Brian Whittle is a Scottish Conservative MSP for South Scotland and Shadow Minister for Public Health, Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport. He is a former Olympic-level professional athlete, best known for running his leg of the 1986 European Championships with only one shoe – still achieving a personal best time. Brian trained as an industrial chemist prior to his career in athletics and spent several years in business as a director of various companies working across several sectors, including within the healthcare technology sector, before becoming an MSP in 2016.  He is a Member of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee at Holyrood and sits on Cross Party Groups for various subjects including renewable energy, sustainable transport, and improving Scotland’s health. He is interested in tackling the root causes of poor health and health inequalities across Scotland, including access to physical activity.

Jonathan is the Deputy Director for Digital Health and Care in Scottish Government, and has overall responsibility for the Digital Health and Care Data Strategy for Scotland, and is currently leading the delivery of major programmes across the NHS and Care Sectors. During the Covid pandemic, Jonathan led the digital response including the delivery of the Covid Vaccination System and Protect Scotland app. 

Prior to his current role, Jonathan has held a number of data and IT programme posts in the public and private sector, and has a strong track record on complex IT and data system delivery. His career in eHealth and IT includes the delivery of the Emergency Care Summary and Key Information Summary systems which were major achievements in improving patient care across Scotland.  

Greg is the Programme Director for the Digital Front Door Programme, leading on the delivery of the overall programme. Greg has delivered many national digital and transformation programmes across various sectors in Health and Care over the last 20+ years. Greg is passionate about transformation and data to maximise benefits for the people of Scotland through use of digital health and care services.

I am currently the Head of Information Management and Health Records at NHS Lanarkshire. I am the Digital lead for Organisational Readiness at Lanarkshire for the DFD project.

I have worked in NHS Lanarkshire for 22 years and have carried out a range of roles ranging from CSW, Benefits Manager, Surgical Service Manger and then onto all things digital.

Jonathan is the Deputy Director for Digital Health and Care in Scottish Government, and has overall responsibility for the Digital Health and Care Data Strategy for Scotland, and is currently leading the delivery of major programmes across the NHS and Care Sectors. During the Covid pandemic, Jonathan led the digital response including the delivery of the Covid Vaccination System and Protect Scotland app. 

Prior to his current role, Jonathan has held a number of data and IT programme posts in the public and private sector, and has a strong track record on complex IT and data system delivery. His career in eHealth and IT includes the delivery of the Emergency Care Summary and Key Information Summary systems which were major achievements in improving patient care across Scotland.  

Chris Mackie is the Director of Digital at the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE).  He leads the ALISS programme and all ALLIANCE activity around digital health and social care.  ALISS is “A Local Information System for Scotland”.  Other areas of interest are human rights principles in digital health and social care, promotion of digital tools to support health and wellbeing, and putting people at the centre of innovation and service provision in digital health and social care.  He has a passion for human rights, championing the third sector and using technology for good in sustainable, inclusive ways.

Aaron is a leader in digital inclusion, working at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO). In this role he was part of the team that designed and delivered the Connecting Scotland programme and has more recently been contributing his expertise to the delivery of Digital Lifelines Scotland.

Aaron’s interests in digital inclusion are currently focused on the need to reframe how we tackle digital exclusion, with an emphasis on collective responsibility in the face of public sector renewal and digitisation. His most recent work has centred on the development of place-based approaches and the implementation of frameworks to embed digital inclusion in health and social care.

Professor Marilyn Lennon is a distinguished academic and researcher specializing in Digital Health and Human-Computer Interaction. With a career spanning over 23 years, she has contributed significantly to advancing interdisciplinary approaches in the user centered design and evaluation of interactive technologies and services in the health and care sector.

Currently based at the University of Strathclyde, Professor Lennon leads innovative research projects that explore the intersection of technology, society, and user-centered design. She has over £2m in funding in the areas of person-centered design and evaluation of digital tools and services for supporting the health and wellbeing of both individuals (remote monitoring and self management tech) and populations (e.g. smart home tech, falls prevention, diabetes management, cancer care). She collaborates widely across academia and industry, driving forward impactful solutions that address real-world challenges and that can be adopted and scaled to transform health and care.

Professor Kathrin Cresswell is a social scientist with extensive experience in conducting formative evaluations of digitally enabled change and improvement programmes in health and care. She has consulted for the World Health Organization, Harvard Medical School, NHS England and Improvement. She is a member of the International Academy of Quality and Safety in Health Care, the Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy of Scotland, and has received the Yvonne Carter Award for Outstanding New Researcher. Kathrin is also a Fellow of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics, and co-chair of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) and European Federation of Medical Informatics Evaluation Working Groups on evaluation. She has over 140 peer-reviewed publications in international academic journals and £56 million in research grant funding. She is currently Professor of Digital Innovations in Health and Care at the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh, and Course Lead on a Scottish national digital health leadership programme. She was previously Module Lead on an English national digital health leadership programme and has taught over 450 national and international health information technology leaders about Technology Strategy and Health Information Systems Implementation. Kathrin’s research is on the use of a variety of health information technologies in context. These have included both patient- and professional-facing technologies comprising electronic health records, robotics, health and fitness apps, artificial intelligence and decision support systems. She is an expert in conducting evaluations of digital applications, having applied formative methods in a variety of health and care settings. Bringing together stakeholders with varying perspectives is key to her ongoing work, where she examines how political, commercial, organisational, patient and health and care workers’ interests need to be aligned to transform health and care through safe and scalable technologies.

Marion has worked within the Digital Health and Care Division of Scottish Government since 2022. She leads on Scotland’s organisational Digital Maturity programme, a joint programme between Scottish Government & COSLA, open to all health and social care organisations. She also manages the Scottish Government commission of the Digitally Enabled Workforce Team at NHS National Education Scotland (NES). This programme is designed to improve the digital capability of our workforce and leadership across the health and social care, social work, housing landscape.

Prior to joining Scottish Government she held a number of senior management and operational roles in the Third Sector, NHS and academia. She has extensive experience and qualifications in organisational & workforce development, adult education and addiction & recovery service design & delivery.

Since 2022, Marion has been an integral part of the Digital Health and Care Division within the Scottish Government. In this role, she leads Scotland’s organisational Digital Maturity Assessment programme, a collaborative initiative between the Scottish Government and COSLA. This programme is available to all health and social care organisations across the country, supporting their journey towards digital transformation and maturity.

Marion is also responsible for managing the Scottish Government’s commission of the Digitally Enabled Workforce Team at NHS National Education Scotland (NES). The aim of this programme is to enhance the digital skills and capabilities of the workforce and leadership across the health and social care sector, as well as within social work and housing. Through this work, Marion is contributing to the development of a digitally skilled workforce that can confidently respond to the evolving needs of the sector.

Before joining the Scottish Government, Marion held a variety of senior management and operational positions in the Third Sector, the NHS, and in academia. She brings with her a wealth of experience and qualifications in organisational and workforce development, adult education, and the design and delivery of addiction and recovery services.

Albert King is Chief Data Officer at NHS National Services Scotland (NSS). NHS NSS serves as the data hub for the health and social care economy in Scotland. Through an unrivalled mix of health and social care datasets, professional capability and it’s leading technology platform (Seer) it supports the development of insights with partners, including Public Health Scotland, Health Boards, local and national government. Previously, Albert served as Chief Data Officer in the Scottish Government and draws on over 20 years experience in industry and public sector data and technology.

Chal leads on DHI’s technical strategy and is responsible for the way we support and deliver technical innovation, by applying systems thinking and methodologies in support of the DHI innovation model. He is devoted to the idea that citizens can be empowered to take an active role in their own wellbeing. Chal believes that digital health offers the tools to achieve this, and the DHI has the fresh perspective necessary to reconceive the relationship between the citizen and those who might care for them. He brings a range of skills including a Master’s in Healthcare Management & Leadership and a Master’s in Public Health Policy: Health Systems. He has spent eleven years working in digital innovation, seven years working in Scottish Government public policy and healthcare service delivery and has led the design, development, integration and roll out of many digital health and care services with several used at scale across Scotland.

Debbie Collins is a CIMA-qualified accountant with extensive experience across senior roles in both public and private sectors, including eight years in social housing. She joined Bield in 2023 as the first Chief Operating Officer, leading financial and organisational delivery. Following a successful year as Interim CEO, she was appointed to the role permanently, having steered the organisation through key strategic milestones. Passionate about delivering high-quality, supportive housing for older people, Debbie is focused on driving innovation, influencing sector-wide policy and ensuring Bield plays a leading role in shaping the future of housing and care in Scotland.

Karen is a dedicated social care ambassador whose journey began as a paid carer during university. Motivated to improve the sector, she advocates for seamless person-led care and support across the life course, and believes true impact is measured by people’s experiences. Karen has held roles across government, Director at the Prince of Wales Foundation, and now serves as DCEO of Scottish Care, focusing on sector sustainability, human rights, ethical commissioning, fair work, digital and innovation. She co-chairs the only national multi-disciplinary health and social care group driving integration improvements locally, and is part of IMPACT’s leadership team, bridging the evidence implementation gap. Outside work, Karen is a UWS Court member, Coastguard Rescue Officer, and as an Ayrshire lass, can be found enjoying beach time with her family. FRSA MIOD.

Brian Whittle is a Scottish Conservative MSP for South Scotland and Shadow Minister for Public Health, Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport. He is a former Olympic-level professional athlete, best known for running his leg of the 1986 European Championships with only one shoe – still achieving a personal best time. Brian trained as an industrial chemist prior to his career in athletics and spent several years in business as a director of various companies working across several sectors, including within the healthcare technology sector, before becoming an MSP in 2016.  He is a Member of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee at Holyrood and sits on Cross Party Groups for various subjects including renewable energy, sustainable transport, and improving Scotland’s health. He is interested in tackling the root causes of poor health and health inequalities across Scotland, including access to physical activity.