Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA)

National Outcome: We have a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy

The Scottish Informatics and Computer Science Alliance (SICSA) is the research pooling body for academic computer science in Scotland. Its membership comprises schools in 14 higher education institutions, representing around 600 academics and more than 800 research students. Research, teaching and knowledge exchange in AI is extremely active across SICSA, indicative of the long established track record of the field in Scotland.

The diversity and depth of AI research undertaken in Scotland gives us a global voice, with numerous high profile interdisciplinary and inter-organisational projects currently taking place across the country. These include the National Robotarium, the Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Node in Governance project, the Social AI Centre for Doctoral Training and the innovative AI research within the National Subsea Centre. Support from SICSA was a significant factor in securing funding from a range of sources for this important work.

This research has seen great impact, nationally and internationally: Heriot-Watt University has developed a strong reputation for producing successful spin-outs in areas including spoken dialogue systems and de-carbonisation research; image forgery and intrusion detection systems using innovative machine learning techniques have been pioneered by Abertay University; the University of the Highlands & Islands has optimised tidal location renewables and tidal turbines; Stirling University’s expertise helped the Scottish Curling Team win medals; Edinburgh Napier University is advancing fraud detection techniques using AI; Risk- Aware Automated Port Inspection Drones have been developed by the University of West of Scotland using AI to raise safety standards and save lives; and the University of Edinburgh’s speech recognition software is used in parliaments around the world.

SICSA will work to retain Scotland’s international standing in AI research through continued investment and strengthening of research pooling. It will also collaborate with other research pools and innovation centres to support the development and deployment of AI in new fields and applications.