About ADEE
Digital efforts across Ayrshire were previously fragmented, with councils, businesses, and academic institutions working in isolation, leading to duplicated efforts, missed opportunities, and gaps in infrastructure and digital skills. Limited collaboration between stakeholders further hindered progress.
The Ayrshire Digital Economy Ecosystem (ADEE) was established to address these challenges by creating a co-ordinated, collaborative framework that aligns regional digital initiatives, supports skills development, and accelerates innovation. ADEE underpins the Ayrshire Growth Deal, aiming to position Ayrshire as a leading regional digital economy.
In 2024, UWS began development of the ADEE framework in collaboration with North Ayrshire Council and other 5GIR partners. It was established alongside the Digital Connectivity & Innovation Centre as part of £1 million in funding from the Ayrshire 5G Innovation Region (A5GIR) project, which is part of the £38 million Innovation Regions programme funded by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
ADEE Vision
The vision of the ADEE framework is to create a thriving, inclusive, and sustainable digital economy in Ayrshire by advancing digital infrastructure, fostering innovation, enhancing digital skills, ensuring seamless connectivity, and promoting digital inclusion. Through strategic collaboration and investment, it aims to position Ayrshire as a leading digital hub that drives economic growth and benefits businesses, communities, and future generations.
ADEE Framework
Stakeholder Engagement
Engagement of regional stakeholders is a key component to the development of the ecosystem. To enable co-creation of framework elements, and alignment of ecosystem activities, this engagement is conducted through several methods:
Online Surveys
To gauge existing factors surrounding private and public sector 5G adoption, a surveys of Ayrshire organisations were conducted.
- The DAP Pilot: The Digital Ambassador Programme was pilot of a series of three workshops which included presentations from partners, networking opportunities and breakout sessions for discussion surrounding regional 5G adoption. Attendees consisted of members from public and private sector organisations in the Ayrshire region.
- The DIA Pilot: The Digital Innovation Accelerator is a pilot programme to support businesses with digital transformation, including a series of regional engagement workshops and tailored industry support.
Delivery Group
To facilitate alignment among ecosystem projects, a delivery group of leading partners gathers regularly to present and discuss developments of the ADEE.
ADEE Themes
The key themes of the ADEE framework are Innovation, Collaboration and Education. It is through these that the ecosystem supports projects in impacting the Ayrshire Digital Economy.
- Innovation: Initiatives to encourage and support the adoption of advanced technology in the operations of Ayrshire organisations. This includes programmes such as the DIA to foster technological development in businesses.
- Collaboration: Processes and support to enable partner engagement and collaboration across ecosystem projects. This includes development of Memoranda of Understanding and project charters to align ecosystem partnerships.
- Education: Programmes to support knowledge sharing of advanced technology in the Ayrshire region. This includes programmes such as the DAP to enable accessible upskilling of stakeholder organisations.
The delivery programmes for each of these themes are supported by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure impact over time of project use cases and provide valuable data to support further business cases.
Digital Economy Framework
The Ayrshire Digital Economy Framework (ADEF) supports the Ayrshire Regional Economic Strategy (RES) and its regional priorities. Its five key pillars include:
- Digital Infrastructure: To develop robust infrastructure to support digital growth.
- Digital Connectivity: To ensure reliable and equitable access to digital services for all.
- Digital Innovation: To foster innovation to drive economic growth and productivity
- Digital Skills: To build a digitally skilled workforce for the future
- Digital Inclusion: To ensure digital equity and inclusion for all residents and businesses
These pillars represent the foundation of the digital master plan, driving regional economic growth, improving public service delivery, and ensuring that digital transformation benefits all citizens across Ayrshire.
Framework Documentation
The ADEE framework has been produced into a comprehensive document, which outlines the strategy and structure of the framework, and its application to the Ayrshire 5GIR projects. This covers:
- An overview of the ADEE framework and vision
- A description and analysis of stakeholder engagement activities and processes
- An overview of the framework delivery programmes
- An overview of how the DCIC implements the ADEE framework
- Summary and analysis of the Digital Ambassador Programme pilot
- Information on developed ecosystem tools and processes for collaboration
Social Media
The ADEE maintains an online presence for the benefit of engagement, networking and marketing, through which events and news in the ecosystem are shared:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ayrshire-digital-economy-ecosystem
The Ayrshire digital economy ecosystem is further described in this video: 5GIR 2 - Ayrshire's Digital Economy Explainer
Key Staff
Professor Muhammad Zeeshan Shakir, Professor of Wireless Communications and Director, DCIC, muhammad.Shakir@uws.ac.uk
Leon Irving, 5G Ecosystem Manager, leon.Irving@uws.ac.uk
Chao Guo, Digital Ambassador Program Coordinator, chao.guo@uws.ac.uk
The ADEE team can be contacted at adee@uws.ac.uk
Last updated: 03/06/2025