November 30, 2007 - Perth-based geospatial consultancy, NGIS Australia has been announced as the winner of four of the possible 12 awards at the prestigious Asia-Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards (APSEA) in Sydney last week.


NGIS Australia was successful in the People and Communities category for the work the Chief Executive Officer, Paul Harris undertook in supporting reconstruction and recovery activities in Aceh, Indonesia, which was devastated by the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004.


Paul Harris won the Spatial Professional of the Year Award and the project also won the esteemed J K Barrie Award, an award chosen from all category winners. The J K Barrie Award is the highest level of attainment the judges can confer at the event.


The flagship product which took first place in the Industry and Entrepreneurship Category was ioMaps, an innovative map viewing application developed by NGIS Australia for mining giant, BHP Billiton Iron Ore.


ioMaps was customised to provide BHP Iron Ore staff with a single view of the company’s infrastructure and operations by using spatial data from a range of different sources. The web-based software application saves time and costs while helping to alleviate the multi-million dollar risks associated with inappropriate infrastructure placement, inaccurate property boundaries or wrongly placed operational activities. The application also integrates environmental and cultural heritage information with mining and geological data in a single, holistic view, helping BHP to make quick and effective business decisions.


The ioMaps application sets a new benchmark in Australia’s mining industry by helping to increase productivity, reduce cost and risk and improve the speed and accuracy of decision-making.


The annual Asia-Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards are the only single event in the region that recognises the excellent achievements of both individuals and organisations engaged in the spatial information industry.



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