1Spatial speaks on the move to GDA2020 Datum
“I think we’re going to save it for a rainy day.” – GIS Officer for a Local Government Council
I started in the Sales Consultant role in July this year. One of the first things I do when starting in a new company is contact my clients and introduce myself, finding out their history with us and how we help them with their needs. In doing so, a common topic occurred at almost every council unlike any other – moving their data to GDA2020. When asking what’s involved with the move, it was usually met with a laugh – “What isn’t involved with the move!” Still studying GIS at University, I thought to myself… “Isn’t it just a transformation? I’ve done that in an assignment before in ArcMap.”
Oh how wrong I was.
I learned that there are so many aspects to cover when scoping the move to GDA2020, and this was quite overwhelming for a lot of organisations. Digging deeper into the legislation and nature of moving to the new datum, I was starting to see that people were feeling a pressure that it is something that they are going to have to deal with, whether they liked it or not. I figured that being 3 years into the datum being available, someone somewhere had already done this, and that we can learn from them. Despite some case studies I had found on what to consider for moving to the new datum, I couldn’t find anyone who had made the move and lived to tell the tale.
So where does that leave everyone? Where’s a Guinea pig when you need one??
I figured this is a great opportunity to run a free webinar for not only my clients who are needing to know more, but also anyone that deals with spatial data that is affected by the move.
So what do we cover in the webinar? There are so many industries affected by moving to a new datum - how do we provide information that is helpful for everyone in 45 minutes? What I was finding in my conversations is that while everyone had overall the same issue, everyone’s situation was slightly different in terms of systems used, departments and integrations. With a silver bullet solution impossible, we had to focus on what the main issues were going to be and what to look out for, so that people were best prepared for the move. This included what FME tools to use, aspects such as height transformations & legacy systems that are in place.
The webinar allowed for a greater conversation to open up around people’s experiences & concerns around moving to the new datum. It was clear that it is not as available as it should be, considering the nature of the topic. Registrations to the webinar were surprising, not only in the numbers but also the fact that not only were government (Federal, State and Local) interested but also people from Environmental, Mining, Transport and many other industries. The feedback for the 1Spatial team on the webinar was fantastic,as 1Spatial covered off on:
- Emphasising the importance of knowing your data and your organisations needs.
- What authoritative data was already available.
- How to use FME to do the transformations.
- Guidance on pitfalls that customers had experienced, particularly regarding height.
Case studies showing how 1Spatial worked with customers to provide GDA2020 transformation solutions.
We were thrilled to see people felt they had a better understanding of the move and what’s involved. Hopefully the conversation keeps going and this can be as stress free as possible.
Want to know more and how we can help you migrate your data to the new datum? Download our on-Demand webinar –Aligning your work flow for GDA2020 | 1Spatial