Alison Byrne joins RDS as Advisor to the Board

Alison Byrne joined NRS in October 2024 as Chief Executive. In this capacity, she also holds the offices of Registrar General for Scotland, Keeper of the Records of Scotland and Keeper of the Scottish Register of Tartans.

Alison is a senior civil servant who has worked in the Scottish Government for 23 years. She has held various positions, mainly in social policy in areas such as housing, regeneration, child poverty, health and looked after children. Alison is passionate about diversity and inclusion and delivering person-centred services that improve outcomes for all Scotland’s people and communities.

Alison led the devolution of social security in Scotland, overseeing the programme to transform the design and delivery of benefits for people living in poverty and disabled people and their carers, including the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment.

Alison was appointed as Interim Director for Equality, Inclusion & Human Rights in January 2022 where she led Scotland’s national response to the war in Ukraine, providing safe refuge for 26,000 Ukrainians. She received an OBE for this work in 2023.

Roger Halliday, Chief Executive Officer at Research Data Scotland, said: “I am delighted to welcome Alison Byrne as an Advisor to the RDS Board of Trustees. To achieve our mission of enabling faster, simpler access to Scottish data for research in the public benefit, RDS must have the support and input of organisations across Scotland’s data landscape. We’re proud to have the Chief Executive of NRS as an Advisor to the RDS Board, demonstrating our commitment to working collaboratively to improve Scotland’s data for research provisions, to enhance research and ultimately improve lives.

“Alison joined our most recent quarterly Board meeting earlier this month. Her unique experience and expertise in areas such as housing, poverty, disability and looked after children, alongside her passion for equality, diversity and inclusion, make Alison an essential voice in helping RDS to steer Scotland towards a more equitable data-driven future.”

On joining the RDS Board of Trustees, Alison Byrne said: “I’m excited to have joined the Research Data Scotland Board as a Trustee as an Advisor. RDS and NRS share a common mission – to make the most of Scotland’s valuable public sector data – and I look forward to continuing our collaborative work towards this vital goal.”

Learn more about the RDS Board.