Alistair Scott has worked in Knowledge Management at IDS for more than 20 years.

From 2000 to 2009, he managed the DFID-funded research communication programme, id21, which collated development research findings and communicated them to a global audience of policy-makers and practitioners. At its height, id21 comprised a portal website, which received 80,000 page views each month, an email alert with 22,000 subscribers, and a thematic briefing paper, id21 insights, which had over 15,000 international subscribers.

In 2010, he joined the newly formed IDS Knowledge Services department as Editorial Manager (2010–2011). He oversaw the editorial production of a range of research communication services and publications. He also led the transition from a traditional broadcast model of editorial production to a partner-centred approach, based on co-production with southern organisations. From 2011–2013, he was the Information Systems Manager for the department, responsible for the technical development of IDS online services and information systems. He led work on mapping the global knowledge intermediary sector and ran an advocacy programme on Open Access.

In 2014, he worked as the department’s Training, Events and E-learning Manager, and in 2019, he led the development of a free-to-use eLearning course: “Social Protection: A Primer”. Since its launch in 2020, this course has been used by more than 3000 students worldwide.

In 2025, he joined the IDS Publications team, where he helped to develop OpenDocs, the institutional repository, as well as being involved in all aspects of editorial production.