This week marks exactly 12 months to go until thousands of surveyors and geospatial specialists from around the world converge on Brisbane for the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) 2025 Working Week.
The Working Week is held each year (replaced with the FIG Congress every fourth year) and is an opportunity for geospatial leaders and practitioners to come together to discuss issues of global importance.
The 2025 Working Week, to be held from 6 to 10 April, will be jointly presented by the FIG and Geospatial Council of Australia (GCA) and hosted by the GCA. The theme will be ‘Collaboration, Innovation and Resilience: Championing a Digital Generation’.
The event’s Convenor is Steve Jacoby, Executive Director, Spatial Information at Department of Resources (Queensland). Jacoby has had 20-plus years’ experience as a Senior Executive with the Queensland and Victorian Governments, leading their Spatial Information businesses, and has a keen interest in information management and seeing the use of spatial information reach its potential within government, business and the wider public.
The Program Chair is surveyor, Peter James, who is the Business Development Manager at Cohga, an Australian company with a focus on the development of IT products and the provision of associated professional services. Peter is also the son of Earl James, Australia’s first and only FIG President.
“The geospatial sector is experiencing a period of rapid change, reflected in the fact that surveying and geospatial information has never been more vital for Australia,” said Tony Wheeler, CEO of the GCA.
“Geospatial is essential for infrastructure and urban development, for dealing with natural disasters, making sustainable use of resources and protecting the environment. I look forward to Australia being able to showcase its many achievements, skills and resources to such a large international audience.”
In 2021, Australia won the bid to hold the Working Week, against some stiff competition from other countries.
“With the demonstrated success of delivering previous FIG congresses (Melbourne in 1994 and Sydney in 2010) we are confident that we can raise the bar even higher this time to provide both a technical and social program of the standard required for a premier international conference,” said Wheeler.
