In a recent article, senior geospatial professional at SYSTRA Caroline Broughton shared her thoughts on what needs to change to tackle the skills shortage facing the sector.  SYSTRA is one of the world’s leading engineering and consulting groups specialising in infrastructure and mobility solutions.

Caroline attended the ‘Developing the Geospatial Skills Agenda’, an industry event organised by Location Data Scotland, University of Edinburgh and Fife College at the Scottish Government’s Victoria Quay building in Edinburgh, where key geospatial figure heads were brought together to discuss how the industry is evolving to encourage new talent.

The focus of the event was to look at the integration of GIS into the secondary school curriculum; raising awareness of GIS as a career option for both those of school-age and considering a career change; and being consistent in the naming of the sector (are we GIS, or geospatial, or spatial data science?).

The experts also considered what was needed to prepare the next generation of geospatial specialists, ready to meet industry needs and unlock the value of spatial data.

For SYSTRA, involvement in LDS and related communities such as the Association for Geographic Information (AGI) Scotland presents an opportunity to influence the development and actioning of the geospatial skills roadmap from an industry perspective, ensuring our future skills needs will be met.

Read the full interview with Caroline here