Shane, a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) specialist, was our speaker this week.
Shane, born a kiwi, moved to Perth with his parents where he attended the Curtin University of Technology, Perth. There he qualified with an Applied Science degree majoring in Surveying, Geology, GIS and Mathematics. Shane now works as a consultant to business and local government and is currently working with QLDC.
Shane explained GIS, a system that creates, manages, analyses and maps all types of data then connects this data to a map. GIS began in Canada in 1963 and became a commercially available system in 1981 that everyone could utilise.
There are 10 key industries using GIS technology today, the 3 biggest players being Agriculture, Oil & Gas, and Architecture, Engineering & Construction.
Shane moved on to Artificial Intelligence (AI) – ‘the simulation of human intelligence’ and its uses. He provided an example of forestry where AI is used in the classification of trees. This enables improved efficiency of plant assessment to determine optimal harvest time that will provide maximum yield for the grower. In future, local Govt, using AI, will be able to make land information available to ratepayers and the public will be able to report faults and issues e.g. potholes as well as view repairs, and more.
