News Article – Page 3 – Location Data

Three years of exciting growth for Scotland

Three years of exciting growth for Scotland

March 2023

Scotland has the potential to be centre stage in the growing global geospatial industry.

There are some exciting things happening in this arena in Scotland! Location Data Scotland, working with our partners are focused on accelerating the growth of this nascent industry in Scotland, underpinning public services, helping protect our environment and delivering economic growth through the creation of new products and services using the power of location data. Now in our third year we are seeing our community grow, we’re having conversations with the key decision makers and we’re tackling the skills issue.

Ashley Stewart, Lead on Location Data Scotland talked to Business Insider magazine about how location data can help Scottish businesses to thrive. Read the interview here.

Call for Partners – Scottish Tourism Industry to Trial Geotourist’s Data Dashboard

February 2023

Scottish Government fund ground-breaking Tourism Data initiative with University of Dundee expert in place branding and Geotourist Analytics.

Geotourist and Dr Keith Dinnie, from the University of Dundee, are undertaking a shared project to identify and assess Geotourist’s economic and social benefits to Scottish tourism – with a call to Scottish Destination Management Organisation and tourism-related organisations to take part. With 20 spaces on offer, each partner will have a Geotourist multimedia trail created – to showcase their destination or brand – with access to Geotourist’s data dashboard to assess and analyse the results. The project runs until May 2023, with results released in a paper authored by Dr Keith Dinnie, an industry report co-authored by Dr Keith Dinnie and Geotourist CEO, Shaon Talukder, and an online event for Scottish tourism industry stakeholders.

Building on existing links between Geotourist and the Scottish tourism industry, the digital storytelling tours will be hosted on the Geotourist platform and generate data bespoke to each of the 20 project partners. Under the supervision of Dr Keith Dinnie, interviews will be conducted with the partners to assess the potential for Geotourist to deliver economic and social benefits to organisations and their destinations.

With significance on a global scale, this project will help Scottish tourism organisations to unlock data sets that have not been measured or previously accessed. The data generated by destinations’ own visitors removes the need for a third-party data provider or the general data pool to provide destination leaders with accessible, actionable insights that reveal which activities are delivering real visitors in and which are losing organisations money. The goal is to help destinations accelerate their economic growth by using data to focus on the activities that their visitors would travel for.

Shaon Talukder, CEO, of Geotourist said:

“We’re thrilled to be working with Dr Keith Dinnie of the University of Dundee to help destination management organisations and other tourism stakeholders across Scotland understand how Geotourist-generated data can support their economic activities and drive visitor engagement. We’re hugely committed to the visitor economy in Scotland and are looking forward to bringing more destinations on board during this research project.”

If you’d like to take part, please contact partnerships@geotourist.com.

A widening GIS skills gap in Scotland

November 2022

A recent round table hosted by Location Data Scotland, in conjunction with AGI-Scotland and the University of Edinburgh, saw a meeting of minds between industry, Government, academia, and research to consider the geospatial skills gap in Scotland.

Geography is viewed as a social science within the Scottish curriculum; however, this currently downplays the element of GIS and its importance as a source of employment. The ability to link geography with computing science in schools to help put geospatial on the map! Qualifications also need to be considered at all levels – SQA, college and university.

Schools, colleges, and universities are promoting data science as a key career path for students. Huge opportunities are opening up across the world and salaries in this area are leading the charge, however GIS analysis is not considered under the umbrella of data science. If it is to be taken seriously as a career path, awareness raising is required to showcase the opportunities and consideration must be given as to where it is introduced – school or college or university courses – apprenticeships – jobs?

There is a need in geospatial sector to develop a campaign similar to the one launched a few years ago in the Construction sector – GoConstruct – an online resource for anyone looking for a career in the construction and built environment sector. A campaign like this will significantly increase the awareness of geospatial and ultimately the skills base for geospatial in Scotland.

Bruce Gittings, Chair of AGI-Scotland said “We want to put Scotland at the centre of an international geospatial stage so we can attract technology entrepreneurs, promote start-ups and bring research to this country. To do this we need a diverse base of skilled professionals, building on Scotland’s geospatial heritage and a growing data science sector. While our universities lead the world in aspects of this GIS and remote sensing, we need to expose students in schools and colleges to the benefits and potential of this technology, as well as ensuring we have appropriate professional development opportunities for those at all career stages. Having access to industry networks such as Location Data Scotland and AGI Scotland is essential to help address this skill challenge and identify appropriate solutions.”

Have your Say!

A survey was launched in May 2022 and a series of roundtables are underway to consider the findings and discussion a shared vision for tackling the challenges. If you want to join a roundtable, contact ashley.stewart@optimat.co.uk

Everything you need to know about Innovation, Collaboration and Funding

September 2022

Innovation is the process of taking new ideas and research to market. It drives productivity, exports and economic growth and helps solve societal challenges.

In our recent webinar Innovate UK, Scottish Enterprise and ESA (European Space Agency) joined Location Data Scotland to explore opportunities around innovation, collaboration and funding.

Innovate UK funding and support

Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency, enabling business led and collaborative innovation in all sectors, technologies and UK geographic regions. The Innovate UK group offers a range of specialist support for innovative businesses:

Innovate UK	Innovate UK KTN	Innovate UK Edge	Catapults
Funding and support for innovation projects	Connections to new partners and opportunities	Support for growing innovative businesses	Specialist facilities and experts in technology areas

Carol Sunderland who works in the Artificial Intelligence and Data Economy (AIDE) Team discussed how Innovate UK has supported a range of geospatial innovation projects – both from a geospatial data generation and application perspective in a number of different sectors including agriculture, maritime, port logistics, construction, infrastructure and rail, by way of example. It was further explained that geospatial funding opportunities also lie in some cross-sector and international programmes.

ESA Funding and Support

We also heard from Ken Gordon, the UK business ambassador at ESA Space Solutions who are the largest space innovation network in the world. ESA support start-ups and SMEs to grow their business through zero equity funding, technology and commercial guidance, support from a personalised consultant and access to a network of partners. Companies can apply for ESA funding (open calls or kickstart activities) as long as they use one space asset – for example, earth observation, space weather, satellite navigation, satellite communication or human spaceflight technology.

Scottish Enterprise Funding and Support

Tracey Ward introduced the innovation, collaboration and funding team at Scottish Enterprise. Scottish Enterprise help ambitious companies who are seeking innovation funding from a variety of sources. Scottish Enterprise work typically, but not exclusively, with SMEs (10-250 employees) who are:

Market-orientated innovation and/or R&D projects

Can evidence a market (have customers who are willing to pay)

Are confident that they will be able to match-fund at least 30% of the project costs

Are willing to share their results

Our webinar speakers shared their top tips for preparing and submitting a funding application:

Ensure there is a fit with the funding call in question (including the technology readiness level (TRL), does your organisation fit the criteria, does your idea match the themes of the funding?).
Ensure your innovation is central to your application.
Solve a problem worth solving and make sure you include external validation of the problem.
Ensure you answer the IP (intellectual property) question fully.
Convey the business case within your application and demonstrate your market knowledge and the opportunity. Clearly articulate your specific knowledge of the market you are addressing your proposition and where you are positioned within the value chain.
For ESA applications understand how you will use the space assets you will be using.
Don’t generalise; ie don’t say ‘we are the only people doing this’ unless you can prove it! Demonstrate where you fit against the competition.
If your project requires partners, find your partners as early as possible. Seek support from the networks – Location Data Scotland, Innovate UK KTN and Scottish Enterprise. Individuals such as Luca Bodello from Innovate UK KTN can help provide geospatial connections.
Demonstrate your knowledge of the market opportunity. For ESA applications this needs to be from a UK/European perspective.
Don’t underestimate the time needed to complete an application. Ensure you submit it in plenty of time – on some platforms you can add draft versions of documents – upload as you go along so you have evidence if problems arise. Draft – Review – Redraft – Proof Read – Check – Submit
As Innovate UK is awarded via a competition model, look out for relevant competitions and answer the questions clearly.
Ensure you have the capacity to deliver the project.
Co-funding can NOT be other sources of public money.

If you missed our webinar, or just want to refresh your memory, links to the event recording and resources are available below.

Location Data Scotland can help your business access the right funding sources and support to help grow your business. If you wish to access this support, or the support discussed during the webinar, use the links below.

EVENT RECORDING

EVENT PRESENTATIONS

SCOTTISH ENTERPRISE FUNDING

ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS FUNDING

INNOVATE UK FUNDING FINDER

DIRECTORY SIGN UP

FUNDING RESOURCES

So, what do we really mean by Innovation in Geospatial?

September 2022

Collaboration in Key!

30 August 2022 saw Location Data Scotland and Geovation Scotland join forces to run an event at the Registers of Scotland’s building in Edinburgh to explore the topic of innovation in geospatial with industry, public sector and academia.

A range of speakers and panellists from the Geospatial Commission, Registers of Scotland and industry joined Ashley Stewart, lead for Location Data Scotland and Lyndsey Dougan head of Geovation Scotland, to explore what we really mean by innovation in geospatial.

Innovation is Problem x Execution = Solution

Lyndsey explained that Geovation Scotland deliver a hugely successful accelerator programme targeting companies in Scotland working in the geospatial sector and they feel collaboration is the number one ingredient to make innovation happen. It’s not just about having an idea or creating new technology – it’s about creating value and having the support infrastructure in place to make it happen!

We also heard from Douglas McNeil from SME Eolas Insight who have an innovative solution tackling the impact on the environmental sector using location data. Doug said “In our experience, we can see there is lots of geospatial technology impacting the environmental sector and these technologies are making service development easier, enabling SMEs to punch above their weight. These technologies can help inform us to support our efforts towards biodiversity net gain and help us on our journey towards net zero.”

Tourism business Electrek Explorer introduced their innovative app which supports the green traveller to find new experiences when they are out and about, providing information about e-bike and EV routes, charging points, nature sites, EV accommodation, bike friendly accommodation, electric bike charging cafes, local businesses and activity providers.Eilidh Smyth from Electrek Explorer said, “Innovation is nothing without the support of the wider ecosystem. We had fantastic support from Location Data Scotland and Geovation Scotland to help raise our profile, challenge our business model and make cross-sector collaborations which has really helped us scale and grow.”

In terms of innovation, areas such as climate change and sustainability, transport, utilities and insurance are evolving, however sectors such as the emergency services are way behind! The key challenge in driving innovation is scalability. There are lots of great things happening across Scotland but questions remain around how we as a nation can help develop new skills and technologies and commercialise these, to drive more innovation. We also need to consider data democratisation – how do we get the right data to the right people in the right way at the right time? And what about data standards – are they interoperable, are they based on fair principles? Now is the time to create national standards that tie it all together.

Scotland has an amazing opportunity to drive innovation. We are a small nation with lots of opportunity to scale. Scotland is the perfect location for a test bed as we have scalable datasets and can lead by example. But we need to work together rather than working in silos!

As a starting point, we encourage you to join Location Data Scotland’s community to help you find collaboration partners and stop trying to figure this out on your own!

Relevant Funding, Events and Reports referred to during the event:

Location Data Scotland : Innovation and Collaboration Webinar – 28th September 2022

SAVE THE DATE: Geovation Showcase 20th October

Geovation Scotland Accelerator Open Call

Applying Space Data to the Net Zero Economy

Agri Challenge – Can your organisation help to accurately measure biomass and natural capital using space data?

Other Funding Opportunities

Geospatial Commission Annual Plan 2022/2023

Building public confidence in location data: The ABC of ethical use

View Event Presentations

Upcoming Innovation Challenge – Collaboration Opportunity

August 2022

Can your organisation help to accurately measure biomass and natural capital using space data?

Scottish Enterprise in partnership with Scottish Government and the Data Lab will shortly be launching a national, Scotland CAN DO innovation challenge call, which is open the any eligible organisation in Scotland. This grant funding for Scottish businesses is to facilitate the development of innovative solutions, using space data, that will support the transition to Net Zero. This Scotland CAN DO funding call offers 100% of eligible project costs. It will allow companies to assess the technical and commercial feasibility of their proposed solution over a period of 3 to 5 months, with projects completing by the nd of March 2023. A minimum of £20,000 and a maximum of £30,000 grant funding is available.

Further information will be shared when the call officially launches on 22nd August, but this is advance warning of the upcoming opportunity and also an invitation for Earth Observation companies to collaborate with a cooperative of farmers to develop solutions to solve their biomass and natural capital measurement challenge which could, potentially, be scaled across the agricultural sector.

Download further information on the agricultural challenge below.

If you are interested in this opportunity and would like to be introduced to the challenge holder, please contact us.

CHALLENGE INFO

Edinburgh based GSI are soaring!

August 2022

Global Surface Intelligence (GSI) are an Edinburgh based geospatial SME using satellite imagery in combination with other data layers, for example mapping tools, GIS, Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and ground reference data, to survey forests at large scale with high levels of accuracy to deliver analysis-ready data for commercial customers in the industry supply chain. Most of their customers are based in the USA, but more recently they have been focusing on opportunities within the UK.

Location Data Scotland invited GSI to present their innovative technology at a meeting in Edinburgh in November 2021 where they met some of the commissioners from the Geospatial Commission. The commissioners were blown away by GSI’s technology and as a result included them in their 2022/23 Annual Plan as an example of sustainable management of natural resources using innovative geospatial solutions. The report highlighted a project GSI delivered with Ecometrica through ESA (European Space Agency) as part of the Scottish Earth Observation Service (SEOS) consortium. The project was to deliver a Vegetation Condition, Scotland (VCS) mapping and monitoring service to address environment and land-management issues to save time and money.

GSI provided accurate forestry surveys from which potential investors could build a valuation for specific areas of interest across Scotland. There was a high degree of innovation in combining satellite and LiDAR data to achieve the desired levels of accuracy. Maps were produced for five areas to demonstrate the key attributes of tree species and tree heights which are the essential components for the valuation models. The SEOS service was publicly launched on 4 May 2022 and reports are now available as well as bespoke surveys.

More recently GSI has been working with the Satellite Catapult through another ESA project to map forestation in places such as Brazil and Guatemala to identify that the land used to grow crops to make products such as coffee was sustainably sourced, and no illegal deforestation occurred. This is essential information for supermarkets to ensure that the products they sell are sustainably sourced.

Peter Young, CEO of GSI said:

“We are really lucky to be working on such fascinating projects that are making huge impacts on sustainability. Having partners such as the European Space Agency, Location Data Scotland and the Geospatial Commission opens up a wealth of opportunities for SMEs in Scotland. Ashley at LDS has been a great advocate of our technology and ensures she links us with key opportunities where possible.”

Geospatial Skills Survey

July 2022

Are there skills and recruitment gaps in the geospatial sector?

Geospatial is flourishing with growing interest across a range of sectors and government. But can we meet the future UK demand for skilled professionals?

Anecdotal evidence indicates that there are skills and recruitment challenges within the sector, however further analysis is necessary to uncover where the gaps lie and how the sector can meet the future UK demand for skilled professionals.

Location Data Scotland are working with the University of Edinburgh and AGI Scotland to undertake research with our individual networks across the geospatial landscape to be able to assess this further.

If you are working across industry, academia, public sector or third sector and have an opinion on this area, we would invite you to complete the survey here.

A round-table workshop involving partners, enablers, providers, potential employers will be held later this year to begin collectively addressing the challenges. The outcomes of the round-table discussions will be fed back to key stakeholders including organisations such as Skills Development Scotland to help shape the skills agenda.

Bruce Gittings, Senior Lecturer in Geographical Information at University of Edinburgh, said:

“This survey represents an important step in a partnership between LDS and AGI Scotland to galvanise action on geospatial training and skills. We are looking to understand the needs and opportunities for a new and diverse group of people to work in our industry and help build Scotland as an international hub for geospatial talent and business.”

Geospatial solutions to solve ecological and environmental problems

March 2022

We spoke to Doug McNeil of Eolas Insight about the support received from Location Data Scotland and being part of the Geovation Accelerator Programme.

Eolas Insight provide technical solutions focused on the ecological and environmental sectors in an easy, user friendly way.

They detect and provide counts for animals using satellite and aerial imagery combined with artificial intelligence. They have successfully delivered a project in Scotland tracking red deer and are now working in Mozambique looking at large animals – giraffes and elephants.

As part of the Geovation accelerator programme the team at Eolas Insight has been developing a business and financial case for a truly innovative geospatial portal that will allow environmentalists and ecologists to access the technologies for themselves to carry out the analysis.

In his interview founder of Eolas Insight Doug McNeil said, “The Geovation Accelerator programme allowed us to focus on the portal proof of concept. This was a critical step to format the business case prior to developing the prototype. I really enjoyed the personal approach from the team at Geovation as they didn’t just provide information; they took the time to work out how this information could be embedded into our business.”

Eolas Insight were also supported by Location Data Scotland, who were instrumental in helping them network into other industries and opened doors to potential collaborators in the agricultural sector. Doug said, “Talking, collaborating and networking is key for any organisation working in the geospatial sector to not just open doors but to test your ideas and assess the next steps for your business. It can really make a huge difference.”

From street and forestry mapping to waste transparency, Scotland is a hive of innovative businesses in the location data sector

December 2021

Location Data is being used in all aspects of our lives; from street mapping to advertising. There are some interesting solutions, utilising location data as an enabler of innovation being created in Scotland – the home of innovation.

We recently spoke with three of these businesses to find out what impact their innovative solutions are having on the wider marketplace.

How does Gaist use location data?

Gaist works with local authorities, utilities and telecoms companies, utilising the most advanced location data and technology to better understand the condition of highway infrastructure and assets, enabling detailed lifecycle planning across the whole network to be undertaken.

What makes Gaist innovative?

Gaist collects 360° 4k roadscape imagery encompassing every road, footpath and asset (lighting columns, signage, bollards etc) across the UK. Their technology enables customers to identify where the issues on their network are and manage their highways maintenance activity with a degree of effectiveness never seen before.

Future plans

Through integration of dynamic condition data from vehicles circulating on the road network, Gaist can provide further modelling to highlight the prevalence and impact of poor road surfaces across whole networks. This presents a significant opportunity for local authorities to prioritise repairs and proactive maintenance on active travel routes. John Swift, Gaist Head of Business Development in Scotland, said, “The amount of location data we are collecting is highly significant for the Scottish local authority market and the focus for Gaist is to turn this big data into big value for our clients, enabling them to maximise resources and gain a better understanding of their full network over long periods of time.”

How does Global Surface Intelligence use location data?

GSI uses satellite imagery to produce analysis ready data to support due diligence forest owners, assets managers and real estate agents who need to have accurate and verifiable forestry assets. GSI combines the satellite data with LiDAR and ground survey reference data to produce large scale accurate forest inventories.

What makes Global Surface Intelligence innovative?

By producing analysis ready data GIS can measure, map and monitor forestry, land use and cover. Landowners, investors and service providers can make better informed decisions about their assets to enable management of natural resources significantly contributing to a more sustainable future.

Future plans

There is a major opportunity to leverage the GIS technology and platform to understand and verify forest carbon to…

Discover unrealised carbon offset opportunities
Quantify carbon stock
Carbon credit aggregation
Monitor carbon and conservation protocol compliance

How does Topolytics use location data?

More than 60% of the world’s waste ends its life in a landfill, waste dump or leaks into the environment. The lack of transparency and trust across the waste system hampers resource recovery and value maximisation across the supply chain, that includes waste producers, the recycling industry and government.

Topolytics is a data aggregation and analytics business that is making the world’s waste visible, verifiable and valuable. Its WasteMap platform generates insights for waste producers, recyclers and government, that enable greater materials recovery, drive operational efficiencies, support investment strategies, enhance transparency and reduce carbon emissions through the WasteChain. Topolytics is acknowledged by IDC, Frost & Sullivan, Cleantech Group and SAP as a leading AI and analytics player in the $4.5Bn smart waste management sector.

What makes Topolytics innovative?

Companies are spending a considerable amount of money on managing waste, but have limited visibility and control over this material once it enters the waste and recycling supply chain. These companies are also setting corporate targets on NetZero and are subject to greater scrutiny on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. Through a subscription to WasteMap they get a live view on waste types and amounts and can see what happens to waste and by-products. The resulting insights support target setting and generate resource and cost savings as well as reducing carbon impacts.

Recyclers and waste brokers also have complex supply bases and are under growing scrutiny on what they do to waste material. WasteMap is enabling them to clean and manage many complex data sets and drive efficiencies, compliance and reporting.

Future plans

Topolytics has launched WasteMap as a subscription product to waste producers, recyclers and brokers. The company is growing its customer base in the UK and internationally and will be launching new modules in 2022 and beyond.

If your organisation is working with location data in an innovative way, please add your profile to the Location Data Scotland Directory. We welcome organisations from industry, academia, 3rd sector, government agencies and projects. Here you will be able to:

Find Customers
Find Suppliers
Collaborate with new Partners
Find out about Funding Sources and Partners