Spatial Industries Business Association
SIBA reached a significant milestone this year when we completed our 17th submission on government policy in a single year. Comment on public policy by the industry is important and our success has demonstrated the the value of this approach. SIBA has managed, through its advocacy program of submissions, government and media briefing, to build awareness of the importance of our industry sector and our role in the economy.
The spatial industries have been recognised as a discrete sector in Australia since 2001. There is no doubt that the Spatial Information Industry Action Agenda was the catalyst for this recognition as it brought all of the industry players together to discuss how the industry would move forward. The establishment of a single private sector voice – SIBA - was the first recommendation implemented arising following the Action Agenda. SIBA is now 10 years old.
Immediately following the Action Agenda there was a flurry of activity to build awareness within governments, media, business and the community at large. SIBA has worked to support the industry by building awareness and identifying key policy domains in which spatial information and technologies is crucial to a successful outcome. This Web Site contains many of the submissions that have formed the backbone of our efforts to link spatial information and technologies to important policy issues such as salinity, water resource management, bushfires, floods, government red tape, environmental management and climate change, transport amongst others.
Spatial information and technologies is the backbone of our national infrastructure from surveying and mapping to geographic information systems (GIS) and location based services. This industry is location IT and it represents growth in the new economy.
SIBA is the voice of the private sector of the spatial industries. SIBA advocates for the industry at all levels of government and across almost every portfolio of ministerial responsibility. SIBA's member firms are the leading companies, both large and small, in the spatial industries.
At the national and global level, location is at the heart of some of our most pressing problems: environmental degradation, climate change, crime and security, defence, border security, social welfare, asset management, controlling disease and pests, planning our cities, managing and recovering from natural hazards and disasters and coping with poverty and starvation.
Governments use location data to determine where and when their services are needed. Companies make loans and investments, build factories and offices, analyse risks and assign insurance rates according to location decisions. Farmers use location based information to boost their productivity in operations like controlled traffic farming and precision agriculture.
Spatial information also meets many of our personal needs, particularly those arising from our increasing desire for mobility while maintaining instant access to location information – from GNSS navigation systems for our vehicles to the rapidly growing use of location based devices for personal communication.
The spatial industries provide the tools and methods to meet, represent, analyse and resolve these important activities and demands of our modern society. It is, therefore, a crucial enabler for the information age of the 21st century.
The latest economic study of the industry shows that it contributes up to $12.5 billion annually to Australia’s gross domestic product and that it delivers significant other financial and social benefits. An even more recent study revealed a significant impact on GDP, in excess of $1.2 billion per annum, in New Zealand.