GEO Business 2014: a Major New Geospatial Event

Diversified Business Communications UK has announced the launch of GEO Business, a major new geospatial event incorporating an international trade exhibition, a conference and a hands-on workshop and demonstration programme. GEO Business 2014 is scheduled to take place at the Business Design Centre in London on 28 and 29 May 2014.

Organised in collaboration with the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and The Survey Association (TSA), this new launch is the result of an extensive industry consultation process which has highlighted the need for a joint co-operative event that involves all the major players representing the geospatial community.

GEO Business intends to establish itself as the key event for the industry, where everyone involved in the gathering, storing, processing and delivering of geospatial information will be in attendance. With this aim in mind, Diversified Business Communications UK has acquired interests in GEO North and GEO South from PV Publications (PVP), ensuring that GEO Business will be the only geospatial trade show and conference to be held in the UK.

PVP’s managing director Stephen Booth stated they have been talking to Diversified and its exhibition director Versha Carter for some time now and he believes that it is the ideal organisation to carry forward geospatial events in the UK. He said that this move is in the best interest of not only exhibitors but the very many professionals who have attended the shows over the years.

With the UK’s three leading survey institutions and associations not only behind this event but also having been instrumental in the launch, plus the agreement that PVP has made with Stephen Booth, which will see continued support for his highly respected magazines, combined with the enthusiasm demonstrated by the leading manufacturers and suppliers in the industry, PVP is very confident that they have the capabilities to deliver an outstanding event that will showcase the industry to everyone who relies on spatial data, said Versha Carter, group exhibition director for Diversified Business Communications UK.

Focal Point for Geospatial Community

Graham Mills, president of The Survey Association (TSA), the UK’s only trade association for land surveyors, welcomes the launch. He commented that GEO Business will provide an important and much needed focal point for the geospatial community. TSA is at the forefront of raising standards, educating clients and raising the profile of its members and their services. GEO Business will be an excellent platform to accelerate the work of TSA.

This view is supported by the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (ICES). This event, for the first time, brings together the principal leading organisations in the surveying community in a truly collaborative spirit. The conference and exhibition will define and showcase the pivotal role of the surveyor in these exciting times of BIM development, said Alan Barrow, president of ICES.

RICS is very strongly committed to the further strengthening of the UK geospatial-geomatics community along with its colleagues at ICES and TSA. RICS sees the success of GEO Business as being a critical element of how the industry moves forward. They are on the cusp of great change within the industry and with great change comes great opportunity. An opportunity to work together for the benefit of their members and to provide a constant message of professionalism, standards and quality to clients, decision-makers and of course to newly qualified surveyors. This is a great industry and GEO Business has the potential to make it greater still. RICS expects all its members to give this new initiative their full support said Chris Preston, chair of the RICS Geomatics Professional Group Board.

For more info visit the GEO Business website.