The previous post was my personal take on the year just gone. This is more of a review from our business perspective.
More of this is contained in our activities and achivements report. And these achievements in 2007 have been considerable.
We have moved forward the debate in a host of areas, not least the implementation process for the INSPIRE directive. We have formed new Special Interest Groups. We had a hugely successful annual conference. Membership income has risen. The AGI team have performed magnificently. And we have made a significant financial surplus. Not a bad list of achievements.
All in all, an excellent year and one upon which we can build in 2008 in order to achieve bigger and better things.
If anyone actually reads this blog, then please have a look at the AGI website. And if you are not a member, well why not consider joining? There are many interesting things coming up. I hope to report on them here as they arise.
Monday, 31 December 2007
2007 - a personal retrospective
For me it has been a strange year. Indeed a strange, and exciting, three years.
There I was three years ago in my 19th year of employment at the Royal Festival Hall, managing the finances and overseeing budgets on performing and visual arts. I was dealing with orchestras, dance troupes, foyer musicians. I was oblivious to the world of GIS and geospatial issues.
Then the RFH closed for renovation. I was offered redundancy. I was keen to go, and took it as a means to look for a more interesting challenge. I found that challenge, by accident, when I saw a job vacancy at the AGI.
At the start of 2007, I was the Finance guy at the AGI. So although I was interested in finding our more about GIS, hence the setting-up of this blog, my function was primarily in improving the financial situation. Knowledge of GIS was not key to this.
Then in March, our Chief Operating Office moved on to pastures new. With my Finance hat on, I had been banging on about the need to save costs on overheads, and salary costs were our biggest overhead. So I tentatively suggested that she should not be directly replaced, but that her work could be shared among the existing team. As a direct result, my role expanded. I took on the title of Chief Operating Officer and suddently I was going to meetings where participants were not interested in my financial background but instead expected me to at least make sensible comments about issues in the world of GIS. At first it was scary, but then it became quite interesting, almost exciting.
And so over the past 9 months, I have attended meetings of (apologies for the acronyms) JISC-GWG, SpLinT, IGGI, UK Geoforum and well as Scottish and Welsh regional AGI groups. I've been to meetings in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leicester, Cardiff and Llandrindod Wells. And it has been fun.
I hope I have represented AGI well at these meetings. I feel I have made a generally positive contibution and where I haven't understood the nuances of an argument, I have been able to consult someone who has.
I am certainly now aware of the exciting developments in the world of GI. I am aware of the increasingly important role technology is playing. I am aware of the hugely dispirate group within this world, from corporate suppliers to local and central government including health authorities, police forces, insurance companies etc.
I have had a great year. And I am looking forward to learning more, and hopefully contributing more, in 2008.
There I was three years ago in my 19th year of employment at the Royal Festival Hall, managing the finances and overseeing budgets on performing and visual arts. I was dealing with orchestras, dance troupes, foyer musicians. I was oblivious to the world of GIS and geospatial issues.
Then the RFH closed for renovation. I was offered redundancy. I was keen to go, and took it as a means to look for a more interesting challenge. I found that challenge, by accident, when I saw a job vacancy at the AGI.
At the start of 2007, I was the Finance guy at the AGI. So although I was interested in finding our more about GIS, hence the setting-up of this blog, my function was primarily in improving the financial situation. Knowledge of GIS was not key to this.
Then in March, our Chief Operating Office moved on to pastures new. With my Finance hat on, I had been banging on about the need to save costs on overheads, and salary costs were our biggest overhead. So I tentatively suggested that she should not be directly replaced, but that her work could be shared among the existing team. As a direct result, my role expanded. I took on the title of Chief Operating Officer and suddently I was going to meetings where participants were not interested in my financial background but instead expected me to at least make sensible comments about issues in the world of GIS. At first it was scary, but then it became quite interesting, almost exciting.
And so over the past 9 months, I have attended meetings of (apologies for the acronyms) JISC-GWG, SpLinT, IGGI, UK Geoforum and well as Scottish and Welsh regional AGI groups. I've been to meetings in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Leicester, Cardiff and Llandrindod Wells. And it has been fun.
I hope I have represented AGI well at these meetings. I feel I have made a generally positive contibution and where I haven't understood the nuances of an argument, I have been able to consult someone who has.
I am certainly now aware of the exciting developments in the world of GI. I am aware of the increasingly important role technology is playing. I am aware of the hugely dispirate group within this world, from corporate suppliers to local and central government including health authorities, police forces, insurance companies etc.
I have had a great year. And I am looking forward to learning more, and hopefully contributing more, in 2008.
Thursday, 20 December 2007
Tsunami
The blogs have dried up recently, partly because I have been too busy to find the time. And now here I am away from work in Patong Beach in Thailand.
And sitting at a beach bar having breakfast and watching the world go by, I cannot help but think of the people who were going about their daily lives, whether locals or tourist, when the tsunami struck three years ago. The bay currently looks so peaceful. The destroyed buildings have been rebuilt. And I dare say lives have also been at least partically rebuilt.
But geography has a part to play in both forecasting disasters and in helping the relief teams after disasters. And with flooding becoming the norm in the UK and global warming leading to more severe weather conditions worldwide, we must put the GI response to disasters up the agenda. I hope that we will do this in 2008.
In the meantime, I shall return to enjoying the marine facilities of this area.
And sitting at a beach bar having breakfast and watching the world go by, I cannot help but think of the people who were going about their daily lives, whether locals or tourist, when the tsunami struck three years ago. The bay currently looks so peaceful. The destroyed buildings have been rebuilt. And I dare say lives have also been at least partically rebuilt.
But geography has a part to play in both forecasting disasters and in helping the relief teams after disasters. And with flooding becoming the norm in the UK and global warming leading to more severe weather conditions worldwide, we must put the GI response to disasters up the agenda. I hope that we will do this in 2008.
In the meantime, I shall return to enjoying the marine facilities of this area.
Wednesday, 7 November 2007
Strategy
This weekend I head for deepest Hampshire to take part in the annual AGI debate about future strategy. After the weekend, next year's Chair will produce a strategy document for approval by the AGI Council and then enactment throughout the next 12 months.
In my opinion, this year the strategy debate is even more important than usual. We are building on real successes in 2007, notably the conference, events programme and a membership increase, but the funding we receive for our running of the GiGateway metadata service is about to come to an end. We therefore will proceed with confidence but with caution. Twenty years after the Chorley Report, we need to refocus on who we are and what makes us relevant to our members.
And the end product from the weekend should not just be a written strategy document for the next twelve months, but a realistic and positive strategy to take us forward for at least the next five years.
It will be an interesting debate. It will, I believe, prove to our members that we have the energy and the ideas to meet the future challenges in the world of GI.
In my opinion, this year the strategy debate is even more important than usual. We are building on real successes in 2007, notably the conference, events programme and a membership increase, but the funding we receive for our running of the GiGateway metadata service is about to come to an end. We therefore will proceed with confidence but with caution. Twenty years after the Chorley Report, we need to refocus on who we are and what makes us relevant to our members.
And the end product from the weekend should not just be a written strategy document for the next twelve months, but a realistic and positive strategy to take us forward for at least the next five years.
It will be an interesting debate. It will, I believe, prove to our members that we have the energy and the ideas to meet the future challenges in the world of GI.
Friday, 21 September 2007
AGI Conference 2007 - review
The conference is over. Two days of networking, of talks, of debates and of socialising has come to an end. After all the planning, the administration, the worry - it now seems strange to realise that it is over. And very gratifying to find that the planning work before the conference turned out to have contributed to such a successful conference.
And it was successful. The initial feedback from delegates was very positive. Generally the venue worked well. The talks were stimulating. The debates were energetic. And the party was enjoyable.
From a personal point of view, it was all a great experience. The fact that I had been asked to be a judge, meant that I attended far more sessions than I otherwise might have. I attended eleven sessions in total. That showed me the breadth of issues and the range of work which are covered by GIS.
I am hugely grateful to the AGI Team for all their hard work, especially Claire, Susan and Maureen without whom the event simply could not have taken place. Chris's work, especially on the printed matter, added to the quality of the experience for delegates. Steven was an excellent and enthusiastic Chair of the event. I am really pleased that his initial optimism about the event was fully justified.
I hope that issues were taken forward and that the event marked real progress in some of the issues that we face in the world of Geography. I hope the event was more than a talking shop. I think it was.
Right now I have just got home and I am exhausted. Others will no doubt reflect at length and more thoughtfully than I can. But I am happy and content that we delivered a great conference. And now we turn out attention to AGI2008. Watch this space.
Monday, 17 September 2007
AGI Conference 2007 - preview
'Building a Geo Community'
The AGI conference starts on Wednesday in Stratford-upon-Avon. Bookings have gone amazingly well and the conference was fully booked a couple of weeks ago.
The AGI team, especially Claire, Susan and Maureen, have been working exceptionally hard on the administration. Now we move to the conference itself. We all head up for Stratford tomorrow to finalise the last-minute details ahead to the opening session on Wednesday morning.
It is always a bit scary a couple of days before the conference, but I am sure it will be a great success.
I have, much to my surprise, been asked to be on the judging panel for the 'Best Paper' award. I am honoured by that and will do my best to be fair and impartial and to give each paper an equal opportunity.
So, here's to a wonderful conference.
The AGI conference starts on Wednesday in Stratford-upon-Avon. Bookings have gone amazingly well and the conference was fully booked a couple of weeks ago.
The AGI team, especially Claire, Susan and Maureen, have been working exceptionally hard on the administration. Now we move to the conference itself. We all head up for Stratford tomorrow to finalise the last-minute details ahead to the opening session on Wednesday morning.
It is always a bit scary a couple of days before the conference, but I am sure it will be a great success.
I have, much to my surprise, been asked to be on the judging panel for the 'Best Paper' award. I am honoured by that and will do my best to be fair and impartial and to give each paper an equal opportunity.
So, here's to a wonderful conference.
Saturday, 25 August 2007
GI North of the Border
On Tuesday I went to Edinburgh to attend a meeting of the AGI Scotland Executive. I remain impressed by the positive commitment to GI north of the border and by the collective commitment of the AGIS Executive to lead progress. It would appear that a change in Government to an SNP administration will also do no harm in pursuing a Scottish dimension for GI and in particular to taking forward a Scottish Spatial Data Initiative.
There is an AGIS conference in Edinburgh on 15th November with the title 'Inspiring Scotland' which will take that process and investigate aspects of how to move forward particularly in relation to the 'One Scotland, One Geography' paper which was produced recently for the Scottish Executive. It is described as an ideas forum and open competition to encourage and promote innovative thinking connecting the places, spaces and faces of Scotland.
It is good to see a united commitment to GI without the petty bickering which has hindered progress elsewhere.
There is an AGIS conference in Edinburgh on 15th November with the title 'Inspiring Scotland' which will take that process and investigate aspects of how to move forward particularly in relation to the 'One Scotland, One Geography' paper which was produced recently for the Scottish Executive. It is described as an ideas forum and open competition to encourage and promote innovative thinking connecting the places, spaces and faces of Scotland.
It is good to see a united commitment to GI without the petty bickering which has hindered progress elsewhere.
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