Yesterday I and about 25 other people representing the membership of the Geomatics Industry Association of Canada (GIAC) spent the day talking to civil servants, Members of Parliament, and Deputy Ministers and Ministers about a budget submission that GIAC has prepared asking the Government of Canada to fund a multi-sector National Geomatics Strategy and a National Imagery Program.
We had several teams and the team I was on talked to policy advisers at the Ministry of Public Safely, Department of National Defence, and five Members of Parliament representing most parties. I was very impressed with everyone we met, they listened and took notes, and either offered suggestions about whom to talk to or offered their support.
I talked about geomatics and infrastructure, specifically the utilities and telecommunications industries, and the abysmal data that we have about underground infrastructure. One of our team talked about geomatics and health, another about imagery technology, and another about lidar and other geospatial data sources.
Geo-awareness in Government
Among the people we talked to the level of geo-awareness was interesting. Everyone knew about GPS and applications and devices for getting directions. All were aware of Google Map. Several had a geology or surveying background and so had a pretty advanced understanding of geomatics. Most were aware of the use of geospatial technology to support election campaigns. We were very surprised by one MP who was entirely familiar, in detail, with what GIAC is proposing, because she was involved in a similar geomatics policy effort in one of the provinces.
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