Multimedia Victoria - Spatial Award Winners Putting Victorian on the Map

Spatial Award Winners Putting Victorian on the Map


Media release - 18 September 2008

Victoria's increasingly prominent role in the fast growing spatial industry was highlighted last night at the fourth annual Victorian Spatial Excellence Awards.

Representing Information and Communication Technology Minister Theo Theophanous, Cabinet Secretary and Member for Prahran Tony Lupton MP said Victoria had over 220 spatial information businesses generating annual turnover of around $452 million.

"These awards do a great job of showcasing the innovation, excellence and technical diversity of the Victorian spatial industry, while recognising the achievements and contributions of individual professionals," Mr Lupton said.

The spatial industry, which encompasses mapping, surveying, remote sensing and photogrammetry, has undergone a major modern transformation through the application of ICT and other related technologies.

Mr Lupton said the Brumby Government was a proud sponsor of the Awards as part of its commitment to the local ICT sector.

"The Brumby Government is taking action to develop Victorian ICT so we remain at the forefront of the industry," he said.

"We recognise the importance of the spatial industry to our state, it is an innovative, export focused industry with further enormous potential still waiting to be tapped. More than $189 million of the industry's annual turnover comes from outside Victoria."

In addition to sponsoring the Victorian Spatial Excellence Awards, the Brumby Government has:
  • Provided $100,000 in February 2007 to establish the Spatial Victoria industry cluster;
  • Contributed a total of $6.3 million to the Broadband Innovation Fund (BIF) Spatial Imaging Project, which will enhance Victoria's ability to manage environmental issues such as water quality.

"This support underlines our commitment to working with the local ICT industry to ensure its ongoing success and to position Victoria as a globally competitive and sophisticated ICT market," Mr Lupton said.

Victoria's ICT industry generates $24.4 billion in annual revenue, exports over $1.8 billion and employs more than 84,000 people. Since October 1999, the Victorian Government has facilitated over $1.7 billion in ICT investment leading to the creation of more than 12,000 jobs.

The Victorian Spatial Excellence Awards are organised by the Victorian Regional groups of the Australian Spatial Information Business Association and the Spatial Sciences Institute.

The winner of the Victorian Government Award for Spatial Excellence was the Gippsland Subsidence: Monitoring of Millimetres Across Kilometres project by AAMHatch and the Department of Primary Industries.