News release

Conference Expands Knowledge of Geomatics Industry

Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations (Oct. 2000 - March 2014)

Geography is about more than finding locations on a map. It can have innovative, life-saving and practical uses such as finding civic addresses during emergencies, locating bedrock when drilling for wells and identifying land-ownership records.

Geography and its many uses will be the topic of the first GeoNOVA Conference being held Monday, Oct. 3 to Wednesday, Oct. 5, in Dartmouth. More than 120 representatives from the Nova Scotia geomatics community will attend the conference, which will focus on promoting and advancing geographic sciences, improving the collection of geographic information and educating Nova Scotians on how geography can help them every day. Seats are still available for those interested in attending.

"This is a great opportunity to bring all levels of government, industry, and academia together to exchange ideas and share knowledge to make geographic information more accessible," said Barry Barnet, Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations. "We need quality geographic data to assist Nova Scotians in their daily lives."

The three-day event will also provide an opportunity for participants to share ideas on improving internet mapping websites, to discuss how geographic information can be used to solve business problems and the importance of privacy issues relating to data access.

On the last day of the conference geography experts will reach out to grade 9 and 12 students by holding in-class seminars on geography. The goal of the sessions is to teach Nova Scotia students the importance of geography and spark in them an interest in science that may lead to a future career in geomatics.

"The Geomatics Association of Nova Scotia is a strong supporter of this important conference because it brings people from different backgrounds together to share issues and ideas regarding geomatics and the geomatics community," said Jeff Parks, president of the Geomatics Association of Nova Scotia.

The province's GeoNOVA program creates, maintains, and distributes geographic information to help Nova Scotians answer important questions for work, school and the community. For more information visit the website at www.GeoNova.ca .