The Buzzword is Collaboration for 2015

2015 offers some exciting prospects says Chris Preston, chair of RICS Geomatics Professional Group. New courses, Big Data and GEO Business will be to the fore.

So the sands of time have moved on and by the time you read this 2015 will be upon us. Did you make any New Year resolutions? What is more to the point, are you still keeping them? For me, my most important resolution is to communicate better with you all but in whatever medium is most appropriate. That is where you come in. Be it this column, e-mail, LinkedIn, Twitter or via a blog, I would really like to know. A nil response suggests what we are doing is right yet I am afraid I do not necessarily believe this to be the case. So please get in touch either by e-mail to the usual address or to me directly via Linked In.

Hopefully most of you must have noted that there has been a much more positive attitude within the industry in connection with sharing information on activities and I would really like my successor in this role to be looking back when they write this column next year and be saying that 2015 must be seen as the “Year of Collaboration.” With all the industry players working towards a common goal of ensuring that as an industry we speak with a common voice.

Apprenticeships

It is encouraging to see an initiative now begun to set up apprenticeships for surveyors. I would go one stage further and say that this would help build on the excellent work already done by the TSA, now running the Survey School at Worcester. Ideas have included a course for surveyors assistants and another for technician level surveyors. I am sure you will be hearing more about this during 2015 and I hope that as many of you as possible will support this.

We are Part of the Value Added Economy

This issue of GW has a focus on Big Data and so I return to a previous column when I focused on the key roles that we must have going forward. Peter Baumann (GeoConnexion Nov/Dec 2014) explained eloquently about the use of data. “For it to be of value it means discovery, assessment, aggregation, and access as well as proper storage, processing and analysis. Modern cutting-edge uses of data involve analysis via statistical modelling and predictive analytics. As available data and computational power increase so does the precision and value of analytics.” As surveyors we are part of the value added economy, as well as data collection.

More Interesting Projects

I was fortunate enough to attend a recent conference in Las Vegas and it again mystified me why we do not have much stronger links with our fellow geomaticians and surveyors across the pond. Many of their issues are the same as ours and after picking up some new magazines to read, it is interesting to reflect that the range of topics covered vastly exceeds our rather limited offerings. I do not believe that many of you are not working on interesting projects and techniques so why not bombard the Editor with new and exciting projects and ideas you are working on as the buzzword is COLLABORATION rather than working in silos.

GEO Business will soon be upon us so have you registered yet to attend and to hear some of the exciting ideas that will be explained and most importantly, are you encouraging your clients to attend?

This article was published in Geomatics World January/February 2015