Location data is creating new jobs, new products and vital public services for Scotland

Three years ago, I embarked on a pilot programme – funded by the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and the Geospatial Commission – to transform services and create new products using geospatial technologies in Scotland.

I set out in October 2020 to grow a community of location-based organisations across Scotland, with the sole aim of driving innovation to create greater efficiency in the products and services delivered and used by organisations and the public sector in Scotland.

And so, Location Data Scotland (LDS) was born.

Geospatial data maps information through locations on the Earth’s surface. It is an essential component in many of the apps and mapping services we use today, from real-time travel updates and local weather reports, to fuelling location-based search engines.

LDS has championed the application of geospatial data in several key traditional sectors over the last three years, including financial services, agriculture, space, construction, travel, tourism and energy, as well as emerging sectors in telecommunications.

My goal was to show how geospatial technologies could drive innovation and create new products and services for a range of sectors. There have been some shining examples of this from the LDS community in Scotland.

Data and AI experts Eolas Insight are transforming how geospatial data is utilised in the environmental and ecological sectors to improve nature in light of the climate crisis. They are now working with the agricultural sector to combine the power of automation and analysing large scale data from space to help farmers, ecologists and land managers save time and money, while getting more vital groundwork done.

Edinburgh-based Topolytics, which use mapping and machine learning to generate data to track waste, is working with government teams to meet their recycling requirements and support the drive for a circular economy.

I have seen giant leaps in how the emergency services sector in Scotland is using geospatial data to drive efficiencies and provide the public and business with access to key public services. Scotland has one of the most successful Covid vaccine rollout programmes and location data was at the core of how the health service delivered this highly efficient programme.

By sharing data from local authorities, the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA), which is a contract between Ordnance Survey and the Geospatial Commission, is delivering business critical services such as roads and infrastructure, utilities, environmental services and healthcare through location datasets.

Location data is instrumental in helping deliver new services throughout Scotland.

To help implement Scottish Government’s plan to provide all properties in Scotland with 100mb internet speed, location data is critical to pinpoint the properties affected. This initiative will make Scotland more attractive to do business in and enable us to directly compete with other European countries in terms of broadband connection.

A key focus for the Location Data Scotland programme was to map the skills gap to help develop this important skill in Scotland. The research identified that there were huge gaps in both industry and academia.

Working with AGI Scotland the University of Edinburgh, we have been able to create a skills strategy for the geospatial sector to encourage more people into the sector, where our ambition is to create more jobs using geospatial skills and make Scottish talent more marketable to industry.

I also believe this will attract more companies to set up in Scotland, as there will be a cluster of skilled talent, and a dedicated pipeline of personnel to support emerging industry requirements.

I am excited by a pilot programme which is in the early stages of development with Fife College focused on developing a dedicated geospatial skills course for further education. This is the first time a course of this level has been rolled out in Scotland and potentially the UK, as currently the only geospatial qualification that exists is at MSc level.

Geospatial is an exciting area and Scotland is playing a very important part in driving innovation, key services, and a robust talent pipeline. Scottish Government believe geospatial technologies and location data has the potential to save time, money and lives.

We are now moving into the fourth year of the programme, with the backing of Scottish Government, and I am looking forward to supporting the LDS community further, opening up more opportunities for new location datasets to drive efficiencies and further enhance the delivery of vital public services.

The community is open to businesses, public bodies, social enterprises, start-ups and universities.

Dr Ashley Stewart lead on the Location Data Scotland programme and is a senior consultant for Optimat