A new survey has shown that Scottish firms are better equipped to exploit the so-called "big data" revolution than organisations in the rest of the UK.
The survey of 300 companies and organisations around the UK commissioned by data storage firm EMC found that 75% of firms in Scotland, against 57% in the UK as a whole, have the infrastructure to analyse both internal and external data.
But the report, carried out by market research company Opinium, found that only 17% of companies in Scotland are recruiting data scientists or business intelligence experts, lagging behind the UK figure of 38%.
EMC Scotland director Jason Ward said: "There are definitely areas where Scotland is ahead of the rest of the UK when it comes to being equipped in infrastructure and people to carry out data analysis.
"While direct recruitment of those specifically trained in this area is some way behind, this is counteracted by the fact that over 40% of companies and organisations are training staff in this area, and featuring it in their company's future plans."
Big data analytics is a growing field in information technology. It can, for example, be used by a retailer to build up a picture of its customers based on their previous purchases. This allows them to target their advertising messages and personalise the online shopping experience.
But big data analytics also has non-commercial uses: for example, improving the accuracy of weather forecasts or using the call data records of mobile phones to model the spread of the ebola epidemic.
Polly Purvis, chief executive of ScotlandIS, the trade body for Scotland's digital technologies industry, said that the opening next week of a Data Lab innovation centre would help Scotland to exploit the commercial potential of data analytics.
The new centre, which will have hubs in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, is backed by £11.3 million of public funds and aims to bring together businesses, academia and the public sector to exploit new developments in data analytics and capture new market opportunities.
Purvis said: "The computing departments of Scotland's universities are offering courses and research capacity in this growing area and Scotland's oil and gas sector is already using data analytics for geological survey work."
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