Position 103 October-November 2019

October/November 2019 – No. 103

The Australasian magazine of surveying, mapping & geo-information

BIM + GIS Challenging the laws of infrastructure design

Official publication of

inside Moonshot Building space capability

GDA2020 Tools to aid transition

SEASC 2019 Developing links with Asia

contents

October/November 2019 No.103

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30 features 14 Q&A with Glenn Cockerton As Spatial Vision celebrates two decades of operations, we seek an insight into the values and practices that have kept it a unique institution on the Australian geospatial landscape.

16 Cover feature The BIM and GIS solution redefining possibilities for the AEC industry.

18 Moonshot It’s been a massive year for the Australian space industry. Jon Fairall questions whether all the activity will translate into real capability.

22 South East Asia Survey Congress 2019 A stunning and stimulating congress in Darwin has set the stage for a new mode of engagement with the Asia-Pacific for spatial professionals.

26 GDA2020: uncertainty values on the public record Volker Janssen provides a detailed update on migration rules and uncertainty values in NSW for the transition to GDA2020.

22 30 Superior data, better insights Current data management trends helping governments leverage location intelligence to deliver better services.

regulars 4 7 10 34 38

Upfront, calendar Editorial News New products SSSI

Next issue: Dec/Jan 2020 – Issue #104 Spatial data in the field – current tech to build multidisciplinary teams

Research & development – steering industry in the right direction

Computer vision and machine learning – allowing the algorithm full autonomy

Augmented reality – bringing unprecedented realism to spatial data

Published: 9/12/19 Advertising booking deadline: 15/11/2019 Advertising material deadline: 18/09/2019 www.spatialsource.com.au 3

upfront Tipping points

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ew Zealand researchers recently used a new technique to measure patterns in the way Antarctica’s ice sheets have responded to warmer temperatures.

By analysing the geological record of Whanganui Basin, scientists from the Victoria University of Wellington discovered grim evidence from the Pliocene period. During this time, carbon dioxide levels were the same as today’s – 400ppm, but temperatures were 2-3 degrees warmer.

And one third of Antarctica’s ice sheets melted, raising sea levels up to 25 metres above present levels.

To date, over 90 percent of the heat from global warming has gone into the ocean, and most of that into the Southern Ocean, which bathes the Antarctic ice sheet.

One-third of this sheet sits below sea level, representing 20 metres of sea level rise.

“If we do not keep our greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Climate Agreement target of two degrees warming, then we may potentially lose not only the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, but also the vulnerable margins of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet,” said Professor Tim Naish.

If Australia fulfils its fossil fuel extraction ambitions, the global Paris climate agreement cannot be met.

Another new piece of research led by CSIRO scientists among an international team was recently published in Nature Ecology and Evolution. This project mines a topic we have long understood – a handful of transnational corporations hold a wildly outsized portion of the world’s capital, and a similar subset is responsible for a massive portion of the world’s total emissions.

Ten percent of the world's corporations generate 80 percent of all profits globally, and around 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to just 100 coal, oil and gas companies worldwide.

In the context of today’s climate reality, these facts have great consequences for the future of life on Earth. Reframing

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Upcoming Events corporate responsibility in more apt terms – corporate biosphere stewardship – the researchers examine mechanisms to enact positive outcomes.

Noting that the primary incentives of transnational corporations are not to produce for the common good, the researchers write: ‘Action is urgently needed to stabilise the Earth system within conditions favourable for humanity and rising awareness of the dependence of the global economy on the biosphere foundation is creating incentives for rapid innovation in business strategy and practice.’

Problem spaces in society need to be defined within frameworks, and the authors cite that the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as a good model – with 70 percent of 730 global companies mentioning the SDGs in their corporate reporting, and 27 percent including them in their business strategy.

The global finance sector is already redirecting capital towards more sustainable practices across a range of business areas, and the authors suggest that a global licencing system could be used to curb corporate behaviour towards more ethical and sustainable practices – as is the case with the UK’s Modern Slavery Act, which requires corporates to disclose their efforts to address human trafficking and slavery. The authors also found a role for scientists in helping to create evidence-based knowledge for TNCs to act on, and for the role of open technologies to facilitate greater transparency on malpractice.

In short, big corporates need to bear their responsibility for stewardship of the biosphere while we still have one – and may prove to be a major force in driving the enormous shifts that need to occur for us to avoid catastrophe. They may need to be legislated and regulated into this role if not acting quickly enough, but there are a variety of resources to help do this.

It just requires true leadership. ■

25 October: Spatial Information Day & APSEA-SA 2019, Adelaide, SA https://spatialinformationday.org.au 28 October: Commercial UAV Expo AMERICAS, Los Angeles, California, USA www.expouav.com 4 November – 9 November: GEO Week 2019, Canberra, ACT www.earthobservations.org 12 November: OZRI 2019, Melbourne, Victoria https://esriaustralia.com.au/events/eventdetails/ozri-2019-melbourne-sed-3751 13 November: Breakfast with Don Murray Co-Founder of Safe Software, Melbourne, Victoria 15 November: Breakfast with Don Murray Co-Founder of Safe Software, Sydney, NSW 15 November: OZRI 2019, Sydney, NSW https://esriaustralia.com.au/events/ event-details/ozri-2019-sydney-sed-3753 20 November: OZRI 2019, Brisbane, Queensland https://esriaustralia.com.au/ events/event-details/ozri-2019-brisbanesed-3754

Want to know the total cost of ownership for your survey gear?

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1300 867 266 www.positionpartners.com.au

from the editor The end of business as usual The Australasian magazine of surveying, mapping & geo-information

Publisher Simon Cooper Editor Daniel Bishton dbishton@intermedia.com.au National Advertising Manager Jon Tkach jon@intermedia.com.au Graphic Designer Alyssa Coundouris Prepress Tony Willson Circulation/Subscriptions Troy Brookes Production Jacqui Cooper Subscribe Position is available via subscription only.

A 12 month subscription (6 issues) is AUD$76.00. To subscribe visit www.intermedia.com.au, phone 1 800 651 422 or email: subscriptions@intermedia.com.au.

Website www.spatialsource.com.au Position is published six times a year, in February, April, June, August, October and December by Interpoint Events Pty Ltd. ABN: 9810 451 2469 Address: 41 Bridge Road, Glebe NSW 2037 Ph: +61 2 9660 2113 Fax: +61 2 9660 4419 Editorial inquiries should be sent to: dbishton@intermedia.com.au Advertising inquiries should be sent to: jon@intermedia.com.au Ph: +61 2 8586 6128 Reprints from Position are permitted only with the permission of the publisher. In all cases, reprints must be acknowledged as follows: ‘Reprinted with permission from Position Magazine’, and must include the author’s byline.

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the publisher.

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n September 20, I and other Intermedia staff joined over 4 million people participating in the largest climate strike in history. Over 350,000 people walked out of work and school in Australia, marking the largest protests in Australia since 2003’s actions against the Iraq War. A day later, a report released to coincide with the UN’s Climate Action Summit found that the gap between the measured, empirical reality of what is occurring right now in the atmosphere and oceans, in the horror of the biggest ever bushfires and cruellest droughts, the sea ice that isn’t there – is sickeningly out of step with the commitments and actions to cut emissions.

Like all forms of denialism –antievolution theories, rejection of the link between HIV and AIDS, anti-vaxxers, Flat Earthers – the denial of scientific consensus on the causal relationship between human activities and dangerous atmospheric changes has never been a credible position.

Massive, coordinated efforts on the part of conservative think tanks and their mouthpieces, funded by fossil fuel interests, have manufactured a smog of uncertainty around this consensus – one that it is finally lifting.

All but the most shameless of populists have slunk away from publicly owning the outright denier’s position, slippery as melting ice. Publicly denying climate science as a mainstream politician is no longer tenable.

The Australian Prime Minister understands this. After avoiding the Climate Action Summit to inspect a McDonald’s with Donald Trump, he tried to save face in a speech days later – trying to ‘greenwash’ a dismal climate record with cherry-picked figures like a defiant child.

Instead, the speech is taken with the contempt with which it was delivered, and Mr. Morrison is ridiculed on the world stage.

It might still be imperceptible to some, but a tipping point has been reached.

Accepting the science means accepting reality. Engaging with the findings documented in reports by the most esteemed scientific bodies in the world.

The frankly horrifying understanding that we are witnessing the start of a mass extinction event. Coming to grips with how bleak the scenarios are – all of them. You think the current drought and bushfires are catastrophic? They are – but wait to see what a 4-degree temperature rise scenario has in store.

For our food production capacity, our Great Barrier Reef, our respite from Dengue fever and malaria. Our coal jobs.

While Mr. Morrison was at McDonalds, a teenager crossed the world carbonfree to eviscerate the world’s leaders for failing to act with the resolve and strength demanded by this extraordinary danger. In demonstrating her passion and her outrage – a rational response to the terrifying reality that we all face – Ms. Thunberg has displayed her power.

"You are failing us. But the young people are starting to understand your betrayal. The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say: We will never forgive you.”

The ad hominem attacks her address has triggered from overwhelmingly male, ageing commentators desperate to detract from her message are nauseating to witness. They are driven by real fear of that which Greta Thunberg represents – the embodiment of unstoppable change.

Their relevance; their entitlement to a patriarchal, whitewashed history; the sad old age of business as usual; of knights and dames; of a stupid, colonial celebration of man’s dominion over nature – is very nearly over.

This retrograde impulse cannot be allowed to extinguish the last chance we have to act, the one long shot at securing a remotely tolerable future.

And while financiers around the world quietly divest – the global pipeline of coal projects has halved in the past three years – Ms. Thunberg’s historic address sets out the grim reality of why the spin can no longer be tolerated. There just isn’t time.

"Fifty percent [chance of staying under 1.5 degrees of heating] may be acceptable to you. But those numbers do not include tipping points, most feedback loops, additional warming hidden by toxic air pollution or the aspects of equity and climate justice. They also rely on my generation sucking hundreds of billions of tons of your CO2 out of the air with technologies that barely exist,” she said.

"We will not let you get away with this.

Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not.” ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 7

news Image provided by PSMA.

Australia to host GEO Week 2019

PSMA Australia announces Geoscape brand PSMA Australia has announced a new sales model and customerfacing brand — welcome, Geoscape.

Whilst it may not seem like such a surprise for PSMA to take the moniker of its flagship product, the announcement is more than just a name change — it represents a significant restructure of PSMA's operations.

The new company now offers all the data products owned by PSMA to customers directly, rather than through partners. Geoscape now represents all of PSMA's data — the G-NAF address database, solar

panels, planning zones, surface cover — rather than just the built environment data product, the Geoscape of old.

"The new Geoscape lets us work more closely with our customers to meet their needs, while delivering more value to our partners and shareholders," said PSMA Australia CEO, Dan Paull.

The company says that direct engagement with customers will improve collaboration with Geoscape product development teams, allowing the co-development of new products and services.

Landgate sale nets $1.41 billion for WA A partial sale of Western Australia's land registry has raked in $1.41 billion for the state.

Land Services WA, a consortium of Macquarie Infrastructure; Real Assets; HESTA and Sunsuper, will take a 40 year lease on Landgate's automated titling services for an upfront payment of $1.41 billion.

This figure is considerably less than the $2.86 billion reaped in the controversial sale of Victoria's registry, a deal which sold off considerably more of the Victorian registry's services.

WA treasurer and lands minister Ben Wyatt has stated that the way the public deals with Landgate won't change, that service fees will be capped at the consumer

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price index (CPI), and that all staff will be retained with no forced redundancies.

Minister Wyatt also indicated that the upfront proceeds from the sale would be used to fund the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, and the costs of the lifting of the statute of limitations for historical sexual abuse.

An industry-focused arm of the annual GEO Week conference will launch at the 2019 event in November, with half-price registrations available until September 27.

GEO Week, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO)’s annual symposium, is set to descend on Canberra in November — the first time that GEO Week has been held in Australia.

Hosted by the Australian Government, the conference will be organised by Geoscience Australia, who anticipate 700 delegates, along with ministers from GEO’s 105 member countries, technical experts, business leaders and heads of international non-profits.

This year’s event will also host the Ministerial Summit and Roundtable, the centrepiece of the event, which is held once every four years.

For 2019, another world first will be the addition of the Industry Track, which includes the GEO Week 2019 exhibition and a dedicated program aimed at developing relationships between the commercial sector and GEO community.

Pitney Bowes sells software solutions business Big data software company Syncsort has announced its agreement to buy Pitney Bowes’ software solutions business.

The deal is expected to be finalised later this year, making Syncsort one of the world's largest data management software companies with over 11,000 clients and hundreds of resellers worldwide.

Syncsort said the acquisition will expand the spectrum of the company's data quality software offering and will enhance current Syncsort Trillium products. A company release said it will further add value for clients, especially in areas of security, data science, and regulatory compliance.

The acquisition will be Syncsort’s largest ever, and it adds what the company calls bestin-class location intelligence, data enrichment, customer information management and customer engagement solutions.

Marc B. Lautenbach, President and CEO, Pitney Bowes said, “Our software and data business has made great progress over the last few years achieving two consecutive years of growth and I am very confident of the prospects for this business going forward.”

Change the game: present at #Locate20 The agenda-setting colossus of Locate once again appears on the horizon, with the call for papers now open through 29 November.

Locate20 will bring in industry leaders from around Australasia and the world, as the event returns to the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from 2830 April 2020.

Locate 20 will develop around the theme of ‘Convergence, Collaboration and Community – Towards a Stronger

Economy’, a theme that Locate convener Paul Reed says aims to help highlight the role that surveying and spatial sciences play in economic development.

"Our vision is to see Locate20 reach out to a wider audience than in previous years, attracting spatial scientists and associated professionals from across a range of industry sectors," he said.

"Locate20 will be the place to celebrate the diversity within the spatial industry. It is also a place where we can unite to build our capacity and explore the convergence that is taking place within various components of our industry."

The organisers have announced four core sub-themes to underpin the conference themes: Build, Prosper, Protect and Sustain.

Capitalising on the rapidly growing momentum of the past two years, SSSI has announced five travel grants for members of their Young Professionals program to attend Locate20, valued at $2,000 each.

Roshni Sharma, chair of SSSI’s Young Professionals group, said that we can expect a highly developed program of activities at Locate20.

“Young professionals are recognised to be the future of the industry – but they are also the present,” she said.

“Proactive succession planning, mentoring, adopting soft skills and evolving the culture of our industry is vital to our national success in an international context – and Locate20 offers two days worth of deep-diving into this for both young professionals and young-at-heart professionals.”

For more information about Locate20 or tosubmit an abstract, go to www.locateconference.com.

www.spatialsource.com.au 9

news

SSSI secures key regional partnerships The Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute has announced the formation of two new partnerships with key regional industry bodies at the South East Asia Survey Congress (SEASC) in Darwin last week.

Memoranda of Understanding were signed with both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Federation of

Land Surveying and Geomatics (ASEAN FLAG), and with the Pacific Geospatial and Surveying Council (PGSC).

Both documents establish four-year partnerships, designed to facilitate collaboration and and dialogue to promote the expansion of opportunities for business, education and skills transfer among ASEAN countries and their 'plus six'

trading partners — Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea.

Engr Randolf S. Vicente, President of ASEAN FLAG, said that the signing of this document was timely and significant.

“This MoU has been conceived by ASEAN FLAG and SSSI primarily to come together and collaborate under the ambit of ASEAN plus six," he said.

Fleet announces $7.35m raise to expand IoT constellation

Three agriculture projects funded to harness DEA data The federal government has awarded three $50,000 seed funding grants to pilot projects that leverage Digital Earth Australia satellite data for agriculture analytics tools.

Senator Matt Canavan, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, announced the successful applicants to the DEA Labs program on Friday.

“The value of this kind of technology to businesses is unlimited.

It is through targeted collaborations like this that Australian innovation and ingenuity can shine a light on different parts of our economy," he said.

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“While the potential on-farm uses for this data is exciting, the reach of programs like Digital Earth Australia go far beyond the farm - think landuse, urban planning and water and resource management just to name a few."

The winning entities are Brisbanebased Cibolabs, developing a decision support tool for red meat producers; Toowoomba-based DataFarming, building an app to automatically map paddock boundaries; and Perthbased NGIS Australia and Decipher, creating a pasture analytics tool.

Adelaide-based Fleet Space Technologies has raised $7.35 million in its second funding round.

The IoT startup currently has four Cubesats in orbit, and an announcement made by CEO Flavia Tata-Nardini indicated that the bulk of this newly-secured funding would go towards designing and developing four larger satellites to join these.

The new funding round was led by Horizons Ventures and Momenta Ventures, with participation by Blackbird Ventures and Grok Ventures, the two existing ventures also participated in the financing.

Members of the Kennard family, owners of Kennards Hire, also participated in the round. Kennards Hire announced an asset tracking initiative based on Fleet's IoT network in early 2019.

Most of Fleet's current client base are based in the U.S, and Tata-Nardini indicated that expanding customer services and the company's 15-strong employee base was also on the agenda in the near future.

Fleet's Proxima I and II nanosatellites.

Image provided by Fleet.

geospatial.trimble.com

news Overhauled space launch framework takes off

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy launch vehicle blasts off from Cape Canaveral. Image: SpaceX.

An overhaul of the regulatory framework governing Australian space activities has been completed and is now in effect.

The Australian Space Agency says that Australia's blossoming space industry now has a more streamlined and improved process for launching objects into space — and returning them to Earth.

According to the agency, the newly-renamed Space (Launches and Returns) Act 2018 now has provisions to reflect current industry trends, technology and the Australian context, and provides a

considerably streamlined approvals process over the prior regulatory framework.

Three rules support the new framework, specifying provisions as launches from aircraft, high-powered rockets, and adjusting insurance risk levels for launches and returns.

The new framework also implements certain obligations under UN space treaties.

Australian Space Agency head, Dr. Megan Clark AC, said that the new framework was a milestone on the path to the agency's goal of growing Australia's space industry.

Ozri 2019 to celebrate 50 years of Esri Esri Australia is pulling out all the stops for November's annual user conferences, with an especially strong lineup to celebrate five decades since Esri's founding.

Ozri, the Australian Esri User Conference, will once again take the east coast by storm with three packed days in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, on November 12th, 15th and 20th respectively.

Manish Patel, technical program manager for Esri Australia, said that this year's Ozri events promise one of their strongest lineups.

"From world-renowned oceanographer Dr. Dawn Wright questioning how agencies can future-proof themselves to effectively address major issues affecting environmental science and global sustainability, through to BP’s geospatial lead, Brian Boulmay sharing the multinational oil and gas supermajor’s digital transformations strategy – Ozri 2019 will bring global user stories to the eyes and ears of our Australian audience," he said.

POSITION’S NEWS ORIGINATES FROM Australia and New Zealand’s only site for surveying and spatial news.

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q&a

Q&A with Glenn Cockerton One of the Australian geospatial industry’s stalwarts, Spatial Vision is celebrating a major milestone in 2019. Defined by its core values, the company has nurtured a growing, profitable enterprise with a highly developed organisational culture, one firmly grounded in a strong social and environmental conscience. We sat down with managing director Glenn Cockerton to better understand Spatial Vision’s journey.

ABOVE: Managing Director Glenn Cockerton addresses Spatial Vision's 20th Anniversary Client Event.

Position: Glenn, congratulations on a 20-year anniversary for Spatial Vision this year. Can you tell us a little about how things were when Spatial Vision started out? How did you get your foothold?

GC: Spatial Vision started operations in June 1999, initially working out of a disused lecture theatre at RMIT University. The company soon moved out to dedicated premises in Queens Road, Melbourne.

Growth over the next ten years saw us progressively take over multiple floors.

Our work was initially focused on Victorian public sector clients such as the departments of Sustainability & Environment, Primary Industry and Education, but we soon began to target NSW and spent many trips to Sydney gaining a number of NSW government clients including Land and Property Information, National Parks and Wildlife Service and the RFS. We also commenced production of the award winning Vicmap Book series for Victoria’s emergency services.

The last decade has seen our business consolidate with a client base that extends throughout Australia and more recently overseas in Canada, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Position: What do you think are most important shifts that have occurred in the past two decades – what hard lessons have been learnt, which critical trends has Spatial Vision had to stay out in front of, which practices and technologies were imperative to adapt to?

GC: The last twenty years has seen a seismic change across the industry. GIS has moved from being something done by boffins in the back office, to a mainstream technology (we largely have Google Maps to thank for this). The interoperability and open data movements have massively improved the availability of foundational geospatial data sets. The

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advent of cloud resources and mature web services have meant that these data are now accessible by all, with many users being relieved of the need to manage third party mapping data. Effective and economical web mapping technologies, and more recently mobile apps, have put fit-for-purpose tools in the hands of work forces, contractors and/or the public. Precise location systems are underpinning a whole host of applications including mining, AgTech, intellimatics and many other areas. Drones equipped with multiple sensors have made data capture cheaper and richer at scales never before feasible. An explosion in the fleet of satellites means that there has never been more remotely sensed data available, rapidly increasing in both geospatial and temporal resolution. Virtual worlds (including IoT, BIM and digital twin technologies) are enabling us to simulate urban environments, model utility networks, forecast transportation needs etc.

Now the promise of federated architectures is offering a truly connected ecosystem of geospatial infrastructure that is so much more than traditional SDIs. Blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning are the latest developments and offer huge potential to further transform our industry.

For Spatial Vision, we had to invest significantly in to build capacity in many of these emerging technology areas. The pace of change is such that this process remains unending, requiring us to commit to the technical and profession development of our staff, revisions to our service offer and our understanding of the needs of the markets we serve. For a medium sized company, this remains a challenge. A key strategy is to work collaboratively where ever we can — with our clients, leading researchers and universities and other companies — or, if necessary, on our own.

Spatial Vision has invested heavily in software development including cloud, web-mapping and mobile technologies, key middle-wear offerings (such as GeoCortex), and agile project delivery, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Position: In celebrating this anniversary, I note the use of language: ‘Making a difference’ – along with an overt commitment to ‘making a positive difference regarding climate change, environmental sustainability and social equity’. How is this implemented in practice in terms of leadership and policy within the company?

GC: For much of our life, our company has let our project work effectively ‘do the talking’ for us. But in the last five years, we have realised that our staff and clients are looking for a clearer understanding of what our company stands for — in other words, our purpose.

To this end, we have completed a process to define and up-hold our core values, looking to reflect these in our operations across the company.

These values have been underpinned by a number of statements about environmental sustainability and social equity — and importantly how we, as a company, can make a difference in terms of both the work we deliver and how we operate our company.

We have also taken the step to declare a position on climate change, on the basis that we believe that this issue is one that demands greater recognition and attention. This has been done in the hope that more can be achieved, faster to ensure climate impacts are contained within sustainable levels.

We are not just talking about climate — we are actively reviewing our company operations to utilise renewable forms of energy and are seeking to initially fully offset our carbon emissions (our target is 2020). We are then planning on implementing a strategy to progressively reduce emissions for the future.

Whilst these statements have been developed with management support, importantly they have also benefitted from input from our staff. Surveys confirm that these actions have been well received by our staff.

projects and partners, we have made a definitive statement: “We look for opportunities to partner with government agencies, companies and not-for-profit organisations to address problems and deliver outcomes that are mutually beneficial and sustainable… our company will not accept projects that do not meet these principles.”

To date, we haven’t encountered many situations where we have had to test ourselves on this issue but so far we are more than happy with our position.

Position: What is your view on the role of corporates in the face of unprecedented global challenges – such as in the case of the climate crisis, given the window that we have to act on it, and a government dedicated to policies that will see emissions continue to rise?

GC: This issue is certainly topical, with the current PM and others expressing the view that this is not a role for business.

With respect, we (amongst a large number of other corporates) disagree.

This issue is requires us all to take responsibility for its resolution – and to take the actions required to deliver a sustainable outcome, be it the climate, or our environment more generally.

Position: In terms of the outlook for Australia’s spatial industry, what do you see as the most important dynamics to have played out in recent years, and how might they determine the course of the industry over the next few?

GC: There are many, so I’ll try to be brief. The re-shaping of CRCSI into FrontierSI has been an impressive and promising transition. The contribution

of CRCSI’s major projects such as Digital Earth Australia and the Satellite Based Augmentation System will be felt for years to come. The advent of the new Space Agency, along with the SmartSAT CRC and the nexus between space and spatial are a welcome set of developments with much potential also.

Victoria’s digital cadastre modernisation appears set to make an important contribution in future along with the various digital twin projects popping up and developing around the country. This is underpinned and pushed forward by the maturing of the federated data systems behind these types of projects – the re-imagining of the data management systems and processes used by jurisdictions to maintain foundational geospatial data.

Position: Do you have any key highlights or standout moments from Spatial Vision’s 20 years that you’d like to end with – outcomes you’re most proud of?

GC: There have been a number of significant milestones for our company over the last 20 years – I am not sure that they would be particularly notable to the readers of Position magazine!

I believe that the greatest highlight is that fact that, after 20 years, Spatial Vision is stronger than we have ever been; we are enthusiastically chasing new business and growth opportunities; we are continue to invest in our people; and we are increasing our capabilities and capacity for the future. Here’s looking to the next 20 years!

Position: Congratulations again Glenn, and thanks for your time. ■

Position: How might it effect choice of partners and projects – is there an internal procedure or process to maintain consistency with these values?

GC: Our values are embedded in a number of operational processes although we acknowledge that there is more we need to do in this area. As for choosing

Spatial Vision at the 2019 Climate Strike in Melbourne.

www.spatialsource.com.au 15

partner feature

A quantum leap in infrastucture design The BIM & GIS solution redefining possibilities for the AEC industry

I

t was early on a Tuesday morning at Mass Rapid Transport Corporation’s (MRT Corp) headquarters in Kuala Lumpur when Aswadi Yusof, senior manager of planning and design, had just answered a query from one of the site engineers working on the Sungai Buloh-SerdangPutraya Line (SSP Line). The call? A question regarding the proximity of a bore hole to an existing barrier wall at one of their construction sites. Normally, Aswadi would spend hours searching systems and looking through paperwork to find the answer. But on that Tuesday, for the first time, he could give a detailed and accurate response in just a few mouse clicks.

Aswadi and his team had just launched a new company-wide project management portal; an innovative system that integrated MRT Corp’s Building Information Modelling (BIM) and GIS technologies. They now had just one system to view, analyse and manage all project data.

With complete oversight of all the project build sites in real-time, Aswadi could easily render a scene view showing the BIM structure design on the existing street map. Viewing detail including drone imagery of the current construction site, he was able to the see the exact depth and progress of the bore hole in question and its distance from the barrier fence line. Aswadi answered his colleague’s question with confidence and realised just how vast a difference this technology solution would make to the successful delivery of the SSP Line, as well as all future infrastructure projects.

reduces costs and ultimately creates more considered and resilient infrastructure. The evidence of this lies in the transformative outcomes generated by groups such as MRT Corp.

Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry lead for Esri Australia, Peter Wilmot, believes the outcomes MRT Corp has achieved with BIM and GIS will have a major impact on infrastructure project management.

“With the Australian construction industry contributing $134.2 billion to the country’s economy and developing rapidly, the AEC sector has a newfound reliance on innovative technology solutions to drive cost savings in major infrastructure project delivery,” he said.

“The fusion of Autodesk and ArcGIS technologies empowers anyone involved in a project to make more informed decisions with absolute precision, not estimation. Combining BIM and GIS for construction projects integrates geographic data with real-time drone and sensor information to provide a deep virtual reality view, dramatically reducing risk of error or incident.

ABOVE: The SSP Portal fully integrates BIM and Reality Modelling in a GIS-enabled web portal, that is Cloud-hosted.

BELOW: The SSP Line Portal unifies the project’s BIM information and reality models which are created monthly by merging the photos captured by an unmanned aerial vehicle.

(Photos courtesy of MRT Corp).

Breaking new ground in infrastructure design The integration of BIM and GIS technologies is a capability that has been sought after for years, answering a need from architects, engineers and construction industry professionals alike for a single means to view accurate, detailed, and timely project information.

Operating in a multidisciplinary space can often cause frustration and delays in project delivery due to inherent breakdowns in communication, but through the seamless integration of BIM & GIS, all project data – such as building plans, renders, and imagery, as well as topographical, geological, structural, and environmental data – is displayed via one centralised portal that’s accessible via any device.

Placing BIM and GIS at the centre of construction projects drives smarter decisions, optimises designs, accelerates project approvals,

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“We have complete operational oversight on all build sites. The ability to render real-time scene views into geo-landscape imagery layers by bringing BIM into GIS means we can drill down to a granular level with precision accuracy, giving the confidence and trust to action decisions based on evidence.”

Aswadi Yusof, Senior Manager Planning & Design | MRT Corp

LEFT: 3D models from ArcGIS Portal with BIM layers can be retrieved directly from map viewer using a simplified interface pop-up.

BELOW LEFT: Esri 3D Scene Viewer is used to host MRT Corp’s Reality Capture model.

The output is made available through the GIS Portal for the project team to see the site progress virtually.

(Photos courtesy of MRT Corp).

“This BIM and GIS model will redefine the Australian AEC landscape. And given the high-profile nature of major projects like Brisbane Airport’s $1.3 Billion expansion and the $2.7 Billion Sydney CBD and South East Light Rail project, the reliance on software to ensure the ontime and on-budget delivery of projects will become even more prevalent.”

Aswadi Yusof said by introducing the solution, MRT Corp’s 500 site managers, architects, engineers and project managers could extract timely reporting, run predictive modelling, and provide accurate project management of incidents, permits and site details – for the first time.

“We now have complete operational oversight on all build sites,” he said. “The MRT Corp’s BIM & ability to render real-time scene views GIS innovation of station construction components Traditionally, as with most large-scale or rail line models, into geo-landscape construction projects, MRT Corp’s teams imagery layers means we can drill down would have been operating in to a granular level with precision silos, switching between tech accuracy, giving us the platforms. However, given confidence and trust to the complexities around action decisions based Solution Mix constructing the SSP on evidence.” + Autodesk BIM Line, finding a more “From field + ArcGIS Pro efficient solution was reporting components + ArcGIS Portal deemed essential. such as logging + ArcGIS Enterprise By leveraging drilling progress, + ArcGIS Collector Autodesk’s BIM into recording incidents, + Survey123 for ArcGIS Esri’s ArcGIS platform, and storing site + Esri 3D Scene Viewer MRT Corp created a permits in a geotagged + Cloud hosting cloud-based web GIS dynamic view, to portal to house all project real-time operational data. The platform is accessible dashboards used to to all stakeholders involved in the track project progress against project, which is expected to service a benchmarks, MRT Corp has been able corridor of over 2 million people with to replace cumbersome processes and 52.2km of elevated and underground eradicate the thousand-page paper reports tracks and stations. that were previously used.”

Redefining the realm of possibilities To date, MRT Corp’s integrated Autodesk and Esri solution to project management has increased productivity by over 35%, which – when compared to Australia’s standard productivity growth rate of 2.8%* – clearly demonstrates why this innovation is a game changer for the AEC sector globally.

Peter Wilmot said solutions like those pioneered by MRT Corp will no doubt deliver new efficiencies to the Australian AEC industry by providing a solution to the challenges facing these multidisciplinary major infrastructure projects.

“What I find most exciting about the work undertaken by MRT Corp, is that it can essentially serve as a blueprint for a best-practice solution for any organisation working on infrastructure development,” he said.

“Whether it’s building a cross-river transport network or creating a new smart city, BIM and GIS integration provides an unparalleled operational view that delivers evidence-based actionable insights.”

To speak with an AEC specialist about integrating BIM and GIS technologies on your next project, visit esriaustralia.com.au/BIM * 2018 Defining the Australian Construction Industry report by Buildsoft.

Information provided by Esri Australia. ■ www.spatialsource.com.au 17

feature NASA’s Artemis and Gateway missions will take astronauts back to the Moon and aim to establish a permanent presence to further Mars ambitions.

MOONSHOT Will the hype around Australia’s space sector be a shot in the arm for industry?

JON FAIRALL

I

n late September, the federal government announced that it would invest $150 million for the next five years in local businesses to support NASA’s plans to return to the moon and to go on to Mars.

The investment will be managed by the Australian Space Agency. It is designed to make Australian businesses more competitive in international space supply chains, a market that is worth $350 billion annually.

At the time of writing, few details are available. It may be good news for small local enterprises working on cutting edge technologies, and may be great news for US aerospace companies with a presence in Australia, such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.

Should spatial practitioners be interested? The industry is, after all, a consumer of numerous space-based technologies. Positioning, timing and remote sensing sourced from space are the basis of many a dataset and many a measurement. Space-based communications can make distributed data acquisition possible in many interesting scenarios.

Space, version 2.0 There are reasons why. In the last decade, space technology has changed.

So-called Space 2.0 has arrived. It’s now possible to create economically interesting projects with smaller payloads because of improved miniaturisation of electronics, better software and better communications systems. Smaller payloads mean smaller rockets and thus lower launch costs. More automation of

18 position October/November 2019

both space and ground segments means terrestrial infrastructure to command and control the payload is also cheaper.

The long term operational costs of a space mission have reduced by orders of magnitude.

In short, the barriers to entry to the space business are so cheap that smallscale startups, with a few tens of millions of dollars in investment funds, are now serious players.

The government is certainly interested.

After 30–odd years of lobbying, politicians, if not bureaucrats, have become converts.

The Commonwealth will spend $10 million per annum over the next four years to establish the Australian Space Agency. The Coalition’s 2018-19 budget included $300 million for space-related activities. So the new $150 million offer adds up to a substantial injection of cash into the industry over the next five years.

In return, the government expects jobs and growth. The target is 20,000 new jobs in the space sector and eight per cent per annum growth in the value of the sector, so that it’s worth $12 billion to the national bottom line by 2028.

Is this likely, and will it make a difference in the spatial industry?

Australia’s space ecosystem It is important to start with a distinction.

Some space activities occur in space; others occur on the ground. The UK Space Agency terms these respectively upstream and downstream activities.

Clearly, the spatial industry is far more invested in downstream activity, but Australia already has entrepreneurs in both sectors.

A typical upstream company is Gilmour Space Technologies. In June 2016, the company successfully flew the country's first privately developed hybrid rocket to an altitude of 5km using proprietary 3D printed fuel. Since then, the company has raised $5 million in funding from venture capital firms Blackbird Ventures and 500 Startups, and received R&D grants in Singapore and Australia.

The company plans to launch its first rockets to Low Earth Orbit by 2020. An attempted launch earlier this year failed to clear the launch pad, although the company says it learned a great deal from the failure.

There are many players in the Australian downstream sector. The most significant is Geoscience Australia, which received $260 million for space related activities in the 2016 budget. The money will primarily cover the creation of a Satellite-Based Augmentation System.

It will be a highly sophisticated affair capable of receiving signals from all six existing GNSS constellations that cover Australia. It will enable 100mm accuracy anywhere in Australia.

GA will also host Digital Earth Australia (DEA). With $13 million a year in funding, DEA will provide access to Earth observation data from satellites, especially historical data which can be used in trend analysis.

Graeme Kernich, chief executive of FrontierSI, said that DEA has important industrial objectives as well. “It will catalyse Australian companies to be even more competitive on the global stage. This is aligned with the ASA objective, to make it easier for the Australian space industry to get things done,” he said.

“Industry is looking for the agency’s support in lowering barriers to entry, opening doors, presenting a united front to the world, facilitating connections.

Through all these activities we will see a stronger case for investment by industry and government in space applications.”

In addition, expertise in Earth observation is threaded through other government agencies and in many small enterprises. A submission by Stuart Phinn from Earth Observation Australia to a recent government enquiry about the ASA cautions the ASA against assuming that DEA is the only repository of EO expertise. “DEA represents an important, though relatively small portion of Australia’s offerings,” he said.

However, there is nothing revolutionary in these downstream programs. They use space in the way Australia has traditionally used space, that is: we do something clever with data created by foreign operators and, usually, paid for by foreign taxpayers.

In no sense do these programs amount to a national capacity to generate data or to control how, when or why it is collected.

It’s not for want of any alternatives.

Since the 1950s, when the British were firing rockets out of Woomera, small, enthusiastic teams of Australian engineers and scientists have tried to put space projects together without budget or resources. A few have succeeded.

Mostly they have been defeated by the indifference, if not the downright hostility, of the mandarins in Canberra.

A new hope Still, hope springs eternal. Maybe this time will be different. Nascent Australian space companies are pinning their ambitions on the ASA. The agency has developed a plan called Advancing Space, the Australian Civil Space Strategy 2019-2028.

The plan sits on four pillars: international cooperation, increasing national capability, regulation and

The Australian Space Agency’s agreement NASA will see a federal funding injection for Australia to develop technology the US agency needs for future missions.

Most current downstream actors use space in the way Australia has traditionally used space: we do something clever with data created by foreign operators, usually paid for by foreign taxpayers. inspiration. Canberra has much experience and a long track record of success in international cooperation, regulation and even inspiration, and there is no reason to suppose that their efforts in space will be any less significant. Indeed, the ministerial announcement of an agreement with NASA is evidence for that.

A spokesperson for the agency said the investment will focus on three integrated elements that will lift Australian engagement in the global space sector.

Gilmour Space is an upstream Australian space company forging ahead with innovative hybrid rocket technology.

“It will provide demonstrator and pilot projects which showcase investmentready Australian capabilities to NASA; provide for the Agency and NASA to identify how Australia can support NASA’s mission; and finally, it will support access to international space supply chains that support NASA,” she said.

Voices of dissent In the matter of increasing national capability, however, Canberra’s bureaucrats have a long record of failure.

There are plenty of people with long experience in space who believe this time will be no different.

Brett Biddington, a long-time space industry practitioner, used a recent thesis at the University of New South Wales, to study Advancing Space in detail. His view is that its numbers are unreliable.

For starters, the government’s goals for the space sector are not as grand as they seem. Tripling the size of the local industry by 2040 will do no more than maintain the status quo. The global space economy will triple by about the same amount over the same period.

In a 2017 paper, the Space Industry Association of Australia (SIAA) advocated doubling the Australian target, which would have brought Australian industry to two percent of the world total.

Moreover, Biddington says these targets are based on some very rubbery numbers. Is the current Australian space industry really 0.8 per cent of the global total, which is about $3.94 billion. Biddington says half of that total is taken up with direct-to-home TV via communications satellites. The only thing Australian is the people who pay the money. www.spatialsource.com.au 19

feature

Gilmour Space testing their One Vision rocket.

The same might be said of the satellite broadband and mobile communications sector (30 percent of the total). His numbers seem to suggest that genuine space activity amounts to no more than 10 percent of the alleged total. Almost all of this is downstream activity. It’s dozens of small enterprises in Earth observation, positioning, ground station operations and equipment manufacturing. The local operations of US and European aerospace companies add some heft to the numbers.

These results should not really surprise us. Most surveys of the industry are undertaken by lobby groups with an agenda. Inflating the size of the industry is common. In a 2010 Report, Earth Observation from Space in Australia, ACIL Tasman estimated that Earth observation from space contributed at least 3.3 billion to Australian GDP in 2008-09. A decade later, ACIL Allen valued the entire space industry at $3-4 billion.

“These figures seem difficult to reconcile,” Biddington said.

20 position October/November 2019

The 2017 ACIL Allen Review was commissioned to inform the decisions of the Expert Reference Group that went on to recommend the formation of the ASA. The review listed 388 entities as belonging to the industry. Biddington’s research suggests 11 percent of the listed entities had ceased to exist by the time the document was released. Nineteen single-person consultancies were among the 388 entities. Of those that do actually exist, it’s hard to imagine why many were included in the list: Cray Supercomputers is not an Australian space company – it’s a US-based computer manufacturer. IMP Printed Circuits Pty Ltd is an Adelaidebased company that makes circuit boards.

“There is nothing on the company’s website to suggest it has an interest in space or that it is in the supply chain of satellite manufacturers,” Biddington said.

Whether it’s helpful to introduce an industry assistance plan with such rubbery numbers is a moot point.

Roger Franzen, one of the few people in Australia who can boast a life-long

engineering career in the space industry, has reservations about the Advancing Space plan, but says the newest announcement signals commitment on a new scale. Franzen said that under the new plan, it will fall to industry to generate the tripling the space-based revenue the government expects from its investment.

“Today, the team at the new Australian Space Agency, although still small, is working really hard to lay the essential policy and legislation foundations upon which the future can stand,” he said.

However, he says that for the agency and the promising new crop of space companies – and the rising star of the SmartSatCRC – there is a hard, disciplined road ahead to prove that Australia can take it to the existing preferred suppliers internationally.

“In anything other than ground-based processing of space data, Australia has yet to demonstrate itself as a competent collaborator and trusted partner. Overt, demonstrable professionalism and visible success is required for the shopfront of an emergent Australian space industry,” he said.

Having said all this, the fact is that Space 2.0 really does mean something significant. It has never been cheaper and easier to form a space company and that is especially true of upstream companies, who build or fly launch vehicles and their associated paraphernalia, and satellites.

Franzen said that while this is true – we have not yet invented new physics.

“The ability to reliably place space systems into orbit – and work every time – still requires extremely disciplined processes. There is no old space or new space, just space which remains as hostile as ever and even more so today as we place ever more objects into orbit.

That said, the future for Australia is exciting and bright even if we are starting from the backline.” It may well be that, if the ASA can get its international relationships right, significant amounts of work will be generated in Australia.

Remote sensing satellites tailored to a land of drought and flooding rain may well eventuate. But as always, it will be because of the blood, sweat and tears of people with big dreams, and they don’t all live in Canberra.

Editor’s note: We provided the Australian Space Agency an opportunity to respond to detailed questions on the assumptions and calculations behind the figures used in the Advancing Space strategy, and on criteria for Australian ownership and intellectual property in eligibility for the new funding commitment, but they were unable to respond before deadline.

Jon Fairall is a journalist and author, and the founding editor of Position. ■

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SEASC report

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South East Asia Survey Congress 2019 Building a regional professional community DANIEL BISHTON 1. The stage is set for the gala dinner at SEASC 2019.

2. S SS president Zaffar Sadiq Mohamed-Ghouse thanking the the three convenors of SEASC 2019 – Rob Sarib, Lee Hellen and Gerry Ong. 3. D elegates from ASEAN FLAG (Federation of Land Surveying and Geomatics).

4. S SSI president Zaffar MohamedGhouse with Michael Giudici, Surveyor General of Tasmania.

D

arwin in August is a nirvana of the tropics.

Peak dry season sees temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s, the Darwin Festival in full swing brings shades of A Midsummer Night’s Dream downtown, colourful programming drawing a relaxed crowd of revellers, locals and visitors alike to the festival park for a bite and a tipple in the warm evening air.

This was the setting for the 15th South East Asia Survey Congress, a solid and sumptuous event that drew a dedicated crowd of over 450 delegates to the Top End city for a week of workshops, local tours, rousing keynotes and a few historic announcements along the way.

Around half of these were international delegates, a sparkling result for the organisers and an endorsement of the congress’ foci.

The big picture Built around a theme of ‘Communication, collaboration and capacity-building’, the event’s programming was meticulously curated to contextualise spatial practice in the context of a rapidly changing, non-Eurocentric world — with particular attention on developments in the Asia-Pacific.

My own schedule meant that I could only attend for Friday August 16 and Saturday August 17, but what a packed couple of days they were.

22 position October/November 2019

Friday morning opened with an historic signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the SSSI and ASEAN FLAG (Association of Southeast Asian Nations Federation of Land Surveying and Geomatics).

SSSI President Zaffar welcomed all parties with a warm address, and new SSSI honourary fellows Dr. Andrew Barnicoat from Geoscience Australia and Northern Territory Surveyor General Rob Sarib were named and awarded.

A keynote presentation from UN-GGIM cochair Dorine Burmanje set the tone for a series of inspiring presentations that sought to highlight global geodetic and spatial initiatives with the potential to transform lives and supercharge international development – underpinned by the data from the 2019 Sustainable Development Goals Progress Report that show a much faster, deeper and more ambitious response is needed if the agenda is to be met.

Also chair of the Executive Board of the Netherlands’ Cadastre, Land Registry and Mapping Agency, Ms. Buranje's keynote was driven by a sense of urgency and grave import in recognition of, and adaptation to a rapidly changing environment and social order – a theme echoed by opening remarks from Hon Eva Lawler MLA, the NT minister for infrastructure, and for climate change and environmental resources.

3

4 Ms. Burmanje walked through the criticality of the SDGs and the importance of place, the interconnectedness of global challenges highlighted by the UN’s firstof-its-kind biodiversity report, and the crucial nature of land registration systems in establishing civil society, highlighting an inspiring ‘fit for purpose’ registration model being trialled in Colombia.

Run by the Netherlands, the ‘fit-forpurpose’ land registration project aims to establish order in post-conflict zones with promising results, which Ms Burmanje said reflected the UN-GGIM’s recognition that the existing methodologies for land registration cannot keep pace with need – a ‘fit for purpose’ model must be adopted to keep pace.

This stream of global updates in the geospatial space from the UN-GGIM continued, with freshly minted SSSI honorary fellow Dr. Andrew Barnicoat providing updates from the Asia-Pacific perspective on the development of international frameworks to facilitate international development – the Sendai

disaster framework, Global Geodetic Reference Frame and the Integrated Geospatial Information Framework.

Closer to home Engaging more deeply with our neighbouring regional nations as a community of surveyors and spatial professionals was perhaps the leitmotif of the 2019 congress.

The most pivotal events of the congress turned around this concept, and the most engaging stream of the event for me was found in the illumination of exemplar projects and initiatives in our industry being carried out in South East Asia, and some key developments with major import for the future of Australian geospatial practice.

An address by ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General, His Excellency Dr. Aladdin D. Rillo, concisely highlighted the scale of opportunities in the region, neatly cataloguing a phalanx of recent efforts to free up trade, exchange of services and mobility of services within the economic bloc.

A brief tour through the monstrous program of planned infrastructure efforts in the region to promote connectivity left no doubt as to the scale of the need for high quality geospatial, design and survey services represented here.

Digging further into these liberalisation efforts with respect to surveying and spatial disciplines, a detailed set of presentations outlined the undertaking of the ASEAN mutual recognition agreement (MRA) for the industry, a colossal initiative aiming to standardise education, certification and accreditation requirements across nations in the AEC (ASEAN Economic Community), to facilitate the flow of professionals across borders.

With the ultimate aim of a unified labour market for ASEAN member states, a series of talks outlined lessons learnt and the scale of effort required to recognise and standardise surveying educational institutions and courses, in light of vast differences in units offered and institutional standards, and the spectrum of development for registration and accreditation systems across states.

The MoU with ASEAN FLAG was followed by the signing of an MoU with the Pacific Geospatial and Surveying Council (PGSC). Building on the week prior’s agreement with the Open Geospatial Consortium, these agreements represent a strong focus on standards and certification that situates SSSI members in a regional and global context, with project plans for the first year attached to each of these agreements, in addition to high-level commitments.

A heavyweight set of presentations made up the capacity building stream, with updates on the development of the Global Geospatial Reference Frame (GGRF), and a set of insightful and strategic reflections from SEASC convenor Rob Sarib, covering systemic and practical considerations to push www.spatialsource.com.au 23

SEASC report

SSSI president Zaffar Sadiq Mohamed-Ghouse receives a gift from the Young Surveyors of ASEAN FLAG.

Meizyanne Hicks from Fiji with the SSSI president at the signing of the MoU with the Pacific Geospatial and Surveying Council (PGSC).

forward with a meaningful program of activities for building regional capacity in survey- and geomatics-focused skillsets.

The congress’ program was also liberally seasoned with sessions outlining pioneering geospatial, cadastral and digital engineering initiatives from states in the ASEAN bloc. I don’t think I was the only attendee impressed by the sophistication of Singapore’s advancement in its mandate for digital cadastral and BIM processes – forward-looking policies and legislation for that consider processes such as scanning, digital processing of plans and models, UAVs in civilian airspace to be business-as-usual.

Nor was I the only one staggered at the scale of Indonesia’s geographical challenges as a largely maritime continent

24 position October/November 2019

of huge topographical diversity, and the strength of its government’s One Map policy, which declares that all government programs must be respect a geospatial component, and be justified against their ever-evolving, unified map and database portal that comprises 85 formerly separate thematic maps.

Future focus Setting out marks for a strong future was the key motivation underlining the programming at SEASC 2019.

This comprised looking well beyond Australia’s borders, securing key partnerships internationally and highlighting business opportunities, but critically – an unflinching examination of into the critical systemic reforms that are needed, and the change management

processes that need to execute immediately to keep the profession vital and relevant in the near term.

Building upon a trend of dialogue around diversity and its role in determining the industry’s future was a strong program of panels and talks, and an unprecedented full day of Young Professionals activities, which I unfortunately couldn’t attend, but had a record attendance from a range of backgrounds and demographics.

NSW Surveyor-General Narelle Underwood challenged and captivated the room in her riveting keynote, leaving no attendee with any doubt as to what they can begin doing today to prepare the ground for the next generation of the workforce and embrace of new technologies and processes — or any allusions as to the urgency of this action and consequences for failing to adapt. “'Can you just wait five years?' I’m often asked,” she told the assembled crowd.

“No I can’t, because we may not have a profession that’s relevant in five years if I do.”

These messages were reinforced in the diversity panel of Australian SurveyorsGeneral, with a robust healthy discussion of how people may champion success stories, challenge the status quo within organisations that may be bureaucratic, and avoid tokenism in representation.

Voices of female industry leaders were front-and-centre more frequently at SEASC 2019 than any other conference I’ve attended. Dr. Karen Joyce of James Cook University was a standout with her passionate and pithy talk on the issues with a STEM push that excludes geography, the pervasive science stereotypes that can repel young minds, and UAVs as a key tool to capture students’ imaginations, ably demonstrated with the burgeoning success of her 'She Maps' initiative in Queensland.

A celebration of the survey Beyond these key tracks, the almost overwhelming amount and quality of content being presented, and the excitement of the regional opportunity and perspectives on offer, there was a powerful and unifying sense of community among the die-hards assembled in Darwin.

The final aspect of the program content for delegates that dovetailed and helped to build on this feeling was a true celebration of surveying that was reflected throughout.

Surveyors in attendance received a validation of their significance and purpose in a rapidly-changing world, a kinship through exposure to international practitioners and projects — even the

tough discussions on the reality of change needed were borne out of love of the craft.

I couldn’t possibly attend all of the highly technical, operationally-focused sessions and project demonstrations, but the ones I did left strong impressions. An extremely detailed session on fine-grained flood modelling in Taiwan; automating the analysis of historical bushfire severity assessment in NSW, a nuts-and-bolts practical session on multi-GNSS for surveyors by Dr. Craig Roberts; a mindmelting demonstration of an AI tool to detect rare disease characteristics from LiDAR face scans by Dr. Petra Hemholz; a challenging, concise and comprehensive on the precedents and relevance of copyright for surveyor’s intellectual property deliverables, and the implications of new technology for these issues, such as smart contracts and blockchain.

Balancing the many forward-looking sessions on the profession’s future was a constellation of talks recognising land surveying’s history in Australia and its pioneers, and the countless ways that the practice of setting and maintaining boundaries interacts with all the spheres of civil society.

In Victorian Surveyor-General Craig Sandy’s fascinating history of Australian state borders, he noted that the borders of the First Nations were based on monuments like any other society’s, noting James Cook’s false declaration that ‘New Holland’ was uninhabited, and that although traditional owners’ borders were not recognised until 1992’s Mabo decision – these borders are very real.

The dancefloor at the gala dinner saw visiting dignitaries and delegates shaking a leg.

“I’m often asked 'Can you just wait five years?' No I can’t, because we may not have a profession that’s relevant in five years if I do.”

In one of the final sessions of the congress, Trevor Menzies, manager of the MSIA Heritage Program and leader of the congress’ history tour, gave a deeplyresearched account of the numerous attempts at the formidable challenge of Darwin’s original survey, including the successful Goyder expedition, and the names of the party that still adorn the city’s street signs – along with many of the original parcels intact as marked, subdivisions notwithstanding.

Capping off a stimulating few days was a stunning gala dinner under the warm Darwin evening sky. What more could one ask for?

Daniel Bishton is the editor of Position. ■

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www.spatialsource.com.au 25

feature

GDA2020 uncertainty values on the public record in NSW DR. VOLKER JANSSEN, NICHOLAS GOWANS, SIMON HINE, SIMON MCELROY

T

he Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 (GDA2020) is now our official national datum, and Australian states and territories are in various stages of transitioning from GDA94 to GDA2020.

The provision of rigorous uncertainty values was a key component, advantage and driver for datum modernisation and is the focus of this article.

We explain the migration rules and philosophical decisions applied by NSW Spatial Services to report GDA2020 and AHD uncertainty values on public record in the Survey Control Information Management System (SCIMS).

SCIMS is the State’s database containing about 250,000 survey marks, including coordinates, heights, accuracy classifications and other metadata. We also provide initial user tips for dealing with SCIMS uncertainty values in NSW.

GDA94 vs. GDA2020 GDA94 remains the legal datum in NSW, until it is replaced by GDA2020 following the required change in legislation. This will probably happen on or after 1 January 2020.

Since July 2019, SCIMS provides coordinate values in both datums. This will continue for the foreseeable future as users transition from GDA94 to GDA2020.

The Australian Height Datum (AHD) remains the legal datum for physical heights. All existing AHD heights in SCIMS have been retained and migrated unchanged.

PU and LU In 2002, the Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping (ICSM) adopted Positional Uncertainty (PU) and Local Uncertainty (LU) as new methods to classify the accuracy of coordinates. LU replaced Order, while Class remained unchanged. This was documented in the Standards and

26 position October/November 2019

Practices for Control Surveys (SP1, current version 1.7).

PU is the total uncertainty propagated from the Australian Fiducial Network (AFN) comprising 109 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS), based on a constrained least squares network adjustment.

For AHD heights, PU is the total uncertainty propagated from the Australian National Levelling Network (ANLN) Junction Points (where level runs join).

LU is an average measure of the Relative Uncertainty (RU) of a point with respect to the survey connections to adjacent points in the datum (Figure 1), calculated from the error ellipses (or standard deviations for height).

Basically, PU and LU are the ‘currency of positioning’. They allow simple, comparative statements describing position quality, e.g. “this position is better than a 20 or 50 cent piece” or “this height is better than the length of a wine cork or shovel blade”. Conceptually, horizontal PU and LU in SCIMS are error ellipses that have been squeezed into a circle of best fit.

Uncertainties in SCIMS In 2013, ICSM released the Standard for the Australian Survey Control Network (SP1, current version 2.1), aiming to complete the transition from Class and Order to uncertainty as the basis for evaluating and expressing the quality of measurements and positions.

To make GDA2020 coordinates and uncertainties available on public record in SCIMS, NSW Spatial Services has modified existing database systems. After extensive internal research, we decided to continue with the philosophy outlined in SP1 v1.7 rather than SP1 v2.1. We are currently investigating further upgrades to SCIMS, including the option of a potential national solution.

Initially SCIMS includes Class, Horizontal Positional Uncertainty (HPU), Vertical Positional Uncertainty (VPU), Horizontal Local Uncertainty (HLU) and Vertical Local Uncertainty (VLU).

AHD-PU and AHD-LU are provided for levelled marks belonging to the ANLN, i.e. the original realisation of AHD71, excluding all subsequent levelling. We are still reviewing the best way to deliver PU and LU of GNSSderived AHD heights.

Table 1 summarises the uncertainty values currently available in SCIMS. Uncertainties are only provided for marks included in the NSW state adjustments.

NSW continues to use Class instead of Survey Uncertainty (SU) defined in SP1 v2.1 because it is an existing, mandatory attribute of SCIMS and deemed to describe survey network quality in a more practical manner.

SU is purely a statistical metric quantifying internal network quality based on a minimally constrained least squares network adjustment, and results vary depending on network size and location of the (arbitrary) ‘fixed’ point. In SCIMS, Class also considers information that cannot be quantified via an adjustment (e.g. quality of monumentation).

NSW currently prefers LU over Relative Uncertainty (RU) defined in SP1 v2.1 because it provides, at a glance, a single summary measure of how well the subject mark fits into the existing local network.

LU accounts for the relative uncertainty in relation to several surrounding marks, while RU only considers the uncertainty between any two marks.

Whilst SP1 allows authorities to estimate PU and LU, NSW Spatial Services has adopted a more rigorous approach and only populates SCIMS with calculated PU and LU values. These are stored to the nearest millimetre, but the significant figures shown to users are commensurate with their

Figure 1: Calculating LU using the RUs between the subject mark and adjacent marks.

GDA94

GDA2020

HPU

Y (‘spine’ & sub-metre DGPS marks only)

Y

VPU

N

Y

HLU

N

Y

VLU

N

Y

AHD-PU (levelled)

Y (ANLN marks only)

Y (ANLN marks only)

AHD-LU (levelled)

N

Y (ANLN marks only)

AHD-PU (derived)

N

N (under investigation)

AHD-LU (derived)

N

N (under investigation)

Table 1: Uncertainty values currently available in SCIMS (Y = yes, N = no).

magnitude and always rounded up: to the nearest centimetre for values less than 1 metre, to the nearest decimetre for values between 1 and 10 metres, and to the nearest metre for values greater than 10 metres.

SCIMS coordinates and uncertainties may improve with each running of the state adjustment, which is run by NSW Spatial Services and constrained to the AFN. A suitable subset of observations contributes to the national adjustment run by Geoscience Australia.

PU in SCIMS For horizontal positions, the radius of a 95% circle of uncertainty is calculated from the standard (1σ) error ellipse produced by common adjustment software. However, as

PU refers to the national datum (not just the local control for a particular survey), the error ellipse must also consider the uncertainty of the AFN. The PU of a height is a linear quantity and obtained by scaling the standard deviation (1σ) by 1.96 to convert it to 95% confidence. Again, this standard deviation must be in terms of the national datum, i.e. GDA2020 for ellipsoidal heights and AHD for physical heights.

The PU of AHD heights for levelled marks is computed from a least squares network adjustment of the ANLN, with Junction Points constrained to a standard deviation of 0.005m. The original tide gauges were not constrained. This approach was chosen based on testing

undertaken in NSW, following earlier adoption of the same principles in Victoria.

Figure 2 illustrates the distribution of HPU (30,438 values) and VPU (28,872 values) based on the NSW state adjustment and levelled AHD-PU (10,299 values) based on the ANLN adjustment (as at 01/07/2019), along with the median and mean of the data.

It is evident that the PU values are not normally distributed, but instead present as a skewed, right-tailed distribution. For such a skewed distribution, the median provides a more robust measure of central tendency than the mean. It is also far less susceptible to outliers.

Median values of 0.018m (HPU) and 0.027m (VPU) for the horizontal and vertical GDA2020 coordinate components in the NSW state adjustment indicate a very good result. As such, users will often see PU values of 0.02m and 0.03m in SCIMS, due to rounding up and displaying these values to the nearest centimetre.

Pleasingly, 73.4% of all HPU values in the state adjustment are 0.02m or better (91.1% are 0.03m or better), i.e. these survey marks have a horizontal accuracy of a little larger than the size of a 50-cent piece (1.6cm radius). Similarly, 95.6% of all VPU values are 0.05m or better (97.4% are 0.06m or better), which is a little larger than the average height of a wine cork (4.5cm).

To users, this has a huge and immediate impact. Our best-quality survey control is now more readily available (greater quantity, more accessible locations), compared to the days of connecting to 6,400 trigonometrical (trig) stations located on distant hilltops.

In fact, the PU of a typical NSW survey mark is now superior to that of the fiducial marks originally used to realise the superseded GDA94 two decades ago (PU of 0.03m for the Australian National Network).

Figure 2: Distribution of (a) HPU, (b) VPU and (c) levelled AHD-PU values in SCIMS, based on the NSW state adjustments as at 01/07/2019.

www.spatialsource.com.au 27

feature For AHD heights, 89.3% of levelled AHD-PU values are 0.05m (height of a wine cork) or better (95.9% are 0.06m or better) – another great achievement.

Class in SCIMS To limit the impact on surveyors, the existing Class of established survey marks and all levelled marks was simply migrated and fully retained in the initial population of SCIMS with GDA2020 coordinates.

For unestablished marks, we introduced a new generic rule to assign Class based on PU (Table 2). This delivered: • 27,450 marks assigned GDA2020 ellipsoidal heights.

• 650 new marks added: Control Points (CPs) and eccentric witness marks.

• 2,732 new/existing marks upgraded to ‘established’, mainly based on 6+ hour AUSPOS sessions.

In assigning Class D, we acted in accordance with Surveyor General’s Direction No. 12 (Control Surveys and SCIMS) when the survey methodology delivered positions or heights accurate to several centimetres but involved unchecked radiations or single occupations.

LU in SCIMS NSW Spatial Services is exclusively responsible for calculating LU for the NSW survey control network. Only marks in the state adjustment are considered.

In the LU computation, we use the median RU (being the determination of a medial estimate, i.e. the “average” as defined in SP1 v1.7) because the RUs of a network are not normally distributed but present as a skewed, right-tailed distribution.

HLU is computed as the median horizontal relative uncertainty circular confidence region between the subject point and the 15 nearest SCIMS marks within the adjustment, including direct and indirect connections (see Figure 1).

This excludes transformed marks, RTK/ NRTK and AUSPOS point observations, but may include RTK/NRTK and AUSPOS observations expressed as baselines.

Class

PU Range

Horizontal Class D

HPU (95% CL) ≤ 0.1 m

Horizontal Class E

0.1 m < HPU (95% CL) ≤ 1 m

Horizontal Class U

HPU (95% CL) > 1 m

Vertical (EHGT) Class D

VPU (95% CL) ≤ 0.1 m

Vertical (EHGT) Class E

0.1 m < VPU (95% CL) ≤ 1 m

Vertical (EHGT) Class U

VPU (95% CL) > 1 m

N

N (under investigation)

N

N (under investigation)

Table 2: Assigning Class for unestablished marks, based on Positional Uncertainty.

The era of estimating uncertainty via sensible judgement according to statistical (empirical) data and professional knowledge is over. Uncertainty can now be rigorously calculated Accordingly, VLU is the median vertical relative uncertainty between the subject point and the 15 nearest SCIMS marks within the adjustment (including direct and indirect connections). Marks without vertical measurements have a null VLU, and marks without horizontal measurements have a null HLU. The AHD-LU for levelled marks only considers marks within the ANLN adjustment, i.e. ignoring in-fill levelling and GNSS-derived AHD heights. The AHD-RU/LU values for levelled and GNSSderived AHD are not meaningfully related because they are determined from separate adjustments (ANLN vs. GDA2020).

Figure 3 illustrates the distribution of HLU (30,438 values) and VLU (28,872 values) based on the NSW state adjustment and levelled AHD-LU (10,299 values) based on the ANLN adjustment (as at 01/07/2019), along with the median and mean of the data.

The LU values also present as a skewed, right-tailed distribution. Hence the median is again a more suitable measure of central tendency and far less susceptible to outliers. Median values of 0.024m (HLU) and 0.038m (VLU) for the GDA2020 coordinate components in the NSW state adjustment deliver a very good result for the average ‘local fit’.

This is supported by 83.0% of all HLU values being 0.03m or better (91.5% are 0.04m or better) and 90.0% of all VLU values being 0.05m or better (94.5% are 0.06m or better). For AHD heights, 69.2% of levelled AHD-LU values are 0.05m or better (80.0% are 0.06m or better). These statistics reflect the high quality of the two network adjustments used to populate SCIMS. At a given point in the NSW state network, LU is typically larger than PU. This is because the RU computation between any two stations is driven by PU at both stations along with their correlation, which tends to be comparatively small in well-constrained networks.

Uncertainties of transformed GDA2020 marks The GDA2020 state adjustment currently incorporates about 30,000 survey control marks, i.e. 12% of all marks in SCIMS. Consequently, 88% of SCIMS marks are transformed from GDA94 to GDA2020 using the ‘conformal and distortion’ NTv2 transformation grid (see Position 100, April 2019).

Figure 3: Distribution of (a) HLU, (b) VLU and (c) levelled AHD-LU values in SCIMS, based on the NSW state adjustments as at 01/07/2019.

28 position October/November 2019

Uncertainties of transformed GDA2020 coordinates are given null values until these are calculated via inclusion in the state adjustment. Caution should be used when mixing adjusted and transformed survey control.

To date, significant street-corner-level traversing datasets in the Sydney region have been prepared and tested (about 20,000 marks) in preparation for later inclusion. Promising results with good PU and LU are emerging.

More user tips • PU and LU may be better than displayed (0.011m calculated vs. 0.02m displayed).

• PU can be initially assigned by the authority undertaking the ‘general’ survey.

• Initial PU may be significantly improved when we include the survey data in the state adjustment.

• PU and LU appear more generous than Class and Order because they are expressed at the 95% confidence level (Class and Order were at the 68% confidence level).

• HPU and HLU are expressed as circular confidence regions and hence well suited to satellite-based positioning (GNSS techniques consistently produce circular error ellipses).

• The smallest PU or ‘least uncertainty’ in SCIMS is 0.01m (HPU) and 0.02m (VPU). These values occur at CORS and are the smallest uncertainty to be realistically expected under ideal conditions.

• Investigating typical PU regarding mark type, PMs and SSMs have the best PU (generally observed by NSW Spatial Services using GNSS best practice). Trig stations have the poorest PU (due to number of intersected stations or solely relying on 50-year-old terrestrial observations).

• Investigating typical PU regarding survey technique, AUSPOS consistently delivers HPU at the 0.02-0.03m level.

PU deteriorates with increasing baseline length for single-base RTK. In terrestrial traversing, network geometry significantly affects PU and LU. • PU and LU empower users to be innovative and use new tools

and techniques, encouraging a shift from prescriptive, rigid methodologies to outcomes.

• We encourage surveyors to submit suitable observations, particularly AUSPOS data and reports, for potential update of SCIMS (https://www.spatial. nsw.gov.au/surveying/surveying_ services/forms_and_applications/ auspos_submission). Observations can be added to the state/national adjustment, supporting survey infrastructure into the future.

• From 1 July 2019, GDA94 information in SCIMS is no longer updated.

The era of estimating uncertainty via sensible judgement according to statistical (empirical) data and professional knowledge is over. Uncertainty can now be rigorously calculated, while traditional passive and modern active survey control networks (ground marks vs. CORS) are seamlessly working together. However, due diligence is still required.

Dr. Volker Janssen, Nicholas Gowans, Simon Hine and Simon McElroy work at Spatial Services, a unit of the NSW Department of Customer Service. ■

#Locate20

THE STAGE IS SET TO SHARE YOUR STORY CALL FOR PAPERS NOW OPEN 28 – 30 APRIL 2020 Brisbane, Australia Convergence, Collaboration and Community – towards a stronger economy WWW.LOCATECONFERENCE.COM/2020

www.spatialsource.com.au 29

feature

Superior data, better insights Why location intelligence is key for governments’ digital transformation NIGEL LESTER

T

he Victorian government recently proposed new requirements for swimming pool and spa owners.

The changes, which come into force on December 1 2019, require all swimming pools and spas in Victoria to be registered, inspected and certified on a regular basis. Drowning is still a leading cause of unintentional death in children worldwide, so the aim of the changes is to help save lives and protect the community.

To help with quicker identification of illegal building developments, nonapproved renovations and swimming pools that aren’t registered, Victorian councils could leverage geospatial data solutions. Spatial datasets can help councils to quickly and accurately locate all of the swimming pools in their local government, identify issues with non-compliance and resolve them.

Governments are constantly looking for ways to deliver better services to their citizens and positively impact the liveability of their cities or shires.

30 position October/November 2019

Location data has always been key for governments when developing services for their citizens, whether urban development or transport planning, flood management, development applications or emergency response. The above scenario is also an example of how location intelligence can directly impact people’s lives.

Forward-thinking local governments are becoming even more data-driven and are looking at new ways to use their geospatial data. They understand the value they can get from connecting data relating to people, places and things to create insights that can improve decisionmaking, facilitate a better understanding of customers, and improve service delivery.

Towards a datadriven strategy Governments have access to a lot of data, much of it distributed across different departments and systems which don’t necessarily talk to one another. It’s therefore ideal to establish a strategy

to integrate this data so that teams can correlate information better, improve decision making and service delivery.

There are three trends accelerating the use of geospatial data within governments.

The first relates to the consumerisation of technology, which means that even small governments can now leverage tools such as GPS and mobile connectivity.

Mobile applications that use location data like Uber, Google or Apple maps are all-pervasive in our societies today. People have become more location-savvy and this extends through to the business world and public sector, and it’s no longer a massive cost to equip staff with data collection devices or apps that run on smartphones.

The second is around democratisation.

Location intelligence is shifting from being the exclusive domain of highly technical experts to becoming accessible to everyone. Cloud-based technologies are further improving access to powerful data storage and processing for organisations of all sizes. Business users

Many local governments are already working on integrating their data to create a single source of truth, a data warehouse with consistent standards that increases the utility of the data within it – and hence its value as a strategic resource.

want to use location data to get insights, so this is leading providers of location data solutions to think about ways to democratise their software.

The third trend relates to the increasing emergence of smart cities and smart governments. Geospatial data are already being used to help with strategic planning across an increasing number of connected devices, from traffic cameras and road sensors to sewage systems and smart meters. This will only increase as governments continue their digital transformation.

As governments gather more data for their digital transformation projects, this brings along many data challenges. It’s crucial to develop a robust, measurable and well-executed data strategy as a starting point. This will be the only way towards sustainable transformation, helping to uncover insights that will help to improve their customers’ experience, be they citizens or businesses.

To become data-driven and location intelligent, governments need to consider these four steps.

1. Ensure data governance and data quality Getting data quality right is imperative.

If the data isn’t accurate and consistent, it won’t be able to fulfil its potential in helping governments improve their services or solve citizen problems. The quality of data and how it flows across the organisation, to citizens and other stakeholders is key. Governments need to consider policies around the data lifecycle: how long to keep information, which data to keep and its level of granulatity. They also need to consider different departments may have the

same data leading to potentially duplicate data. Accurate, current data will let governments make precise datadriven decisions and forecast on future behaviour and scenarios.

Once an appropriate framework is in place, spatial data can be used to visualise and understand trends, informing better decisions and ultimately improving services for constituents.

For example, by consolidating customer data from more than ten applications into a single customer view, Brimbank City Council in Victoria was able to streamline interaction between community members and the council for everything from scheduling waste collection to reporting lost pets. This means the council is able to resolve community problems in less time, with fewer resources. It also made it easier and faster for the council to respond to government compliance mandates.

2. Improve data sharing and develop an integrated data strategy Data is often spread across departments and different levels of government and it’s not easy to connect the dots. Different management regimes and structures of the various silos and repositories can impact the utility of the data within them – potentially making them meaningless with respect to each other, even if they can be combined to query.

Many local governments are already working on integrating their data to create a single source of truth, a data warehouse with consistent standards that increases the utility of the data within it – and hence its value as a strategic resource.

This is a challenging process but it’s www.spatialsource.com.au 31

feature have democratised location intelligence to help organisations realise data-driven insights in a way that many of their staff can access. Making spatial data solutions available to users of all levels and expertise can create opportunities for new insights.

For example, Corangamite Shire Council implemented a solution that lets staff members self-serve location-based data visualisation. Rather than having to query the GIS specialist every time, council teams can instantly find the location of community services, rubbish collection routes and so on. This means they can work in a more efficient way and resolve questions and issues rapidly, leading to a better citizen experience.

As technologies continue to be simplified so users can self-serve, governments will reap the benefits. They will be able to further optimise their services and direct resources to where they’ll be most appreciated by their communities.

What’s next?

important not to see this as a mammoth one-off project. Data integration needs to be an ongoing process, it can start incrementally and ramp up to include more departments and data sources.

Governments also need to look beyond their own boundaries. For example, with emergency response this is key: councils will have fire and flood plans, which they can share with other councils, and with state governments, contributing to a holistic emergency management plan.

Beyond working with other municipalities, state and federal governments, councils need to review the use of third-party data, such as real-time traffic and weather information, to be able to make quick and accurate decisions.

Another great Australian example is the City of Sydney, which set a vision for what it calls ‘a green, global and connected Sydney’ by 2030. The city plans to consolidate information about all of its assets and infrastructure. It previously had more than 60 separately maintained sources of data and has condensed them into a single, accessible, geotagged solution with simplified processes for city staff, as well as contractors and service delivery teams. This has resulted in better planning and faster responses to requests from citizens and businesses, leading to a better community engagement overall.

32 position October/November 2019

3. Shift from map-centric to context-centric Governments need to change their thinking about location data. GIS is not just about mapping and visualisation.

It’s about being able to put the data in the right context and using analytics to generate insights that can help make the right decisions for citizens and businesses. A location is much more than coordinates on a map, it can be overlaid with various data: demographics, building footprints, park boundaries, etc.

When councils look at the data in this way, it becomes easier to make the right decisions for their constituents.

Increasingly, councils are looking to location data to help with strategic planning. This includes using data insights to place council facilities in the right places now: a kindergarten or school in the area where most young families are living and buying homes, and also for the future: building new hospitals based on where the need is anticipated to be greatest in five or ten years. Location intelligence is the key to delivering those services in the right places.

4. Embrace self-service GIS technologies are no longer just the exclusive realm of data scientists, or even of a dedicated department. New tools

Digital transformation and, specifically, leveraging data, including geospatial data, offers one of the greatest opportunities since the first Australian local council was formed in 1838. It offers a way to improve service delivery and create stronger bonds with communities, while using local government resources in the most effective ways possible.

Governments that combine their own data with third-party data, can capitalise on the full potential of location intelligence, to answer complex locationbased questions that improve the services for their citizens.

For example, the future could see connected traffic lights communicate with autonomous vehicles, helping to coordinate a smoother trip through cities. Location data could be used to automatically turn down smart thermostats in citizens’ homes to avert power blackouts. These are just a few ideas of how location data and intelligence can shape the future of our cities (of course considering data privacy and data governance rules and regulations).

As smart government technologies continue to mature, location-aware connected devices will orchestrate services on a more granular level and act upon even more data from citizens.

The future of location data is bright. By moving towards delivering insights based on combined data sources, governments can become smarter and deliver better outcomes for their citizens.

Nigel Lester is Managing Director, Australia and New Zealand, for Pitney Bowes Software and Data Solutions. ■

The Australasian magazine of surveying, mapping & geo-information

August/Sep

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October/November 2019 – No. 103

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Position magazine is the only ANZ-wide independent publication for the Spatial Industries.

Position covers the acquisition, manipulation, application and presentation of geo-data in a wide range of industries including agriculture, disaster management, environmental management, local government, utilities, and land-use planning.

It covers the increasing use of geospatial technologies and analysis in decision-making for businesses and government.

Technologies addressed include satellite and aerial remote sensing, land and hydrographic surveying, satellite positioning systems, photogrammetry, mobile mapping and GIS. Position contains news, views and applications stories, as well as coverage of the latest technologies that interest professionals working with spatial information.

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new products

Spectra launches MobileMapper 60 smartphone Spectra Geospatial has announced the release of the MobileMapper 60, its latest combined GNSS collector and smartphone.

The specced-up MobileMapper 60 featured Android 8.0, a 2.2Ghz processor, 4GB SDRAM, 64GB internal storage and can be expanded with 256GB MicroSD storage.

It sports a 72-channel internal antenna and supports GPS L1 C/A, GLONASS L1 C/A, Galileo E1, Beidou B1, and SBAS signals, with the ability to connect an external antenna and pole.

Whilst certainly a capably-specified machine, Spectra is again banking on the convenience of having one less device in the toolbox by combining a handheld GNSS data collector with full smartphone capabilities.

DJI launches P4 multispectral for crop health analysis The latest iteration of DJI's everexpanding Phantom 4 lineup is the P4 multispectral — positioned as a turnkey solution for crop health analysis.

The new drone comes equipped with an integrated sensor unit featuring an RGB camera, and a multispectral camera array with five cameras covering blue, green, red, red edge, and near infrared bands at two Megapixels, stabilised by DJI's refined 3-axis gimbal technology.

The system also features a spectral sunlight sensor, mounted on the top of the aircraft's fuselage, which DJI says maximises accuracy and accounts for data collected at different times of day.

“P4 Multispectral has the promise to transform the agriculture and land management industries by collecting precise plant-level data without having to send personnel into the field for manual surveys,” said Jan Gasparic, Director of Strategic Partnerships at DJI. The new drone's data inputs integrate into DJI's Ground Station Pro flight planning software, which impressively features a realtime Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) view from its multispectral sensors.

DJI says the new drone will be available in October, with an indicated price point of $6,499 USD ($9,678 AUD).

GeoSLAM launches ZEB Discovery at INTERGEO GeoSLAM has revealed the latest tool in its arsenal of simultaneous localisation and mapping devices — the backpack-mounted ZEB Discovery.

Designed to be combined with the firm's ZEB HORIZON LiDAR scanner, the Discovery is being promoted as an end-to-end solution, adding an NCTech iStar Pulsar camera to the mix, and a tech-looking backpack harness.

The DISCOVERY's software automatically synchronises the point cloud with the high resolution imagery as it is captured, and the backpack allows the sensors to be used on foot, for those that might already have the HORIZON LiDAR unit for UAV point cloud capture.

34 position October/November 2019

Two of Teledyne Optech's new Galaxy T2000 LiDAR sensors, dual mounted in the new G2 mounting system. Image supplied.

Teledyne launches compact new aerial LiDAR Teledyne Optech has announced the latest evolution in its Galaxy series of aerial LiDAR sensors, the T2000.

Released alongside the compact new sensor was the G2 mount, which allows the two T2000s to be fixed upon its chassis in a single aircraft portal, a rig that the company calls the most flexible system currently on the market.

The new device has some impressive vital stats — a 2 MHz laser emission rate and a new programmable scanner. Teledyne says the scanner design allows the T2000 to maintain fixed-width data swaths in mountainous terrain with a dynamic field of view (FOV) for more equidistant point spacing.

Juniper Systems launches Geode GNS2 Juniper Systems has announced a new version of its compact Geode GNSS receiver, with support for Apple devices.

With a low profile and sleek look, Juniper calls the Geode GNS2 ‘a simple, sub-metre GNSS receiver at an affordable price’.

The new Geode is compatible with iPhones, iPads, Windows and Android devices, of course including Juniper’s own rugged Mesa 2 tablet, and other handhelds.

It picks up GPS, SBAS,GLONASS, BeiDou, GALILEO, and QZSS signals, has 162 channels and features three-channel SBAS tracking.

Juniper claims all-day life from the the new Geode’s battery, and it can be specified with a range of port options.

ArcGIS QuickCapture now supports Eos Arrow GNSS

Trimble’s new SiteVision augmented reality system. Image supplied.

Trimble launches new AR system, laser scanner at INTERGEO Trimble has announced a new handheld augmented reality system and a new terrestrial laser scanner, in time for the monolithic INTERGEO conference in Stuttgart.

The firm said that its new SiteVision AR system can be deployed on virtually any site, letting its users interact with 3D assets and models at full scale in a real world environment.

Also announced at September’s INTERGEO is the firm's new laser scanning system, made up of the X7 scanner and the T10 tablet, with a tripod and backpack.

Touting the new scanner's ease of use and speed, Trimble said the X7 features survey-grade self-levelling, automatic registration with streamlined workflows, and no need for annual calibration thanks to 'X-Drive' technology.

Eos Positioning Systems has announced that Esri’s popular ArcGIS QuickCapture data collection app now supports its Arrow series of GNSS receivers on Android, Windows and iOS. “We are extremely pleased to support the Arrow GNSS receivers in ArcGIS QuickCapture on all mobile operating systems, including iOS,” Esri Senior Product Manager Ismael Chivite said.

Eos said that its Arrow GNSS receivers can provide ArcGIS QuickCapture with up to 20 positions per second (20 Hz).

Eos CTO Jean-Yves Lauture said that he was amazed at the applications so far.

“Customers are using this to map sidewalk conditions, bicycle and ATV trail mapping, they are using it with Go-Pros cameras. We are excited to see the use cases proliferate.” www.spatialsource.com.au 35

new products

Eagleview to serve solar farm operators with Inform Advanced Aerial analytics firm EagleView has launched a new product aimed at solar operators, which it says can reduce solar project completion times by up to 50 percent.

"Demand for solar energy is booming. EagleView developed EagleView Inform Advanced™ to help solar companies make the most of this opportunity by delivering property and solar

measurements like no other provider in the market today," said Michael Park, Chief Product and Marketing Officer at EagleView.

The firm says that its new product uses proprietary shading analysis technology to make precise measurements, produce tailor-made reports, 3D models and Solar Access Value (SAV) calculations.

Trimble launches compact T7 tablet Trimble’s new Windows 10-based field device features multi-constellation and SBAS support, modular expansion bays and MIL-STD-810G specification.

The new handheld features a Pentium N4200 quad core processor, 8GB memory and connectivity options to spare — 4G LTE, Bluetooth 4.2 and WiFi. Trimble say these new features allow it to easily run office applications in the field, and to maximise performance and productivity between the field and office.

The new tablet supports GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou constellations and Satellite-Based Augmentation System (SBAS) signals. Its 7-inch (17.78cm) screen is protected by Gorilla Glass.

Atmos UAV's flagship Marlyn VTOL drone. Image courtesy of Atmos UAV.

Mangoesmapping to provide Atmos UAV drones in Australia Mangoesmapping has been selected as the Australian distributor for Dutch drone company Atmos UAV, which specialises in high-end VTOL fixed-wing drones for surveying and mapping.

Queensland-based Mangoesmapping is also an exclusive distributor for other known brands like DJI, NextCore, etc.

With this alliance, Atmos UAV says it is setting down in Australasia to provide assistance and service to its flagship product Marlyn VTOL drone customers.

Marlyn can take off vertically from anywhere with its proprietary configuration that blends mapping and surveying and effectively generates high-quality data for skilled customers.

36 position October/November 2019

Phase One Industrial expands its long-range offerings Phase One launches three new long-range lenses for its iXM and iXM-RS camera series.

The new RS 150mm MK II and RS 180mm lenses are available with a fixed focus at infinity, while the RSM 300mm AF lens provides a focal range of 10m to infinity.

Phase One says that new products offerings are specifically designed for 2D and 3D mapping projects, and are suited to both aerial and land surveillance missions.

Blue Marble launches Global Mapper v21 The latest iteration of the Blue Marble’s ever-evolving GIS suite features an upgrade to its LiDAR module, a new extension for MangoMaps, new iOS and Android apps and more.

Following the announcement of a partnership with MangoMaps earlier this month, the US-based Blue Marble has announced the latest version of their flagship Global Mapper product.

Leading the feature list is the new MangoMaps extension, facilitating web publishing from Global Mapper with ease — Blue Marble claims two clicks.

Upgrades to the LiDAR module include an automatic point classification tool, and improvements to the Pixelsto-Points photogrammetry module, which now includes a masking function and tool to automatically locate pixels with ground control points, based on their location. www.spatialsource.com.au 37

sssi

News and views from the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute

CEO’s report

SSSI Board – 2019 President – Dr. Zaffar Sadiq Mohamed-Ghouse President-Elect – Paul Digney NSW Director – Wayne Patterson NT Director – Rob Sarib QLD Director – Lee Hellen SA Director – Franco Rea TAS Director – Paul Digney VIC Director – Richard Syme WA Director – Kerry Smyth ACT Director – Vacant Hydrography Commission Director – Richard Cullen YP representative (Observer) – Roshni Sharma Company Secretary – Jonathan Saxon, Peter Olah

38 position October/November 2019

T

his is the most difficult Position column for me in my 18 months as Chief Executive Officer of SSSI. It is my last.

I had not anticipated leaving now but, as we all know, the realities of life require difficult choices, and this has been such a choice for me.

Whilst I regret leaving before the task is complete, I believe that our recent achievements lay the groundwork for a revitalised SSSI. I will not provide an itemised list of these achievements here, although I am very proud of them. The upcoming SSSI Annual Report 2018-19 will cover many of these.

Let me summarise the changes in this way. The last 18 months have been focused on two distinct but related areas: making SSSI a sustainable business, and making SSSI a more representative and relevant member organisation.

The first is vital though certainly not “sexy”. Every one of us understands that a business which is not effective, efficient and living within its means has no future.

That has been the challenge for SSSI – the good stuff can’t happen if there is no reliable base for the long term.

Whilst not yet where we want it to be, SSSI is looking good for the future. We have had steady and solid membership growth for over a year after several years of decline. We have reversed the escalation of deficit budgets year after year and are on track for a surplus by 2021-22.

This improving base is what has allowed the focus – the absolute, laser-like focus – on the needs of the membership to prevail.

You have seen the first shoots of the new, sharper more relevant SSSI as a member.

There is much, much more to come.

There are many reasons for my resignation from SSSI, both personal and professional. Those reasons do not for one moment change my gratitude for the opportunity to have worked with such an amazing group of people in a remarkable industry. Nor do they change my firm belief that SSSI’s best days and greatest achievements are ahead of us, not behind us.

I’d like to thank the Board, the Committees and Commissions of SSSI, and above all the members. SSSI is at its best when it listens to you and delivers what you need to be even better surveying and spatial professionals.

And finally, I need to thank the dedicated staff of SSSI. They have walked every step on our journey to make SSSI a better and stronger voice for its members and will continue to do so long after I have departed.

Peter Olah CEO, SSSI

SSSI sustaining partner

Commission Chairs Engineering & Mining Surveying Chair Andrew Edwards chair.emsc@sssi.org.au

President’s report

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would like to take a moment to reflect on the success of SSSI’s recent collaboration with the ASEAN Federation of Land Surveying and Geomatics (ASEAN FLAG) in hosting the South East Asian Surveying Congress.

I wish to recognise the efforts of Craig Sandy, Rob Sarib and Gaby Van Wyk helping to secure the ASEAN Congress in Darwin after 20 years. The last congress on Australian soil was held in Fremantle. We had over 400 attendees, with more than half from Asia, and a program of more than 120 speakers from 19 countries, presenting on a hugely diverse range of topics including UAV’s, BIM, Remote Sensing, Digital Twins, Cadastral Modernisation, Positioning, Next Generation Capacity Building and Industry Diversity.

The congress truly held up to its theme of Collaboration, Communication and Capacity Building with leading decision makers and their teams from across the Asia Pacific surveying and geospatial sector taking the chance to learn and network across the four days.

The exhibition, technical workshops and fantastic Young Professional Day, were also standout highlights of the event.

Everybody I spoke to onsite and after the Congress have all agreed – the feeling of working together to share insights, knowledge and experiences not just with colleagues from their own country but from many nations, was palpably exciting and inspiring. I would like to sincerely thank the convenors, all of the volunteers, staff and contractors for their tireless dedication and commitment to putting on an outstanding SEASC event.

MoUs Another highlight of the Darwin Congress was the official signing of two significant partnership agreements between SSSI and ASEAN FLAG as well as the Association of the Pacific Geospatial and Surveying Council (PGSC). I also was pleased to sign an MoU with the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) in New York City during the UNGGIM week. This OGC MoU will benefit our members in keeping

Hydrography Commission Chair Simon Ironside (Acting Chair) chair.hc@sssi.org.au Land Surveying Commission Chair Lindsay Perry chair.lsc@sssi.org.au Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry Commission Chair Petra Helmholz chair.rspc@sssi.org.au Spatial Information & Cartography Commission Chair Kerry Smyth chair.sicc@sssi.org.au

Regional Committee Chairs ACT Regional Chair Noel Ward chair.act@sssi.org.au

abreast with dynamically changing standards in a digitally transformed market place.

These partnerships are critical in fostering a stronger collaboration of surveying and spatial professionals in our region and beyond, as well maintaining our sustained relevance and opening opportunities for improved learning and knowledge sharing.

I really look forward to the ongoing relationships that will come from these agreements, and positives outcomes for our members and industry.

SSSI Staff Finally, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Peter Olah, our outgoing Chief Executive Officer, for his service to SSSI over the past 18 months.

Under his tenure, SSSI has embarked on a significant change journey through our Strategic Roadmap, focussed on an increased profile of the Institute and the industry within all levels of government and improved a number of internal policies and procedures to help make SSSI a modern association. I wish him the very best in his future endeavours.

NSW Regional Chair Mary-Ellen Feeney (Co-Chair) and Liz Fulton (Co-Chair) chair.nsw@sssi.org.au NT Regional Chair Rob Sarib chair.nt@sssi.org.au QLD Regional Chair Paul Reed chair.qld@sssi.org.au SA Regional Chair Franco Rea chair.sa@sssi.org.au TAS Regional Chair Paul Digney chair.tas@sssi.org.au VIC Regional Chair Lindsay Perry chair.vic@sssi.org.au WA Regional Chair Lesley Arnold chair.wa@sssi.org.au SSSI National Office 27-29 Napier Cl, Deakin, ACT 2600 (PO Box 307) Phone: +61 2 6282 2282 Email: support@sssi.org.au

Dr Zaffar Sadiq Mohamed-Ghouse FRGS FSSSI President, SSSI www.spatialsource.com.au 39

sssi

Young Professional Commission Report Challenges and Opportunities for Young Professionals in the Geospatial Industry: White Papers from two national Australian conferences

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SSI Young Professionals are excited to announce the launch of two White Papers that explore the nature of the challenges that young professionals face in the Australian geospatial industry, and the unique opportunities that they bring to transform the industry as we head towards a bright future.

In April 2019 at Locate19, the inaugural Young Professionals Symposium was held, providing a forum to explore these questions and give young professionals, and young-at-heart professionals, a voice about these matters.

Key findings from the Locate19 Young Professionals White Paper were: 1. Generational differences in existing professions within the industry create an environment where miscommunications or

40 position October/November 2019

misunderstandings happen based on values and attitudes, not on technical proficiency or innovation. Finding ways to overcome this more effectively will allow for businesses to embrace the capacity for collaboration that young professionals provide. This also opens up the pathway for more effective advocacy in the industry at large.

2. Students and young professionals in the industry can often experience judgement due to their young age and hence perceived lack of experience, despite having sought out broad technical backgrounds and diverse project experiences. Unconscious bias around age is an important issue that our industry can work to overcome.

3. Academia isn’t equipped to provide a graduate all of the skills required to enter the workforce, and industry has the opportunity step in and partner with academia to provide soft skills (communication, career goal setting, marketing, entrepreneurship, etc). While this is happening in some areas, there is scope for industry and academia to ‘speak the same language’ more effectively for the betterment of the industry’s future.

Following on from Locate19, there was an exponential increase in interest in young professionals in the industry at the South East Asia Survey Congress 2019 Young Professionals Day, which had a broad range of people from diverse backgrounds gather to discuss, explore and better understand these same issues.

The key findings from the SEASC2019 Young Professionals Day were:

1. Our YPs are the future of our industry, but also the now - young at heart professionals need to start succession planning with the YPs in mind to help continue their legacies, and most importantly need to start giving YPS opportunities to develop their skills and experience with this in mind.

2. The culture of surveying urgently needs to adapt to embrace change, or another industry will fill the niche that rapid technological advances and AI creates - we will be left behind. Career pathway visibility and embracing soft skills are vital and urgent at all levels of the workforce.

3. Career pathway visibility is an immense gap that we can relatively easily address. It is needed to get more people to stay in our industry, not only to get more people into our industry, and both of these are urgent matters globally.

4. YPs are urgently seeking leadership over management, and demographically have different needs. As an industry, businesses need to adapt to embrace this - flexible work, diversity and inclusion, career pathway visibility, mentoring and coaching, etc.

To find out more, take a look at the Locate19 Young Professionals White Paper and the SEASC2019 Young Professionals White Paper, both of which are available on the ‘Young Professionals Special Interest Group’ section of the SSSI website.

Roshni Sharma (Chair, National Young Professionals, SSSI)

SSSI sustaining partner

Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Commission Report Geo-information for Disaster Management (Gi4DM) to be held in Sydney in 2020

LEFT: Winner of the Best Research Abstract Darussalam, Muhammad Hifney Haji Abd Rahman.

Geo-information for Disaster Management (Gi4DM) is an annual conference devoted to the use and application of geo-information technology in disaster management. The first event took place in 2005 in Delft, The Netherlands, and will be held for the first time in the Southern hemisphere in 2020 in Sydney. Considering the number of disasters Australia faces, starting with fire tied to droughts to flooding due to rainfall events or cyclones, and also earthquakes, the topic of the workshop is especially relevant for Australians.

Similar to previous years, the conference topics will include (but are not limited to): User needs and requirements, technology developments, applications of remote sensing and photogrammetry to disaster monitoring/management, data collection and management, data integration and knowledge discovery, end-user environments for interaction, visualisation and updating, positioning and locationbased communication, assisted navigation and evacuation as well as automated mapping. The event will be supported by SSSI; further announcements will be made in the next Position Magazine.

BELOW: Image by Geoscience Australia

Copernicus Australasia

Copernicus Australasia is a regional hub supporting Copernicus, the European Union's Earth observation programme.

The regional hub is established under an agreement between Australia and the European Union and is operated collaboratively by Geoscience Australia, Queensland Department of Environment and Science, New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage, Western Australian Land Information Authority and the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation. The Regional Copernicus Data Hub provides complete, free and open access to Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 and Sentinel-3 user products. While Sentinel-1 provides

RSPC Abstract Awards presented as SEASC 2019

The surveying industry like all other industries faces the challenge of distributive technology. In the last few years, low cost precision positioning but mainly drones are perceived as such by surveyors. However, these technologies can be also seen as opportunities. Drones especially. Nevertheless, the field of photogrammetry has been part of the surveying discipline since the invention of photography. Therefore, the SSSI Remote Sensing Commission would like to acknowledge surveyors who are active in the field of RSP, and would like to encourage other surveyors to be active in the field. But importantly, to do so without forgetting their roots about providing an accuracy and precision framework for their work.

A sub-committee of the SSSI RSP commission has reviewed all abstracts

which have been submitted in the field of RSP to the SEASC Darwin conference, and handed over two awards during the conference dinner. The categories of the awards were Best Research Abstract, and Best Industry Abstract. The winner of the Best Research Abstract Darussalam, Muhammad Hifney Haji Abd Rahman from BRUNEI for his submission titled “The potential of using satellite altimetry for sea level study in Brunei Darussalam”. The Best Industry Abstract went to Paul Digney from AUSTRALIA for his abstract titled “The Sydney Harbour Bridge High Precision Terrestrial Laser Scanning Survey and 3D CADD Modelling”.

all-weather, day and night radar imaging for land and ocean services, Sentinel-2 provides high-resolution optical imaging for land services as well as information for emergency services. Sentinel-3 will provide ocean and global land monitoring services. Currently, data are available in the original formats as supplied by ESA. All information provided in this paragraph has been taken from www.copernicus.gov.au where further details are available. www.spatialsource.com.au 41

sssi Land Surveying Commission report Upgraded As5488 2019.2 (Subsurface Utility Engineering)

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urrently, AS 5488 is the Australian Standard for ‘Classification of Subsurface Utility Information (SUI)’. It was first established in 2013 to improve public safety, reduce costly property damage, and provide more accurate information on the location and type of subsurface utilities.

The standard provides utility owners, operators and locators with a framework for the consistent classification of information concerning subsurface utilities. It also provides guidance on how subsurface utility information may be obtained, and how that information should be conveyed to users.

The standard was upgraded earlier this year, it is consistent with similar standards that have been operating successfully in the UK, USA, Canada and Malaysia for many years.

The new AS 5488 will be presented in two parts. Part one is an update of the

previous 2013 dealing with the spatial quality of surveyed data and its attributes and picks up on experience with the implementation of that version and changes in industry practices.

AS 5488 (2013) did not go as far as intended, it covers survey and depiction (SUI), but not management (SUE). Part two now covers the additional field of engineering management of subsurface utilities, which has been seen as a gap in the earlier version.

The new AS 5488 focuses on:

• Engineering management and design of utilities • Utility model creation and data management • Defines the role of the Utility Coordinator and presents a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for utility owners • Provides a matrix of hierarchy for

purposes of coordination and clash resolution • Describes the level of documentation required for utility designs and review asset handover procedures The new standard should provide a more stable and reliable framework for all involved with utilities. Knowledge of precisely where and what a subsurface utility is and its status in its asset lifecycle can significantly reduce the occurrence of interference and conflict with valuable subsurface utility infrastructure. The utility industry generally will also benefit from the clarification of key roles and responsibilities. This covers all aspects from engineering modelling and subsurface utility design to construction and maintenance. Using the standard should give everyone confidence in the information supplied.

Spatial Information Day Keeps Growing SID takes over Adelaide Convention Centre again 25th October

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delaide’s Spatial Information Day (SID) conference has come a long way since its humble beginnings as a small gathering of Adelaide-based spatial professionals 20 years ago. Today, SID has become Australia’s largest oneday spatial industry event.

This year SID continues to build on its well-earned reputation with prominent keynotes from industry leaders acting on the national and international stage, including Adam Seedsman, Executive Director of the Australian Space Agency, Seth Thuraisingham, CEO and Founder of Consillium Technology, and MaryEllen Feeney, Global Technology Leader at Jacobs.

Following the plenary session, the program will expand into three Major Project streams featuring accomplished presenters speaking on major projects and new initiatives of significance. The final sessions include five focussed quick-fire streams across Surveying, GIS, BIM, Remote Sensing & Photogrammetry.

The program concludes with happy hour from 5pm, before transitioning into the APSEA-SA Dinner at the picturesque Panorama Room overlooking Adelaide Oval and the Riverbank precinct at 7pm.

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In addition to a vibrant program, SID offers generous breaks, giving delegates ample opportunity to converse with colleagues, friends, speakers and exhibitors in the Exhibition Hall where leading commercial providers display advances in technology. A tour of the exhibition booths, organised by the SSSI Young Professionals, has also become a highlight for students and those new to the spatial industry to get up close and learn from established industry professionals.

SID2019 welcomes Industry Partners One of the main topics of feedback provided to the Spatial Information Day and APSEA-SA Committee, is that attendees wish their Manager/Engineer/ Scientist/Planner colleagues could have seen the presentations they have just seen at SID. In other words, the conference is “preaching to the choir”.

To make it easier for spatial industry professionals to bring their “non-spatial” colleagues, SSSI is welcoming partner industry bodies where spatial technology is commonly deployed. Members of Industry Partners can attend at the cost of SSSI members. This year’s Industry Partners include BuildSA, the industry body for BIM professionals, the Institute

of Public Works Engineers Australia (IPWEA) and Planning Institute of Australia (PIA).

SID2019 keeps getting bigger

With a record attendance of over 500 in 2017 (there was a break due to Locate18 being in Adelaide), early registration numbers suggest SID19 is going to be even bigger in 2019. With a record number of speakers and sponsors this year, SID is well established as the largest one-day spatial industry event in Australia.

With tickets starting from just $175 for early bird SSSI members, SID also represents the best value spatial sciences conference in Australia.

For more information, please visit the event website: http://spatialinformationday.org.au

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