Clip art.
© Google
A cross-agency roadshow highlighting the benefits of interoperability of government geoscience data to the Australian minerals industry is currently touring all capital cities in Australia.
"The key objective of the SEEGrid Roadshow is to raise awareness of how interoperability can improve business efficiencies and effectiveness," said Geoscience Australia's, Dr Lesley Wyborn.
"Interoperability is the key to real-time access to pre-competitive geoscience information. Until now this data has been fragmented in disparate and incompatible systems across Australian government agencies," she said. "The next generation of internet technologies offer opportunities to access a range of geoscience and spatial digital information in real-time, and standardised formats to underpin exploration activities and research that are relevant to the minerals industry."
The SEEGrid Roadshow is delivering a series of executive briefings and technology diffusion workshops to a broad spectrum of organisations within industry, public and academic sectors. Executive briefings provide a generic overview of interoperable services and their benefits to any industry. Technology diffusion workshops provide a technological demonstration of how the initial test bed was deployed and implemented across three states and two jurisdictions.
Solid Earth and Environment Grid (SEE Grid) community members, Geoscience Australia, CSIRO and Social Change Online recently completed a test bed for real-time data interoperability between data that is housed in the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Western Australia. This trial was supported by AUSIndustry who have approved a $170 000 Innovation Access Fora grant for SEEGrid members to showcase interoperability and extend the test bed to the remaining states and territories.
The Roadshow continues until August, with visits to all capital cities.
Cover of Cities Project Perth report:
Natural hazard risk in Perth, WA.
© Geoscience Australia
While the world recovers from the worst natural disaster to strike our region in modern history, a positive step has been taken in Australia's fourth largest city revealing how to reduce the impact of natural hazards on its community - Perth.
Releasing the report, Natural hazard risk in Perth, Western Australia, Federal Industry Parliamentary Secretary Warren Entsch, said it was the most comprehensive natural hazard risk assessment ever undertaken of any city in Australia.
Produced by Geoscience Australia in partnership with the Bureau of Meteorology and Western Australian state and local agencies, the report assesses the possibility of natural hazards such as flood, severe wind, coastal erosion, earthquake and tsunami, affecting Perth in the future and recommends a number of strategies to minimise the damage from them.
"We can't prevent natural hazards from taking place, but we can be better prepared for them," Mr Entsch said. "The results from this four-year government project will be of great assistance to local and regional emergency managers in the recovery process should a natural disaster occur in the future.
"For example, the severe wind storm that hit Bunbury and Perth recently, with winds up to 142kph, cost around $25m in insurance losses alone. The findings in this report provide evidence that more appropriate application of the building code in exposed areas would be expected to reduce such costs in future," said Mr Entsch.
The study area covering greater metropolitan Perth includes eight different virtual flood scenarios that could affect the Swan River and its tributaries and also highlights the earthquake hazard for communities up to 200 kilometres from Perth.
The whole-of-government project also investigated socio-economic factors that affect the capacity of Perth citizens to recover from natural disasters, and found Perths strong community network to be a positive source of support in managing recovery from natural disasters.