Geospatial technology has been increasingly recognized as a vital part of our life. Geo-information as the product of this technology has found its application in various sectors. Not only in the government, geo-information is now indispensable for many industries such as plantation, transportation, banking and communication.
At the individual level, geo-information has now become a part of our lifestyle, for example with the use of digital map and satellite based navigation system in our cellular phones.
Globally, the world is facing many issues that could not be overcome unless by mutual collaboration among organization and countries in the region.
Global climate changes, natural disasters, natural resource managements and sustainable developments are common issues that need to be handled regionally or even globally since a problem that occurs in a country may interface its neighboring countries. Geo-information is one of the important key factors to overcome such kind of global/regional issues holistically.
Many organizations have been collecting and managing various kind of geo-information for their own purposes. This situation creates isolated geo-information islands that are not connected and accessible to each other.
It is now up to us, to integrate these geo-information islands into a geo-information archipelago where data sharing, data exchange and interoperability can be easily implemented among organization through mutual collaborative efforts. This will establish a complete geodatabase in a distributed environment that will further increase the contribution of geospatial technology in our life.
“Integrating geo-information islands” has, therefore, been chosen as the theme of the South East Asian Survey Congress in Bali, Indonesia. There is no better place to have a congress with this theme other than in the largest archipelagic country in the world. Indonesia symbolizes the efforts of integrating many islands into a united archipelago without erasing special characteristics of each island.
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The island of Bali is part of the Republic of Indonesia and is located 8 to 9 degrees south of the equator between Java in the West and Lombok and the rest of the Lesser Sunda Islands (Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba and Timor) in the East. Flying time to Jakarta is about 1.5 hours, to Singapore and Perth (Australia) 2.5 and 3 hours, to Hong Kong about 4.5 hours, and to Sydney/Melbourne about 5.5 to 6 hours.
Don't look for "Bali" in airline time tables. It's listed as "Denpasar" (DPS) which is the name of the island's capital. However, from Bali's international Ngurah Rai Airport it takes you just 15 to 30 minutes by car to Kuta, Legian, Sanur and Nusa Dua, and in about 50 to 60 minutes you can be in Ubud.
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Developed as a luxury resort complex in the southern-most tip of Bali, Nusa Dua is home to the island’s most luxurious hotel and resort accommodation and conference facilities.