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SCOTLAND: Global Scots

Written by Scotland.org

Wednesday, 07 May 2008

It is often said when Scots leave their homeland, they carry their country in their hearts. Emigrants have left footprints wherever they have settled.

It is often said when Scots leave their homeland, they carry their country in their hearts. Emigrants have left footprints wherever they have settled. Sons and daughters of Scotland have helped draw the map of global commerce. Giants of industry like Andrew Carnegie who rose from the cotton mills of Pennsylvania to the top of the world's rich list.

Another Scottish giant is Ian Frazer who was named Australian of the Year in January 2006. Frazer is an ex-Edinburgh University renal physician and is today giving new hope to sufferers of cervical cancer across the planet. The list of prominent Scots in world business could stretch from one coastline to another. Like Carnegie, though, there is something in the Scot that doesn't forget the land that cradles. That is why the Inaugural Globalscot Conference in Edinburgh could be one of the most important gatherings for the future of the country's economy in recent years.

Globalscot is a network of 900 Scottish achievers reaching for the stars in some of the world's leading companies today. There are Globalscots like Andrew Mooney bolstering the Boardrooms of Disney. There are Globalscots like Bob McDowell directing productivity at Microsoft or Ian Crawford overseeing global procurement at IBM. Its members are cutting-edge innovators in sectors including electronics and life sciences. However, even when involved in managing seismic turn-overs in Asia, America or the Middle East, these individuals still find time to give something back.

At this – the first such event of its size – 250 ambitious Scottish companies will be able to tap into the combined expertise of these exceptional people, who give their time and knowledge for free. It is an opportunity too good to miss. Like philanthropist Carnegie, who gifted more money to good causes than many countries' GDPs, they do this only because of an affinity to Scotland and a desire to see it prosper.

The Global Marketplace

Globalscots are not, of course, the first to showcase their acumen on the world stage. Scots, it seems, have always had an eye on the bigger picture. Combined with a sense of belonging, this has led to some remarkable results.

Ian Frazer is a notable example. His discoveries will not just benefit Scotland, they will benefit future generations in all five continents of the world.

Frazer was born in Scotland and cut his teeth in laboratories just off the Royal Mile. He emigrated to Melbourne in 1980, moving to Queensland five years later. His excellence in clinical immunology then brought him to the attention of the planet's scientific community. Over 20 years, the eminent 54 year old has developed a vaccine, Gardasil, which has potential to prevent around 70 per cent of cervical cancer cases. Half a million women are treated for the condition each year.

Aside from leading Queensland University's Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research, the Eureka prize winner advises the World Health Organisation and the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation on Papilloma vaccines. The Queensland sunshine has clearly not dulled his indigenous humour. Describing the feeling of being the first Scot voted Aussie of the Year, he said:"Total strangers greet you as a friend and above all, it is fun."

Scots Remodelling Modernity

Scotland can boast countless business luminaries of the modern age. Don MacLeod will be one of the high profile attendees at the two-day conference on September 27-28. An approachable figure, this former economics student of Stirling University sits in the President's Chair at National Semiconductor. Since joining the corporation in 1978 he has risen to the highest echelons, also functioning as the company's Chief Operating Officer.

With 1500 transactions to date between Scottish businesses and Globalscot experts, our First Minister, the Right Honourable Jack McConnell MSP, will no doubt pay homage to what this network is doing in helping Scottish companies reach out into the wider marketplace. The First Minister will deliver the opening address but there are others watching in the wings. New Zealand is exploring the creation of a similar model. There is even a lobby for a partnership called Globalscousers! However, with Globalscots providing access to individuals in seven out of the top ten companies in the Fortune Global 500 list, it is little wonder the network has been held up by the World Bank as a guiding light.

"Because there is such a high percentage of individuals involved at top level in world business, Globalscot is naturally envied. The network is viewed as an ideal model for building a successful diaspora in an economic sense," said a spokesperson for partners, Scottish Enterprise." These are serious business leaders with a real affinity for Scotland, encouraging our businesses to get out there and do it."

Crossing the Boundaries

Scots have always been a mobile race. Between the 1820s and the First World War, over 20 million Scots emigrated. Tom Devine writes in his book, The Scottish Nation 1700-2000 that the Scots migrants, "generally made a deep mark on the development of their adopted homelands." He also said that they, "came with considerable advantages which allowed them to exploit the opportunities of the New World and influence its development out of all proportion to their numbers".

It is under the heading of maximising opportunities that Scotland's networks play a crucial role in growing our economy. Alongside Globalscot, Scottish Networks International annually head-hunts elite international post-graduates studying in Scotland and links them with Scottish companies seeking to find new world markets. This beneficial partnership has led to the securing of export contracts worth £35 million to the Scottish economy. Global Friends of Scotland is an organisation seeking to forge new links at home and abroad by promoting Scotland's image as a vibrant, modern nation with ambition.

From Small Beginnings

Tommy Clement Douglas, a Scot from Camelon, near Falkirk, who went on to become Canada's 'father of Medicare', once famously said, "my friends, watch out for the little man with an idea". That was in 1961, long before his legacy in social policy led him to be crowned the Greatest Canadian of all time. This diminutive but passionate man left politics in 1979 but not before he had introduced universal medical care, car insurance, the minimum wage, old age pensions, a mother's allowance and granted women the right to drink alcohol in bars.

Douglas' ideas remain cornerstones of Canadian political policy today but he always knew that grand ideas started on the ground with an imagination and some vision. The same was true of Carnegie, whose first foray into business was as a humble bobbin-boy. The same could be said of George Stephen of Dufftown who emigrated to Montreal in 1850 but later became the President of the Canadian Pacific Railway. James Forgan knew this, too. The son of a St. Andrews golf club maker, this Scot arrived in the US in 1885 and eventually became President of the First National Bank.

In summary, the purpose of the Globalscot Conference in Edinburgh this month is to ensure that those with ideas, are given the expertise required to make them real. They do this with the knowledge that the person at the other side of the table is a fellow Scot and a friend.

For Scotland and the world, that can only be a good thing.

Further Information:

Courtesy of Scottish Government - Scotland.org .

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