Geospatial data is becoming an invisible yet vital part of our daily lives, shaping how we navigate cities, manage properties, and tackle everything from climate change to urban planning. At its core, geospatial data is information connected to a place, whether tracking how many people move through a city, mapping whether flooding might happen, or understanding land use across a region. It brings together location (like coordinates or addresses), details about what’s happening there, and sometimes even when, giving us powerful insight into the world around us.
At the forefront of unlocking the potential of geospatial data to drive innovation and solve real-world issues in Scotland is Geovation Scotland – a partnership between Registers of Scotland and Ordnance Survey that supports early-stage technology startups innovating with property, land or location data.
In this guest blog, we speak with Alex Gordon, Startup Community Engagement Manager at Geovation Scotland, and Jonathan Lewis, Tech Lead at Geovation UK, to explore how location and geospatial data are driving innovation, the challenges and opportunities within the sector, and what the future holds for this rapidly evolving field.
Can you tell us a bit about Geovation Scotland and what you do?
Geovation Scotland is an enterprise support organisation for early-stage (pre-seed) technology companies that are innovating using property, land and location data. The initiative is a partnership between Registers of Scotland (a public body responsible for registers of land, property and other legal documents in Scotland.) and Ordnance Survey (Great Britain’s national geographic database). We have a talented and extremely knowledgeable tech team, based out of Geovation UK in London and I have enlisted the help of Jonathan Lewis, geospatial expert and Tech Lead to provide insights.
Geovation Scotland supports startups through a variety of resources, including an annual accelerator programme, which provides funding, geospatial data specific insights and expertise, business mentorship and a bespoke programme of workshops, all focussed around building a successful technology company that utilises either property, land or location data.
Over the last 5 years, Geovation Scotland has supported 32 companies, and those companies have gone on to raise an additional £5.2 million in investment and funding, and created 84 new jobs. – Alex Gordon
Where do people interact with geospatial data in everyday life – often without even realising it?
The amazing thing with the growth in location data over the past 15 years is how common it is for us to interact with it, from opening your phone to finding the nearest bakery to checking your train time. It’s all using location data to get you the answer you need.
For me the most overlooked is often the one we use most often: addresses. People often don’t realise that addresses are location data. From checking your bin day to working out how a parcel gets to you; addresses are still our most used way of telling someone where you are in the UK. They still are the glue that joins most of our purchases to a location and I think we’d probably be lost without them. – Jonathan Lewis
What are some standout projects or ideas that you’ve seen come through Geovation Scotland?
Over the last 5 years Geovation Scotland has worked with many inspirational founders working on real-world problems. Specifically, when it comes to location data and its use cases, some of the startups that come to mind are Rethink Carbon, EOLAs Insights, EmergencyLocate and MARKED Wayfinding System. These companies are examples of innovative use of geospatial data and its applications for solving real world problems.
- Rethink Carbon is the automated land management platform for restoring nature and unlocking new revenue streams. Layering over 124 trusted data sets to analyse your property or land.
- EOLAS Insights Ltd are on a mission to simplify and accelerate map creation. EOLAS Insights have developed an AI powered animal detection tool, as well as THEIA their AI Powered web mapping tool for automated reports.
- EmergencyLocate‘s cloud-based platform rapidly and accurately pinpoints caller location, enables two-way translated text messaging, provides 3D satellite mapping enabling exceptional location intelligence, and offers rapid deployment tools – all while working alongside the customer’s existing systems and processes!
- MARKED Wayfinding System aims to nudge more people to start cycling. Uniquely combining digital route planning with physical colour-coded wayfinding, it makes it easy to see where the city’s safe cycle network is.
– Alex Gordon
Have you come across any particularly creative or unexpected uses of geospatial data that stood out to you?
Working with so many amazing start-ups, I constantly see new ways to use location data. Picking just one example would be unfair, so I’ll highlight a sector instead.
The innovation in the retrofitting space is incredible. Start-ups are tackling real problems related to the UK’s aging housing stock. Transitioning to new technology is a hyper-local issue because it involves everyone’s homes. For this change to happen at the necessary rate, scalability becomes a problem that location data can help solve. While I love the activity in the solar installation sector, I have a particular soft spot for start-ups addressing solar overheating, as it’s a problem I personally face. – Jonathan Lewis
What are the biggest challenges facing geospatial right now?
Geovation Scotland has seen from our applications to the accelerator we run, there are increasing numbers of founders working on solutions to problems that require location / geospatial data. However, it is well known that there’s a need for more geospatial skills to keep up with the demand.
Location Data Scotland is an initiative that aims to establish inclusive geospatial community across Scotland, to unlock the value in location data. LDS in partnership with The University of Edinburgh and Association for Geographic Information (AGI) Scotland have created a unified skills roadmap for the geospatial sector and have been involved in programmes at Fife College and a key partner in the Space Bridges Facilitating Future Space Careers training programme. They have also launched the LDS Directory. A community of innovative organisations working within the geospatial sectors across Scotland. – Alex Gordon
Who are some of the other key players in the geospatial ecosystem that you think are worth checking out?
There are many! Last year The Data Lab’s geospatial Fringe was chock-a-block with events highlighting the buzz and breadth of activity in the Scottish geospatial.
If you are curious about geospatial / location data and its use cases I would HIGHLY recommend checking out Geomob Edinburgh. Geomob is a relaxed meetup, that is run all over the world bringing together those who are passionate about geospatial to discuss geoinnovation in any and all forms. The Edinburgh chapter is hosted and coordinated by Gala Camacho and always has a super interesting line up of speakers. The next session is on the 24th of June and always attracts a large and interested crowd.
There is also lots coming up throughout June in The Data Lab Community, including the Data & AI Meetup: Geospatial Data on the 10th of June, and a session on Connected Vehicle Data in the public sector on the 18th! – Alex Gordon
Looking ahead, what does the future of geospatial data look like? Are there any industries that you see benefiting most?
A safe bet for the future is the industry’s investment in improving how large language models (LLMs) understand the real world. Currently, LLMs don’t handle location data well without additional tools to parse our queries against. I believe there will be a significant focus on unlocking the value that good location data can bring to the questions we ask LLMs daily. With being at risk of being too on brand, “everything happens somewhere” still applies when a LLM is trying to answer a question involving your data.
The challenge for start-ups in this space will be finding a way to thrive if AI starts to replicate and replace the business logic they aim to create value in over the next few years.
The good news is that AI won’t suddenly do everything; its flaws are evident. The key will be using AI where it works well and building value alongside AI and location data to solve the real-world problems, we care about so much at Geovation. – Jonathan Lewis
Geospatial Month at The Data Lab Community
Geospatial data is becoming an essential part of how we understand, navigate, and improve the world around us. That’s why this June; The Data Lab Community is celebrating Geospatial Month – a series of events and conversations exploring how location data is driving innovation across Scotland.
We’ve got two exciting events lined up:
- Data & AI Meetup: Geospatial Data – 10 June, 13:00 – 15:00, Bayes Centre, Edinburgh: A chance to connect in person with others interested in, or working with, geospatial data.
- Using Connected Vehicle Data to Gain Enhanced Insights into Road Network Performance – 18 June, 12:00 – 12:50, online, in partnership with the Scottish Government’s Data Division.
Join our thriving community of over 6,000 data & AI professionals, students, and enthusiasts and register for these events, here.