Raising the Profile of the Spatial Industry Jose Diacono – Communica Megan Stanley - Aurecon

Setting the scene Why are we here? What we did What we found out What we recommend Follow up Survey 1 – Wider Community Survey 2 – Aurecon Case Study

Why do we need to raise the profile?

Survey–Wider Spatial Community Sent out to SSSI distribution Our own contacts You can still fill it in

Survey Questions Is raising the profile important? Who do we raise it with? What do you have difficulty explaining? How do you get connected/pool ideas? What successes have you had? Who are you?

Who should we raise the profile with? Very Important: 62% senior management 59% clients, 56% schools

What is hard to explain?

We stay connected through associations and conferences Surveyors, GIS specialists, Project Managers, Consultants Teachers

Image courtesy Pitney Bowes What Helps? Be relevant. Keep it simple and give real life examples We need to better understand the value we can add from the users perspective, not our perspective.

Show how we fit in We cross so many boundaries We integrate knowledge Science, engineering, maths Solutions for Climate change Disease control Just part of the greater continuum and overlapping activity of multiple disciplines.

The words we use The title "Spatial" is a nonsense to most of the public. Calling it Spatial is a mistake Spatial Awareness: a term usually attributed to peoples ability to drive without collision! Everybody thinks "spatial" industry means rockets and space exploration. We deal with maps and location What do people search for in Google?

Case Study

Global network, global resources Offices: 87 Countries: 28 Employees: 6 700

Raising the awareness of Spatial in Aurecon Step 1 – Awareness Raising – Survey Step 2 – Communication and Resources and Marketing Step 3 – Add value to projects and end products for clients

Results of the Aurecon Survey Respondents Role – Large Proportion Engineers and Business Leaders 67% wanted to know more Over 70% regard Spatial Important to business

Results 65% used Google Earth/ Google Maps as main spatial GIS resource in day to day business 72 % respondents were located in the Neutral Bay Office

Results Face to face communication was evident with lunch time seminars and training courses rated the most helpful communication source

Research AIIA, ACS ICT Careers week Department of Industry – small business seminars Event organisers Extreme Science & STELR

Research Landmark magazine Youtube Geospatial revolution project

Recommendations Put our feet in their shoes Practical examples Use their language What is in the news? Dont get bogged in technical detail New media (youtube)

Recommendations Industry Associations and groups Piggy back on other initiatives Share, reuse & recycle Publicise what we already have –Destinationspatial.org for schools –Collect examples, articles, case studies –Make sure Google finds it –Link to other sites

Conclusions Thirst for knowledge Look outwards Focus on the value It is less about the profile of the spatial industry and more about the importance of spatial data to an organisation. How spatial data can add value to current business outcomes.

Conclusions Thirst for knowledge Look outwards Focus on the value Instead of trying to educate and impose some image of 'spatial', we should improve our ability to communicate with the world about what interests the world, and then quietly embed spatial, in situations where it is the right tool. Instead of trying to educate and impose some image of 'spatial', technologists in spatial should improve their ability to communicate with the world about what interests the world, and then quietly embed spatial, in situations where it is the right tool.

What now? Please talk to us Thank you & Questions