Current awareness, use and perceived priorities for rural databases in Scotland

This paper examines the current uses of rural data and complements the study on the data requirements of future rural policy scenarios (Midgley et al.). Use was estimated via a questionnaire survey of rural regulators, researchers, planners, consultants and employees of Non-Government Organisations. Follow-up workshops explored the relative importance of databases to each stakeholder group. Planners showed awareness of the widest range of databases. Use was generally confined to databases related to specialist areas. Few used primary data. Constraints included cost, lack of time, suitable software and information on database contents. Issues of scale, coverage or format were less common. Whilst the workshops showed that users did recognise the general need for a broader portfolio of databases, the lack of apparent demand for an integrated data infrastructure may reflect the sectoral nature of previous rural policy delivery. This suggests a significant lag (>10 years) between the creation of new integrated rural policy initiatives across Europe and the capacity of the existing institutions to develop the supporting data infrastructures.