GoGeomatics

The Line Crossed Us 2021: New Directions in Critical Border Studies Conference
2021-06-10 08:00 - 2021-06-11 17:00 (America/Toronto)
Building on the success of our first conference in June 2019, the Lethbridge Border Studies Group is hosting our virtual follow-up conference, The Line Crossed Us 2021: New Directions in Critical Border Studies, from June 10-11, 2021.

The conference brings Indigenous, settler, and migration politics and histories into conversation and focuses on early-career researchers to promote new voices and cutting-edge questions in the field of critical border studies.
Our call for papers welcomed submissions from current graduate students, emerging scholars, community researchers, and activists working on any aspect of border studies. This year approximately 70 presenters will share their research in fifteen panels over the two-day conference, including two events that will be open to the public.

Purchasing a free ticket to this event is your way to register and gain access to the “Online Event Page” where you will find the conference program and associated zoom links. Registration is available at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-line-crossed-us-2021-new-directions-in-critical-border-studies-tickets-152880019253.
In addition to fifteen panels, we are also hosting two free public events.
The keynote address, “A Line of Blood and Dirt: Creating the Canada-United States Border across Indigenous Lands” by Dr. Benjamin Hoy, will be held on Thursday, June 10th, 2021, from 11:00am to 12:30pm (GMT -6). Registration is available at: https://uleth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J1Q37pzFRiGtdCcrkZca5g.
The public event “Creative Defiance in the U.S.- Mexico Borderlands” will be held on Friday, June 11th, 2021, from 11:00am to 12:30pm (GMT -6). Registration is available at: https://uleth.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_tL5yAR4OS5WLzAPfAbB8fg.
For more information please contact us at borderstudies@uleth.ca
Follow us on Twitter @LethBordStudies

54th annual conference of CARTO the Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives
2021-06-14 08:00 - 2021-06-16 17:00
The 54th annual conference of CARTO by the Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives (CARTO-ACMLA-ACACC) will be held virtually from June 14-16, 2021 between 1-3:30 PM EDT.
Carto 2021 – Program (acmla-acacc.ca)

119th OGC Member Meeting Online
2021-06-14 08:00 - 2021-06-18 17:00
Make an impact by participating in the 119th OGC Member Meeting.
During the 119th OGC Member Meeting, Members and Non-Members alike will be able to explore subjects such as Defense and Intelligence, Climate, and Transportation to collectively problem solve critical issues.
Tomorrow’s innovations start with today’s dedication.
Join keynotes, special sessions, and working groups that are evolving location technologies and standards across the globe.

The Earth Archive Virtual Congress
2021-06-15 08:00 - 2021-06-16 17:00
The Earth Archive is an emerging conservation initiative that is revolutionizing the fight against the climate crisis. By scanning the planet’s land surface with very high resolution lidar, the Earth Archive will create a true three-dimensional digital twin of our world — an open source, digital record of the Earth that will reflect the landscape exactly as it was at the time of scanning. With this endeavor, the Earth Archive is positioned to provide geospatial data that will serve as the baseline for understanding and exploring our world.
The Congress will connect researchers, students, NGOs, stakeholders, indigenous groups, governmental officials, and corporate interests to become partners in this groundbreaking effort. Expanding the global Earth Archive community in this way encourages all levels of society to collaborate on a project that could prove fundamental to a solution for climate change. Join us for this hybrid event to become part of this unprecedented initiative.

Geo Virtual Symposium 2021
2021-06-21 00:00 - 2021-06-24 23:59
The theme of this year’s symposium is Strengthening inclusive partnerships across the GEO Work Programme (GWP). The aim of the Symposium is to share successful practices and identify ways to accelerate the delivery of products and solutions to address environmental and societal challenges. The symposium will be held from 21 to 24 June 2021.
Topics covered during the symposium include:

EO solutions for the GEO Engagement Priorities including Climate Action, Disaster Risk Reduction, Sustainable Development, and Urban Resilience;
EO solutions related to pandemic/epidemic planning, response, and recovery;
Technologies and methods for enhancing discovery, access, analysis, and use of data and information, including analysis-ready data, data cubes, and data/knowledge platforms;
Approaches for facilitating the equitable collection, sharing, and re-use of EO data, including consideration of data principles and ethics, in situ data, and emerging data sources such as citizen science; and
GEO community development, including encouraging inclusivity, engagement with the commercial sector, resource mobilization, communications, and capacity development.

REGISTER HERE
The Symposium will take the form of Plenary Sessions, Parallel Sessions and Spotlight Sessions. Plenary Sessions will be coordinated by the Symposium Subgroup, while Parallel Sessions and Spotlight Sessions are open for proposals. To encourage engagement across the entire GEO community and to allow speakers and audiences from all regions to participate, each day will begin at a different time. More here

INTO THE ARCTIC: AWAKENING
2021-06-29 18:30 - 19:30
Join us for a private screening of Cory Trépanier’s stunning new film, Into the Arctic: Awakening, that offers an intimate view of the top two-thirds of our home and native land. We’re presenting it with our friends at the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.
sign up – and it’s all free. It’s our Canada Day gift to you and yours.
We will send you your Zoom link 24 hours prior to the screening.
Cory is the world-renowned painter and explorer who shows us the Arctic with new eyes – at a time when climate change is transforming it, for better and for worse.
So join us from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, June 29 to see Cory introduce his film, watch the film itself, and to ask him all about it.
What better way to get ready for a Canada Day holiday like no other……. and invite your family and friends to join you for?
Oh, and we’ll be drawing one name from our attendees to win the limited Deluxe Art edition of Cory’s new book, Into the Arctic: Painting Canada’s Changing North, worth $750.
We hope you’ll join us on June 29th.

State of the Map 2021
2021-07-09 00:00 - 2021-07-11 23:59
In 2021 the State of the Map conference will be held as an online conference again. Stay tuned for further information about calls for participation, the conference format and schedule. In the meantime, please consider signing up for updates via their newsletter, join the telegram group chat and follow them on Twitter.

2021 Esri User Conference
2021-07-12 00:00 - 2021-07-15 23:59
The 2021 Esri User Conference (Esri UC) is a fully virtual experience. Join us at the Plenary Session to hear from Esri president Jack Dangermond, Esri staff experts, and special guests. Learn to use the latest tools in technical sessions. Get inspired by user presentations and the Virtual Map Gallery entries. Find solutions in the Expo, and shop at the Esri Merch Store.
Watch powerful stories about how GIS is making a difference in the world. See demonstrations of Esri technology and learn about the newest upgrades. Hear a keynote from Jack Dangermond and presentations from other thought-provoking speakers.
Browse the sponsors and exhibitors through our virtual format. Interact with displays and get your questions answered.
This unique learning opportunity provides recorded presentations, technical workshops with live Q&As, training in the latest GIS technology, and more.
Even in the virtual format, the Esri User Conference (Esri UC) provides online networking and collaboration opportunities with your peers.

Society for Conservation GIS Conference
2021-07-19 00:00 - 2021-08-06 23:59
You are invited to attend our 2021 SCGIS Annual International Conference!
In light of the ongoing pandemic and the value of connecting our community across continents, the Conference will once again be virtual. It will consist of a series of online sessions between July 19th and August 6th. Conference registration will be free to all who wish to attend, and we strongly encourage all attendees to join SCGIS if not already a member.
Keynotes
We are pleased to announce two accomplished keynote speakers!
July 19, 2021: Walter Jetz received a DPhil from the University of Oxford in 2002. He is a Professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department and in the School of the Environment at Yale University, where he arrived in 2009.
His research addresses global biodiversity dynamics in a changing world and integrates ecological, evolutionary, geographical, and environmental perspectives. One particular focus is the use of new technologies and data flows to study biodiversity distributions and responses to change across scales. Flagship projects include Map of Life (a research, education and information platform addressing the global geographic distribution of species), the Half-Earth Project Map (addressing global priorities for area-based conservation) and EarthEnv (near-global high-resolution environmental data for biodiversity applications). For publications see here.
At Yale, Walter Jetz founded and directs the Yale Center for Biodiversity and Global Change and its Max Planck-Yale Center for Biodiversity Movement of Global Change, an International Max Planck Center. For IPBES, he was member and co-manager of the Task Force on Data and Knowledge, chaired the Task Group on Indicators and was Lead Author of the Global Assessment. He is Scientific Chair of the EO Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and co-chairs the Species Population Working Group of GEO BON.

July 26, 2021: Molly Burhans combines her passion for people and the planet with her experience in GIS, design thinking, business development, and scientific research to understand and transform complex systems and make land work for good. As founder and Executive Director of GoodLands, Burhans helps communities manage their properties for environmental, social, and financial impact. She was the chief cartographer for the first global data-based maps of the Catholic Church, and her work combining faith, environmental stewardship and technology has received international coverage and acclaim. Burhans is an Ashoka fellow, a Henry Arnhold fellow, and the 2019 United Nations Young Champion of the Earth for North America. She has been involved with the Vatican Youth Symposium, Vatican Arts and Technology Council, United Nations Youth Assembly, and the Buckminster Fuller Catalyst program, and was an Echoing Green fellowship finalist.
Workshops
SCGIS is pleased to announce this line-up of technical workshops. Each workshop is listed in US Pacific Time, and is offered at a cost of $28.

Date (July)
Start Time (GMT -7, USA Pacific)
End Time (GMT -7, USA Pacific)
Topic
Instructor

Tues 20th
8:00 AM
11:00 AM
Spatial Data Analysis in R Part I
Andy Lyons

Wed 21st
9:00 AM
12:00 PM
Introduction to Google Earth Engine: Tracking Changes in NDVI Over Time
Annie Taylor

Thurs 22nd
8:00 AM
11:00 AM
Spatial Data Analysis in R Part II
Andy Lyons

Thurs 22nd
1:00 PM
3:30 PM
Creating and combining Story Maps, Interactive Maps, Surveys, and Dashboards for gathering, mapping, analyzing, and communicating information
Joseph Kerski

Friday 23rd
9:00 AM
12:00 PM
Exploring ArcGIS field apps
Miriam Schmidts

Tues 27th
9:00 AM
12:00 PM
Introduction to Remote Sensing using Open Source Tools
Nancy Thomas, Cindy Schmidt

Wed 28th
9:00 AM
12:00 PM
Open Source Remote Sensing: Land Cover Change Analysis
Nancy Thomas, Cindy Schmidt

Conference Sponsorship
If you are interested in being a conference sponsor please read the attached guidelines.
This page will be continually updated as more details become available. Visit us again soon for more information on registration and the agenda.

Sincerely,
The SCGIS Conference Committee

Smart GEO Expo 2021
2021-07-21 00:00 - 2021-07-23 23:59
Smart GEO Expo 2021 is happening on July 21 to 23 in Seoul, Korea On/Offline Hybrid! Smart GEO Expo 2021 celebrates its 13th with a slogan “Digital Twin, Design the Smarter Future”.
We are ready to show new technologies of geospatial information and convergence to other industries.
Experience our business matching system to meet people from various fields worldwide.
We invite you to the On/Offline Hybrid Exhibition. Experience the limitless potential and the cutting-edge trends of the geospatial information industry with Smart GEO Expo 2021!

OGC API Virtual Sprint
2021-07-21 07:00 - 2021-07-23 17:30
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) invites software developers to the July 2021 OGC API Virtual Code Sprint, to be held from July 21st to July 23rd, 2021. The code sprint will begin at 07:00am EDT on the first day, and end at 05:30pm EDT on the last day.
OGC has been developing a new generation of standards for building web Application Programming Interface (API) solutions that make location-referenced information more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). These draft specifications come from OGC’s effort to create modular, resource-oriented API standards that use OpenAPI for describing interfaces that offer location-referenced information over the web.
To ensure that all of the new OGC Application Programming Interface (API) standards are as developer-friendly, usable, and mature as possible before release, each draft specification is being put through one or more code sprints to test and improve their ‘readiness’ before starting the OGC standards approval process.
A Code Sprint is a collaborative and inclusive event driven by innovative and rapid programming with minimal process and organization constraints to support the development of new applications and candidate standards.
The July 2021 OGC API Virtual Code Sprint will focus on the following draft OGC API specifications:

OGC API – Processes
OGC API – Coverages
OGC API – Records

The goal of the July 2021 OGC API Virtual Code Sprint will be to progress the specifications. The sprint will also help to identify issues and options for addressing those issues.
The draft OGC API – Processes specification defines an interface that enables the execution of geospatial computing processes and the retrieval of metadata describing their purpose and functionality. Typically, these processes execute well-defined algorithms that ingest vector and/or coverage data to produce new datasets.
The draft OGC API – Records specification defines an interface that enables discovery and access to metadata records about resources such as features, coverages, tiles / maps, models, assets, services or widgets. The draft specification enables the discovery of geospatial resources by standardizing the way collections of descriptive information about the resources (metadata) are exposed and accessed.
The draft OGC API – Coverages specification defines an interface that enables access to coverages that are modeled according to the Coverage Implementation Schema (CIS) 1.1. Coverages are represented by some binary or ASCII serialization, specified by some data (encoding) format. Arguably the most popular type of coverage is that of a gridded coverage. Gridded coverages have a grid as their domain set describing the direct positions in multi-dimensional coordinate space, depending on the type of grid. Satellite imagery is typically modeled as a gridded coverage, for example.
OGC invites software developers to participate in the code sprint. There will be an opportunity for joint discussion with all participants on the goals and objectives of the event, as well as the final briefing of findings and opinions of the participants. However, the majority of the time will be spent on collaboration between participants in active coding. To learn more about the previous OGC code sprints, visit https://www.ogc.org/projects/initiatives/ogcsprints

Webinar: Emerging Location-based Services and Technologies, GeoSurveillance and Social Justice Issues
2021-07-21 09:30 - 13:00
This GeoEthics Webinar is dedicated to location-based services and technologies that are both static (e.g. CCTV cameras on a building) and increasingly dynamic (e.g. mobile CCTV cameras on a vehicle). The Webinar introduces the notion of dual use technologies that may have surveillance for care and surveillance for control applications. The thematic areas of concern to be addressed revolve around the various veillances: sur-, data-, sous-, and über-veillance. Emerging technologies of interest in this webinar include IP-based location data collection technologies such as, satellite and low-Earth orbiting technology (e.g. X-Y coordinates), uninhabited aerial vehicles (e.g. drones), wi-fi networks (e.g. campus watch), smart infrastructure (e.g. lampposts), mobile CCTV (e.g. vehicles), body-worn cameras (e.g. digital glass), and smartphones.
Thematic areas that will be addressed include “geolocation” and issues pertaining to “social justice”, such as, location-based solutions for those living with dementia or autism, the attitudes and perceptions of youth with respect to location-based digital apps, humanitarian aspects of the collection of identity and location data pertaining to the rights of refugees, or marginalized communities based on segregating factors; indigenous peoples under geosurveillance in the name of smart city safety; location in the context of gender-based violence, for good and for harm; closed campus IOT-based sensors, data privacy and human rights; regulatory tools that may be effective in addressing geolocation issues especially in the context of biosurveillance laws; and finally the role of the professionalization of ethics in the workplace, to allow for a better understanding of how Human Geography and Geographic Information Systems converge to be appropriately applied towards Geotelematics Services (i.e., the convergence of geography, telecommunications, and informatics solutions) in the public interest. The objective is to provide a forum for discussion, working toward enacting positive change, as opposed to further enslaving citizens.

Katina Michael Arizona State University

Advanced Location Services and Social Implications

Katina Michael is a professor at Arizona State University, holding a joint appointment in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence. She is also the director of the Society Policy Engineering Collective (SPEC) and the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society. Katina is a senior member of the IEEE and a Public Interest Technology advocate who studies the social implications of technology with an emphasis on systems of innovation. She has held 14 annual workshops in the social implications of national security space and chaired 3 international symposia on technology and society (ISTAS) in Wollongong, Toronto and Phoenix. She is the Senior Editor of the socio-economic impact section in IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine and was the editor in chief of the award-winning IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. In 2019 she took on the role of working group chair for the IEEE P2089 standard. In 2020 she received the ICTO Golden Medal for lifetime achievement award for exceptional contributions to research in information systems, and the IEEE Phoenix section’s Outstanding Member Contributing to Global Humanitarian Projects Award for her contributions to a better understanding of the impact of emerging technologies on humanity. In 2017, she also received the Brian M. O’Connell IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) Distinguished Service Award.

Roba Abbas University of Wollongong

Socio-Technical Systems and Location-Based Regulation

Roba Abbas is a Lecturer and Academic Program Director with the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Wollongong, Australia. She has a PhD in location-based services regulation and has received competitive grants for research addressing global challenges in areas related to co-design and socio-technical systems, operations management, robotics, social media and other emerging technologies. Her current research interests include methodological approaches to complex socio-technical systems design. More recently, she has delivered talks and co-organized panels for Yale University, The Alan Turing Institute, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Arizona State University and Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences. Dr Abbas is Co-Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society and was the Technical Program Chair for the IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS20) hosted by Arizona State University in November 2020. From 2005 to 2010, she was a Product Manager with Internetrix, Wollongong.

Jeremy V. Pitt Imperial College London

Intelligent Systems and Self-Organising Systems

Jeremy V. Pitt is Professor of Intelligent and Self-Organising Systems in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London. He received a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Manchester and a Ph.D. in Computing from Imperial College (University of London). He has been teaching and researching Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction for over thirty years, where his research programme has used computational logic to specify algorithmic models of social processes, with applications in cyber-physical and socio-technical systems, especially for sustainable, fair and legitimate self-governance. He has collaborated on research projects extensively in Europe, but also in India and New Zealand, and has held visiting professorial positions in Italy, Japan and Poland. He has published more than 200 articles in journals, conferences and workshops, and this work has received several Best Paper awards. He is a trustee of AITT (the Association for Information Technology Trust), a Fellow of the BCS (British Computer Society) and of the IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology), and in 2018 was appointed as Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Technology & Society magazine.

Roger Clarke Australian National University

Dataveillance

Roger Clarke is a consultant on strategic and policy aspects of advanced information technologies. He is also a dilettante researcher, with hundreds of published papers and over 10,000 Google citations. He has been active in privacy and surveillance consultancy, research and advocacy since the early 1970s, and has published over 100 papers in the area. He originated the term ‘dataveillance’ in 1986, and also coined ‘the digital persona’, ‘identity silo’, ‘(id)entification’ and ‘dissidentity’, to assist in the analysis of information technology’s impacts on privacy.

Steve Mann University of Toronto | BlueberryX.com

Sousveillance

Steve Mann is the founder and CTO of BlueberryX.com, the world’s first brain-sensing context-aware eyeglass. He is a Visiting Full Professor, Stanford University, Department of Electrical Engineering and a Full Professor, University of Toronto, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is Chair of the Silicon Valley Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (SVIEF) and Founding Member of the IEEE Council on Extended Intelligence. He invented wearable computing in his childhood, brought this invention to MIT to found the MIT wearable computing project, and according to Nicholas Negroponte “persisted in his vision and ended up founding a new discipline.” He invented, designed, and built the world’s first smartwatch in 1998 (patent filed 1999, featured on cover of Linux Journal July 2000) which he presented at IEEE ISSCC 2000 where he was named “The father of the wearable computer”. Inventor of HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging, used in more than 2 billion smartphones. He has founded companies with valuation in excess of $1 billion, together with students.

M. G. Michael Independent Researcher

Uberveillance

M. G. Michael PhD (ACU), MA (Hons) (MacqUni), MTheol (SydUni), BTheol (SCD), BA (SydUni) is an independent researcher. He was formerly an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Computing and Information Technology at the University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia. Michael is a theologian and historian with cross-disciplinary qualifications in the humanities, who introduced the concept of überveillance into the privacy and bioethics literature

Christine Perakslis Johnson and Wales University | Arizona State University

Benefits and Risks of the Converging Veillances
The four veillances (i.e. surveillance, dataveillance, sousveillance, and uberveillance) continue to converge, enabling diverse actors to aggregate vast amounts of data gleaned from the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels of society. At the micro-level, embodied computing, or body-centered computing, has evolved from wearable and bearable devices to implants, bionic technology, and ingestible sensors. At the meso-level, technology affords ordinary citizens new capabilities to record everyday life experiences including other people, places, processes, or procedures. At the macro-level, the Internet of Things and People (IoTaP) also continues to evolve with an intensification of interconnected devices, systems, people, and services to link to the infrastructures around us. What are the current and emerging benefits of the converging of the veillances? What are categories of risks we should address?

Christine Perakslis serves as an educator and consultant for various organizations. She serves as a researcher with publications and presentations focusing on the social implications of technology, group integration competencies, and behavioral motivators/psychometrics. Perakslis is a member of various associations and serves in the capacity of a peer-reviewer, as well as a member of advisory boards, program committees, and technical committees. Certificates and certifications include such areas as Advanced Graduate Studies, Lean Operations, Praendix Analyst, and Six Sigma.

Rys Farthing Reset Australia- Reset Tech | Oxford University

Young People’s Concerns on the Collection and Use of Geolocation Data
Children and young people are now ‘datafied’ before they are even born; from pregnancy apps and heartbeat monitors to ultrasounds shared on social media, their data is extracted and shared before they even take their first breath. This data collection continues throughout childhood, from AI-enabled baby monitors to connected toys. One estimate suggests that in Advertising Tech alone, over 72 million data points are collected about children by the time they reach 13. The amount of data that is now held about younger generations is truly staggering and presents unique risks for the realisation of children’s rights.
Of all this data, the children and young people I speak with in Australia are most concerned about the collection and use of geolocation data. Children have a right to privacy, and this right is important to them. From childhood fantasies about finding secret gardens and hidden worlds like Narnia, to playing in hidden spots in the playground and out-of-view treehouses, private spaces have always been important to children (and scary for parents!). But it appears that this non-stop surveillance through geolocation data is both eroding children’s sense of imagination about private spaces and replacing it with worries about their personal safety. This discussion will look at what Australian young people have been saying about geolocation data, and the need for greater regulation around its collection and use.

Rys Farthing is the Director of Children’s Policy at Reset Tech Australia, a think tank and campaigning organisation set up to tackle digital threats to democracy. Rys has worked for NGOs in Australia, the US and UK, with a focus on realising children and young people’s rights, and increasingly their rights in a digital world. She is a ‘recovering’ academic and has held posts at the University of Oxford, and RMIT University.

Toby Shulruff U.S. National Network to End Domestic Violence | Arizona State University

Every Move You Make: Surveillance and Gender-based Violence
Location data is routinely used as a means to exert control over victims of gender-based violence. Using easily accessible, often built-in tools including social apps, tracking devices, phone accounts, and monitoring software, abusive partners track victims’ movements in real time or interrogate their recent history. This abuse isolates victims from support and social connection, restricts their independence, causes intense anxiety and a feeling of always being watched. Conversely, the very same technologies are also used to connect with friends and family, protect children and pets from abuse, call for help to a specific location, or monitor convicted offenders. Choice about when and with whom to share our location should be built into location-enabled technologies from the beginning, with the privacy needs of the most vulnerable at the center of our care and design methods.

Toby Shulruff (she/her) works to build the capacity of communities to understand, make choices about, and ultimately shape the technologies that are woven into the fabric of our lives. Toby is a writer, trainer, project manager, and consultant – and a graduate student in the new Public Interest Technology program at Arizona State University. Toby works at the intersection of technology and gender-based violence as a Senior Technology Safety Specialist at the Safety Net Project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence (US)

Jason Sargent Swinburne University of Technology

Geocoding our humanity: Markers of people, place & time
This presentation will use imagery to posit the viewer into moments of time and place to consider the implications of data coupling identity+location of oppressed populations. Vignettes (some historical and some from a personal 20 year research journey) will include the liberation of Auschwitz (pre digital revolution), the Balkan Crisis/ Sarajevo and Srebrenica (the first technology-enabled humanitarian crisis, Zeitgeist for the arrival of the World Wide Web), and the post digital revolution protracted forced migration of Karen refugees on the Thai-Burma Border and recent land data governance struggles of the Adivasi of the Satpuda Ranges of India. The presentation will highlight geocoding as a powerful témoignage/testimony lens and touch on elements of trust, constructivist co-design, power relationships and conclude with a call to action for responsible collection, curation and diffusion of oppressed population’s geocoded data.

Jason Sargent co-directs the Information Systems for Social Impact Research Group, Swinburne University of Technology and has spent his entire academic, scholarship and research career bringing people and technology together for a better world. He has been the academic lead of Swinburne’s internationally awarded ICT for Social Impact India Project (2014-present), and currently oversees humanitarian community projects in Melbourne, Pal India, Pakpattan Pakistan, and Mogadishu and Hirshabelle State Somalia.
In 2003, Jason’s undergraduate Honours thesis (‘The Digital Aid Framework – DAF’) introduced to the field of technology-enabled humanitarian relief a conceptual, end-to-end technology integration framework for humanitarian (refugee) relief operations. The DAF thesis was awarded the PWC Award for highest grade achieved in an Honours project in the Faculty of Informatics, University of Wollongong and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Ubiquity article summarising DAF was subsequently used as course material at the University of California-Davis and has been downloaded ~180,000 times. Jason’s doctoral candidature was based in the University of Sydney’s Centre for Research on Computer Supported Learning and Cognition (CoCo Lab), Faculty of Education & Social Work. His 2012 thesis explored complexities in attainment of higher education by refugees on the Thai-Burma Border (TBB) through a trinity of theoretical lenses: social capital, communities of practice and blended learning and came about through his pro bono service with the Melbourne-based grassroots Refugee Tertiary Education Committee (RTEC). His doctoral fieldwork was carried out on the TBB near Mae Pa and Mae Sot, Thailand.
In August 2020, Jason was humbled to be invited to become an Ambassador for Amnesty International Australia’s ‘My New Neighbour’ campaign, advocating for a fairer community sponsorship program for refugees.

Alexander Hayes Oethica, Australia | University of Wollongong

Applying a Socioethical Framework for Body Worn Cameras
My focus in this presentation is unpacking further the socioethical framework developed in my PhD, examining the pivotal role of GIS as described by Abbas, Michael et al. referencing criminal proceedings involving data derivative of location enabled body worn video cameras (BWC). In the case of Kwilla vs. WA State, 2020, in Derby Western Australia, the Aboriginal Legal Service advised the accused to accept an early guilty plea for lesser charges based on presentation of video evidence from BWCs, despite assertions from the accused that the video presented as evidence was heavily redacted. This case in review correlates with First Nation peoples accounts in Canada of how technology is further marginalising the already overpoliced, with evidence of collusion from private enterprise in predictive policing. My presentation will also draw on multiple contemporary and historical associations of BWCs as part of the broader rollout of surveillance in the global context.

Alexander Hayes is an expert in communications, information systems, and body-worn camera technologies. Hayes completed his Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in March 2021 for the research inquiry, The Socioethical Implications of Body Worn Computers: An Ethnographic Study through the Faculty of Engineering & Information Systems at the University of Wollongong, NSW Australia. With over 25 years of entrepreneur, consultation, and researcher experience, Hayes describes himself as a polymath and versatilist, catalyzing social change through emancipatory human rights and social justice activity. With a portfolio in the creative arts, Hayes also engages across multiple domains and disciplines as a practicing professional artist in works focussed on cultural frameworks and social commentary.
In recent years Hayes, as a filmmaker and producer, has released two feature documentaries, 120 short films, and attained multiple project commissions in collaboration with rural and remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia including the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council, Western Australia. As a designer and projects manager, Hayes is an adaptable UX and UI consultant, bridging information systems and communications technologies with web, graphic design, and print press production. As an author and biographer Hayes is also widely published in journals, books, periodicals, and online communities.

Elma Hajric Smart Cities NSF NRT | Arizona State University

The ‘Smart Campus’ and Geo-Surveillance
With ‘smart city’ narratives increasing adoptions of sensor-filled ‘Internet of Things’ devices used for surveillance in public spaces, campuses have become testing beds for deploying such ‘smart’ technologies, including geographical elements of location tracking such as smart light poles. This discussion investigates the campus as a unique smart city and considers the sociotechnical implications of the smart campus with regards to surveillance capacities and issues related to data rights such as ownership and privacy.

Elma Hajric is a PhD student in Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology and a National Research Trainee in the NSF for Citizen-Centered Smart Cities and Smart Living. Her research focuses on governance of emerging technologies and data topics pertaining to surveillance, privacy, and ownership.

Rob Nicholls University of New South Wales

Do as I Say, not as I do: Biometric regulation and exceptions
Going to a café in Australia requires using a QR code to locate yourself. On many devices, this is opened using the biometric data of either a face or thumbprint. In most Australian states, the smartphone app requires information from a photograph-based identity such as a driver’s licence. This location data is intended to be used solely for contact tracing in the context of COVID-19. However, the data has already been used by at least one state police force. In the same context, Google has been found to have breached competition law by failing to disclosure all of the steps required to switch off location tracking. In the US, the Federal Trade Commission has required that Everalbum destroy both data and algorithms used in unauthorised facial recognition. This creates a complex regulatory environment where governments at multiple levels are engaged in activities that might be prohibited in the private sector. Whereas this might be acceptable in the context of COVID-19, it is both confusing and inconsistent.
This paper reviews the ways in which governments at multiple levels use both biometric data and location data in ways that would otherwise be unacceptable or prohibited. It suggests that some of the regulatory changes (competition, privacy and data protection) that have been put in place in response to increasing commercial biosurveillance will be difficult to sustain if governments act in a way that is inconsistent with them.

Rob Nicholls is an associate professor in regulation and governance at the UNSW Business School and a visiting professional fellow at UTS Sydney Law. His research interests focus on competition law, the regulation of networked and platform industries with an emphasis on the effects of technology in the regulatory space. His PhD examined the regulation of the media in Australia and his platform industry analysis reflects this. Rob has had a thirty-year career concentrating on competition, regulation and governance. His first degree was in electronics and communications engineering from the University of Birmingham and he was awarded his PhD and MA by UNSW Sydney. Before moving to academia, he worked for Webb Henderson, the ACCC and spent twelve years as a client-facing consultant at Gilbert + Tobin, including as a partner. Rob is an accredited mediator and from 2012 to 2020 was Australia’s Independent Telecommunications Adjudicator.

Jumana Abu-Ghazaleh Pivot for Humanity

Location, Location, Location: Making Space for GIS Ethics
Geography is not just a lens through which we understand and interpret the world. It is not purely academic, rarely objective, and often weaponized. Today, geography is the tool of the powerful – the platform of choice for those whose goals go beyond making sense of and learning about the world to actively shaping, planning, and too frequently, manipulating it. If data is the new oil, then geography is its refinery: geography creates new ways to use the constant stream of data–for profit, for good, for power, for politics, for justice, for surveillance, for oppression and for other harms. As a result, GIS educators and practitioners find themselves increasingly subject to ethical and moral quandaries: in an ever more heavily tech-intermediated world, how can GIS be proactively ethical? When practitioners need clarity and guidance, where can they turn? Who or what can they consult? A code of ethics, however inspiring and resonant, remains largely ineffectual.
This discussion will focus on shifting ethics from theory to practice. We will explore the use of a few key geographic concepts (place, location, proximity and distance) to inform how the AAG could transform ethics from a well-intentioned statement of intent into a set of norms that are practical, usable, consistent and impactful.

Jumana Abu-Ghazaleh is the President of Pivot for Humanity, the organization founded in 2018 to professionalize the extractive, data-driven social tech industry and foster a responsible, ethical, and accountable internet. Pivot’s goal is to compel an industry in crisis to adopt universal standards, norms and values that will pivot, or reorient, the industry toward its original mission: serving humanity. In 2014, Jumana founded and launched zanie, an app designed to help employers shrink virtual distance and create a thriving and emotionally engaged digital workforce. zanie helps companies build stronger distributed teams by facilitating conversations that build interpersonal trust between remote members and lead to innovative, productive, and fulfilling work.
Jumana’s first career was in marketing and brand strategy and communications, where she spent over 20 years developing strategies for organizations such as American Express, Yahoo, Coca-Cola, Bank of America, The RobinHood Foundation, Ally Bank, and Hilton Hotels. She is responsible for creating Capital One’s “What’s in your wallet?” campaign. Jumana earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and a degree in Literature and Philosophy from Claremont McKenna College.

Theresa Dirndorfer Anderson Connecting Stones
Theresa Dirndorfer Anderson is based in Sydney, Australia. Anderson is an active contributor to local and international initiatives to humanize data science. Her scholarly work engages with the fundamental concepts of uncertainty, relevance, and resilience in individual, organizational, and social settings. Anderson’s research interests include data ethics, infrastructure politics, emerging technologies, and digital youth. Her professional experience includes serving as associate professor and the inaugural director of the Master of Data Science & Innovation program at the University of Technology Sydney, working as a political research analyst for research centers and think tanks, and serving as a diplomat and environmental education officer. Anderson earned her MA and PhD in information science from the University of Technology Sydney, MA in international security studies and arms control from Lancaster University, and BA in diplomatic history and Soviet/Russian studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mathew Mytka Greater Than Learning
Mathew Mytka is a humanist, generalist, father, gardener, wannabe extreme sports enthusiast, and Co-founder of Greater Than Learning. He’s worked across digital identity, e-learning systems, behavioral design, decentralized technologies, and spent the past few years helping organizations to design more trustworthy products and services. Mat is an IEEE Member, and co-founder of Greater Than Learning and co-founder of Digitool Lab.

Nicole Stephensen GroundUp Consulting
Nicole Stephensen is Principal Consultant at Ground Up Consulting, a boutique firm she established in 2011. There, she provides capacity building and privacy by design services across government, private and not for profit sectors. With over 20 years in the privacy profession, Nicole believes in building sustainable privacy programs and embedding ‘privacy mindset’ into organisational culture. She is a sought-after speaker about privacy and its interface with information security, risk management, ethics and trust. She is a subject matter expert and guest lecturer for tertiary education providers in Australia and Canada and is author of course curricula focused on information privacy rights and privacy and cybersecurity acculturation. Nicole is a leading member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and hosts the IAPP’s KnowledgeNet Chapter for Queensland. Prior to its incorporation into the larger IAPP in 2019, Nicole was also a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals ANZ Chapter (iappANZ) where she sat for three consecutive terms on the Board. She is on the Advisory Board for the Centre for Data Leadership, an initiative of the Smart Cities Council of Australia-New Zealand (SCCANZ) and was the 2020 SCCANZ Smart Cities Leadership Award winner. Nicole served a three-year term as Executive Director for Privacy and Data Protection at the Internet of Things Security Institute, where she co-authored the IoTSI Security Framework for Smart Cities and Critical Infrastructure and hosted a bi-weekly podcast, Privacy Matters. Nicole additionally lends her privacy expertise to the digital policy arena – focusing on matters affecting children and young people, such as privacy and digital footprints, online safety, cyber-bullying, image-based abuse and child exploitation.

Webinar: Living Under Surveillance
2021-07-21 17:00 - 19:30
This webinar aims to stage a conversation on the realities of living under different forms of surveillance, with the aim of mapping out what is already known and what needs to be known. Surveillance is often conceived narrowly as security technology such as CCTV or facial recognition, but such an orientation emphasises a top-down and technological focus. In this webinar, we wish to explore what it is like to live under the regime of surveillance, what it is like to be monitored by the police, by the state (especially the welfare state), by different digital platforms, and in different places eg urban centers, the workplace, schools and universities, fragile/vulnerable communities, public housing, and so on. How can we better listen to the voices of those who are living under surveillance to understand its effects? Our goal is also to expand the notion of surveillance, to seek alternatives to top-down approaches by exploring mutual peer-to-peer solutions, or what Jane Jacobs called the benefits of “eyes on the street.”
The webinar will feature approximately two hours of conversations. The first hour will feature Wood, Browne, Schuurman and Swanlund, and in the second hour Peppin, D’Ignazio and Park. After making short presentations about their recent work and projects, the participants will be in conversation with each other and respond to provocations from the moderator and from audience questions. The aim is to keep the conversation lively and loose.Please note that the webinar will not be recorded.

Jeremy W. Crampton Newcastle University
Jeremy W. Crampton is Professor of Urban Data Analysis at Newcastle University. His work focuses on place-based interactions between geolocational technologies and our everyday experience and wellbeing in the built environment. He studies the critical geographies of surveillance, spatial big data and algorithmic decision-making and the way these are governed. In response to COVID-19 he is interested in how geolocational technologies and “Slow AI” can best build the pandemic-ready city. He is currently writing a book entitled The Map and the Spyglass: The New Geographical Analytics of Everyday Life to be published by Verso.

Aidan Peppin Ada Lovelace Institute
Aidan Peppin is a Senior Researcher for public engagement at the Ada Lovelace Institute, where he works to ensure public perspectives inform digital technology design, practice and policy. Throughout 2020 he led the Citizens’ Biometrics Council, which brought 50 UK citizens together to deliberate on biometric technology, and currently he leads Ada’s work on a public dialogue on location data, commissioned by the UK’s Geospatial Commission.

Simone Browne University of Texas at Austin
Simone Browne is Associate Professor of Black Studies and Research Director of Critical Surveillance Inquiry with Good Systems, at the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently writing her second book manuscript, Like the Mixture of Charcoal and Darkness, which examines the interventions made by artists whose works grapple with the surveillance of Black life, from policing, privacy, smart dust and the FBI’s COINTELPRO to encryption, electronic waste and artificial intelligence. Together, these essays explore the productive possibilities of creative innovation when it comes to troubling surveillance and its various tactics, and imagining Black life beyond the surveillance state. Simone is the author of Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness.

David Swanlund Simon Fraser University
David Swanlund is a PhD Candidate at Simon Fraser University, where he researches GIScience approaches to understanding geoprivacy and its protection. This includes research into geographic masks, techniques used to anonymize spatial data, as well as privacy-preserving visualization techniques. His Masters research explored the impacts of biometrics on geoprivacy as well as tactics and strategies for resisting surveillance.

Nadine Schuurman Simon Fraser University
Nadine Schuurman is a health geographer who also has an interest and history in critical GIScience. She is keen to understand the motivation and possible outcomes related to widespread surveillance through social media.

Catherine D’Ignazio Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Catherine D’Ignazio is a hacker mama, scholar, and artist/designer who focuses on feminist technology, data literacy and civic engagement. She has run women’s health hackathons, designed global news recommendation systems, created talking and tweeting water quality sculptures, and led walking data visualizations to envision the future of sea level rise. Her 2020 book from MIT Press, Data Feminism, co-authored with Lauren Klein, charts a course for more ethical and empowering data science practices. D’Ignazio is an assistant professor of Urban Science and Planning in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT where she is the Director of the Data + Feminism Lab.

David Murakami Wood Queen’s University
David Murakami Wood is an interdisciplinary scholar of cities, security and surveillance. Wood is happiest in the worlds of Surveillance Studies and Urban Studies, but also feels quite at home amongst Human Geographers and Sociologists. Having started off in History, Wood also tends to want to start by looking for the roots of phenomena and the long-term trajectories. But Wood has also been an environmental and social justice activist an so, wants research to be relevant and potentially lead to changes for the better.

Tina M. Park Partnership on AI
Tina M. Park is the Methods for Inclusion Research Fellow, developing evidence-based methodologies for incorporating a more diverse range of stakeholders in the design and development of artificial intelligence. Her broader scholarship focuses on the examination of research designs and theoretical frameworks used by social scientists to study race and racism, including its manifestations in digital technology and datasets. Prior to her Ph.D., she was a researcher with NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy looking at the impact of the Great Recession on housing market prices. She also worked as an economic development consultant with AECOM (formerly Economics Research Associates) and Entertainment + Culture Advisors to help private and public sector partners develop sustainable real estate development projects around the world.
Tina received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Brown University, a Master’s in Urban Planning from New York University, and a B.A. in Political Science (with minors in Chicana/o Studies and Public Policy) from the University of California, Los Angeles. She was also a Public Affairs Fellow with the Southern California Coro Foundation.

Esri Defense and Intelligence Forum
2021-08-05 00:00 - 23:59
GIS: Integrating across all domains

Join other leaders virtually to learn about how organizations are applying GIS technology to solve their complex data integration problems. Explore how using GIS helps provide the framework for integrating your multiple disciplines and warfighting functions across the Joint All-Domain Command and Control.

Geo for Good Lightning Talks Series #5: Nature Conservation
2021-08-19 13:00 - 14:00
Google Earth Outreach team hosts a series of monthly lightning talks by and for nonprofits, scientists and other change-makers who want to leverage mapping tools and technology for positive impact in the world.
We hope those talks will inspire you to think of new ways they can have impact with Google’s tools or provide operational or practical hints to improve and optimize their workflows.
The theme of August is Nature Conservation, where we’ll hear from NGOs, scientists and practitioners on how they use Google mapping tools to address issues in nature.

20th Anniversary International Scientific and Technical Conference
2021-09-06 00:00 - 2021-09-09 23:59
FROM IMAGERY TO DIGITAL REALITY: ERS & Photogrammetry
September 6-9, 2021
Irkutsk, Russia
Every year, the conference “From Image to Map: Digital Photogrammetric Technologies” brings together the best industry experts from dozens of countries around the world, opening up great opportunities for professional communication and discussion of the most pressing topics. Among the regular participants of the conference are such leading companies in the field of Earth remote sensing as DigitalGlobe (USA), Airbus Defense and Space (France), Roscosmos (Russia), Hexagon (Sweden), Microsoft / Vexcel (Austria), VisionMap (Israel). Users of space and aerial photography are represented by industry leaders, including: Federal State Unitary Enterprise Roslesinforg, OJSC Roskartografiya, Gazprom VNIIGAZ, State Unitary Enterprise Mosgorgeotrest, R&D Center ScanekS, AGP Meridian + and many others.

Commercial UAV Expo Americas 2021
2021-09-07 08:00 - 2021-09-09 17:00
Commercial UAV Expo Americas is North America’s leading trade show and conference focusing on the integration and operation of commercial UAS with more exhibitors than any other commercial drone event. Industries covered include Construction; Drone Delivery; Energy & Utilities; Forestry & Agriculture; Infrastructure & Transportation; Mining & Aggregates; Public Safety & Emergency Services; Security; and Surveying & Mapping. The conference program addresses such topics as the challenges and opportunities presented by COVID-19, the regulatory landscape, safe integration of UAS into the airspace, and disruptive UAS technologies. Programming also includes vertical industry sessions that address the challenge and opportunities unique to each industry, as well as best practices for safe and effective drone integration and operations. The event draws qualified vertical industry end-users, leaders guiding the safe integration of UAS into the airspace, solutions pioneers and more, making for unparalleled networking. Exhibits showcase best-in-class UAS from the world’s top solutions providers, ensuring an efficient way to qualifying and comparing solutions. Commercial UAV Expo Americas is presented by Commercial UAV News and organized by Diversified Communications, a global event producer that also organizes Commercial UAV Expo Europe (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), GeoBusiness Show (London, UK), and Geo Week which is comprised of International Lidar Mapping Forum, SPAR 3D Expo & Conference and AEC Next Expo & Conference.
To learn more and register click here

2021 Canadian Open Data Summit Online
2021-09-15 08:00 - 2021-09-16 17:00
The City of Montreal and the Government of Quebec are delighted to co-organize the 6th edition of the Canadian Open Data Summit Online. We want to take advantage of this national meeting to broaden the discussion on open data, promote its reuse, advance open government initiatives and make our community a global model of an open society!

The Canadian Open Data Summit is not only an opportunity to exchange ideas and expand your network, but it’s also an occasion to get inspired by work being carried out by members of our diverse community. To ensure that everyone walks away from the summit with concrete learnings, the summit will tackle 2 major themes, which bear upon a range of topical issues, including: the ecological transition, diversity and inclusion, innovation and economic development, and democracy and participation.
Dates Sept 15th to 16th
Where: Online
Register: Canadian Open Data Summit 2021

The New Storytelling Landscape
2021-09-21 12:00 - 15:30
Connecting the Dots

Crafting the perfect story is an impactful way to influence, teach, inspire, and build connections among people, between people, and share ideas. When a story catches our attention and engages us, we are more likely to absorb the message and meaning within it.
We invite you to join us for this virtual seminar to discover how the use and simplicity of the ArcGIS system can assist with connecting the dots of your story. Learn about the Art of Storytelling and how to integrate ArcGIS for impact, insight, discovery & exploration. Our user community and technical specialists will demonstrate how GIS technology can integrate and configure your data so you can deliver a powerful story and get your message across succinctly.

Why Attend

Discover how to convey your information in a masterful way in which your audience can easily understand, apply and connect to
Learn about key storytelling technologies and applicable configurations
Explore the unexpected storytelling potential of the existing technologies that you have access to

Intended Audience

GIS users and non-GIS users of all levels who want to learn about simple and impactful ways to translate a story through technology.

WALKING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE ORIGINAL SURVEYOR
2021-09-22 13:00 - 14:00
As surveyors we are expected to re-establish a boundary in its original location using the best available evidence. Part of that process is to be able to understand what it was like to survey at the time the original post was set. That may have been more than 100 years ago when conditions, equipment and survey styles were very different than they are today. This webinar is intended to help us understand what it was like to survey in the 1800s and early 1900s

Presented by:

Marie C. Robidoux, CLS

Marie did her early schooling in Quebec and graduated in law at Université Laval. After moving to Alberta, she received a Surveying Technology from NAIT in Edmonton. In 1993 she was commissioned as a Canada Lands Surveyor and moved to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, in 1994 working for the Surveyor General Branch. In 2000 Marie moved to Calgary and worked in various industries as a CLS and Indigenous relations advisor.

Marie currently works as the Registrar for the Association of Canada Lands Surveyors (ACLS) as well as the Registrar for the Canadian Board of Examiners for Professional Surveyors (CBEPS).

Brent Taylor, BCLS, CLS

Brent is a land surveyor working in private practice throughout BC with emphasis on projects on southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. He was commissioned as a British Columbia land surveyor in 1984 and a Canada Lands Surveyor in 1995. Brent is currently the managing director of Polaris Land Surveying Inc and has been actively involved in providing land surveying services to a variety of clients and industries since 1981.

After 40 years in the profession Brent has the experience and knowledge to deliver educational seminars and workshops to clients, land surveyors and other professional organizations. Brent is often called upon to provide expert reports for Court cases and subject matter expertise in the development of new programs and applications.

Through his work in the private sector as well as his role as an expert witness Brent has had the opportunity to find survey evidence dating back to the 1870s. He has gained an appreciation for the work of surveyors throughout history and how to interpret diaries, field notes and plans of old then apply them to today.landlsurvesfffing

PCAG 2021 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
2021-09-24 18:30 - 2021-09-25 18:30
The 44th annual conference of the Prairie Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers (CAG) will be hosted by the Department of Geography and Environment at Brandon University. The event will take place virtually from September 24-25, 2021.
The virtual meeting is an important opportunity for students and faculty to reconnect as a geography community and share perspectives, concepts, tools, and information that contribute to better local and global futures. Join us and be part of these critical conversations!
Registration for the PCAG is FREE this year. Please use the online “Registration” form available on this web-page. Those who have registered will be provided with information on how to access the conference via Zoom in the week before the conference begins.
See the “Call for Abstracts” section for details about submitting proposals for oral or poster presentations. Deadline is Friday, September 10th, 2021.
Please check back here regularly, as updates will be posted at www.brandonu.ca/pcag .
And…Follow us on Twitter @BU_Geog and get up-to-date #PCAG2021 info!

FOSS4G 2021
2021-09-27 00:00 - 2021-10-02 23:59
About the FOSS4G
FOSS4G means Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial.
The conference
Organized by OSGeo and with more than 15 years of experience, this international anual gathering of location enthusiasts is the largest global gathering for geospatial software.
FOSS4G brings together developers, users, decision-makers and observers from a broad spectrum of organizations and fields of operation. Through six days of workshops, presentations, discussions, and cooperation, FOSS4G participants create effective and relevant geospatial products, standards, and protocols.
Our Vision
We are living on difficult times and the role of FOSS is essential for the sustainability and development of many day to day activities. From simple family communication to the development of new platforms for education and geoscience, FOSS today is the key to success.
Innovation
We understand and cherish the importance of FOSS4G for giving voice to the daring new ideas and developments in perfect harmony with the pillars of what open source for geospatial is, and thus we promise workshops, talks and keynotes that will provoke your mind and give you hope for a better future.
With that in mind, join our mailing list for new updates on how our event is shaping up!
OSGeo
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation was founded to support and build the highest-quality open source geospatial software. The foundation’s goal is to encourage the use and collaborative development of community-led projects, data development and education. Many projects live under the OSGeo umbrella.
Geolibres
Geolibres is a non-profit organization that has the goal of promoting the creation and use of geographic data with free access, the adoption of geographical standards, and the use of free software and open source for the development of geospatial information capabilities through actions that encourage and strengthen the geomatic community.
Geolibres gives the legal framework to some of the geospatial communities in Argentina, such as Geoinquiet@s Argentina (OSGeo local chapter), OSM Argentina and GeochicasOSM.
Focus on Buenos Aires
The 2021 edition will be focused for the first time on South America with the close collaboration of the GeoLibres Association in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
A FOSS4G with focus on the City of Buenos Aires undoubtedly marks a milestone in the calendar of international conferences. The city is a cultural benchmark in the region, making it a great opportunity to bring the free software communities of South America closer together. This approach will help strengthen ties between communities by fostering the exchange of experiences.

BeSpatial Webinar: Work Task and Infrastructure Projects completed with Go360 Dispatch and CrewOps powered by Location Warehouse and municipal data
2021-09-29 12:00 - 13:00
We are recognized as the premier geospatial and information non-profit organization in Ontario. where members share their experiences through networking and program events for the use and integration of spatial data, information, applications and technologies that provide solutions and solve challenges in both the public and private sectors.

AGSI’s Go360 delivers a seamless solution for citizen Call Management, Work & Task Management, Employee & Contractor Management, Estimating & Completed Work Costing and Performance Analytics. Delivered through the Go360 Business Center Suite, Location Warehouse and Municipal Data.

Presenter: Marc Curtis, AGSI
Location: Webinar (GoogleMeet)

GIS-Pro 2021
2021-10-03 00:00 - 2021-10-06 23:59
Participate:
Schedule: Check out the agenda, packed with education
Sponsorship Details Coming Soon
Registration and Venue Details
Young Professional and Student Opportunities
Note that Baltimore is now fully open with no mask restrictions.

Event Schedule

Saturday, October 2: Board of Directors and Committee Meetings
Sunday, October 3: Preconference Workshops and Networking
Monday, October 4: Keynote Address, Exhibition, Breakout Sessions, Networking
Tuesday, October 5: Keynote Address, Exhibition, Breakout Sessions, Networking
Wednesday, October 6: Breakout Sessions, Closing Keynote, Annual Business Meeting

Geospatial Advances to Close the Digital Divide
2021-10-05 11:00 - 17:00
Access to broadband is now a requirement to participate in modern society. The global pandemic exposed the challenges of poor access for unserved and underserved digital consumers. Significant funding from FCC, NTIA, and the CARES Act, coupled with an anticipated infrastructure bill, may provide government agencies the resources needed to fill these gaps. GIS can play a critical role in demonstrating “project readiness” for future grant applications related to expanding broadband access, providing affordability programs throughout a region, implementing connected smart city technology such as Internet of Things (IoT), and coordinating broadband infrastructure implementation projects.
The Michael Baker International team has gained substantial experience in broadband expansion with in-depth broadband planning, program management, and GIS experience for six statewide programs. This presentation will focus on the importance of accurate street address data to support the application of geospatial technologies to identify, validate, and define areas and structures (not just census blocks) that are unserved and underserved and determined to be available for funding. A case study will be provided on the Beaver County, PA – Office of Planning and Redevelopment project which focuses on the field survey of addressable structures, coordination with the public to define areas lacking high speed broadband services and identifying connectivity gap areas for future broadband expansion supporting digital inclusion for all residents in Beaver County.

Explore 2021
2021-10-12 00:00 - 2021-10-13 23:59
Welcome to Explore 2021

We may be virtual, but Planet’s global community is stronger than ever. Embrace change and discover the power of Global Connection.
The past year has underscored how tightly the world is connected. At Planet, we are reminded that – even in troubling times – we draw optimism from our expansive community of users, customers, and partners.
Planet provides the leading web-geo platform with the highest frequency satellite data available and foundational analytics to derive insights, empowering users across the world to make impactful, timely decisions.
Every day, this community discovers novel connections between our data and new applications and solutions that capture insights from daily change on Earth. This will only accelerate with the convergence of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and cutting-edge data fusion techniques.
Meanwhile, as issues like climate change, food security, public health, and conservation take center stage, industry and governments see the need to collaborate and use data to drive economic growth and promote better outcomes for people and nature. Collectively, we’ll need to use the power of global connection to make progress.
Join us as we tackle these big topics at the most ambitious Explore yet.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIs5nG1zGCU]

Measuring Access to Services: International and Canadian Experiences in Rural Analysis
2021-10-13 10:00 - 12:00
(French Below)
The growth of open geospatial data and tools provides new opportunities to map accessibility to services for rural and remote communities.
With comprehensive and comparable measures on accessibility, policy makers have the enhanced ability to put forward informed, evidence-based policies which can improve the quality of life of entire populations. This is also a main objective of major international measurements frameworks, such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
Statistics Canada, together with the Centre for Rural Economic Development (Infrastructure Canada), are pleased to present a new Workshop Series on “Measuring Access to Services: International and Canadian Experiences in Rural Analysis”.
Free Event
Date: Wednesday October 13th, 2021
Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm ET

This workshop is one of a series of strategic discussions aimed at expanding our collective knowledge through concrete examples, across Canada and internationally, on the use of data for rural and regional policy analysis.
As geospatial data stewards, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN) will provide an international perspective on how they have been utilizing open geospatial data to measure access to services in rural areas. The workshop will also feature presentations from Canadian analysts within Statistics Canada and Infrastructure Canada.

French
La croissance des données et des outils géospatiaux ouverts offre de nouvelles possibilités de cartographier l’accessibilité aux services dans les communautés rurales et éloignées.
Grâce à des mesures complètes et comparables en matière d’accessibilité, les décideurs ont une capacité accrue de mettre de l’avant des politiques fondées sur les données probantes qui peuvent améliorer la qualité de vie de populations entières. Il s’agit également d’un objectif principal des cadres de mesure internationaux, tel que les Objectifs de développement durable (ODD).
Statistique Canada, en collaboration avec le Centre de développement économique rural d’Infrastructures Canada, sont heureux de présenter l’atelier virtuel « Mesurer l’accès aux services : Expériences canadienne et internationale dans les analyses rurales ».
Date : Le mercredi 13 octobre 2021
Heure : 10h à 12h (heure de l’Est)
Cet atelier est l’un d’une série de discussions stratégiques destinées à étendre nos connaissances collectives par des exemples concrets, à travers le Canada et à l’international, sur l’utilisation des données pour des analyses de politiques rurales et régionales.
Comme intendants de données géospatiales, l’Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques (OCDE) et l’Organisation des Nations Unies (ONU) fourniront une perspective internationale sur les façons dont ils utilisent les données géospatiales pour mesurer l’accès aux services dans les régions rurales. L’atelier comprendra également des présentation d’analystes canadiens de Statistiques Canada et d’Infrastructures Canada.

Geospatial Career Seminar October 16, 2021
2021-10-16 11:00 - 15:00
Finding a job in geospatial technology can be difficult. Covid-19 is not making that any easier. That’s why GoGeomatics Canada is bringing back our popular Career Seminar to give job seekers the tools and techniques that will put them ahead in their job search.
This online “Zoom” half-day career seminar is designed to give new and seasoned geomatics professionals the tools they need to succeed in the job market. The seminar is particularly focused on those seeking work in GIS, cartography, remote sensing, programming, and other related geospatial fields.
Register here

A Roadmap for Data Across Canada & Data Liberation Matters
2021-10-17 00:00
Two Great Sessions / Présentation de deux grandes sessions ‘A Roadmap for Data Across Canada’ & ‘Data Liberation Matters’

About this event

The Society’s learning opportunity this month includes a pair of sessions from the Canadian Open Data Summit, that we are pleased to re-present for all our members and subscribers.
(Français ci-dessous)
A Roadmap for Open Data Across Canada is presented in English by Steve Czajka, Manager, Smart City at City of Mississauga. It will lay out a vision for how all orders of government across Canada can start to align on data. Subtopics will include: data governance, unified data platforms, open data, data trusts, and blockchain. This presentation is also a call to action for all cities across Canada to collaborate on data, as it underpins our economic transformation and represents an enormous asset.
Data Liberation Matters is presented bilingually by Chantal Goyette, Directrice, Développement des données et rapports chez Dirigeant Principal des données, Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada, and Lorna Jantzen, Assistant Director of Data Partnerships at the Chief Data Officer Branch of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). It will demonstrate how Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has made public its aggregate and micro (disaggregated) data to inform the general public and the research community. IRCC data, refreshed monthly, have long constituted the majority of top most accessed data on Canada’s Open Data Portal. The aspiration of the presenters is to promote further liberation of data collected by the federal and provincial public services, and the integration of interdepartmental and interjurisdictional data for more effective public policies, monitoring policy outcomes, and greater transparency for stronger public trust in public institutions.
Register today to learn, connect, and respond to these powerful calls to action!
When: 12 to 1 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday October 28th, 2021
***
(English above)
La Communauté vous propose ce mois-ci deux sessions tirées du Sommet canadien des données ouvertes. Une belle opportunité d’apprentissage pour l’ensemble de nos membres et abonnés·es.
A Roadmap for Open Data Across Canada sera présentée en anglais par Steve Czajka (Manager – Smart City, Ville de Mississauga). Il présentera sa vision sur la collaboration des différents paliers gouvernementaux sur la question des données. Il abordera également les thèmes de la gouvernance de données, des plateformes de données unifiées, des données ouvertes, des fiducies de données et de la blockchain. Cette présentation est également une invitation pour les villes canadiennes à passer à l’action et à collaborer sur les données qui sont un élément clé à notre transformation économique.
Data Liberation Matters sera présentée de façon bilingue par Chantal Goyette (Directrice, Développement des données et rapports pour Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada) et Lorna Jantzen (Directrice adjointe des partenariats de données, Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada). Elles expliqueront comment Immigration, Réfugiés et Citoyenneté Canada (IRCC) a rendu ses données agrégées et désagrégées disponibles pour informer la population générale et la communauté scientifique. Les données d’IRCC, mises à jour mensuellement, ont longtemps fait partie des données les plus consultées sur le portail de données ouvertes du gouvernement du Canada. Les présentatrices souhaitent promouvoir un meilleur accès aux données des services publics fédéraux et provinciaux et une intégration plus efficace des données interministérielles et de juridictions multiples. Ces pratiques serviront ultimement à mettre en place des politiques publiques plus efficaces, favoriser un meilleur suivi des résultats, assurer une plus grande transparence et augmenter la confiance du public envers les institutions publiques.
Inscrivez-vous dès aujourd’hui pour apprendre, réseauter et passer à l’action !
Quand: Le 28 octobre de midi à 13h (heure de l’est)
Où: Vidéoconférence Zoom (le lien sera envoyé directement aux inscrits·es)

Geospatial World Forum 2021
2021-10-20 08:00 - 2021-10-22 17:00
Geospatial World Forum 2021 is back with a mission to re-connect the supply and demand of geospatial capabilities across economic sectors through solution-based thematic programs, high-level roundtable meetings, workshops, trainings and various after-hours social functions.
GWF 2021 will be hosted in a unique conference venue located on the magnificently beautiful national heritage site at the Amsterdam North Sea Canal. The buildings of Taets are part of the industrial heritage on the Hembrug terrain, a monumental industrial terrain dating from 1897. The terrain has grown into a creative hotbed, to which craftsmanship and sustainability are central. On the Hembrug terrain, you can eat and drink, shop, visit a museum or take a look at the craftsmen studios. We look forward to hosting you in this spectacular industrial and historic venue!
