The Geoscience Australia Distinguished Lecture, “Putting the ‘Geo’ into Geospatial: Shaping the future of Positioning Australia,” will cover future direction of the program, reflecting on its past achievements and how it will meet future positioning demands.

As it moves beyond the establishment phase, the Positioning Australia program will strengthen its capability for continued future relevance. The program builds on opportunities arising from Australia’s geographic location, its technological capabilities, strong partnerships and internationally significant positioning infrastructure.

The adoption of PNT-based technologies is changing requirements for the systems delivering it. There is increasing awareness that society’s increasing reliance on modern technologies brings potential risks from vulnerabilities in PNT systems. This lecture will highlight how Positioning Australia will address these issues, including an often invisible risk: the reliance of PNT systems on a global geodesy supply chain that is increasing vulnerable.

Presented by Dr Martine Woolf, (Branch Head Positioning Australia), Ryan Ruddick (Director GNSS Informatics and infrastructure), Dr Anna Riddell (Director GNSS Analysis), Dr Lisa Hall (Director National Geodesy) and Phil Shears (Director PMO), the lecture will outline how Geoscience Australia aims to continue maximising return on Commonwealth investment in reliable positioning, modernising infrastructure, enhancing access and efficiency, and supporting national resilience and economic growth.

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

South Australia’s Spatial Information Day (SID) will be held on Friday, 7 August at the Adelaide Convention Centre.

An annual highlight of the South Australian geospatial community’s calendar, SID brings together experts from the fields of surveying, GIS, remote sensing, photogrammetry and more, for wide-ranging discussions and networking.

The theme for 2026 is ‘Every future starts somewhere: From ground truth to space, shaping what comes next,’ and for 2026 the organisers are hoping to attract around 400 delegates and 40 speakers. This year will also see the introduction of the inaugural South Australian EISSI Awards Dinner.

The call for abstracts and papers is now open, with speakers invited to submit their ideas within a wide span of topics, such as:

• Various spatial disciplines, e.g. GIS, surveying and so on;
• Real-world case studies;
• Insights into innovation techniques and approaches;
• Smart cities and infrastructure;
• Emerging technologies.

A sponsorship prospectus is now available, while tickets for the event are expected to go on sale soon.