Significantly, this was the first annual conference that dedicated a specific stream to spatial information. The full day workshop convened by the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) and the World Bank “Spatially Enabling Government and Societies (SEGS) for Sustainable Land Administration and Management” was an excellent complement to the overall conference theme on land governance.

Predominantly, two references bind the subscriber to the carrier for identifi cation, authentication and authorization i.e. Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card and billing number. Near future could see mobile stores selling mobile phones without SIM cards. Inbuilt system-on-chip may require the subscriber to sign-in using their apple or Google accounts to access email, Skype and so forth

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structure needed for the operation of a society. These are a set of interconnected structural elements of services and facilities that provide framework supporting an entire structure of development necessary for an economy to function.

Surveyors have a rich history and recognized longstanding contribution to societies worldwide. This will always be part of the surveyors’ identity and I don’t think using new technology will change that. I don’t think maintaining domain identity is exclusive of integration. There is a big difference between integrating technologies and integrating professions. Surveyors have many new tools producing large amounts of data, such as LiDAR, highprecision imagery, and GPS.

The idea for designing unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for rapid mapping originated from a doctoral dissertation in aerodynamics by Peter Cosyn, one of the three founders and now Director of R&D at Gatewing. Maarten Van Speybroeck, Director of Operations and Finance, was involved with this idea as subject for a thesis.

With Visual Stakeout (VSO) the virtual location of the point to be staked can be seen by a “fl ag” shown on the Triumph- VS camera image. This visual aid helps to navigate quickly to the point and makes stakeout jobs fast and fun. The VSO precision is better when closer to the target point and also better when the point is close to the crosshair.

Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden, launches a unique 3D web service engaging citizens to contribute with ideas and suggestions for the development of the city. Citizens can explore the city in 3D on the web and interactively propose projects based on the latest gaming technology. Suggestions are shared on Facebook and rated by the community using common social media features. Users can easily navigate in the virtual 3D model of the city and make changes to the model with user friendly tools.

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) released its 2012 State of the Satellite Industry Report. Globally, 2011 revenues for the satellite industry totalled USD 177.3 billion, a growth of 5 percent. This is the fi fteenth year that SIA has commissioned the Futron Corporation to conduct this annual survey.

Platform for innovation project Ford has selected the Nokia Location Platform to leverage Nokia’s global location content, including NAVTEQ Map, as well as scaleable cloud services and APIs. This complete solution offers a fast, easy and cost-effective path to create innovative and differentiated location products.

On a dare, Texas college researchers hacked into and hijacked a drone of the US Homeland Security before the eyes of the offi cials operating it. Using a technique called ‘spoofi ng’ where a signal from hackers imitates the one sent to the drone’s on-board GPS, the researchers managed to take control of a small but powerful drone in mid-air. And the hijacking was just for a $1,000 wager.