THE economic significance of Scotland’s computer games industry – widely recognised as one of the country’s most successful sectors – may have been underestimated by a lack of the right type of data, according to researchers.
Their concern is that official statistics give an inaccurate profile of the industry that under-records its significance and underestimates it size.
A team from the University of Glasgow said this had implications for monitoring, evaluation and benchmarking of the industry, business decision-making and promotion and visibility of the industry.
The study came from Dr Helen Mullen and Professor Colin Mason from the university’s Adam Smith Business School, and Dr Matthew Barr from the School of Computing Science and was based on discussions with more than 30 organisations from across the industry, and involved in data provision or use. They identified several issues with existing data which included: under-representation of small companies and freelancers in non-government data sources; limited coverage of information, notably economic information; and the breadth of activities in the industry is often overlooked and under-represented.
READ MORE: From Glasgow University to head of Creative Play lab at Lego
The authors suggested that in the short-term specific limitations in existing data had to be addressed, but this has to be complemented by a longer-term strategy that takes an ecosystem perspective, incorporating more extensive data that describes the industry in a more economically, culturally and socially meaningful way.
“Scotland’s games sector is rightly regarded as an important part of our economy but our research shows that the breadth of its social, cultural and economic importance may not be fully recognised,” said Mullen.
“This is due to a range of circumstances, including the creative nature of the industry and the fluidity of the business models within it.
“When providing support for the industry, information for potential investors, or analysis to compare it with other sectors it is important that the whole picture is understood, so Scotland can get the maximum advantage from a growing sector.
“Now we have identified the limitations we can start to improve things.”
Morgan Petrie, creative industries manager at Creative Scotland welcomed the report’s publication and ambition.
He added: “We recognise that accurate data about the industry is a crucial factor in the development of effective strategies, and we’re looking forward to continuing our work with industry, government, public sector partners and projects like InGAME, to align future activity that will help the on-going creative and economic growth of the sector.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here