Insight

Our colleague Dr Ashley Stewart is the lead consultant on Location Data Scotland and has been working in partnership with the University of Edinburgh and the Association for Geographic Information in Scotland to explore the Scottish geospatial skills landscape to assess whether there is a geospatial skills shortage and, if so, how it could be addressed.

The team have co-authored an article for GeoConnexion magazine which shares the findings of the skills research. A widely-distributed survey revealed concerns around the current and future recruitment and retention of suitably skilled staff within the sector. These findings demonstrate a developing geospatial skills gap in Scotland. The concentration of skills development in higher education, particularly at Masters-level risks narrowing the pool of available applicants and excluding sections of society we would wish to welcome into our profession.

Click images below to read more about the findings and the work being carried out to tackle the shortages: