OPENING CEREMONY

The Opening Ceremony took place 30 May 2017 at 9.00-10.30 at 101 Hall, Messukeskus

The opening ceremony provided a spectacular introduction to the FIG Working Week, its theme, and its unique location – a festive start of the week.

Welcome Addresses

Keynote Speaker

Digitalisation – version 2.0

Ed Parsons will set the scene for the FIG Working Week. Ed will talk about the activities going on both above and below the radar and the professional’s role in the future from an overall level setting the tone and context of our world. Is the reality that urbanisation for ALL across the world will all be smart and digitalised? What positively happens to professional’s scope of work if Geo spatial data is now in the hands of all? The digitalisation – version 2.0 can change much around the world – but in different ways.

Ed Parsons is the Geospatial Technologist of Google, with responsibility for evangelising Google’s mission to organise the world’s information using geography. In this role he maintains links with Governments, Universities, Research and Standards Organisations which are involved in the development of Geospatial Technology.

He is currently co-chair of the W3C/OGC Spatial Data on the Web Working Group.

Ed is based in Google’s London office, and anywhere else he can plug in his laptop.

Ed was the first Chief Technology Officer in the 200-year-old history of Ordnance Survey, and was instrumental in moving the focus of the organisation from mapping to Geographical Information. He came to the Ordnance Survey from Autodesk, where he was EMEA Applications Manager for the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Division.

He earned a Masters degree in Applied Remote Sensing from Cranfield Institute of Technology and holds a Honorary Doctorate in Science from Kingston University, London.

He is a Visiting Professor of University College London and is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.