The Scottish Digital Network (SDN) is a planned new

public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...

broadcaster and online services provider in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was the principal proposal of the

Scottish Broadcasting Commission The Scottish Broadcasting Commission ( gd, Coisisean craolaidh na h-Alba, sco, Scots Braidcastin Commeesion) was established by the Scottish Government in August 2007. Its purpose is to conduct an independent investigation into television produc ...

. The Scottish Broadcasting Commission published its final report in September 2008, with this as its primary recommendation. On 13 September 2010 the Minister for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, requested Blair Jenkins, who had been the chair of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission to actively explore proposed options and business models for the establishment of a Scottish digital network to compete in public service broadcasting with the

BBC Network This is a list of local, regional, national and international television channels and radio stations owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the United Kingdom and around the world. List of television channels In the UK, as well as ...

in Scotland. On 21 March 2013, three bidders were announced as the finalists for the

Scottish Wide Area Network The Scottish Wide Area Network (SWAN) is the secure network for Scotland’s public services. More than 6,000 sites are connected by the network. After the tendering process concluded in March 2013, one of the parties launched a legal challenge, ...

(SWAN). They were

British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...

, a partnership of

Cable & Wireless Worldwide Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC (informally Cable & Wireless) was a British multinational telecommunications services company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom. It was formed in 2010 by the split of Cable & Wireless plc into two com ...

with

Virgin Media Business Virgin Media Business Limited is a telecommunications provider specialising in providing services to businesses in the United Kingdom. The company is a subsidiary of Virgin Media, and as of 1 June 2021, parent company of Virgin Media O2, former ...

and Capita with Updata Infrastructure. It appears that no significant progress was made at the time; a 2016 article by Philip Schlesinger, Professor in Cultural Policy at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and Visiting Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at the

LSE LSE may refer to: Computing * LSE (programming language), a computer programming language * LSE, Latent sector error, a media assessment measure related to the hard disk drive storage technology * Language-Sensitive Editor, a text editor used on ...

commented that "The Scottish Digital Network originally proposed by the Scottish Broadcasting Commission has reappeared in the form of a proposed second channel, although its precise form is unclear".

Scottish Digital Network Panel

The members of the Scottish Digital Network Panel consist of:The Scottish Digital Network Panel - Final Report, Scottish Government, Friday, January 21, 2011
/ref> *

Blair Jenkins Blair Jenkins (born 1957 in Elgin, Scotland) is a Scottish former journalist who served as chief executive of Yes Scotland in the campaign for a "Yes" vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Previously, he was Director of Broadcasting ...

(convener); former convener of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission * Professor Neil Blain, Head of Film, Media and Journalism at

Stirling University The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

* Judith Mackenzie, investment director at Downing Corporate Finance * Charles McGhee, media consultant and former editor of The Herald * David Wightman, former member of the Scottish Broadcasting Commission and founder and former CEO of Creative Edge Software

References

Mass media in Scotland Broadcasting companies of the United Kingdom Mass media companies of Scotland Publicly funded broadcasters Television in Scotland Television channels in the United Kingdom Broadcasting websites Scottish websites {{UK-media-company-stub