(last updated May 14th 2007)
This group was established in 1993 to improve information flow between users of Geographic Information Systems on the North Coast of NSW and to promote coordination and management of spatial data sets being captured in the area.
Early
history
The group first came together after concerns were expressed by staff of the then Department of Conservation and Land Management and Greening Australia, about the lack of communication regarding the handling of resource information, particularly spatial data, for GIS applications
.The group's main aims are promotion of communication and coordination between users of GIS's and spatial information to improve management of our natural and human resources.
Area
of coverage
The group covers the area from Grafton, north to the Queensland border (and beyond), west to the tablelands. at the time of formation it included fifteen local government areas, Tweed, Byron, Lismore, Ballina, Richmond River, Casino, Kyogle, Grafton, Maclean, Copmanhurst, Nymboida, Ulmarra, Tenterfield, Severn and Glen Innes. Some have since been amalgamated.
The group comprises representatives from government agencies, local councils and authorities, Catchment Management Authorities, community groups, universities, private consultants and any other existing or prospective users of GIS's, GPS's and spatial data generally.
Meetings are held every six months (usually the Wednesday of the second week of May and November) and they are well attended with a broad cross section of the above groups ((see our meetings page). Invited speakers have addressed areas of interest such as assets capture with GPS, satellite imagery and development, digital photogrammetry and airborne GPS. Recently, an online forum has been set up to facilitate member interaction for those who find it hard to make it to meetings (see the home page for details).
The group has spawned a sister group in the Mid North Coast area, covering from Coffs Harbour to Port Macquarie and west to incorporate the New England areas of Armidale and Tamworth. This group, the Mid North Coast/New England GIS Users Group, held its inaugural meeting in February 1995. Meetings were originally held on a six monthly basis, spaced to be out of sync with our group. The MNC/NEGISUG accordingly held meetings in February and August. Unfortunately, meetings have been rarely held in recent years and many members stay in touch using our online mailing list (see it here).
The data standards sub-committee has developed a pro-forma for use with digital data. This ensures that the spatial information is more easily and correctly understood and used especially if passed on to third party users. The pro-forma has been endorsed by the Commonwealth through the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group (AUSLIG) as the basic level for recording details on spatial data sets has also been promoted through the newsletter of the Australasian Urban and Regional Information Systems Association Inc. (AURISA) - which generated enquiries Australia wide. Parts of the pro-forma have been utilised in the development of the new metadata standard.
Several
editions of our newsletter "Spatial Information News" have been
produced, providing a summary of activities, contacts, articles, issues, policies
and projects in the spatial industry. Unfortunately this was discontinued
in 1999 yet it has been replaced by an online forum...(see above).
Further information can be obtained by contacting the members of the organising committee as detailed on the "thumbnail sketches" page. Copies of the pro-forma are on the appropriate page and past newsletters and minutes can be made available.
Please feel free to contact the committee members should you have any inquiries. The committee is not elected and runs on interest and effort! On this basis, please understand that we will do whatever we can to promote spatial data use and communication, but sometimes it takes a little time!
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