Over half of the one day Geo: The Big 5 events have taken place now and
the feedback from delegates, sponsors and speakers has all been excellent. The
themed events have really added a new dimension to the AGI programme and have
catalysed debate and the debate is changing.
A common point that has come through all of the events so far is how
interconnected all the issues are and how collaboration of ideas and
technologies across sectors is key to furthering the positive impact geospatial
can have. Related to this is in increasing feel the GI and geospatial have
gone ‘mainstream’ to the point that many people using these technologies and
techniques don’t even realise that is what they are called. GI is just one of
the tools businesses, governments and other organisations are reaching for to help
them make better and more efficient decisions.
This growth bring a whole host of challenges and opportunities and
massively increases the audience for whom GI is relevant (whether they call it
GI or not). GeoCom will seek to tackle this head on with varied content from
that aimed at policy makers with no technical experience to workshops seeing to
grow practical GI skills.
Get Involved!
The call for abstracts for GeoCom ends on the 30 June and I cannot
stress strongly enough that this is your chance to get involved in the debate!
There are crucial conversations to be had and you can help frame the debate by
speaking at one of the events. The submissions process is simple this year and
all you need is a short abstract (more
details here). With shorter and longer presentations, debate sessions and
workshops there are more ways to get involved in the most interactive GeoCom
ever.
The call for papers for the remaining Geo: Big 5 events (Big Data and Policy)
is also still open with deadlines of 20/06 and 01/07 respectively. This is a
great chance to influence the debate at the last two events of this exciting
series. Both of which will help to inform the discussion at GeoCom and the AGI
Foresight Study for 2015.
Don’t forget you can also submit your paper to be considered in the AGI
Awards for Geospatial Excellence taking place at the end of GeoCom.
Come Along!
Obviously we also encourage you to come along. With early bird prices
from £290 for two days packed with content, debate and workshops (as well as
networking and the exhibition) GeoCom represents great value and a very
different event to last year. You can view details and book here.
With presentations ranging from the technical to the strategic there
will be content for ‘hardcore’ GIS users as well as strategists, CIOs and the
like so if you are a long suffering GI manager drag your boss along to
reinforce the value of the expertise you provide!
