Held once every three years, the Congress and associated exhibition, serves to share knowledge in the science and practice of mine surveying, mining and geotechnical engineering, geology, mineral evaluation and allied disciplines.

This year the Congress theme, “Connecting Education and Industry” aims to bring the program back to the ‘coal face’ of our international industry, ensuring that mine surveyors working on-site as well as academics are involved.

For those who have attended an ISM Congress before, a large component has always been on cultural emersion and forging international connections; and ISM2016 will be no different. With an extensive social program, there are social functions each night, as well as optional technical tour and a walking tour for accompanying persons.

The 23rd World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) will span five days this October at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Registrations are now open with earlybird pricing ending 5 July.

Proudly hosted by ITS Australia, on behalf of ITS Asia Pacific, ERTICO and ITS America, the World Congress is themed ITS – Enhancing Liveable Cities and Communities. More than 7,000 delegates from more than 60 countries are expected to attend, among them will be Australian and international ITS professionals, government and major city representatives, industry and business leaders, and university and school students.

The Congress will include Plenary and keynote speakers, special interest sessions and more than 300 exhibitors.

Attendees will also be able to experience demonstrations and go on behind-the-scenes technical tours to the Port of Melbourne, the largest container port in the Southern Hemisphere, Melbourne Airport and traffic management centres for the city’s road, rail and tram network.

Lord Mayor of Melbourne Robert Doyle said the world’s most liveable city has a strong reputation for welcoming conference delegates.

“Melbourne is the ideal city to host the 2016 ITS Congress as we are home to commerce, education, health, sport, cultural and residential areas which can all be accessed by foot, on bike, via public transport or in vehicles,” the Lord Mayor said.

“Connectivity, safety and sustainability have been essential elements of Melbourne’s liveability and prosperity.”

ITS Australia CEO Susan Harris said the Congress is an opportunity to explore the benefits that intelligent transport systems deliver to cities and communities.

“ITS technologies include communication, data processing and electronic technologies for in-vehicle, vehicle-to-vehicle, vehicle-to-infrastructure and mode-to-mode systems that increase transport safety and mobility, improve the sustainability of travel, reduce congestion and improve the performance and competitiveness of all modes of transport.

“This is an opportunity for delegates to share knowledge, connect and engage, and participate in discussions and decision making which will shape future transport, mobility and infrastructure in Australia and around the world,” Ms Harris said.

In 1969 Jack Dangermond, alongside his wife Laura, co-founded the Environmental Systems Research Institute, now known the world over as Esri. In 2015, Dangermond’s net worth was estimated by Forbes at US$3.1 billion and Esri, with its flagstaff suite of ArcGIS products, has become one of the most powerful GIS software providers ever.

Dangermond is highly respected as both a technologist and passionate speaker of geospatial topics and in 2016 will visit Australia for a rare live event.

Don’t miss your chance to spend an afternoon with Jack Dangermond ‘live’ at the Sydney Opera House, 13 October 2016.

Tickets for this never-to-be-repeated special event go on sale soon, and will be announced through Spatial Source.

For all ticket or sponsorship enquiries please contact events@esriaustralia.com.au.

Digital Engineering has taken a quantum leap in recent years with the advent of BIM / CIM gathering momentum very quickly within the civil space. The benefits this collaborative, metadata rich and visually dynamic platform brings to all stakeholders within civil infrastructure projects cannot be underestimated.

However, it has introduced a range of challenges to the Engineering Surveyor including actually being able to utilise BIM data in day to day set-out and in terms of Work as Executed deliverables and reporting.

This seminar seeks to provide insight into this brave new world of Digital Engineering, bringing together Subject Matter Experts from within industry and software houses to raise awareness of what Digital Engineering actually is, how it directly impacts the engineering surveyor, case studies from the work face and a panel discussion focused on where the construction industry is at with Digital Engineering implementation, authorities / projects which are moving culturally to DE, issues for surveyors in working with BIM data, an IFC data standard update and of course, general QA from the audience.

Presented by SSSI Engineering & Mining Surveying Commission.

The Year in Infrastructure 2016 Conference, being held Nov. 1-3 at the Hilton London Metropole, in London, U.K., is a global gathering of leading executives in the world of infrastructure design, construction, and operations. Facilitated by infrastructure software vendors Bentley Systems, it will feature a series of presentations and interactive workshops exploring the intersection of technology and business drivers and how they are shaping the future of infrastructure delivery and investment returns.

The conference will also include the Be Inspired Awards finals program and presentation of the Be Inspired Awards to the winners, as well as summits focused on infrastructure asset performance and project delivery, and forums focused on building; rail and roads; oil, gas, chemical and mining – including offshore; utilities (electric, gas, and water); and visions for the future.

For additional information about The Year in Infrastructure 2016 Conference, visit www.bentley.com/YIIConference.

STEMx (previously STEADx) was created to highlight the importance of Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) in our everyday life. Despite the importance of STEM in the world today few truly understand just how crucial it is to our future. If we as a community are going to find answers to questions such as singularity, climate change, food & water security, job creation, cyber security, health, positional certainty and more – we must create an inclusive collaborative culture.

STEMx will feature an interactive exhibition and high level speakers from around the globe who will share insights into the incredible entanglement that is happening throughout our world today.

The QSSA has partnered with Activate Entertainment to incorporate augmented reality with each and every exhibition stand at STEMx!

“Activate Entertainment will work with every exhibitor at STEMx to produce a unique and new interactive experience for attendees on the day,” said Darrenn Medhurst, CEO of the QSSA. “Exhibitors will be able to use the augmented reality activation at STEMx as well across their business globally, there are limitless opportunities.”

Developed by the QSSA, STEMx, with support from the Queensland Government, CSIRO, Geoscience Australia, Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), The World Science Festival Brisbane, Just Dream, LOUD events, is a FREE OF CHARGE event aimed at promoting collaboration, innovation, STEM and the spatial industry.

In January 1976, just over 300 employees of the NSW Public Sector’s Central Mapping Authority (CMA) moved from Sydney to Bathurst in the largest regional decentralization initiative ever undertaken by the NSW State Government. The organization is currently called Spatial Services, Department of Finance, Services & Innovation NSW.

2016 marks 40 years since that move. Very little recognition of this important milestone has occurred locally.  The impact that 300 new people and their families had on the economy and many facets of Bathurst community life, particularly sporting and service organisations, was quite significant.

Nowadays, nearly all of those 300 original employees have retired. Quite a few still reside in Bathurst and are active (particularly in volunteering roles) within the Bathurst community. So to some extent, the move in 1976 is still having a positive effect on the city. There are a couple of people who moved here in 1976 still  working at LPI.

In 1976, there were no personal computers, no mobile phones, no internet or email, no digital  cameras or GPS. We have certainly come a long way in map technology since then, and while the procedures for making maps has changed significantly,  the fundamental principles in surveying, photogrammetry, cartography and map publication are still required in the production of modern, accurate maps.

In the digital world, maps are now produced from spatial data   The demand for high accuracy of the spatial data is 25 to 50 times greater than the accuracy which was achievable in 1976.  In 2016, users expect that map data is also current, being days and weeks old, not months and years.  The number of users of digital maps has increased at least 100 fold so the demand for the production of up to date, accurate spatial data will only increase in future.

To celebrate the four decades of mapping in Bathurst, it is planned to hold a special dinner on Saturday 5^th November.  There will be other events planned around the weekend, including a social golf event on Friday, a Sunday BBQ lunch and other functions.  As well as the people (and their current partners) who moved to Bathurst in 1976, we encourage all previous and current employees (and their partners) of the organization to join in and celebrate with us. It is important that we recognize the generational change of the employees as well as the vital role of mapping technology in Bathurst, past, present and future.

If you are an ex-employee of the CMA or a current employee of the organisation,  please “save the date” in your  diary. Even if you would like to participate in the celebration, please email your details to 40yearsmappinginbathurst@gmail.com by 2 September so we can book venues etc.

As you know, women are well under-represented in the geo and tech industries. So this time around, we’re doing a special Georabble to promote, support and inspire women in the industry!

We’ll have an awesome lineup of wonderful women to hear and be inspired from, as well as the usual networking, free food and cash bar!

Although we’re only having women take the stage, all obviously are welcome to attend!

Speakers

• Alex Young (awe.media)
360 photos and videos are the web tiles of tomorrow

• Claudia Nguyen  (AAM group)
Urban Design – a Spatial Perspective. A collaborative effort to building Smart Neighbourhoods. 

• Janelle Wallace (Soft landing)
 a call for help – using geo in a national take-back scheme for end of life mattresses

• Narelle Underwood (Surveyor General NSW)
Topic to be confirmed

• Ana Ouriques (Ruppells Griffon)
The role and importance of citizens in crowdsourcing geographic information

• Leah Figueroa (University of the Philippines in Diliman)
Analyzing a map of school facilities to help the government understand how to improve academic achievement