September 2023 #113
CAN GIS MAKE AI SMARTER MAKING YOUR FIRST AI PROJECT A SUCCESS UNLOCKING THE POWER OF AI IN SPATIAL
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• EDITORIAL
Focusing on AI in Surveying and Spatial
T
he evolution of artificial intelligence has rapidly increased in recent years.
Emerging technologies have
transformed and streamlined the way many industries operate as they learn new ways to innovate and increase their opportunities for development.
lawful – respecting all applicable laws and regulations ethical – respecting ethical principles and values robust – both from a technical perspective while taking into account its social environment.
While the impacts of these new
As we move forward into the era
technologies will have innumerable
of advanced AI applications, careful
benefits and will shape the way that
consideration will need to be given
many industries work in the near
to ensure AI developments continue
to make better-informed decisions,
future, developments in the use and
to meet ethical standards in New
solve problems and innovate, as
ethics of AI have also started to gather
Zealand and overseas while positively
many multinationals move towards
pace around the world.
contributing to the advancement of
building or customising domain-spe-
our industries.
cific generative AI models trained
There are many international guidelines and legal frameworks now
In this spring edition of Survey +
in place to ensure that human rights,
Spatial we’re focusing on the theme
privacy laws, sustainable develop-
of artificial intelligence and its
of the Artificial Intelligence Research
ment and many other aspects of AI
impacts on the surveying and spatial
Association examines large language
development are included in future
sectors, from new technologies to
models and, along with the aid
technologies. The OECD’s AI Principles
real-life applications, and we take a
of Chat GPT, suggests some areas
Overview focuses on these key
look at some of the intriguing new
of application in the survey and
principles: Inclusive growth; sustain-
developments in this rapidly expand-
spatial sectors, as well as advising
able development and wellbeing;
ing sector.
on the best techniques to effectively
human-centred values and fairness;
with their own data and purpose.
1SpatialUK’s Sebb Lessware
Jannat Maqbool, Executive Director
incorporate them.
transparency and explainability;
discusses the role of AI models and
And in our legal column this
robustness, security and safety and
harnessing the power of artificial
edition, Stephanie Harris outlines
accountability.
intelligence for the spatial industry.
some of the benefits, challenges
The EU has published an Ethics
Andrew Maher and Dave Mackenzie
and considerations of current and
Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, which
of Aurecon Digital Group explore
potential AI applications in the legal
states that trustworthy AI should be:
the benefits of AI for organisations
sector in New Zealand.
•
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 1
Contents September 2023
SURVEYING+SPATIAL
ISSUE 113 SEPTEMBER 2023 A publication of Survey and Spatial New Zealand, Tātai Whenua. ISSN 2382-1604 www.surveyspatialnz.org
EDITOR Rachel Harris surveyingspatial@gmail.com All rights reserved. Abstracts and brief quotations may be made, providing reference is credited to Surveying +Spatial. Complete papers or large extracts of text may not be printed or reproduced without the permission of the editor. Correspondence relating to literary items in Surveying+Spatial may be addressed to the editor. Papers, articles and letters to the editor, suitable for publication, are welcome. Papers published in Surveying+Spatial are not refereed. All correspondence relating to business aspects, including subscriptions, should be addressed to: The Chief Executive Survey and Spatial New Zealand PO Box 5304 Lambton Quay Wellington 6140 New Zealand Phone: 04 471 1774 Fax: 04 471 1907 Web address: www.surveyspatialnz.org Email: admin@surveyspatialnz.org
Distributed free to members of S+SNZ. Published in March, June, September and December by S+SNZ.
DESIGN & PRINT MANAGEMENT GOODHERE – www.goodhere.nz hello@goodhere.nz
TO ADVERTISE Email: admin@surveyspatialnz.org or contact Tara Ranchhod +64 4 471 1774
1
Editorial Rachel Harris
5
New Version AI Andrew Maher, Dave Mackenzie
7
Unlocking the Power of AI in the Spatial industry Seb Lessware
10 Navigating the Landscape of Large Language Models Artificial Intelligence Researchers Association
5
7
13 Making your first AI project a success Matt Lythe 15 Celebrating Excellence – 2023 Awards Evening
13
18 Kairūri Community Trust Stirling Scholarship 2023 18 The Imapct of AI on the Industry Samuel Thompson 20 Representing S+SNZ Hydro at FIG Simon Ironside 24 Survey and Spatial New Zealand 135th Conference 28 Legal column 30 S+SNZ Members Honoured
18
32 Managing in the information age Edward O’Leary 34 News 38 University Happenings Richard Hemi 40 Effect of Order
38 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 3
MEET YOUR NEW COMPANY KNOW-IT-ALL:
NEW VERSION AI Andrew Maher, Group Managing Principal, Eminence, Digital & Innovation & Dave Mackenzie, Managing Principal, Digital Aurecon Group
B
Or is it? Advancements in generative artificial intelligence (AI) are showing signs that tacit knowledge is fast emerging as an opportunity. While the current version of ChatGPT already analyses explicit knowledge and structured (quantitative) data, the multimodal Chat GPT-4 (currently only available to subscribers) is also able to make sense of tacit knowledge, provided it's been digitised. Impressing early users, Chat GPT-4 can extract insights and patterns from large collections of unstructured data. This includes sources such as email, images, videos and instant messages. In addition to simplifying coding, it can rapidly create a website and even pass exams with flying colours.
ritish-Hungarian philosopher Michael Polanyi aptly
So, if generative AI can successfully translate tacit
summarised his theory on human knowledge and
knowledge to explicit, what impacts and opportunities
intelligence in seven words: "We know more than
will this create for knowledge workers?
we can tell." His theory, later called Polanyi's Paradox, suggests that
The brains of an organisation
humans possess a vast amount of knowledge on how to
Tacit knowledge is one of a company's most valuable
perform tasks that we cannot explicitly explain, like face
intangible assets, besides goodwill, brand recognition and
recognition or driving a car in traffic. You can't really put
intellectual property rights. Intangible assets account for
your finger on it or compose the right words to describe it,
90 per cent of the value of all S&P 500 companies.
but you just know that you know! Long before today's workforce started to worry about getting replaced by robots and machines, Polanyi was confident that human knowledge was “beyond our explicit understanding” and could not be codified.
Tacit knowledge is the intelligence, wisdom, intuition and insight that people gain through their personal and professional experience. It's not codified or written down and is difficult to put into words, rendering it a risk for every organisation. Why? SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 5
Because every time a person leaves an organisation, their
corporate knowledge' and break down knowledge silos.
tacit knowledge leaves with them.
Others, like PepsiCo, are using Starmind to make tacit
Google for example, has acquired more than 200
knowledge sharing and collaboration easier, fast-track
companies in the quest to expand its internet empire to
innovation and decision making, while enabling contribu-
different industries. Imagine how much tacit knowledge
tors to gain recognition by showcasing their expertise.
has been accumulated through multiple acquisitions and over two decades in the business.
And a growing list of companies, including IBM, are using generative AI to capture, analyse, and share data
The ability to capture who and what your business
from emails, chat logs, and customer feedback to extract
is – all the information, employee experiences, contexts,
insights and patterns that can be used to improve customer
and background stories of every decision made within
engagement and sales performance.
the organisation from the very beginning – is beyond powerful to both build insights and fast-track solutions.
Smart people to make smarter decisions
Imagine leading a team or an entire organisation with the
You can't outsource great ideas to AI, but it can definitely
help of an AI who knows the ins and outs of your business
help you develop them.
history more than you do. The ability to brainstorm with it, collaborate, debate, and make important decisions.
The ability of generative AI to not merely unlock but preserve tacit knowledge will, in the words of management consultants Arthur D Little, "allow smart, experienced
Cleaning up the mess
people to make even smarter decisions".
Engineering has often been described as messy work as
It will equip knowledge workers with greater cognitive
it draws on both explicit and tacit knowledge, together
capacity to do and engage more with the problem they
with both structured and unstructured (quantitative and
are trying to solve, providing the ability to make sense of
qualitative) data sources, which include spreadsheets and
mountains of info and data. Librarians could move from
databases, reports, drawings, plans, and emails.
schools to offices as the importance of tagging, storing
The 'messiness' of engineering has historically presented
and understanding how data should be collected and
organisational challenges since tacit knowledge is difficult to transfer, and the analysis of large volumes of unstructured data has been beyond the realm of possibility – until now. Technological advancements are driving many companies to build or customise proprietary, domain-specific generative AI models that are trained with their own data and for their own purpose. By turning the technology inwards, these companies
structured will increase.
If we see AI only as a threat, it will never be our ally.
are rapidly learning how to analyse their
Of course, as with any other technological advancements, the rise of generative AI is accompanied by cries of negativity side by side with the opportunity. According to Goldman Sachs' economists, 300 million jobs could be automated by AI platforms like ChatGPT and 18 per cent of work globally could be computerised, all of which could lead to job losses. This would probably only be a short-term impact since innovations
unstructured data and encode tacit knowledge to enable
such as this have historically created more jobs in the long
better insights and intelligence, ultimately gaining a
run – but only if we embrace it.
competitive advantage. Multinationals such as Bosch and Siemens are creating
The key for organisations is to get ahead and be a leader in this space, otherwise those who can't and won't
AI-based solutions to capture the tacit knowledge of
compete will eventually lose. If we see AI only as a threat,
their engineers and technicians. By analysing data from
it will never be our ally.
manuals and repair logs, they are extracting patterns and
Knowledge workers will always remain valuable in roles
insights that can be used to improve the efficiency and
that require critical thinking, creativity and human interac-
effectiveness of maintenance and repair processes.
tion. Skills such as decision-making, problem-solving and
NASA is using generative AI to capture and share the expertise of its space exploration workers. It's analysing data from images, videos, and mission logs to improve the design and performance of spacecraft. Haleon (previously GSK) as well as Saatchi & Saatchi are using the AI-powered search engine Lucy to 'liberate 6 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
stakeholder engagement require human judgment and experience, and are difficult to automate. The winners will be the organisations that use generative AI to augment, not replace, humans to more expeditiously make more informed decisions, solve problems and innovate.
•
UNLOCKING THE POWER OF AI IN THE SPATIAL INDUSTRY Seb Lessware, CTO, 1Spatial UK
F
irst of all, this piece was not written using an AI tool.
tage is that it has just learnt the patterns from the data
I did use a spelling and grammar checker though,
it has analysed so it can be a dangerous combination of
so what's the difference? Fundamentally, they both
eloquent, coherent and completely incorrect.
automate tasks to make humans more efficient, which has
For writing an article the input and output would be
been how technology has benefited (usually) us through-
language, which is what much of the recent AI hype is
out history.
focused on due to the impressive and uncanny ability of
The difference with AI approaches is that rather than
large language models (LLMs) made famous by ChatGPT.
being explicitly programmed by a person (for example:
For the spatial industry, the core data we manage is
“'For each sentence, check that there is a verb.”), the
mostly geometry rather than natural language, so these AI
patterns are inferred from analysing huge amounts of text
techniques are only tangentially useful.
and basing it on those previous examples. What emerges
Language models can still be useful in our industry
from this training though is not a recognisable set of rules
and for more than just report writing, for example, at
that a human could read, but a 'model' which is a digital
1Spatial, we have used language models for matching the
web of connections and connection strengths that, given
schema of one data model to another, which is needed
an input set of values, generates an output set of values.
when collecting and integrating data from many different
The advantage of an AI model is that it can generate
suppliers who each have their own variation on how that
hugely subtler and more complex outputs; the disadvan-
data is structured and named. SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 7
To make it as easy as possible for these data providers,
we have used AI to generate a 'risk of leaking' score for
we allow them to supply their data in their own schema,
water pipes, using data about past leakages and the
and 1Spatial teams work out the mapping which converts
surrounding topography. Predicting pipe leakage can
their naming and structure to the central data model.
direct preventative maintenance to those assets with the
Each time we do this we train an AI model with the mapping so that next time the AI model can suggest the
highest risk. To do this, we analysed information about the leaked
mapping for a new set of data. It's never 100% perfect and
pipes that was expected to have an influence on the
needs a human to review and complete it, but it is a great
change of leakage: This meant not only the pipes'
performance boost to a human task.
attributes (such as material and age) but also their spatial
However, it is the ability to apply AI techniques to spatial
relationships such as proximity to topography such as road
data that will have the most impact on our industry. It can
polygons or railway lines. The historical leakage informa-
be used at all parts of the spatial data lifecycle, from data
tion was used to train the model which could generate
capture through to analysis and usage.
a leakage risk score for all pipes in a network which can
For data capture one of the obvious opportunities is
then inform preventive maintenance priorities.
to generate structured vector data from unstructured
Like with any new technology, the automation provided
information such as images or point clouds. There have
by AI can streamline human tasks and free up staff to focus
been automated tools to help with this for a while but
on the really difficult and high-value processes. There are
it's a classic problem where the automation only goes so
opportunities for automation and streamlining using AI
far and generates messy data which requires cleaning up
anywhere in the data lifecycle.
via human interpretation based on knowledge of the real world.
Success, however, depends on using training data that is clean and well-structured – otherwise the results can
Up to now, this information is usually used for change
be biased or just plain wrong – and on having strong data
intelligence to identify where humans need to focus on
management tools and processes to take this auto-gen-
updating data, but machine learning could improve this to
erated data, validate it and integrate it into your existing
actually apply real changes to an existing vector dataset.
datasets and processes.
An example of AI and machine learning at the other
If this is successful then rather than threatening jobs,
end of the data lifecycle is using the vector data for
the outcome is likely to be higher throughput and more
decision support for operational purposes. At 1Spatial
frequently updated data.
8 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
•
Navigating the Landscape of Large Language Models Artificial Intelligence Researchers Association: Website: www.airesearchers.nz Email: hello@airesearchers.nz
Introduction In recent years, large language models (LLMs) have emerged as a potentially disruptive tool applicable to many professional domains. Here, we explore the different types of large language models and let ChatGPT itself suggest some areas of application in the survey and spatial sector. We also provide a few essential do's and don'ts for effectively incorporating them into your work.
Understanding Large Language Models LLMs are advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems built on deep learning algorithms. They have the remarkable ability to understand and generate human-like text based on
understand a little about how LLMs
models can be fine-tuned on
work. The vast datasets of text that
domain-specific data. This customis-
they are trained on enables them to
ation improves their performance in
learn the patterns and connections
particular tasks, aligning them with
between words and phrases. They
your needs.
then excel at making predictions next. This makes them very good at
Do's and Don'ts of Using Large Language Models
producing text that is natural and
There is great value in becoming
believable. However, most LLMs
familiar with LLMs, because they can
are not connected to databases
help make many tasks more efficient.
containing factual information, and
However, there are also many
thus the statements they produce
reasons for caution:
about which words are likely to come
are notorious for containing factual errors. Think of an LLM as an eloquent and persuasive friend, but not necessarily one who can be always relied on. There are two major phases to training an LLM: pre-training and fine-tuning.
Do's: ● Do Stay Informed: Stay updated with the latest developments in the field of large language models to harness their new capabilities effectively. Try the tools for yourself: free versions of general-purpose LLMs can be found at chat.openai.
the input provided, thanks to their
Pre-training: In the initial phase,
com or bard.google.com.
extensive training on vast datasets.
large language models are exposed
● Do Ensure Data Quality: If you
These models are powered by neural
to massive amounts of text data from
plan to fine-tune models for your
network architectures comprising
the internet, without any specific task
profession, use high-quality,
hundreds of billions of parameters,
in mind. This phase helps them learn
relevant data to enhance their
allowing them to capture intricate
the statistical patterns of language
accuracy and applicability.
patterns in language.
(leading to grammar, syntax and
● Do Maintain Ethical Standards: Ad-
general language understanding).
here to ethical guidelines, privacy
Fine-tuning: After pre-training,
regulations and professional codes
To better identify their strengths and weaknesses, it is helpful to
10 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
Potential application in survey and spatial sector Here are some ChatGPT-generated suggestions (lightly edited) for how LLMs can be used in the survey and spatial sector. Remember: LLMs produce ostensibly reasonable text without fact-checking, so take these suggestions as just that, rather than fact. Are these suggestions reasonable? We’ll let you be the judge. Land Development and Urban Design:
● Automated Document Cre-
and sustainability practices. ● Policy Analysis: Analyse policy
ation: Generate cadastral survey
● Automated Documentation:
documents to understand and
documents, deeds and land
Use language models to gen-
stay compliant with changing
titles based on standardised
erate reports, design proposals
regulations affecting resource
templates, ensuring consistency
and documentation for urban development projects. ● Public Engagement: Create
management.
and reducing paperwork. ● Land Parcel Analysis: Analyse
Civil Engineering Surveying, Positioning, and Measurement:
textual data to identify land
easily understandable summa-
● Survey Data Interpretation: Use
parcel ownership patterns,
ries of urban design plans and
language models to interpret
historical land use and property
projects to engage the public
textual descriptions and notes
value trends.
and solicit feedback.
from field surveys, assisting
Spatial/GIS Sector:
● Site Analysis: Analyse
in the extraction of valuable
● Geospatial Data Queries: En-
textual data related to land
insights and patterns.
able natural language querying
parcels, zoning regulations, and
● Quality Control: Automate the
of geospatial databases and GIS
historical context to inform site
identification of discrepancies
software, making spatial data
selection and design decisions.
or anomalies in survey data,
more accessible to non-experts.
Resource Management:
ensuring the accuracy and
● Map Labeling and Annotation:
● Environmental Impact Assess-
integrity of measurements.
ment: Use language models
Use language models to
● Technical Support: Create
automate the labelling and
to automate the analysis of
natural language interfaces for
environmental impact reports,
surveying tools, allowing users to
identifying potential issues and
interact with equipment and data
● Urban Planning: Analyse textual
using plain language commands.
data to identify trends in urban
suggesting mitigation strategies. ● Natural Resource Management:
annotation of maps based on textual descriptions
Cadastral Surveying:
development, demographic
Analyse textual data related to
● Boundary Dispute Resolution:
shifts and land use changes,
resource usage, conservation
Assist in the analysis of legal
helping city planners make
efforts, and regulations to
descriptions and land records to
informed decisions.
optimise resource allocation
resolve boundary disputes
Note: ChatGPT’s American spelling has been changed by a human editor. of conduct when handling sensitive data related to your field. ● Do Provide Context: Clearly specify
● Don't Overlook Human Expertise: While language models are power-
measures that align with your
ful tools, they should complement,
profession's standards.
the context and objectives when
not replace, your professional
seeking assistance from language
expertise.
models to receive relevant and accurate responses. Don'ts: ● Don't Blindly Trust Outputs: Avoid unquestioningly accepting model-generated information. Always validate critical data and
implementing robust data security
Conclusion Large language models have the
● Don't Ignore Bias: Be aware of
potential to revolutionise many
potential biases in language models and data, and make efforts to mitigate bias in your field-specific applications.
professions by automating a variety of tasks. Early adopters of this technology will be rewarded with improved efficiency, so time spent becoming
● Don't Neglect Security: Protect
familiar with the tools and approach-
conclusions through traditional
sensitive data from unauthorised
es relevant to your profession will
methods in your profession.
access and security breaches by
likely pay off.
•
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 11
Can GIS make AI smarter? Matt Lythe, Managing Director, Lynker Analytics
S
ome might say AI or more specifically machine learning is nothing new to Geographic Information
Systems (GIS). They are partly correct as algorithms like cluster analysis and regression have been used for decades by GIS professionals. However, machine learning can also take geospatial analysis to new heights. In this post I will explore the potential for GIS data to train and build better machine learning models. I will look at some practical examples of this and discuss what lies ahead in the field of artificial intelligence. A GIS contains a wealth of infor-
mation classified by location. These geographical “systems of record” make for high quality training inputs for machine learning models. In particular - structured geospatial data such as land parcels, roads, land use and asset locations are excellent resources to guide and inform
to detect and document geometries
Machines within a fully geospatial
of buildings, roads, crops, excavated
context.
land… or to detect and classify assets and their condition. Going one step further, with targeted
Machine learning researchers and data scientists haven’t necessarily understood the inference already
training, deep learning can also detect
inherent within a GIS that could lead
and generate new attributes against
to powerful new inputs and feature
these geometries for example condi-
engineering for machine learning
tion of buildings or surface material.
models. The geographic relationships
The use of artificial intelligence in
between objects have often been
conjunction with GIS has already had a
ignored or handled poorly e.g. simply
big impact on location centric appli-
tagging with a latitude, longitude.
cations such as traffic monitoring and
Now we can turbo boost our machine
management, micro mobility services
learning models with geospatial
and ride sharing.
analytics.
More recently, some of the less struc-
Rather than acting alone, an AI
tured data captured by organisations
system that uses the inter-connected
such as raster data, video, voice and
feature relationships held within a GIS
text are now being used by machine
will potentially perform better. An AI
learning models to generate insights
when applied within a spatial context
and predictions. At Lynker Analytics
may help us understand why assets
we have been applying and refining
or systems that work in one place fail
these techniques in the detection and
in another. It will work well when
classification of a wide range of target
processing large volumes of structured
classes across multiple industries
data such as observations from
including marine, conservation,
instruments in the field, or attributes
agriculture and transportation. Check
from a feature layer and understanding
out some of our recent blog posts to
their influence on a situation.
earn more about this work. So - in the sub-field of computer
Applications of this joined up approach include predicting the
vision it is true to say that AI systems
probability of congestion or accidents
Machine learning, at its core, is
are benefiting greatly from GIS data
in transport networks, water quality or
composed of approaches that learn
streams while in turn geographic
vegetation condition across differing
from data rather than being explicitly
information systems themselves are
land use classes through to forecasting
programmed. Deep learning—so
the direct beneficiaries of machine
sales in a retail setting. It can also
called because it uses “deep” artificial
learning by way of generating data
help us understand the locational
neural networks that are composed
with higher fidelity, frequency and at
aspects that influence more difficult
of hundreds of connected layers of
a lower cost.
to identify associations that may have
machine learning models.
algebra has enabled something of
What about in the field of predictive
future consequences. Programmes
a revolution in the processing of
analytics – where there is in all proba-
like Microsoft’s AI for Earth is a good
structured and unstructured data of
bility more business and operational
example of where these intersecting
all types – including geospatial. For
value for organisations?
technologies are now delivering new
those working in GIS, this means new
In this domain GIS users have been
insights and value.
solutions are now available to address
using AI for some time. Regression
The application of AI within a
problems previously considered too
analysis, kriging, hot spot analysis
spatial context is just getting started.
resource intensive or costly.
and clustering have been in use
It is not about producing human level
for decades. But we’re still in the
intelligence – that is some way off - but
for example to accurately detect objects
early days of applying more complex
it is fast becoming apparent that these
and categorise pixels from imagery at
machine learning models such as Deep
connected tools when used in unison
scale. Neural networks can be trained
Neural Networks and Gradient Boosted
can create better decision systems.
Deep learning has created the ability
12 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
•
Making your first AI project a success Matt Lythe, Managing Director, Lynker Analytics
T
stage you should define what success looks like and how it might be measured. It might be your goal for example to generate more accurate and timely information about the condition of your assets. That’s great but you should also specify the parameters by which you will measure those outputs. It is equally crucial to profile the status quo process so you can clearly understand whether or not a machine learning based approach might be better.
2. Know your data
he opportunities to introduce Artificial Intelligence
Machine learning models drink in data – the more the bet-
(AI) into your business can sometimes seem limitless
ter. You need to be intimately familiar with your existing
and even daunting. Where do you start? From reduc-
data assets and how you can bring them together into a
ing repetitive work, making things more efficient, develop-
processing pipeline for machine learning. It’s important
ing new solutions or improving customer service the field
the data scientist in the team has a strong familiarity with
of AI, and in particular machine learning, holds promise for
the data including its validity, currency, any biases that may
every organisation.
exist and the relationships between all data elements.
However, getting a project up and running and achiev-
Once in place or at least documented, they should be able
ing success is not straight forward. Drawn from first-hand
to advise on the achievability of the goal given the veracity,
experience helping clients through this process we have
depth and diversity of the data available. Often, we find
condensed down what we consider to be some critical
there might be an essential missing piece of the puzzle
success factors that are important to making your first AI
that requires a new survey or data set to be acquired. If
project a success.
that’s the case, stop, take stock and consider a preceding
1. Define the project goals
project to build data readiness.
This is crucial, too often we see stakeholders or enthusias-
3. Select your algorithms
tic champions in an organisation viewing the technology
This is where you should seek expert advice. There are
as the end goal and not the business outcome. Its import-
many algorithms that may have potential application to
ant to understand the business problem you are attempt-
the data and the business problem. If you don’t really have
ing to solve and who the beneficiaries will be. At this
much of an idea about the relationships that may be of SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 13
value in your data then unsupervised learning might be
enough to deliver the stated project goals. There are
the approach to take. This approach helps find previously
accuracy measures such as absolute accuracy, recall and
unknown patterns in data sets without pre-existing labels.
precision that can help you decide whether your models
Most industrial machine learning uses supervised learning,
are ready for release into the business.
and this is in most cases the best approach especially for your first AI project. The two main branches of supervised learning are: Regression – often used for forecasting and prediction and Classification used in areas like image recognition, natural language processing, customer retention and identity fraud. Within each of these sub fields there are a host of algorithm options and parameter settings that need to be considered by your data scientist or data science solution partner.
At this stage also knowing what level of accuracy is needed is very important. If you think about it, we don’t usually put a numerical measure on how well a human makes a particular decision. But we demand our models are 95% or (often) more accurate in their decision making. This of course is reasonable and realistic in many situations but there is always a trade-off between cost and effort to train and refine your models versus the accuracy needed to deliver a business ready AI system. The reality is the team should understand and agree what level of accuracy is needed to solve the business problem. Overall, in our experience these are the most important
4. Validate your models
factors in making your first AI project a success. There are
Key to the process is turning all of the hard work and plan-
many other things to consider such as governance, where
ning into defensible results. Seemingly straight-forward,
you will store your data and run your models, data privacy
but this might in fact be the most challenging part of the
and ethics, how will you visualise your results and what
project. The idea here is making sure your models are not
to do to maintain your model once it’s in production. We
over-fitted to your training data as this means the models
will discuss some of those topics in later blogs, but we
will not work well against the wider data population and
have found these four areas are especially crucial to good
therefore in the real world but also that they are accurate
project outcomes.
14 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
•
Celebrating Excellence – 2023 Awards Evening
A
s we commemorated the remarkable 60-year jour-
centrepieces, the venue transformed into a captivating
ney of the Otago School of Surveying, it felt only fit-
vision of sophistication and charm.
ting that this year’s Conference and Awards ceremony
Every year, the Awards are divided into two distinct
found its home in the heart of the city and the very Universi-
categories: the Stream Awards, which are handpicked
ty where the journey began for some of our members.
by the Streams themselves, and the Premier Awards,
The Awards evening - a glamorous black-tie affair
carefully chosen by a Judging Panel consisting of
proudly sponsored by our long-term sponsor, GSI Part-
esteemed Land and Property Professionals. The quality of
ners - unfolded within the elegant atrium of the business
entries was exceptionally high, presenting the Panel with
school. Adorned with enchanting lights and exquisite
a formidable challenge in making their selections.
THE WINNERS OF THE 2023 S+SNZ STREAM AWARDS ARE:
subdivisions and regularly presents seminars and papers on all aspects of Unit Title Subdivision. Neale has also been a prominent leader within Consulting Surveyors of NZ and a Cadastral Survey Licensing Board member since 2013. He is currently the chair of Cadastral Surveyors Licensing Board and has been heavily involved in several very significant changes and reviews undertaken by the Board.
The McCrae Supreme Award for 2023 and Professional Excellence in Cadastral Surveying awards were awarded to Neale Faulkner. Neale is a leader and educator for the profession. He gained his registration as a surveyor in 1989 and is current-
For outstanding service to the Land Development and
ly a practicing licensed cadastral surveyor, senior surveyor
Urban Design industry, Bruce Sinclair was recognised
and former principal of a cadastral surveying company
for his successful survey and land development projects in
based in Auckland. He has considerable experience with
Christchurch and the South Island for more than 50 years,
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 15
and as such, he is highly regarded and respected as a land development consultant.
The final stream award was awarded to Simon Ironside for outstanding service to the Hydrography industry. Simon has always been a passionate advocate for hydrography and Survey and Spatial NZ and has made Mike Cutfield was this year’s very well-deserved recipient
a significant global contribution to the profession over the
of the Engineering Surveying Award for Outstanding
years. His international involvement with the hydrographic
Service to the Industry. Mike has managed some of the
commission enables young professionals to get involved
largest infrastructure projects in New Zealand over the last
with the work of FIG. Nationally and internationally,
10 years including the Waterview Tunnels, Warkworth to
hydrographers have benefited from his involvement in our
Puhoi Motorway and the City Rail Link. On top of all this,
profession.
he also provided 9 years of service as Engineering Stream the panel for the Certification of Engineering Surveyors.
BOGLE YOUNG PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR AWARD
For professional excellence in the Positioning and
Our well-deserving winner of the Young Professional of
chair for Survey and Spatial as well as being an assessor on
Measurement industry, Nic Donnelly was recognised, primarily for his leadership in the emergency management response to Cyclone Gabrielle. He was also heavily involved in the recovery from other events. Nic has a long history of involvement in the P&M stream and plays an international role as chair of WG2 (positioning) of Commission 5 for FIG.
16 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
the Year Award, Géneviève Abrey, is a rising star within the Survey profession and is already making her mark on the industry as both a professional and as an inspiration to many Young Professionals. She has significantly contributed to both the New Zealand and South African surveying profession both through her professional role and as a volunteer.
TECHNICIANS PROFESSIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
CONSULTING SURVEYORS NZ LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE AWARD
The inaugural winner of the CSNZ leadership award has been a member of the division for over 20 years. He is a director of a successful multi-disciplinary consultancy where he has been the managing director since 2010. His leadership skills have also shone through for CSNZ, where This year the Technicians Professional Excellence Award was presented to Darryl Wymer in recognition of the significant contribution he has made to Survey and Spatial NZ as a senior lead member of the Survey and Spatial Engineering Surveying Certification pilot program as both as a successful candidate in the pilot and as a
he has been on the management committee for more than 10 years and where he was the chair from 2019 – 2022. This year the CSNZ Leadership Award winner was Carl Fox.
2022 CADASTRAL SURVEY OF THE YEAR AWARD
team assessor in the ongoing program. Darryl is also a member of the Technicians Division Leadership Team and represents the division in the Engineering Stream. He is an outstanding example of the technical profession in his use of cutting-edge technology in his current role as Tunnel Survey Manager for the Link Alliance delivering the City Rail Link Project to Auckland.
S+SNZ PROJECT EXCELLENCE AWARD The Cadastral Survey of the Year Award recognises the outstanding cadastral surveys which have been carried out by cadastral surveyors over the past twelve months. The winner of this award was Ben Smith for DP 572823.
EXAMINATION AWARDS Percy Dyett Award This award recognises the best land development engineering candidates in the Professional Entrance The S+SNZ Project Excellence Award celebrates the achievements of our top surveying and spatial organisations and showcases the finest projects we have to offer.
Examinations as part of the process of qualifying to be a Licensed Cadastral Surveyor. This year’s Award Recipient is Benjamin Power.
The joint winners of the Project Excellence Award for
Maurice Crompton Smith Award
2023 are WSP, Waka Kotahi, Toitū Te Whenua Land
The second exam award is the Maurice Crompton-Smith
Information New Zealand, Beca, Aurecon, and Harrison
Memorial Award for the best set of projects for a Certificate
Grierson for their Digital Improvement Project.
of Competency. This year, the winner is Nicki Shaw.
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 17
Kairūri Community Trust Stirling Scholarship for 2023
C
ongratulations to Samuel
Artificial Intelligence on the Survey-
Thompson who has won the
ing and Spatial Industry”.
inaugural Kairūri Community
The scholarship has been made
Trust Stirling Scholarship for 2023.
possible by the Stirling family
Sam is a fourth-year student at Otago
through a generous donation from
University studying a Bachelor of
the Ian and Margaret Stirling Fund
Surveying with honours.
in 2021. The purpose of the fund is
The scholarship included a $2500
to provide scholarships/grants to
cash prize plus support to attend
support those individuals seeking
the Annual Survey and Spatial NZ
careers or further education in
conference held in Dunedin a few
the survey and spatial sectors and
weeks ago.
for those who have financial or
At the conference, Sam got the opportunity to share his wonderful submission titled “The Impact of
other barriers to pursuing tertiary education. A big congratulations to Sam!
• ESSAY
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Surveying & Spatial Industry
images are at a level where they
Samuel Thompson
emulate creativity. This is a major
T
are nearly undiscernible from real pictures, furthering the potential for misinformation. What this represents is an ability for artificial intelligence to successfully curveball. It has long been predicted
he advent of artificial intelli-
free, open-source tools such as the
that AI would take over mundane,
gence (AI) has always loomed
infamous ChatGPT reaching head-
repetitive tasks that are already large-
as an inevitable consequence
lines globally. This media attention
ly automated. This includes physical
of technological development. Some
has more often than been negative,
tasks, such as factory line assembly,
view it as an incredible opportunity,
with topics including plagiarism,
and digital ones, such as basic coding.
with potential for optimization in
misinformation, and discriminatory
These roles being automated is large-
innumerous applications. However,
bias to name a few. When AI was a
ly good for professionals, as it allows
some see artificial intelligence as a
novel, mostly useless tool, these pit-
more time to focus on big picture,
threat which will reduce the need
falls had little significance. However,
complex endeavours. Creativity in AI
for employees and drive unem-
as it became more applicable, its
could see it taking over these parts of
ployment. The Survey and Spatial
potential for harm grew.
the job too.
industry is in a unique position
Perhaps the most concerning
In years to come, we may see AI
with a combination of manual and
consequence of effective AI is its
deliver legal adjudications, or give
digital processes, neither of which
accurate image generation. In
medical diagnoses. It is not unrea-
is immune to AI. In fact, no career is
March, an AI generated portfolio
sonable to say it may also be able
off limits.
of images won the Sony World
to design subdivisions, determine
In recent months and years, what
Photography Awards, with the
boundary positions, or interpret
was once science fiction has come
judges having no idea of is falsified
survey network statistics. Likewise,
frighteningly close to reality, with
nature. Meanwhile, AI generated
robots with knowledge of field
18 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
practices may be able to complete
just beginning to appear in surveys.
harder. The knowledge of spatial
surveys without a technician. There
Prior to that, it was a steel band
data and networks, engineering,
already exists a robot made by
and theodolite, and prior to that,
land tenure, and data presentation is
Boston Dynamics which is capable
a chain. GPS would not exist until
invaluable in today’s workplace, and
of using a Trimble total station – the
1978, and not in a useful form to
their intersection uniquely occupied
future is not as far away as it seems.
surveyors (a receiver that wasn’t the
by surveyors.
What, then, does the role of a
size of a truck) until the turn of the
Looking back, it is clear that the
surveyor or spatial scientist look like
millennium. As these advents came
answer to new technology is not
in the coming years and decades? It
to the profession, many surveyors
to resist, but to adapt. The skills of
is in times like these that the Māori
surely thought that their livelihoods
survey and spatial are as valuable as
whakataukī “Ka Mua, Ka Muri” rings
were at risk.
ever, and in high demand. AI is not
true: walking backwards into the
History goes to show that instead
to be feared, but to be embraced,
future. The meaning of this is that in
of yielding, surveyors adapted. Field
like EDM and like GNSS, as a tool in
order to progress, we must look to
crews have shrunk, from five or more
the surveyor’s toolbox. By learning
our past for guidance. In particular,
to one or two, but internationally
to harness its potential, the survey
the past of the surveying profession.
there is a huge demand for spatial
and spatial profession will only
A mere 50 years ago, EDM was
experts. We worked smarter, not
grow stronger.
•
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 19
Representing S+SNZ Hydro at FIG
Simon Ironside is a cadastral surveyor working with Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). He is a member of the Hydrography Stream Leadership Team and has been the S+SNZ representative to the Fédération Internationale des Géomètres (FIG) Commission 4, Hydrography since 2004. Here, Simon tells us about how he got into surveying and some of the work he’s done with FIG. Tell us about your background and how you got into surveying?
got a job as a chainman with a land
had already made the transition to
development company in Columbia,
hydrographic surveying and were
subdividing land into residential lots.
enjoying it, I also decided to take on a
Our dad was a registered surveyor. He
It was fairly hard work, cutting lines,
new challenge. I moved to Aberdeen
carrying gear, digging holes, banging
in 1980 to begin my hydrographic
in pegs and stakes (I even learnt
surveying career.
registered as a cadet with the Christchurch firm of Davie, Lovell-Smith and then moved south to Invercargill where he worked for the Southland County Council and subsequently as the town planning officer for Invercar-
how to throw a chain) in hot and that cold beer after work made it all
Survey party, Libya, June 1975
worthwhile.
I worked in the industrial offshore
humid conditions but the first sip of
Dad moved again, transferring to
sector for 10 years before deciding
the firm’s London office and the fam-
it was time to return home to New
ily settled in Surrey, south of London
Zealand. I began as an offshore
where I got a survey assistant job
surveyor working in the UK, Norwe-
with a surveying firm based in West
gian and Danish sectors, moving rigs
Byfleet, Engineering Surveys Ltd (ESL).
from one drilling location to another,
I was fortunate to travel all over the
undertaking site surveys at drilling
UK with them and also worked in the
locations, positioning platforms on
What has your career looked like up until today?
Middle East, in Libya, Iran and Jordan.
the seabed, undertaking pipeline
The work, although varied, was
inspection surveys and worked on
mostly engineering survey work. After
various construction and pipelay
When I was 14 Dad got a job as a
a while I realised I wanted to progress
barges. I moved into the office
transportation engineer with an
in my chosen field so decided to
working as a project coordinator for
engineering consultancy firm based
obtain a surveying qualification. As I
another survey firm and then became
in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.
wasn’t eligible for university entrance
a freelance surveyor, working as
The firm, Wilbur Smith & Associates,
in England, I attended the North East
a client representative on several
had undertaken a projected growth
London Polytechnic and obtained a
offshore projects for a number of oil
study for Invercargill City and
higher diploma in land surveying.
and gas exploration companies. By
afterwards offered Dad a job. The
After polytechnic, I returned to ESL but
the time I left I was working almost
family moved to the ’deep south’, and
at that time the new frontier was the
exclusively for BP in their Dyce,
after graduating from high school, I
North Sea and, as several colleagues
Aberdeen, office.
gill City Council. I remember holding the end of the tape or the level staff or digging holes looking for marks with him when he did the odd ‘PJ’. I wasn’t overly fond of maths at school, but those early days in the field obviously made an impression.
20 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
I was required to be a member of ISA (which subsequently evolved into the Spatial Sciences Institute (SSI), the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) and is now the Geospatial Council of Australia (GCA)), so I joined the ISA Hydrography Commission and am still actively involved in its new form as the GCA Area of Practice, Hydrography. It was through the Hydrography Commission that I first became involved with FIG. This is a roundabout way of answering the question of what FIG is. Survey party, Libya, June 1975
Platform ‘topside’ installation, offshore Iran, 2003.
From its website (www.fig.net), the International Federation of Surveyors Information New Zealand based in
(FIG) is the premier international
the Christchurch office about three
organisation representing the
years ago as a cadastral surveyor.
interests of surveyors worldwide. It is a federation of the national member
of years away and was fortunate to
What is FIG and how long have you been involved?
get a job with Trimble Navigation in
Once again, I have my father to
Christchurch. I worked in the hydro
thank for getting involved in the
software development group, testing
professional side of surveying. He
new releases and training users and
was involved with the Southland
agents in Australia and throughout
Branch of the New Zealand Institute
Southeast Asia. Although the work
of Surveyors during his time there. I
was enjoyable, I found I was travel-
started attending Canterbury Branch
ling as much as I had been in Europe
meetings soon after survey school
so decided to return to my cadastral
and after a while I was elected to
surveying roots.
the branch executive and progressed
I arrived back home after a number
I attended the University of Otago
associations (i.e., S+SNZ) and covers the whole range of professional fields within the global surveying, geomatics, geodesy and geo-information community. It provides an international forum for discussion and development aiming to promote professional practice and standards. FIG was founded on July 18, 1878, in Paris by delegates from seven na-
on to become secretary and chair,
survey school as a mature student,
and served as a NZIS councillor (I am
obtained my Bachelor of Surveying
currently on my second stint as S+SNZ
(with credit) and set out on my new
Canterbury Branch secretary). It was
career path. I became a registered
through my time on the Council that I
surveyor while working with the
got involved with FIG, but that wasn’t
Christchurch City Council’s City
my first introduction.
Design unit and then joined a fellow
Around the time I returned home,
ex-Trimble surveyor at the long-estab-
the Institution of Surveyors, Australia
lished Christchurch firm of Middleton
(ISA) began certifying hydrographic
Williams. We parted ways and after
surveyors based on the recognition
a short-lived stint offshore, I joined
of their certification programme by
Eliot Sinclair and Partners, a multi-dis-
the FIG/IHO/ICA International Board
ciplined Christchurch consultancy,
on Standards of Competence for
where I worked for 15 years. The
Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical
work was principally focused on
Cartographers (IBSC). After graduation
land development in Christchurch
from Otago, I applied for, and ob-
and Canterbury. And most recently,
tained, Level 1 hydrographic surveyor
I joined Toitū Te Whenua/Land
certification. In order to be certified,
tional associations – Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and Switzerland – and was known as the Fédération Internationale des Géomètres. This has become anglicised to the International Federation of Surveyors. It is a UN-recognised non-governmental organisation
Platform ‘topside’ installation, offshore Iran, 2003.
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 21
2011 FIG Working Week in Marrakech promoting the S+SNZ bid to host the 2016 FIG Working Week in Christchurch. Simon is third from the right.
(NGO), representing more than 120
tional congresses are held every four
of hotels were damaged/gone, and
countries throughout the world, and
years, with annual working weeks
generally we were not in good shape
its aim is to ensure the disciplines of
held in the intervening years and
infrastructure-wise) the local organis-
surveying and all who practise them
member associations bid for the right
ing committee did a fantastic job, and
meet the needs of the markets and
to host them. The 2010 FIG Congress
we were able to host an international
communities they serve.
was held at the Sydney Convention
conference that many delegates I’ve
Centre in Darling Harbour, and I
talked to since consider to be among
cal work. Each member association
remember a group of us Kiwis (in-
the best they’ve attended.
appoints a delegate to each of the
cluding NZIS councillors), enjoying the
commissions. Detailed information
view over Circular Quay with a beer at
promoting the S+SNZ bid to host the
on the work of the commissions, their
the end of a busy day discussing how
2016 FIG Working Week in Christchurch.
work plans, working groups, semi-
good it was and why don’t we give
Simon is third from the right.
nars, newsletters and publications
it a go. I agreed but thought nothing
Other highlights include the
can be found at https://www.fig.net/
more of it. However, others did and
friendships that are formed and
organisation/comm/. Although I am
the next thing I know I got a call
cemented at FIG events, the chance
a cadastral surveyor, I have been the
from Kurt Bowen asking if I would be
to travel to the different locations
S+SNZ delegate to FIG Commission
prepared to organise a working week
and being involved in the really
4 (Hydrography) since 2004, during
in Christchurch if we were successful.
interesting work being done by the
which time I have been active in
I’d had the honour of organising the
surveying community internationally,
various Commission 4 roles and am
successful 9th South East Asia Survey
particularly the role of surveyors in
currently co-chair of Commission
Conference held in Christchurch in
addressing the effects of climate
4 Working Group 4.3 Mapping the
2007 and the NZIS Council decided
change and achieving the 17 UN
Plastic. I also serve on the FIG Climate
that Christchurch would be a good
Sustainable Development Goals (aka
Compass Task Force.
location for a working week. Mind
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
you, this was before the earthquakes!
Development).
Ten commissions lead FIG’s techni-
What have been some highlights?
Nevertheless, afterwards we decided
2011 FIG Working Week in Marrakech
There have been several, but the
the theme ‘Recovery from Disaster’.
principal highlight for me has been
We were successful in our bid and
How can spatial and surveying specialists get involved and why?
organising the FIG Working Week held
despite the obvious drawbacks (the
By saying yes when asked, by
in Christchurch in 2016. FIG’s interna-
convention centre was unusable; a lot
presenting a paper about the work
that it was a still viable option, under
22 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
you are doing at a working week
their own goals and, in doing so,
or congress, by becoming a S+SNZ
understand the issues they face
delegate through your branch or
and how to address them within
stream. Younger surveyors may think
the shared language and values of
that this is for old ‘grey heads’ like
the surveying and spatial sciences
me and there’s nothing in it for them.
profession.
How wrong you are! FIG has a very vibrant Young Surveyors Network
And finally…
(YSN) whose principal aim is to create
Simon is the recipient of the 2023
an environment that encourages
S+SNZ Hydrography Streams Profes-
the active participation of young
sional Excellence Award for his work
surveyors in the work of FIG, as well
representing S+SNZ and Hydrography
as its 10 commissions. Young New
at FIG. Simon has always been a
Zealand surveyors have been active
passionate advocate for hydrography
in the YSN for many years.
(and S+SNZ) and has made a
New Zealand has a world-class
significant global contribution to
cadastre, a highly skilled work force
the profession over the years. His
with a very low/non-existent level
international involvement with the
of corruption, which are things that
hydrographic commission enables
surveyors in many countries can only
young professionals to get involved
dream of. We can offer support to
with the work of FIG and bring
others less fortunate in achieving
their skills to address the effects of
Simon Ironside at S+SNZ Awards Dinner
climate change while achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Nationally and internationally, hydrographers have benefited from Simon’s involvement in our profession. Congratulations, Simon!
•
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 23
Survey and Spatial New Zealand 135th Conference
A powerful presentation within this theme, was the presentation describing New Zealand’s biggest infrastructure project following the Kaikōura earthquake in 2016. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the northeast coast of the South Island resulting in landslides, tsunamis, and areas of huge ground uplift across the complex fault rupture. The destruction severed key transport links including the Main North Railway Line and the State Highway 1 coastal road that connected Kaikōura with Picton at the
H
top of the South Island. This is a major
olding the annual Survey
governance, diversity, statutory and
piece of infrastructure supporting
and Spatial New Zealand
Landonline reforms.
the journeys of freight, tourists and
conference at the University
Following the Mihi Whakatau,
information around the country, all
of Otago was always going to mean
the traditional Māori welcome, the
essential to keep the country work-
good attendance and this proved to
conference was opened by various
ing. The presentation describes the
be true with the 135th conference.
dignitaries including the Minister for
incredible journey of those involved
Held in Dunedin in early September,
Toitū Te Whenua, Land Information
in the project which was carried out
the conference, along with the 60th
New Zealand the Hon. Damien O’Con-
over the course of the 3.5 years and
anniversary of the University of Otago
nor. Key plenary sessions included an
the valuable lessons learnt that can
School of Surveying was a strong
update on New Zealand activities by
be shared.
drawcard for members, especially
Toitū Te Whenua’s Surveyor-General,
those who attended the survey school
Anselm Haanen.
as students.
Another thought-provoking presentation, reflecting the diversity of
The theme of ‘Marking the Journey,
topics, raised the issue of protecting
Over 350 delegates enjoyed
Hāpaia’ encapsulates the journey of
historical survey features such as trig
taking part in the three-day event
surveying and spatial professionals
beacons from developing technolo-
that offered over 70 presentations
throughout their careers - the journey
gies, changing priorities and cultural
covering a very diverse range of
of a project through to completion,
considerations - a topic that is close to
topics. These ranged from technical
the journey of data from capture to
the hearts of many surveyors.
papers on infrastructure, hydrogra-
deliverables, and the professional
phy, surveying, technology to protect
development journey and of course,
highlight of each conference. A
heritage buildings, GIS, GNSS, LIDAR,
coming full circle back to Otago
black-tie event, it provides the perfect
UAVs and point clouds to name
University’s School of Surveying
vehicle for honouring the impressive
a few, to presentations covering
which will be celebrating its 60th
achievements of members through-
emergency management, subdivision
anniversary.
out the year. Each year the Awards
The Awards Dinner is always a
Dinner is generously sponsored by long-term partner GSI Insurance Partners Ltd led by Glenn Stone. This year excellence in both individual and project awards was celebrated with Neale Faulkner, long-term member and Chair of the New Zealand Cadastral Survey Licensing Board, being the well-deserved recipient of the McRae Supreme Award. Other The Mihi Whakatau (traditional Māori welcome ceremony).
24 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
awards were presented for the Bogle
Young Professional of the Year, the
ing 60 years, held several events
see what had changed. However, for
Cadastral Survey Award, Professional
before, during and after the confer-
many senior members it was a chance
Project Excellence Award, Profession-
ence. This included a well-attended
to see the premises for the first time.
al Stream Awards and the Consulting
60th Anniversary Dinner with past and
Surveyors of New Zealand Leadership
present staff and students in atten-
was current staff members, Richard
Award. We also welcomed two new
dance and entertainment provided by
Hemi and Emily Tidey providing an
Fellows to the institute – Dr Kat Salm
speeches from various deans of the
interesting and light-hearted journey
and Jayne Perrin both received this
school.
back through 60 years of fun and
honour.
A series of workshops were offered
The finale for the Survey School
learning at the school including many
It was fitting that a book detailing
by the school giving people the
the history of one of New Zealand’s
opportunity to attend sessions on
most prolific and well-respected
12d software updates, help with
sponsors and supporters -their contin-
surveyors, Archie Bogle was featured
Landonline capture and cadastral
ued support is critical to the success of
at the university campus. Recently
boundary definition, Hydrographic
the conference. This year we thank our
published, the book titled “The
presentations, the new S+SNZ
Premier Commercial partners GSI Insur-
Measure of the Man” was able to
certification framework, ending with
ance Partners, 84 Recruitment, Global
be purchased by delegates on site.
a Q&A session on cadastral licensing.
Survey and Allterra and the conference
This book celebrating the life of New
The Survey School Tour proved
sponsors, Landpro, 12d Model, Quick-
Zealand’s most exceptional surveyor,
popular with past students and recent
map, PIX4D, Position Partners, Buildmax,
was supported by the Kairūri Com-
graduates. The opened its doors and
Ferntech, Synergy Positioning, Toitū
munity Trust and is proving to be very
welcomed everyone to have a look
Te Whenua, Land Information New
popular amongst S+SNZ members.
around their new premises. For more
Zealand, Otago University, GNS Science
The School of Surveying, celebrat-
recent graduates this was a chance to
Te Pū Ao and Abtrac.
photos and some costumes. S+SNZ is very grateful to all its
•
S+SNZ Bogle Young Professional of the Year Award recipient- Géneviève Abrey. Attendees enjoying the Awards night entertainment.
Neale Faulkner – long term member of S+SNZ and welldeserved recipient of the McCrae Supreme Award and the Professional Excellence in Surveying Award at the Awards evening
Piping in the arrival of delegates to the welcome function.
Attendees enjoying some networking at the welcome function.
Feedback on the conference has been extremely positive and congratulations goes to all involved and we are now looking forward to next year’s event in Napier city in the Hawkes Bay wine country. Further details and information on the Survey and Spatial New Zealand conference can be found at www.surveyspatialnzconference.org.
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 25
Legacy Capture on Landonline is likely to end in early November – don’t leave your transition till the last minute!
I
f you haven’t already done so, migration to the new capture functionality on Landonline should be
done before the end of October – because the legacy capture functionality is likely to be turned off in November. While users will continue to use Legacy Landonline for plan generation and submit and sign, beyond November, survey capture will likely only be accessible in New Landonline. This will include functionality such as import LandXML, mark vector irregular line and parcel capture, supporting documents, survey report, and easement schedule. The new capture application went
Beyond November and into 2024,
the trickier areas of unit titles.
next phase of work to replace plan
This session will also include tips
generation and submit and sign. We’ll
and hints learnt from customer
keep you in the loop through 2024
feedback. Join to upskill yourself
with what’s happening as this work
on New Landonline and those
progresses.
more difficult tasks. CPD points apply. Register here.
Webinars in October In October, we are running a series of
live at the end of March this year.
webinars in conjunction with Survey
Since then, our focus has been to
and Spatial NZ in readiness for turning
bring users on to the new application.
off Legacy capture. These webinars
I am delighted to report that currently
are free for S+SNZ members and cost
more than 50% of new surveys
$34.50 per webinar for non-mem-
created are done in the new capture
bers.
application. That does mean though
6 October – Join LINZ as we dive
that there are still many users who
into some of the more advanced
have yet to migrate across.
functionality including large
I strongly urge these users to try the
18 October – We will dive into
we will continue working on the
To get started visit: https://www.linz.govt.nz/getting-started-survey
rural subdivisions, class D survey,
new capture functionality in October
water boundary capture and
while legacy capture is still live. If you
exception requests. This is a great
have a roadblock during October, you
opportunity to get familiar with
can still jump back to the old app, then
New Landonline before Legacy
send us a message to ask: “How do I
capture is turned off. CPD points
do this?” Don’t leave it till November!
apply. Register here.
Nick Stillwell is the Lead Consultant Surveyor for Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand’s Modernising Landonline programme.
Keep your Citrix version updated to minimise security threats Citrix Workspace is how your work
We recommend the long-term
mend you follow our instructions
connects to Landonline. When you
service release for Citrix Workspace
here to upgrade your Citrix Software
are operating a current version,
as this will reduce the frequency of
to ensure ongoing protection and
we are all protected from security
automated updates.
best performance. More information
threats. So make sure you are using
If your version number is less than
can be found here.
the most up-to-date Citrix Software.
22.2.0.4525, we strongly recom-
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 27
• LEGAL COLUMN
Transforming New Zealand’s Legal Landscape: The Impact of Artificial Intelligence in the Legal Profession By Stephanie Harris, Co-Managing Partner, Glaister Ennor
T
he legal profession in New
review and due diligence processes.
Zealand, much like in other parts
Legal professionals in New Zealand
of the world, is experiencing a
can now identify critical clauses,
significant transformation driven by
potential risks and discrepancies in
advancements in technology. Among
contracts with greater speed and
these advancements, artificial intel-
precision. This is particularly valuable
ligence (AI) has emerged as a potent
in real estate transactions, mergers
force reshaping the way legal services
and other complex legal matters.
are delivered and accessed. This article explores the current and potential applications of AI in New Zealand's legal sector, highlighting its benefits, challenges and the unique considerations that come with its integration.
AI's Footprint in New Zealand's Legal Sphere New Zealand's legal industry, known for its strong adherence to legal principles and robust practices, is finding ways to harness the power
3. Predictive Analytics and Case Outcomes AI algorithms are being used to analyse historical case data and predict potential outcomes based on precedents. This assists lawyers and clients in assessing the likely trajectory of a legal matter, allowing for better
models is crucial to ensure equitable legal outcomes, as New Zealand values social inclusivity and equality
decision-making and resource allo-
under the law.
cation. In New Zealand, where legal
3. Workforce Adaptation
precedents hold significant weight, predictive analytics powered by AI
As AI automates certain tasks, legal professionals need to adapt their skill
of AI. Several areas within the legal
could provide invaluable insights.
profession are witnessing substantial
Challenges and Ethical Considerations in the New Zealand Context
tasks that require human expertise,
While AI presents numerous
Conclusion
changes due to AI adoption: 1. Legal Research and Document Analysis AI-powered tools are revolutionising
opportunities, its integration into
legal research by rapidly analysing
New Zealand's legal profession is not
vast volumes of legal documents,
without challenges:
precedents and case law. This expe-
sets to focus on complex, high-value such as legal strategy, negotiation and client counselling.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping New Zealand's legal profession, enhancing efficiency and accuracy
1. Data Privacy and Security
across various domains. As AI
lawyers to provide more accurate
New Zealand has stringent data pro-
technologies continue to evolve,
and comprehensive advice to clients.
tection regulations. Legal professionals
legal professionals in New Zealand
In New Zealand, where unique local
must ensure that AI systems handling
must balance the benefits of
laws and regulations are integral, AI
sensitive legal information adhere to
automation with the ethical consid-
aids in locating pertinent information
these regulations to maintain client
erations unique to their jurisdiction.
more efficiently.
confidentiality and data security.
By embracing AI responsibly and
2. Contract Review and Due
2. Bias and Fairness
Diligence
AI algorithms can inadvertently
legal practitioners can navigate this
AI's natural language processing capa-
perpetuate biases present in historical
technological shift while upholding
bilities are streamlining the contract
legal data. Addressing bias in AI
the country's legal values and
dites the research process and enables
28 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
leveraging its capabilities to complement their expertise, New Zealand's
principles. The collaboration between
that this is all ready for you by the
article in New Zealand English).
human ingenuity and AI's analytical
time you’ve made a cup of coffee.
More seriously, however, one of the
prowess holds the promise of a more
Sound brilliant? It sure is.
hallmarks of our profession (and
accessible, efficient and just legal system for New Zealanders.
However, as the article says, this
indeed most professions) is diversity
is not without challenges. Lawyers
of thought. Lawyers come from
doing so will need to have at the
all walks of life, different classes
forefront of their mind issues such
of society and varied cultural and
as confidentiality/privacy and
ethnic backgrounds. Their various
“Harnessing the power of AI” might
ownership of information. A client
experiences blend together and
also mean delegating the task of
will understandably not want their
form the profession that we see
preparing this article to a computer
information fed into an AI platform
and interact with on a daily basis.
that was able to do so much quicker
that could then store, learn from,
You may have heard a lawyer say
than I could, which is precisely
and later regurgitate that infor-
something to the effect of “five
what I have done with this article.
mation in another exercise. There
different lawyers will give you five
The above article was produced in
are a number of prominent cases
difference solutions and they would
a total of 5 seconds, and checked
involving these breach of confiden-
all be right”. I strongly believe the
by me over the course of about
tiality issues already playing out in
benefits that AI will bring should
5 minutes! With all the efficiency
overseas jurisdictions.
not come at the cost of this diver-
Footnote 1: Thoughts of a Human
gained, I had the time to pen down
So, attractive as it might be (and
some of my own (human) thoughts
more cost-effective for the client),
on this topic.
my firm has an unwavering rule of
Whichever way you look at it
A number of my partners already
never inputting client data or any
though, there is no doubting this
actively use AI to assist them with
other identifying or confidential
is the future. Lawyers will need
tasks such as document formatting,
information into the AI platform.
to adapt, or be left behind. This
analysis of discoverable documents,
There are certainly solutions to
is particularly so for lawyers of
legal research, and preparation for
this, such as having a bespoke
the future who will enter a vastly
court. Yet, AI can do so much more.
AI platform that sits within our
different (and rapidly changing)
By way of example, AI could build
own IT ecosystem, but that is a
world to that encountered by their
a detailed chronology of events
topic for another day because it is,
seniors. Those seniors needed
much quicker than a junior lawyer
unsurprisingly, not without its own
to be proficient with computer
could. Such a chronology could have
complications.
applications such as Microsoft
sity of thought that we enjoy but sometimes take for granted.
links to the source documents, and
Even with the simple task of
Excel and Word, and navigating
with some careful prompting (the
preparing this article, the human
a research database. I am certain
tech-word for instructions to the AI
touch is still needed. For one, I
that in the not-so-distant future,
platform), identify key individuals
had to go through and change the
lawyers entering the profession will
and highlight events of significance
American spelling (though I could
also need to add to their skill set
to the case at hand. Now imagine
have avoided that by asking for an
proficiency with AI.
•
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SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 29
Two S+SNZ Members Honoured with Fellows Distinction
S
urvey and Spatial New Zealand Fellowships, the pinnacle award, are conferred on members
who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to our organisation. This year, we are delighted to recognise the outstanding contributions of two distinguished individuals from Christchurch: Dr. Kat Salm and Jayne Perrin. Kat and Jayne were both formally honoured at the 135th Annual General Meeting held at the recent S+SNZ Annual Conference in Dunedin. They both enjoyed themselves at the esteemed Fellows Dinner held at the event.
“The bestowing of a fellowship is a recognition of the esteem and respect in which a member is held, as well as a recognition of the contribution that member has made to our body over a prolonged period of time”. Dr. Kathryn Salm, Christchurch Dr. Kathryn (Kat) Salm has had a deep involvement with S+SNZ commencing as the Council’s Spatial Stream lead in 2017. This was followed by becoming the President for three years, the first of those during the difficult Covid year, and most recently as the immediate past President and Chair of the Governance Committee. Kat is deeply respected for her professionalism and depth of experience in the spatial sector which she has successfully used to grow and advance our spatial strategy within this rapidly evolving sector. Kat has been such a strong advocate and supporter of the organisation and its members and has given untold voluntary hours of her time to the betterment of Survey and Spatial NZ and the wider industry. She is seen as an inspiration to many and is very worthy of the award of Fellow.
Jayne Perrin, Christchurch Jayne Perrin’s career in surveying has been all about jumping in the deep end and she has selflessly given time to S+SNZ over the 28 years of her career. She has always said yes and taken on the challenge. As a result, she has made a lot of valuable contributions, in a lot of different places. Whatever the role she was required to perform or that she sought out for herself, or volunteered for, Jayne brought her energy, experience and commitment. Jayne has worked in a wide range of jobs which speaks to her capability and adaptability. She has been an active member in six branches so far and Members who have worked with Jayne hold her in the highest regard and deserving of the recognition of Fellowship.
30 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 31
• BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Managing in the information age Edward O’Leary, CEO, Abtrac Abtrac CEO Edward O’Leary gives his experienced thoughts on managing in the information age. Coming through immigration after a trans-Tasman flight, I stepped up to the facial scanner and got quite a surprise to hear the machine say, “You’ve put on a little weight Ed. Watch what you eat when you’re away next time.” Ok. Ok. That’s a joke. It’s not true. But this is. In a Melbourne café I overheard a manager talking to a supervisor. “I see Vanessa is going to Europe for a hen’s party late next month. Has she applied for annual leave?”
In ‘the old days’ you might have started your career
“No. I didn’t even know. How did you know?”
by doing menial tasks, degree qualified or not. You’d
Then it struck me. This is the information age. This is only
progress, learn more, earn respect, and be given more
possible because it’s the information age. It’s not actually
responsibility. You become a manager. You’d take infor-
about spying. It’s not actually about business. It’s about the
mation passed down from above, decide how to manage
immediacy of information, sharing information, and the
it and below you, people would follow. Being a respected
breadth of information available. And Vanessa’s business
practitioner in your profession and obtaining the promo-
uses it.
tion to higher places is now no longer enough.
Some information is perhaps unwittingly given and used by others, as happened with Vanessa. In fact, we’re all leaving our own digital footprint wherever we go,
It doesn’t work like that today. You need more. You need to understand the information age. Before the information age, management was like a
every day. Google anything and you’ll be offered products
game of snooker, or maybe chess. You had time to line up
and web sites based on your previous searches. And it’s
your move and consider consequences. You got to be a
common knowledge your phone knows where you are
manager because you were good in your chosen profes-
and where you’ve been. It’s the new normal.
sion. Others were better and more senior, and some were
The information age is a blend of human activity and ever evolving technology. It’s changed what we do. It can be helpful. It offers new possibilities. It’s also changed how
subordinates. Everyone played their role. It was the age of compliance. Yes, sir, no sir, three bags full sir.
we do things. Vanessa communicating with her friends is
Not anymore. It's now the age of information. The
doing what people have always done. But how she does
need now is ideas, thinking outside the box and offering
it today is different. So as far as her employer is concerned,
suggestions. Compliance and following orders is no longer
creepy or not, the information is there, and they harvest it
all that’s required.
for their own use. As with any social change, boundaries get realigned. Vanessa hasn’t understood that. The boundaries are also realigned for managers in the information age.
The big thing in the information age, is that control over the distribution of information is at times non-existent. People from anywhere can generate information about anything. Information can spread like wild-fire, true or false, from anywhere, at times because of influence, and
“The company has HR go through everyone’s Facebook each week and we get a report.” My ears pricked up. Wow! Is that creepy or is it what! 32 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
at other times it’ll simply get some traction and become
feared rulers. They 'knew things' others didn’t know and
this week’s internet sensation.
at their peak, they had power that was unchallenged.
Along with the skills of their profession, information
Some still exist today. But in most societies a hundred
age managers need to make extra efforts to stay
years or more ago that role gave way to those with
informed. Information is no longer passed down from
inherited family influence. They were the ones looked
above nor learnt ‘from experience’. The role now is to
up to and they had to be given respect. Everyone else
quickly sift nonsense from fact, shut out noise, and focus
‘knew their place’.
on what’s important. And you need to be careful about
Industrialists were top dogs for a while. Then science
how you communicate yourself, all to keep you and your
knew everything and was going to solve everything.
company in the game.
Scientists are still due the respect they receive, and more
Wilful ignorance takes on a whole new meaning. “We didn’t know” has always sounded a bit lame. It’s now absolutely no excuse.
should be given, I reckon. In recent times those who ‘knew about money’ were the high priests. Anything they said was gospel.
To stay on top and pass on their skills, managers also
While some scramble to rebrand themselves from bean
need to nurture others into roles that only a few years
counters to business advisors, it’s clear that fresh new
ago didn’t exist. New managers need to be brighter, and
players have arrived. Innovators!!
they have to get things done. In the information age, management is more like a
The status now is that everyone in management who’s going places, turns out to also be an expert in managing
game of touch rugby or netball. It’s not just you. Things
in the information age. And anybody who is good in
are happening quickly. You have to react, take a catch,
their profession, with skills people want, coupled with
run flat out, or fend off an attacker. You’ll often have to
information age management skills could be one of the
restart. And you still have to decide what has to be done.
new high priests.
And you still have to be good in your chosen profession. In all sorts of cultures in all sorts of countries, the top dogs in early tribes might have been the strongest or toughest, later there were witch doctors, then there were religious leaders or others regarded as leaders, or
And I can’t wait to see where things go from here. I think the next few years of evolution in business management will be awesome. As long as I’m not replaced by a robot or worse, a smart young kid fresh out from university! •
•
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 33
• NEWS HYDROGRAPHY STREAM UPDATE
Peruvian Hydrographic Office and was the first Seabed 2030 meeting of any kind to be held in South America. There were two full days of talks, with a mix of in-person (60 delegates) and online speakers (over 60) from round the world. They focused on reviewing progress with the Seabed 2030 project and identifying ways of further collaboration and mapping efforts. The meeting also included a ba-
S
ince the last edition, Hydro
It includes the exclusive economic
Stream members have been
zones of 39 countries. The centre is
involved in a number of interest-
hosted at the National Institute of
ing projects and gatherings.
Water and Atmospheric Research in
Ocean mapping on show in Peru:
New Zealand (NIWA) and coordinated
Belen Jimenez Baron, who recently
by a team from NIWA, GNS Science
joined S+SNZ, led the organisation
Te Pū Ao and Toitū Te Whenua Land
and running of the 5th annual
Information New Zealand (LINZ).
meeting of the South & West Pacific
An in-person meeting is a signifi-
Centre (SaWPaC) of Seabed 2030.
cant achievement as the first SaWPaC
Belen is the data manager at
meeting was held in Wellington in
SaWPaC which is responsible for 124
2019. Since then, meetings have
million km2 of ocean from the west
been online which can be challeng-
coast of South America to the east
ing with the range of time zones
coast of Australia and north to Japan,
across the Pacific.
Korea and China.
The group was hosted by the
thymetry and GIS workshop with over 50 participants from government, academia, navy, and industry from across South America and the Pacific.
Hydrographic surveys: Andrew Price, senior surveyor with Ocean Infinity, reports that between 10 April and 13 July this year Ocean Infinity undertook the first-ever sustained Multi-DriX Multibeam Survey campaign for Toitū te Whenua Land Information New Zealand in and around the approaches to Nelson, Stephens Island, Kahurangi Shoals and D’Urville Island. Two 8m DriX unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) were mobilised and used in conjunction with a 31m mothership to acquire over 6000 nautical line miles of data to update the nautical charts. The use of the DriX has saved about 20 days of mothership vessel time (based on an average survey speed of 6 knots). The next steps for DriX will be to undertake a 7000-nau-
Two 8m DriX USVs at work in the Tasman Region.
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34 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
from Discovery Marine Ltd (DML) an-
business plan for the Hydrographic
nounced the new DML Hydrographic
Stream as well as helping to adopt
Survey Scholarship for students study-
policy and standards for professional
ing hydrographic surveying at the
development programmes to
University of Otago. DML is pleased to
improve best hydrographic practice.
announce the inaugural scholarship
Bruce has been a mentor to others
was awarded to Ryan Slattery at the
within the industry, including survey
recent Australasian Hydrographic
students, where he has undertaken
Society (AHS) Seminar Day in Dunedin.
guest lecturing at the University of
Right: Declan congratulates Ryan with
Otago’s School of Surveying.
AHS Chair Brad Cooper (right).
•
Conference: There were a number of great hydro-themed presentations at conference this year. Thanks to Brad Cooper and Dave Field who gave an overview of their journeys as hydrographic surveyors and what the future holds for the profession; Declan Stubbing who talked about the advancement in and importance of high-definition charting for ports; Annette Wilkinson who provided
S+SNZ is a co-sponsor of the Aus-
an overview of a project to create
tralasian Hydrographic Surveyors
a national-scale mean high water springs coastline recognised as a key dataset for resilience and climate change; and Emily Harrex, a final year student at Otago’s School of Surveying, who presented on her student project, Breaking Waves: A snapshot of Women in Hydrography.
who was the recipient of the Hydrography Stream Award. See Simon’s Congratulations to Bruce Wallen who has retired after 46 years in the hydrographic profession. Bruce started his career in the Royal New
support of the HydroScheme Industry Partnership Program.
Zealand Navy in 1977, surveying much, if not most, of the coast of New Zealand Bruce held positions at LINZ and Discovery Marine Ltd over his career and served as the chair of the Hydrographic Professional Stream
Scholarships:
(HPS) at S+SNZ between 2013 and
In June Hydro Stream members Jimmy
2017.
Van der Pauw and Declan Stubbing
Australia. There are 13 certified hydrographic surveyors in S+SNZ, and lucky 13, Bevan Waller, received his Certified Professional Hydro-
Hydrographic Society’s day seminar, held on 30 August. Congratulations to Bevan.
article in this edition.
Island, Northern Territory, Australia in
with the Geospatial Council of
certificate at the Australasian
Congratulations to Simon Ironside
with the mothership off Bathurst
Certification Panel (AHSCP) along
graphic Surveyor Level 1 (CPHS1)
People:
tical-line-mile hydrographic survey
And finally, did you know that
The CPHS1 certification is the official recognition that an individual possesses the necessary knowledge to perform hydrographic surveying tasks along with the demonstrated ability to apply that knowledge across various hydrographic disciplines. So, if you’re looking for a certified hydrographic surveyor get in touch with the Hydro Stream, hydrography@
He was instrumental in building a
surveyspatialnz.org.
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 35
•NEWS
Improving cancer diagnosis with AI Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury
University of Canterbury Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering Professor Ramakrishnan Mukundan and PhD candidate Andrew Davidson
N
ew research using digital
are of interest to a pathologist. At
— helping to detect and quantify
imaging could transform the
60,000 pixels, we have extremely
diagnostically relevant features. This
field of cancer diagnosis in
high levels of tissue detail and a huge
level of detailing or analysis can’t be
amount of data,” Professor Mukundan
easily undertaken by a pathologist
says.
in manual evaluations,” Professor
Aotearoa New Zealand. Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury (UC)
Currently in Aotearoa New Zealand,
Mukundan says.
Department of Computer Science
tissue samples are predominantly
The potential of computational
and Software Engineering Professor
viewed under a microscope by a
pathology extends beyond automa-
Ramakrishnan Mukundan and PhD
pathologist, who then, using their
tion with algorithms able to measure
candidate Andrew Davidson are
knowledge and experience analyses
various types of tissue characteristics
working with Canterbury Health
the cancer, then generates a report
to identify several relevant patterns
Laboratories Anatomical Pathologist
for diagnosis and treatment. The
and correlations.
Dr Gavin Harris using high-resolution
challenge is that it is a subjective
daigital images of human tissue
evaluation.
samples to improve cancer diagnosis. “This technology can help us dial
“New image processing algorithms
Professor Mukundan says pathologists will no longer have to look for the features because they will be
can analyse intricate details across
identified and highlighted, providing
up image processing methods to
large regions of a high-resolution
additional tools and information to
automatically identify features that
image — down to the nuclei level
help diagnosis and evaluation.
36 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
Dr Harris is especially interested
training data, the algorithm will
validate the algorithm on a complete-
in using the whole slide images of hu-
extract relevant features to develop
ly new test set.
man tissue to improve the precision of
a knowledge base. “It will then use
cancer treatments for patients.
that information to classify previously
involved in the development of
“By using a computational
unseen images of tissue samples.”.
algorithms, experimental analysis
approach, we can measure features
Once the training phrase is com-
and validation of results, as part of
present in the tissue samples more
pleted, the researchers can analyse
accurately than is currently possible,
the performance and accuracy with
“Results to date suggest the new
which will allow a more person-
pathologists to make any corrections
systems we are developing have the
alised approach to cancer care,” Dr
needed.
potential to significantly improve
Harris says. Currently, the research uses
Davidson has been extensively
his PhD.
Recently, the team members have
health outcomes for cancer patients
received funding which enables them
through enhanced diagnostic and
digitised tissue samples from online
to obtain scanned whole slide images
classification systems that are essen-
repositories to train the algorithms
of tissue samples, helping them
tial in developing effective treatment
and is reliant on human knowledge
determine how well the algorithms
strategies,” Davidson says.
to ensure the outputs are accurate.
are working. This funding will help to
Professor Mukundan says through
perform detailed analysis to further
The team hopes to complete their research by the end of 2024 having developed a machine learning algorithm for the accurate identification of cancer subtypes. The research team in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering has been collaborating with Dr Harris and his team on several funded research projects involving whole slide image analysis and machine learning since 2019.
•
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 37
•UNIVERSITY HAPPENINGS Navigating the Digital Frontier: AI's Impact on Survey and Spatial Professionals
a pivotal role to play in this transfor-
new ground. One of the most prom-
mation. They serve as the incubators
ising applications of AI is its ability to
of innovation, where students and
process vast amounts of data rapidly
n an era defined by rapid techno-
researchers are tasked with harness-
and accurately. This capability is a
ing the power of AI to unlock new
game-changer in fields where data is
insights and solve complex problems.
both voluminous and complex.
I
logical advancements, the fields of surveying and spatial sciences have
found themselves at the forefront of innovation. Artificial Intelligence (AI), once the stuff of science fiction, has transcended its fictional origins to become an integral part of our reality. For professionals in these industries, the emergence of AI has brought both opportunities and challenges. From the perspective of academia, teaching, and research, it is evident that AI is reshaping the landscape of survey and spatial sciences, offering an excit-
In the realm of teaching, univer-
For example, AI algorithms can sift
sities are adapting their curricula to
through terabytes of satellite imagery
prepare students for the AI-driven
to identify subtle changes in land use
future. The traditional skill set of
or track environmental changes over
surveyors and spatial scientists is
time. This data can be invaluable for
expanding to include proficiency in
urban planning, disaster management,
machine learning, data analytics, and
and environmental conservation.
computer programming. This shift is
Research efforts are not only expand-
not merely a response to the times;
ing our understanding of the world but
it is a proactive measure to equip
also creating practical solutions that
future professionals with the tools
can benefit society at large.
they need to thrive in an AI-powered
The Ethical Imperative in AI
ing yet complex terrain to explore.
environment.
The AI Revolution in Survey and Spatial Sciences
AI and Research: Transforming the Boundaries of Knowledge
The integration of AI into survey
Universities are also at the forefront
responsibility. The ethical dimensions
of AI-driven research in survey and
of AI in survey and spatial sciences are
spatial sciences. From remote sensing
a pressing concern. Universities must
and image analysis to geospatial data
engage in meaningful discussions
processing and predictive modeling,
about the responsible use of AI
AI is empowering researchers to break
technologies.
and spatial sciences has opened up a world of possibilities. AI-driven solutions have the potential to revolutionize data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Universities have
38 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
As we delve deeper into the AI revolution, it is essential to recognize that with great power comes great
AI-driven algorithms are only as good as the data they are trained on. Bias in data, whether deliberate or inadvertent, can lead to biased AI outcomes. This raises questions about fairness, transparency, and accountability. It is incumbent upon universities to instill ethical principles in their students and researchers, emphasizing the importance of data integrity and unbiased decision-making. Furthermore, AI also poses challenges related to privacy and data security. In the era of ever-expanding data collection, universities have a role in researching and developing robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive geospatial data from malicious actors.
The Future of Collaboration: AI and Human Expertise AI is not a replacement for human expertise in the survey and spatial sciences; it is a powerful complement. The symbiotic relationship between AI and professionals in these fields is shaping the future of work. Universities are uniquely positioned to foster this collaboration. As AI automates routine tasks such as data processing and analysis, surveyors and spatial scientists can focus on more complex, creative, and strategic aspects of their work. They become decision-makers who harness AI as a tool to enhance their capabilities. Moreover, the interdisciplinary nature of AI integration necessitates collaboration between survey and spatial professionals and experts in data science, machine learning, and computer vision. Universities can facilitate these collaborations by establishing cross-disciplinary research centers and encouraging interdisciplinary research projects.
Conclusion: Embracing
the AI-Enabled Future
ences is not without its challenges, but the opportunities are boundless.
In the survey and spatial industries, the future is undoubtedly AI-powered. The role of universities in this transformation cannot be overstated. They are not merely spectators but active participants in shaping the direction and impact of AI in these fields. Through education, research, and ethical guidance, universities are
As universities embrace this transformative era, they hold the keys to unlocking the full potential of AI for the benefit of society, for the advancement of knowledge, and for the professionals who are charting the course toward a more intelligent future. The article above was written by
preparing the next generation of surveyors and spatial scientists to navigate the digital frontier with
ChatGPT in response to the request to “write a 800 word column for Survey+Spatial New Zealand magazine
competence and integrity. As AI
about "Artificial Intelligence - its
continues to evolve, the synergy
impacts on professionals and the
between human expertise and artificial intelligence will redefine what is possible in these industries. In conclusion, the journey of AI integration in survey and spatial sci-
wider survey and spatial industries" from the point of view of university, teaching and research”. Thanks to Pascal Sirguey.
•
SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023 39
• EFFECT OF ORDER
Finding of Professional Misconduct Cadastral Survey Act 2002
P
ursuant to section 44 of the Cadastral Survey Act 2002, notice is
1.
a period of 12 months supervision by a licensed cadastral surveyor from the date of the order;
hereby given that following a hearing held in Wellington on 4th November 2021, the Cadastral Surveyors Licensing Board of New
Zealand found Victoria Loughlin-Drover, Licensed Surveyor of Marton,
2.
the licensed cadastral surveyor who so supervises is nominated by Ms Loughlin-Drover and is approved by the Board before
guilty of professional misconduct as described in Schedule 2 of the Cadastral Survey Act 2002 (“the Act”). The complaint was from the Assistant Surveyor-General and was that
undertaking this work; 3.
every cadastral survey dataset lodged with Land Information NZ during the period of the supervision be accompanied by a letter
Ms Loughlin-Drover had committed professional misconduct in that she
from the nominated licensed cadastral surveyor, certifying that the
had: 1.
and DP 533133 (Schedule, clause 2(1)(a) of the Act). 2.
dataset meets the Surveyor-General’s Rules currently in force;
Been negligent in the conduct of cadastral surveys DP 544365 4.
Ms Loughlin-Drover develop a comprehensive Quality Assurance system to be routinely used in relation to her own work. One key
Certified to the accuracy of DP 544365 and DP 533133 without
objective of the QA system must be to determine errors in cadas-
carrying out all the requirements of these cadastral surveys in
tral survey datasets prior to their lodgement; and
accordance with the Rules for Cadastral Survey 2010 (Schedule, clause 2(1)(d) of the Act). 3.
5.
Ms Loughlin-Drover presents supporting documentation on her Quality Assurance system as part of any licence renewal applica-
Failed, without reasonable cause, to perform duties imposed on
tions made in the period of 3 years from the date of this order.
licensed cadastral surveyors by the Rules for Cadastral Survey 2010 in respect of DP 544365 and DP 533133 (Schedule, clause 2(1)(l) of the Act). The Board found Ms Loughlin-Drover guilty of professional misconduct under Schedule 2, clause (1)(a) of the Act and, under section 39(2) of the Act, ordered that Ms Loughlin-Drover may continue to hold a licence to practise cadastral surveying, subject to:
Ms Loughlin-Drover was also ordered to contribute $8,550 plus GST towards the costs and expenses of and incidental to the hearing by the Board. A notice stating the effect of the order is to be sent to Survey and Spatial NZ and the Institute of Cadastral Surveying Inc. with a request that this notice be published in their respective journals.
Finding of Professional Misconduct Cadastral Survey Act 2002
P
ursuant to section 44 of the Cadastral Survey Act 2002, notice is hereby given that following a hearing held in Wellington on 3rd July 2023, the Cadastral Surveyors Licensing Board of
New Zealand found Ciaran Murphy, Licensed Surveyor of Cambridge, guilty of professional misconduct as described in Schedule 2 of the Cadastral Survey Act 2002 (“the Act”). The complaint was from Dr Keith Turner and concerned: 1.
The placement of a boundary mark incorrectly representing the extents of a title in relation to a water boundary without taking all the available evidence into account (clause 1(a)); and,
2.
The placement of boundary marks without lodging an associated dataset with LINZ within 6 months of their placement (clause 1(l)).
The Board ordered that Mr Murphy’s licence be suspended for a minimum period of 3 months, effective from 28 days following receipt of the Order, and until:
40 SURVEYING+SPATIAL • Issue 113 September 2023
Mr Murphy has undertaken research and presented documentation in the form of an essay, to the satisfaction of the Board, § describing all the evidence that is required to be considered when determining the position of a water boundary (including all source material), and, § describing how the water boundaries of Lot 2 DPS 1749 could be defined for a CSD under the current Rules, and, § describing how Rule 6 of the current Rules should have applied to the specific issues raised in the complaint. Mr Murphy pay the Board $7,075.00 plus GST as a contribution towards the costs and expenses of and incidental to the Board investigating and holding a hearing about this complaint. A notice stating the effect of the order is to be sent to Survey and Spatial New Zealand and the Institute of Cadastral Surveying Inc. with a request that this notice be published in their respective journals, together with the Council of Reciprocating Survey Boards of Australia and New Zealand (CRSBANZ).
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