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The Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) has announced that Gary Maguire has taken up the role of president of the institute. He follows Gypsy Bhalla, who now takes up the role of past president on the board.

 

Gary has been in the spatial industry for over 25 years and has worked on many state government projects. As SSSI Regional Chair in South Australia for the past three years, he has provided leadership in using social media communication technology, developed a vibrant regional committee made up of 50% Young Professionals and grown the Sustaining Partners Program in SA. With the support of past regional Chairs and industry members, he is well placed to carry out the role of president.

 

Gary is looking forward to moving the institute forward. He intends to build its status as a vibrant organisation that provides members with great opportunities to learn about new technologies, develop their skills, and share experiences to enrich their knowledge as a whole. Much of this will be done through traditional methods like conferences and seminars at regional levels, but he sees the new e-learning environments like podcasts, online tutorials and webinars as adding huge amounts of value to country members, and to people that want to participate from around Australia and New Zealand.

 

As spatial information is becoming normal to the citizen and more and more industries are becoming reliant on geospatial information, Gary believes that specialist certification, such as GISP-AP, will become increasingly relevant to the profession, allowing it to distinguish the difference between a user of GIS and a GIS professional – similar to registration in the surveying sector.

 

Gary wants to make sure SSSI will continue to grow its membership base as it develops national and international linkages with like-minded institutes and/or bodies that can provide value to SSSI and its members.