like a business.

"We need to learn to shout about ourselves and promote the country as a highly competitive platform for high technology businesses. Every year we see an exodus of talented people and it never ceases to amaze me how often I travel around the world meeting executives who started life in Scotland. That is a testament to the strength of our people, but it is also an indication of the extent to which we are losing our best," he said.

EDUCATION Championing the cause of the classroom rebel, Steve Leach argued that a different educational approach is required to breed the next generation of high-tech entrepreneurs.

"Typical entrepreneurs are people with high drive and low compliance. That makes them difficult to live with, but it also makes them top-quality business people, and the schools we have today are looking for the complete opposite," he said. "They look for high conformance and low drive, and this is creating a nation of robots who walk in, do what they're told and move on. I think we need to address that as a fundamental issue and look at ways in which we can reclassify classroom troublemakers as the entrepreneurs of tomorrow."

A generation of secondary teachers will shudder at such ideas, but while other panel members stopped short of endorsing this view, there was general agreement that unless the education and skills sector comes to terms with digital technology, Scotland cannot hope to get the best out of future developments.

"We need to invest in skills and training across the board, not only in ICT skills but also in entrepreneurship and business sales. This needs to take place not only in schools and colleges but also in the workplace, because we will all need to advance and freshen up our skills in this area," said Purvis.

While pointing out that Scotland already has a range of top-quality institutions producing large numbers of skilled workers, Microsoft Scotland boss Raymond O'Hare said the industry could not sit back and leave everything to the education sector. Calling upon companies to evangelise the benefits of the digital age, he argued that something must be done to combat technology's unfashionably geeky image.

"There are certain connotations drawn about the technology industry, and I think we need to do a better job of telling people just how broad and interesting a sector this is," he said. "The first generation that has grown up with computing is now in the workplace, but I wonder how much use we're making of these inherent skills, and I think we need to do a better job of using their abilities to benefit Scottish business."

MOVING FORWARD A nation's troubles cannot be ironed out in a single morning, but as the Digital Future Debate broke up, those attending appeared to share a common enthusiasm for knuckling down and getting to work. To this end, the Sunday Herald is already planning a series of three events to tackle the issues surrounding infrastructure, education and innovation in greater depth. Scheduled for early 2008, their aim will be to produce strategies which will be presented online for dissemination and debate.

"Scotland continues to produce great ideas that are world-leading and a number of our universities are ranked in the top category for research. However, the economic impact from this remains relatively low compared to other leading countries, and we must redress the balance," said economist Neil MacCallum.

"Relationships between business and universities must be improved. Even where it does happen at the moment with individual projects, the roots of collaboration do not extend to change the economic landscape of Scotland. Much greater movement of personnel and skills exchange through collaboration, mentoring, practical specialist training and time-limited assignments are required.

"Smart, more highly productive working requires the space, mindset and time investment to experiment and develop such areas within and outwith Scotland. As an entity, we should no longer be defined by our geographical border: there is a global opportunity and a Second Life out there for anyone willing to take it."