Digital Lifelines Scotland (DLS) Conference and Application Call

Reflections on the 3rd DLS Conference and Opening of Funding Opportunities

Two weeks have passed since we welcomed nearly 150 people to Murrayfield for the third Digital Lifelines Conference. What a day it was, all the planning and hard work paid off, phew! Well done to all the team who worked on the event.

Many present on the day expressed how insightful, interesting and informative the speakers and sessions were. There was a tangible vibrancy in the room, and the conversations were lively and invigorating.

The collaborative nature of DLS was reflected in the delegates with a quarter of the audience joining us from Academic and Educational institutions, and similar proportions of Health and Care Providers and Community and Voluntary sector attendees. The remaining audience members came from the wider public sector and industry. This truly mirrors Digital Lifelines intention to bring together a wide range of stakeholders to develop and deliver the programme.

There was a consensus that the variety of speakers and sessions was balanced, the topics covered shed light on DLS, but also on the wider addiction support space and the expertise of those working in the drugs research, policy and frontline services.

We are very grateful to all our speakers and session host for consenting to share their presentations, which are available on the DLS website Digital Lifelines Conference 2026 | Digital Lifelines. You will also find the videos played on the day and I would encourage you to view them all to discover the life-changing and life-saving impact of our frontline partners.

The Minister for Drugs Policy & Alcohol and Sport, Ms Maree Todd, recorded a message for the event due to being unable to attend as planned. As well as commended the success of the programme and the importance of digital inclusion and digital services for people who use drugs Ms Todd also announced 2026-27 funding for DLS.

As a result, we are delighted to have opened the call for applications from Scotland’s Alcohol and Drugs Partnerships.

Documentation supporting applicants and details of where to submit applications can be found here Funding | Digital Lifelines. There are upcoming online support sessions available too.

For any questions about the funding or to join one of the support sessions please contact digital.lifelines@dhi-scotland.com

Here’s to another successful conference in 2027.

Digital Lifelines Scotland is managed by the Digital Health & Care Innovation Centre (DHI) in conjunction with core partners SCVO and Simon Community Scotland and supported by NHS National Services Scotland. The third phase of DLS is funded by Drug and Alcohol Policy Division in the Scottish Government with previous phases receiving funding from Drugs and Alcohol Policy, Digital Health and Care Divisions and the Drug Deaths Taskforce in the Scottish Government.