How Can Establishing a UAV Fleet Help Your Business Take off?

Best Practices in Drone Mapping

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or 'drones') are increasingly becoming the solution of choice and have indeed proven to be a disruptive force across a multitude of industries in the past decade, including for the geospatial surveying profession. But will drones really provide all the answers to your mapping challenges? We interviewed five pioneers in the field to take us beyond the hype, explaining the lessons they have learned from the frontline and sharing their insights on the best ways to introduce UAVs into your business model. What type of work can UAVs be used for? UAVs can serve mapping and... (read more)

2019-09-05 09:59:05

The Role of Surveyors in the Evolution of BIM

Building information modelling (BIM) is becoming more commonplace within construction sectors globally, combining technology with improved collaboration to better manage projects and give them the best chance of complying with time and budget constraints. However, the BIM life cycle and efforts to espouse it are almost futile if surveying is taken out of the equation or, more realistically, brought in too late. It can be good to have a structure that is successfully using BIM to be delivered on time and within budget, but if it or any of its components are in the wrong position the consequences can be... (read more)

2019-10-02 10:25:44

7 Ways Cities Benefit from Digital Twins

According to the World Economic Forum, the current 4.2 billion people living in urban areas will increase by 2.5 billion by 2050. This increase means that cities and supporting ecosystems must deliver on housing and infrastructure needs while also addressing quality of life, economic growth, safety and security, and resiliency. Assets are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate-related forces: rising sea levels, drought, seismic activity and violent storms. Cities seek solutions to help them both minimize chronic stress on current infrastructure and mitigate, respond to and recover from the acute shocks of earthquakes, floods and other catastrophic events. This article highlights... (read more)

2019-09-24 01:04:53

New Platform Connects Construction and Surveying Professionals

Publishing company Geomares, the name behind the leading international magazines 'GIM International' and 'Hydro International' for geospatial and hydrographic surveying professionals, is now expanding its activities with the launch of 'Geo4Construction'. This new online platform brings together construction engineers and geospatial professionals in order to disseminate surveying knowledge in the Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) industry and pave the way for the digital future. The AEC industry cannot escape the digital transformation, which is creating a growing need for geospatial knowledge. Highly accurate measurements are crucial throughout the built-environment life cycle, and that is precisely where surveying skills come into play.... (read more)

2019-09-13 11:05:26

Andrew Evans

Andrew Evans is a specialist in application engineering and high-precision positioning who has been with Topcon for over ten years, supporting projects to adopt technology to facilitate collaborative working and automate workflows. His technical specialisms include all elements of mass data capture and analysis, including augmented reality and BIM processes relating to survey. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineering Surveyors. (read more)

2019-09-09 10:25:51

Intergeo 2019: Special Focus on Young Talent

For the first time, companies, start-ups, students, school pupils, universities and associations are coming together at Intergeo 2019 to create an interactive area focusing specifically on careers, young talent, education and innovation. “The Campus Geoinnovation brings school pupils, students and graduates together with companies, public-sector employers and universities, creating a platform for specialist discussions about career opportunities and job profiles in the geospatial industry. Universities and institutes will also showcase themselves and their graduate courses. The campus is the ideal place to make new contacts and fill specific positions,” says Christiane Salbach, managing director of DVW GmbH. Pitches, hackathons and... (read more)

2019-09-05 09:45:05

3D is the New Normal in Switzerland

Mapless Topographic Products Are the Future

Switzerland is unique in that it is still the only country to have switched entirely to 3D for its national object-oriented topographic database. As users increasingly discover the advantages in terms of new workflows and services, nobody regrets leaving the 2D era behind. According to Swisstopo, the extra dimension creates no extra costs – only extra benefits. It took the Swiss Federal Office of Topography (Swisstopo) ten years to build an object-oriented topographic database in 3D, with the last objects having been completed in 2019. “Nothing is excluded now; everything you can think of is available in 3D. Even the... (read more)

2019-08-29 09:42:38

Mohsen Kalantari

Dr Mohsen Kalantari is a senior lecturer in geomatics and associate director at the Centre for SDI and Land Administration in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He teaches BIM, land administration systems and spatial analysis. He is also co-founder of Faramoon, a start-up focusing on the automatic generation of building models from point clouds. (read more)

2019-08-22 10:51:59

Tell the World: We Are More than Scan-to-BIM

Building information modelling (BIM) will be a growing opportunity for the surveying and spatial industry, providing we focus more on adding value to BIM and concentrate on what we can offer to other industries thanks to BIM rather than merely preparing it. Opportunities in digital twins, smart buildings, smart infrastructures and smart cities require more than just BIM as data. The surveying and spatial industry will not benefit from this growing market without fully realizing the BIM market opportunity and providing advocacy, leadership and education in BIM. Scan-to-BIM is promising but even more lies beyond With the increasing availability of... (read more)

2019-08-22 10:03:30

Mark Bew

Dr Mark Bew MBE, chairman of PCSG Ltd., was a key contributor to the UK government’s Construction 2025 strategy. Prior to this he chaired the UK BIM Task Group, which delivered the world-leading BIM Level 2 programme. Mark also led the development of the government’s Digital Built Britain Strategy (BIM Level 3). (read more)

2019-08-22 09:59:54