Two new speakers have been announced for Australia’s premier neo-spatial conference, GeoNext 2014.
Hamish Roberston – University of NSW: Ageing in Place and Space: Spatial Strategies for Ageing Societies.
The majority of older people want to age in place, in their own homes and within their own communities. Yet it is a typical response to the problems associated with ageing to relocate the individual. In this presentation we explore an approach that could help to link key components of these systems and permit older people and their advocates to engage directly with this interconnected system.
One of the major problems for current and projected population ageing is that significant gaps exist within health care and between health care and other supports systems for older people. We often treat ‘place’ as ‘space’, easily managed and manipulated for cost and efficiency considerations. Aspects of spatial science can support community-based ageing by linking and visualising varied components of the spectrum of organisations and services that engage with older people.
The result is a ‘virtual earth’ model of population ageing, dementia projections and health and social support infrastructure. Developed using a variety of data sources, the model links population data, epidemiological data and health and social support information to create a virtual environment for inquiring on the current and future implications of population ageing.
Billy Haworth – University of Sydney: Social Media and information communication during natural disaster events.
Communication is of high importance during natural disaster events. Communication among community members and authorities becomes vital for effective disaster management. The rise of social media and various other location technologies allows for a new context in communication and information sharing. Individuals have used social media to share images of disaster impacts, coordinate relief efforts, send cries for help, and express support for family and friends and those affected. Officials have begun embracing social media to issue disaster planning information, warnings, and status updates. Recent disaster events in Australia have been characterised by an unprecedented use of social media, including the 2010/11 Queensland floods and the 2013 Tasmania bushfires. This study examines two of these examples to assess the contribution of this new communication platform for disaster management.
Pre-show Forum
In addition to these two exciting speakers, two pre-show events have also been announced, which are sure to bring insight into how to better use Google’s spatial technologies in your business.
NGIS Google Maps for Business User Forum
25th February – 8:00am to 12:00pm
Google Geo technology experts from Google and NGIS will provide insights into the latest from Google Maps for Business. Listen to how Google technology is being used within Australian industry and government. See demonstrations from high profile organisations. Share your ideas with other Google Users. Network with the industry’s leading developers.
Light refreshments provided.
NGIS Google Tech Boot Camp
25th February – 1:00pm to 5:00pm
Google Tech Boot camps @ NGIS are dynamic and collaborative technical experiences lead by our senior technical specialists. They are not your usual workshops, as they encourage innovative and thought provoking discussion specific to your applications and spatial systems. Google Tech Boot Camp will include hands on live demos using Google Maps Engine and Google Maps API applications where attendees will learn how to publish their own data in real time. Lunch and refreshments provided. Spaces are limited, so book early to secure your seat today.
GeoNext 2014 will be held on the 26 February, at the Australian Technology Park in Sydney. More information, including registration to GeoNext and the pre-show forums, is available on the GeoNext website.
Sponsorships for GeoNext 2014 [PDF link] are still available.
The team at GeoNext will deliver a program and event that is fundamentally different to the existing industry and vendor events. They will work with you to build a sponsorship package that will directly leverage your organisational capabilities, strengths, and brand to make you part of the fabric and conversation before, during and after the event.
For more information, contact Troy Hale via thale@intermedia.com.au or (02) 8586 6128.