GIS

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 applying geospatial technology and solutions. www.esri.com

UK Government publishes new data strategy

Digital Secretary, UK, Oliver Dowden has launched a National Data Strategy and set out the action the government will take to support the use of data in the UK. It will put data at the heart of the country’s recovery from the pandemic so companies and organisations can use it to drive digital transformation, innovate and boost growth across the economy.

The strategy, which lays out five priority ‘missions’ the government must take to capitalise on the opportunities data offers, is a central part of the government’s wider ambition for a thriving, fast-growing digital sector in the UK. www.gov.uk

IHO releases new standards for hydrographic surveys

International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) has released a new edition of the Standards for Hydrographic surveys (S-44). In addition to surveys to support the safety of navigation, these standards can be adapted for oil and gas, renewable energies, dredging, geophysics, and geotechnics.

One of the notable changes in this latest version is the introduction of a new more stringent classification for surveys called “Exclusive Order” which expands the standards’ applicability. This is designed for specific critical areas such as harbours and channels with minimum underkeel clearance and bottom characteristics which could be hazardous to vessels. In these specific areas, an increased accuracy of +/- 10 cm on a map can help precisely determine requirements for dredging and avoid unnecessary costs.

Another key feature of this edition is a new “Specification Matrix”, a matrix of parameters and data types, which defines the required accuracy depending on the hydrographic needs. The aim is to allow flexibility in the survey definition and to accommodate these various needs as well as emerging technologies such as satellite derived bathymetry. https://iho.int

Bentley Systems announces availability of OpenGround Cloud

Bentley Systems, Incorporated has announced the availability of OpenGround Cloud, a new cloud service that enables geotechnical professionals to access reliable geotechnical data for better engineering decision support and to improve collaboration across the entire supply chain. It offers a complete solution for planning, data entry, borehole log production, lab data management, reporting, visualization, and more. The cloud service improves collaboration across multidisciplinary project teams and significantly increases the value of geotechnical data by making it easily accessible to key project stakeholders. www.bentley.com

Teledyne CARIS AI software onboard successful UTAS USV mission

Teledyne CARIS was an integral part of the illustrious team involved in the ground-breaking uncrewed offshore survey mission in the Atlantic Ocean. Teledyne CARIS’ Mira AI and CARIS Onboard software were present on the vessel to enable autonomous survey and real-time processing operations. The mission’s Uncrewed Surface Vehicle (USV) built by SEA-KIT mapped over 1000 sq kms of the ocean floor in 22 days, while being continuously monitored via satellite communications at its Remote Operations Center in Essex, United Kingdom. A specialized team comprised of the GEBCO-Nippon Foundation Alumni Team operated the survey equipment and provided quality control of the data from various ‘work-from-home locations’ around the world. teledyne.com

S$40M product development centre in Singapore by Lendlease

International property group Lendlease has announced that it will set up a S$40 million product development centre in Singapore, with the support of the Singapore Economic Development Board to accelerate the digital transformation of the property and construction sector.

The Singapore product development centre is part of the wider Lendlease Digital ecosystem, which includes product development centres in Silicon Valley and Sydney. Using an Agile working methodology – a project management framework for teams to iteratively and incrementally complete tasks and projects, Lendlease is creating a scalable supply chain and integrated logistics software platform for property development and construction projects in Singapore and globally. www.lendlease.com

Online ‘Map Search’ feature by UA

United has announced that it is the first U.S. airline to introduce an interactive map feature powered by Google Flight Search Enterprise Technology. Customers can access Map Search on United.com to easily compare and shop for flights, based on departure city, budget and location type, including popular national park, skiing and cultural destinations. This new digital tool displays fares in a map view, allowing customers to simultaneously compare travel to a variety of destinations in a single search. https://hub.united.com