Today, Heather and I went to the Industry Expo at COGS.
There were several highlights.
Kevin McGuigan provided a useful update on AGRG’s history, from its early days in 2000 through the modernization era of 2016 to the challenge era of 2020 and today.
Significant events include complete LiDAR coverage of Nova Scotia and an increased web presence.
Afterwards, we joined Andrew Hannam and Chelsea Heighton in the Board Room to tour the ‘Maps as Art’ exhibition. CORAH is organizing a series of tours this Wednesday and Thursday.
We highly recommend signing up to see the exhibition.
In the afternoon, there was the opportunity to catch up with the survey companies in New Brunswick. This culminated in Kelly Bates’ keynote presentation ‘Bridging Academia and Offshore Infrastructure Planning’. Of particular interest to myself, was the role played by the M.Sc. degree in Applied Geomatics at Acadia University.
Tomorrow, the focus will be on industry displays in the gymnasium and student interviews. Overall, this was a rewarding day, with many examples of collaboration between COGS and the private sector.
On the weekend, the Premier had a paid advertisement on the front page of the Chronicle Herald. He referenced Nova Scotia’s traditional industries – fishing, farming, forestry. Plus ‘New-to-Nova Scotia: industries like hydrogen, wind and critical minerals can operate safely and the potential positive impact on our Province is massive.’
My response to the Premier, and our local MLA’s is PLEASE begin to appreciate the significance of GIS and Geomatics in mapping these resources. To the NSCC, I would recommend a ‘COGS Government Expo’ focused on the importance of these technologies, and the importance of a well-trained workforce.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Heather who joined me for a stimulating day in Lawrencetown. Edward is busy investigating the relationship between AI and GIS. Hence this post will be short on graphics and links.
But I did want to encourage the reader to sign up for the CORAH ‘Maps as Art’ tours at COGS, Wednesday and Thursday.
Ernest Blair Experiment 