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

Organised by OSGeo, this international annual gathering of location enthusiasts is the largest global gathering for geospatial software. Now in its 15th year, FOSS4G (ie. Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial) brings together developers, users, decision-makers and observers from a broad spectrum of organisations and fields of operation.

Through six days of workshops, presentations, discussions, and cooperation, FOSS4G participants create effective and relevant geospatial products, standards, and protocols. The 2021 event will be focused for the first time on South America and will be held with the close collaboration of the GeoLibres Association in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The 16th annual congress of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation, the non-profit organisation that supports and promotes the collaborative development of free and open source geographic technologies and open geospatial data, will be held in Florence, Italy, at the Palazzo dei Congressi, Palazzo degli Affari and the University of Florence.

FOSS4G (ie. Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial) brings together developers, users, decision-makers and observers from a broad spectrum of organisations and fields of operation.

The Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) will convene the second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) in Hyderabad, India from 10-14 October 2022.

Hosted by the Government of India through its Ministry of Science and Technology, the convening of the UNWGIC arises out of the mandate from the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to the Committee of Experts to convene global forums to promote comprehensive dialogue on global geospatial information management with all relevant governments, international organisations and stakeholders.

With an overarching theme ‘Geo-Enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind,’ the second UNWGIC will reflect the importance of integrated geospatial information to support sustainable development and the wellbeing of society, address environmental and climate challenges, embrace digital transformation and technological development, and catalyse vibrant economies.

The congress addresses the development and strengthening of integrated geospatial information management, its capacities and capabilities, and demonstrates the importance of international cooperation and coordination for building a human data and geography community, against the three pillars of sustainable development, for a shared future and a better world, leaving no one behind within an inclusive and equitable global society.

The UNWGIC will feature a high-level, plenary, special and parallel sessions. While the actual second UNWGIC program covers three days (11 – 13 October), the overall event will be a weeklong (10 – 14 October), and will include global and regional meetings, workshops and learning events, expert meetings and side events, including the eleventh plenary meeting of the Regional Committee of United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management for Asia and the Pacific (UN-GGIM-AP), as well as the annual meeting of the UN-GGIM Expanded Bureau.