Your article “Computers say yes: praise for creative focus” (14 December) was absolutely right to applaud the excellent work of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and the British Computing Society (BCS) for developing new materials to support the teaching of digital skills in schools. It is critical to Scotland’s future economic success that young people are able to create digital technology, as well as consume it. Digital making involves creative thinking, problem-solving, engineering and design, computational thinking and teamwork. These skills are highly sought by today’s employers.

Nesta’s own Digital Makers programme will provide support for ideas to work with young people in and out of school. We have a planned programme of activity in this area in 2013, offering young people opportunities to create digital technology. We cannot do this alone and will rely on the partnerships that we can form.

We look forward to collaborating with excellent partners in Scotland - including the RSE and BCS - to find those pioneers who are willing to try new ideas to teach young people in different settings and in different ways. This will be critical in encouraging the type of skills that Scotland will need in the future to achieve economic prosperity.

Jackie McKenzie, head of Innovation Programmes Scotland, Nesta.