Colin Bray New President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland
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Colin Bray New President of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland

Professionals in the built environment will need to focus on the opportunity technology and innovation brings to stay relevant and help Irish society meet its needs according to the newly elected president of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland, Colin Bray.

Bray is the CEO and Chief Surveyor of Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi), the national mapping agency. He is also the first Geomatics or Land Surveyor to become president of the Society, which represents more than 5,000 Chartered Surveyors working and practicing in Ireland.

In his address to the AGM of the Society, Bray said he wanted the SCSI to play its role in reinvigorating and supporting Ireland in achieving a balanced, sustainable and rewarding environment of growth and development.

“We must ensure that we are advocating on behalf of the broad SCSI family as a strong professionally body and that we are addressing the issues of Dublin where there is clearly strong growth and opportunity and the regions where that growth is not as obvious or being felt evenly on the ground”. He pointed out that one of his priorities would be to focus on membership engagement and how the different disciplines within the Society can work together to effectively manage our built environment.

Tradition and innovation

Bray also pointed to the OSi’s proud mapping tradition; the body was established in 1824 and by 1846 had carried out its original survey of Ireland at a map scale of 6 inches to 1 mile. This meant that Ireland became the first country in the world to be entirely mapped at such a detailed scale.

In recent years the OSi has moved from being perceived as a provider of printed maps to one which creates dynamic mapping solutions in response to the rapidly changing demands of service users. It is currently preparing to merge with the Property Registration Authority and the Valuation Office into a single entity, Tailte Éireann.

Not surprisingly change management and technological innovation features prominently in Mr Bray’s objectives for the SCSI and its members in the year ahead.

“To remain relevant we must be adopters of technology which can free us up to provide additional and enhanced support to all our stakeholders. Terms such as ‘laser-scanning’ and ‘city and landscape modelling’ will I hope become part of all our professional vocabulary in the immediate future” he said.

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