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SpatialNews Press Release
Merger of Industry Associations in Spatial Information in Queensland
The Queensland Spatial Information Industry Group (QSIIG) and the Association of Consulting Surveyors
Queensland Limited have resolved to merge their memberships and activities and are currently working through
a change management process to finalise the merger by the end of this year.
QSIIG was formed in late 1997 to provide a wide focus for interaction with the Queensland Spatial Information
Infrastructure Council -- a predominantly Government council which was setting strategy for the spatial
information industry in Queensland. At that time, no wholly private sector organisation in the spatial information
industry had the breadth of activity and membership required for that interaction.
In three years of high level interaction with the Council, the Group has achieved significant strategic change in
the industry and government. Individual achievements include :
-- a change in Council focus from an emphasis on the public sector and product design and production, to
development and enhancement of institutional arrangements for industry growth through private sector
involvement
-- a general recognition that data needs to be made available to enable industry growth and subsequent 90%
reduction in the cost of DCDB data and associated increase in the number of users
-- the establishment of the QSIIC Information Office in Treasury Department to facilitate the development of
institutional arrangements
-- adoption of a set of business principles by government which creates a formal method of private sector input
to the development of a truly inclusive Spatial Information Industry policy and accommodates a viable private
sector component of the industry.
The Association of Consulting Surveyors, Queensland was established in 1972 to provide a business focus for
private practitioners in what we now term "traditional surveying" activities. In that time it has built up a solid
organisational base and service delivery for providing business support and business lobby services to its
members.
In recent years, its members have begun to broaden their activities beyond the purely capture segment of
spatial information and the organisation has been active in those broader areas as well. Recent initiatives
include :
-- the establishment of a business incubator company to search out opportunities for spatial information activity
in large scale projects and set up trading entities to commercialise those opportunities
-- set up of the first trading activity and establishment of contacts overseas to licence the same concepts
-- recognition for intellectual property for the authors of plans and spatial information products generally and set
up processes to collect royalties for their use
-- had a significant role, through its federal body, in the establishment of the Action Agenda for the Spatial
Information Industry
-- secured government funding for a Spatial Data Standards research project
Commonality of membership of the two organisations has become significant in the past year. In addition, QSIIG
has grown to the point where a more formal structure and business entity was required to support its activities
and maintain the enthusiasm of the past three years.
Mark Watt, Co-convenor of QSIIG since its inception, said today "What we are doing is merging the activities
and membership of QSIIG and ACSQ under a new name of Spatial Business Queensland Limited to combine
the strengths in providing business support and lobbying for the commercial interests in spatial information
businesses in Queensland."
"The benefits of this proposal can be summarised as becoming more influential, more effective and having a
broader and larger membership base from industry. Both groups have strengths which combined would create
an effective and viable organisation." he said.
The spatial information industry in Queensland will now have better regional representation and stronger
linkages into the information technology sector as a result of this merger.
In welcoming the move on behalf of his members, Brian Hillam, Chairman of ACSQ, said "QSIIG has built up
some unique skills and relationships in a remarkably short time. At the same time ACSQ has built a solid
foundation which can be used to build on that success for the whole of the spatial information industry."
"We believe that there should be a united voice for business in the spatial information industry and that it is
logical to merge the activities of the two private sector organisations in the industry. We are hopeful that this
move may also prove a catalyst for the many professional groups in the spatial information industry to get
together and work with us to make Queensland a leader in spatial information."
It is anticipated that the merger will be complete by the end of this year and the new organisation's early
priorities for the new year will include :
-- nomination of representatives to the QSIIS Council and its committees
-- identification of issues for the Council and its committees
-- input to industry measurement and planning projects currently in proposal stages
-- growth of the Land Space Data & Resources web portal to reflect its recent acceptance by an industry wide
assessment panel as the Spatial Information Portal for Queensland
-- input to the Action Agenda for the Spatial Information Industry and the relationship of the new organisation to
the national scene
For more information, contact Jack de Lange jdelange@csq.org.au
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