IRDAI committee recommends insurance for drones
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) constituted a Working Group in June 2020 to study and understand the insurance needs of RPAS owners and operators and make recommendations relating to design and development of products meeting the needs of RPAS owners and operators, including Third Party Liability.
The Working …

£2 million transport location data competition
The Geospatial Commission has partnered with Innovate UK to create a new £2 million competition which will look at how location data can spark innovation and support the future of mobility for the United Kingdom.
This competition aims to stimulate commercial innovation to help create geospatial solutions to our …

Promoting GIS in Africa
Esri has announced a joint initiative with AfroChampions, a Pan-African nonprofit that aims to promote policies that foster private-public collaboration for Africa’s economic transformation. The goal of the initiative is to engage leaders in business, governments, the African Union, and other regional economic communities through dialogue and potential partnership building in …

Dual payload satellite architecture by BlackSky
BlackSky, a leading provider of global monitoring services, geospatial intelligence and satellite imagery, has announced the next phase of expansion of its high-revisit commercial satellite constellation with the unveiling of its next generation, Gen-3, satellite architecture. The commercial constellation expansion features Gen-3 satellites capable of producing images with 50-centimeter …

GNSS RTK rover with Visual Positioning
Leica Geosystems, part of Hexagon, unveils the Leica GS18 I a versatile, GNSS RTK rover with Visual Positioning. It allows users to capture points of interest from a distance and measure points from the images in the field or the office.
Visual Positioning technology (sensor fusion combining GNSS, IMU …

Bushfire Inquiry Report by NSW Government
The NSW Government, Australia has released the independent NSW Bushfire Inquiry, which examined the causes, preparation and response to the devastating 2019-20 bushfires.
All 76 recommendations will be accepted in principle, with further work to be done on specific timelines to give communities assurance that changes will be made …

GPS III successfully introduced into EGNOS services
Introduction of the first GPS III satellites into EGNOS services was successfully achieved on 27 July 2020, following the initiation by GPS of a transition from its “GPS Block II” satellites to its new generation “GPS Block III” satellites.
The GPS operational constellation started in 2020 to migrate …

Doing Business – Data Irregularities Statement
The World Bank Group has issued the following statement on August 27, 2020 on the Doing Business Report:
Over the 17 years of its existence, the Doing Business report has been a valued tool for countries seeking to measure costs of doing business. Doing Business indicators and methodology are …

SUAVE clinches Smart City award
The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) is proud to announce that the Smart Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Enhanced (SUAVE) project has been chosen by IDC (International Data Corporation) Government Insights as the best Asia Pacific Smart City project under the “Urban Planning and Land Use” category of IDC’s 2020 Smart City Asia …

Atkins predict digitally driven COVID recovery
Atkins – a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group – has shared the findings of its independent research, which assesses the impact of COVID-19 on the UK infrastructure sector, measures confidence, and explores the roles of government and the private sector during recovery.
The work – which was carried out …