The suitcases have been unpacked, the souvenirs put away, the business cards classified and follow up emails written. It is time to draw the curtains on the symposium and reflect on the event, the presentations and what it portends for the future of our profession.
The overwhelming response and level of participation was very gratifying. All the positive feedback laced with constructive criticism matched the visual and aural evidence at the event – spirited conversations during breaks, dinner or social networking with drinks at the bar.
The focus of the presentations, email feedback and the discussions during breaks and the roundtables revealed at least three clear threads.
- A desire for collaborative relationships that are more strategic than transactional – Most projects involve a great deal of collaboration between multiple parties with each party bringing a perspective informed by their role in the project ecosystem. The roundtable clearly reflected this in the discussion topics that were brought up and the room wide discussion on possible solutions. An overwhelming majority of the feedback expressed a need to continue the conversation in other forums.
- Emerging technologies – Many presentations discussed, directly and indirectly, the areas that they think will drive new development and growth in our industry. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS or drones in common parlance) were clearly on a lot of minds.
- Expanding horizons – The language of remote sensing and related analytics is entering the lexicon of many different industries. There were several conversations on new uses of data and the different industries that could take advantage of the current state-of-the-art in remote sensing.
Thanks to everyone who participated, attended and helped organize the event. Planning for the second edition has already begun with lots of ideas for making it bigger and better.
Anand Iyer, VP Products & Technology