Interview with Maxine Dodds

Regulation and government involvement also differ in the US and Scottish contexts. For example, the Scottish government provides subsidized office rental facilities, and much of the commercial real estate is managed by governmental organizations or private organizations with close governmental ties. Such regulation, although quite rare in a North American context, provides opportunities and special status for start-up companies. Scotland sees the nascent development of these companies as a good investment, and on this the two nations agree, but how that support filters through differs significantly. Dodds is in conversation with city, local, and regional governments in the development of policy, in education and curriculum development, and in discussions with private commercial organizations developing the games and their marketing strategies. There are lots of girls interested in gaming, and in science and programming. But young women don't see a route into the work for themselves. Scottish Women in Games is the missing conduit. Dodds reflects on the challenges of the economy that has Britain in a fit of fiscal austerity. AAA-rated companies and nation-states are determined by Standard and Poor's to be able to pay back significant debt. The debt ceiling and debt default discussions raging in the U.S. over Congress' reluctance to pay sovereign debt threaten this rating, and neither Japan nor China has this highest rating. Canada lost AAA in 1994, only regaining it in 2001, after seven years of austerity. Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft are AAA-rated, and no digital startup is likely to find itself with a AAA rating anytime soon, hence Dodds's assertion that government supported tax benefits are unlikely to help startup companies in Britain.