Robin McLaren has retired and Know Edge Ltd is no longer providing independent consulting services in the geospatial and land administration domains. Robin is now focused on supporting the M.Sc. in Geographic Information Science at the University of Edinburgh.
Robin celebrated 40 years in the geospatial and land administration business in 2018. He has been involved in the development of the world's first Land Information Service in Edinburgh in the late 1970s, led a team to implement the first relational DBMS based GIS in Switzerland and Toronto, introduced the first generation of GIS to local and central government and utilities in the UK, supported Central European countries (especially Hungary) to establish market economies after the fall of communism, helped developing countries worldwide to tackle insecurity of tenure, led the research and wrote the UK Location Strategy, formulated strategies for NSDIs, introduced the concept of crowdsourcing to democratise land administration, co-authored the influential guide for implementing Fit-For-Purpose Land Administration, supported the next generation of professionals as an Honorary Fellow in the School of Geosciences at the University of Edinburgh for 30 years, and latterly supported the World Bank in their land reform programs.
This has been a great and challenging journey, only achieved through the support of many good friends and colleagues - thank you. Earlier in October 2018 some members of this illustrious team gathered in Edinburgh to celebrate his retirement and the achievements of the team that has changed the world.
Dave Coleman, James Kavanagh, Gavin Adlington, Bruce Gittings, Andy Coote, Barry McLaren, Jane McLaren, John McLaughlin, Peter Dale, Stig Enemark, Robin McLaren
Over the past 32 years Know Edge Ltd has supported a wide range of clients around the world in implementing GIS and Land Administration solutions within their business environments. Know Edge Ltd would like to thank the following clients for their support and wish them continued success with their geospatial adventures and innovations:
Central Regional Council
Central Statistics Unit of the Scottish Development Department
Centre of Legal Competence (CELC) in Austria
City of London
City of Sunderland
Crown Estates
Customer First, The National Gazetteer - Scotland
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
Dumfries & Galloway Council
East of Scotland Water
East Surrey Water plc
Electricidade de Portugal
EU PHARE Programme
EuroGeographics
European Commission – Joint Research Centre
Forestry Commission
Forth Valley GIS
Glasgow City Council
Government of Albania
Government of Croatia
Government of Estonia
Government of Hungary
Government of Hungary
Government of Iraq
Government of Kenya
Government of Kuwait
Government of Mongolia
Government of Philippines
Government of Poland
Government of Romania
Government of Slovakia
Government of Western Australia
Government of Zimbabwe
Grampian Regional Council
Haringey Council, London
Highland Regional Council
Isle of Man Government
Land Registry, National Address Initiative (ACACIA)
London Borough of Enfield
Lothian Regional Council, Water & Drainage Dept
Milton Keynes Development Corporation
MoD, Defence Estates
Municipality of Istanbul
Natural Resources Canada, Government of Canada
Northern Ireland Electricity plc
Ordnance Survey GB
Perth & Kinross Council
Phoenix Natural Gas Ltd
Registers of Scotland
Royal Bank of Scotland
Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
Scottish Enterprise
Scottish Hydro-Electric
Scottish Land Information Service (ScotLIS)
Scottish Water
sportscotland
States of Guernsey
Statistics Office of the European Union (CORINE)
Strathclyde Regional Council, Water Department,
Swedish International Development Agency
Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (seco)
swisstopo
Turnbull Jeffrey Partnership
UK Department for International Development (DFID)
UK GI Panel
UK Local Government Management Board (LGMB)
UK Location Council
UK National Land Information Service (NLIS) Steering Group
UN-FAO
UN-HABITAT GLTN
United Utilities plc
University of Edinburgh
USAID
Wild Heerbrugg AG, Switzerland
World Bank
Goodbye
Dr Robin McLaren
January 2019