Hon Louise Upston
Minister for Land Information

28 November 2014

Awards put spotlight on location innovation

The limitless potential of location information, and the innovative people working at its forefront, took centre stage last night at the inaugural New Zealand Spatial Excellence Awards (NZSEA), Land Information Minister Louise Upston said today.

Location – or spatial – information tells us where things are, how they relate to one another, and how they change over time.

“Decisions using this sort of information contribute over $1 billion to the economy each year,” Ms Upston says.

“Last night’s awards put the spotlight squarely on some of the best and brightest people in this area – highlighting the enormous potential this industry has to enhance lives and boost New Zealand’s economic performance.”

The NZSEA are a joint venture between the spatial profession, business and government that recognise high achievers and contributors whose performance and innovation set the benchmarks for others to follow.

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) won the People & Community Award for its 2014 Geospatial Virtual Field Trip for Schools.

The project was the final in a three-year series examining the use of geospatial information in the Canterbury rebuild. By using web technologies and multimedia resources, school students were able to interact with experts and inaccessible places without leaving their classroom.

“Last night’s event was a great opportunity for the New Zealand spatial profession to recognise those working within it, and to showcase the best that this industry has to offer,” Ms Upston says.

“I look forward to this becoming an annual event.”

ENDS

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