SSAC Quarterly Update – December 2020
The SSAC provides independent advice, through its Chair, to the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) for Scotland, to inform policy development and delivery across all areas of the Scottish Government’s work. It typically develops advice on a medium to long term basis, advising on developments in science and technology and their implications for policy and identifying potential future opportunities and threats.
Chaired by Professor Maggie Gill from 1 February 2020, the SSAC has 11 other members, in addition to the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientific Advisers, all of whom are ex-officio members: Chief Scientific Adviser (CSA) for Scotland Professor Sheila Rowan, Chief Scientist (Health) Professor David Crossman, CSA Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Professor Andrew Millar and Chief Social Policy Adviser, Professor Carol Tannahill.
The SSAC issues a short report following each quarterly meeting to provide an update on its latest work streams and areas of interest. The SSAC held its last meeting on 2 December 2020 by video conference.
1. SSAC CURRENT WORKSTREAMS
Geospatial Knowledge – effective use of geospatial data in Scotland. This project is expected to be completed in early 2021.
SSAC Climate Change sub-group provided feedback to the Scottish Government(SG) on four Sustainable Renewal Advisory Group papers which are available on request.
SSAC Digital Strategy sub-group has formally responded to the SG’s ‘Scotland’s Digital Strategy’ Consultation paper.
2. SSAC FUTURE WORKSTREAMS
SSAC Hydrogen sub-group plans to prepare a short response to the SG hydrogen policy statement and hydrogen assessment report once these have been published.
3. COP26 – OPPORTUNITIES FOR SSAC
Discussions are continuing with SSAC council members, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience, Environment and Society (SAGES) around joint activities in the lead up to COP26 in November 2021. Short interview videos will be published every month leading up to COP26, on the RSE YouTube channel and SSAC website to help highlight Scottish research and science and its contribution to understanding/tackling climate change. The first two videos went live on 17 December 2020.
4. SSAC MEMBERS
Members agreed to extend Professor Jan Webb’s co-opted membership of the SSAC for a further six months.
For further information, please contact the SSAC Secretariat team at: Scottishscience@gov.scot