PositionIT e-News

GIS, GPS, surveying and spatial applications in Southern Africa

Issue 73, March 2016

Addressing SA's voter registration crisis

by Clare van Zwieten, EE Publishers

With looming local government elections and the country in an uproar over the current political leadership, it is immensely concerning to find the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) found wanting by the Public Protector... (more)

Final call for academic papers for Geomatics Indaba 2016

by Clare van Zwieten, EE Publishers

Researchers working in the surveying, geospatial, mapping and remote sensing fields are encouraged to submit their abstracts for the peer-reviewed academic track of Geomatics Indaba 2016 before 1 April 2016.... (more)

Integrating geospatial technologies for automation

by Gavin Schrock, xyHt

In this interview, Ray O'Connor from Topcon talks about automation, integrated solutions, smart phones, and the coming era of continuous representation of reality. Like previous interviews with Ray, the conversation began with... (more)

US asteroid-mining act is dangerous and potentially illegal

by Dr. Gbenga Oduntan, University of Kent

An event of cosmic proportions occurred on 18 November 2015 when the US congress passed the Space Act of 2015 into law. The legislation will give US space firms the rights to own and sell natural resources they mine from... (more)

Geospatial subsidence hazard modelling at Sterkfontein Caves
by Hamid Ashraf and Frederick Cawood, University of the Witwatersrand

This article covers a GIS approach to identifying hazardous areas at the Sterkfontein Caves. It makes a contribution to risk assessment of land with shallow caves underneath it. The aim of the study is to ensure public safety in a concentrated area frequently... (more)

Challenges for connected cars

Information from Destinhaus

Connected cars will soon become just as important as the mechanical design of cars, but the challenge is the development of competing standards. In this market, there are solutions being proposed by auto OEMs, wireless providers and software... (more)

Monitoring seismic data in the Himalaya
by John Stenmark, Independent writer and consultant

Following April's major earthquake in Nepal, massive efforts focused on providing aid to victims and survivors. Working behind the scenes, a small team of scientists scrambled to secure perishable data that could both explain how the quake occurred and help people prepare... (more)

Demystifying GIS for non-GIS professionals
by Nic Klopper, 1Map Spatial Solutions

This article provides a short introduction for non-GIS professionals on how to use a geographic information system (GIS) effectively for planning and management. GIS is a term that one is likely to hear in the conversations of the technological elite, or those... (more)

The need for data custodians to capture meaningful metadata
by Helena Fourie, Department of Rural Development and Land Reform

Have you ever tried sourcing a dataset to solve a spatially oriented problem? In order to determine which of the available datasets will be most appropriate for solving your specific problem, it is necessary to filter all available datasets through pre-defined acceptance... (more)

Tools that enhance aerial imagery workflows

Information from LizardTech

There are several powerful data manipulation and enhancement features built into LizardTech's GeoExpress software that can improve user efficiency when working with raster imagery and lidar data. This article looks at some popular and also under... (more)

Revolutionising the education of mining engineers

by Helena Smit, University of Pretoria

The Department of Mining Engineering at the University of Pretoria has made giant strides in hybrid education models with the initiation of the Kumba Virtual Reality Centre for Mine Design. This centre marks the start of a new era in the education of students... (more)

A starting point for infrastructure management in Africa

by Andre Lombard, ST Group

A telecoms company in Lagos gets a wayleave to trench fibre in a downtown sidewalk and everything is going fine until a competitor cries foul. The contractor has severed an existing line. A concerned citizen informs the call centre about the potential road... (more)

Geospatial round-up

by Pierre Potgeiter