Join us for the first session in our ‘Locate Connect’ online learning series! Hear from Scott Dewar, Director, Chris Hewett, Assistant Secretary GEOINT Capability and Development & Phil Shears, Director DEF799 Phase 2.

In this session from 1300 – 1400, the Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) will be launching the Defence Geospatial-Intelligence (GEOINT) Strategy, a document that addresses how the Defence GEOINT Community will transform to meet the future needs of the Australian Defence Force. The AGO Executive will also provide an update on their GEOINT projects and announce upcoming opportunities for industry and discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the organisation.

Then from 1430 – 1545, AGO, along with Frontier SI will describe how The Analytics Lab Program (AGO Labs) fits into the bigger picture of AGO capability and summarise the outcomes of their 2019 activities. AGO Labs, coordinated through FrontierSI, is investigating a number of ways to better engage and work with industry. Specifically, the AGO is keen to attract a wider pool of companies and technologies to draw on for automated geospatial intelligence. The primary focus of this program is to address AGO capability challenges through a small number of short-term industry projects, with a focus on machine learning and analytics for producing automated imagery analysis, including automated object classification. AGO will announce a new 2020 program of challenges hoping to find innovative solutions through their partnership with FrontierSI.

Although it has been almost 50 years since there have been a requirement for field information to be lodged, Sec 71 (e) of the Cadastral Rules for Survey 2021 requires the submission of “all relevant field information, in a form that ensures permanent usability”.

While surveyors have been retaining field information electronically, LINZ has found that in many cases the data has been inadequate or needs specific software, or there can be difficulty identifying raw measurements after processing or to relate them to the dataset.

This seminar will share insights from knowledgeable suppliers and practitioners to assist surveyors develop systems and processes to comply with the Rules and to present electronic field data in a clearly readable way.

Participants can attend in person or online.

A panel of data and industry experts will examine changes to IP and copyright and the disruption of current business models that current and future technologies are creating, with an open discussion about governance considerations that may affect surveying businesses now and in the coming years. This will be an insightful, interesting and challenging discussion around how technology and big data are redefining business opportunities.

The speakers will be:

• Professor Kevin McDougall, Head of School, Civil Engineering and Surveying University of Queensland
• Rachel Sciascia, Partner, Gadens
• Nicole Stephensen, Principal Consultant, Ground Up Consulting Pty Ltd
• Adam Beck , Executive Director, Smart Cities Council Australia New Zealand Secretariat, Centre for Data Leadership

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/boreala

Survey and Spatial NZ’s 2022 conference will be held from 1 to 3 August at the Novotel Lakeside, Rotorua. The conference is the biggest continuing professional development event of the year for NZ surveying and spatial professionals. It invites sharing of knowledge amongst peers, bringing together networking opportunities for all delegates and is an essential event for professional development and connectivity within the sector.

The choice of Rotorua as the location is apt, given the conference theme of ‘Turning up the Heat’. The organisers aim to stimulate discussion regarding challenges in regional areas, which include climate change and developments outside of Auckland.

The World of Drones and Robotics Congress New Zealand (WoDaRC NZ) is shaping up as an unmissable event for anyone involved in robotics, drones, AI, AgTech and data-led innovation. WoDaRC is business-led, technology based and will create opportunities for collaboration and growth across the technology ecosystem.

Topics to be covered include:

• Regional capability and strategy
• Humanitarian engineering and disaster response
• Environmental science and agricultural technology
• The new frontiers: oceans, mountains, and space
• Movies, media, community, and social empowerment
• Education

Planning is underway for the S+SNZ 2023 Annual Conference which will be held at Otago University in Dunedin from 30 August through to 1 September 2023.

The S+SNZ conference is the biggest continuing professional development event of the year for NZ surveying and spatial professionals. It invites sharing of knowledge amongst peers, bringing together networking opportunities for all delegates and is an essential event for professional development and connectivity within the sector.