Australia Post is currently trialling new technology to deliver small parcels by Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS, also known as drones or UAV). The move makes Australia Post the first major parcels and logistics company in the country to do so and will see Australian customers as perhaps the first to benefit from unmanned logistics.
The closed-field trial will serve as an important next step in testing the new technology which will also support faster transportation of time critical goods like medication to remote or inaccessible locations.
On the back of this, a new conference and exhibition has been launched based on the last mile of the home delivery supply chain. Home Delivery Asia Pacificwill take place in Melbourne on 16 November at the Automotive Centre of Excellence and will address the shift to on-demand retail services.
Brent Stafford from foundation sponsor and mapping innovation companyHERE commented that “this year we have seen rapid growth and competition between many innovative solution providers.”
“Home Delivery is certainly THE hot topic with the likes of our partners at Navman Wireless & Dominos setting the pace and others such as Menulog, Deliveroo, Foodora and most recently Uber Eats going live.”
“Around the APAC region it is a similar story with GrabExpress, Foodpanda, Grubhub, McDonalds and Jollibee. A fiercely contested market spanning not only food delivery but also home shopping and parcel delivery.
“With many strategic alliances being formed right now, new payment methods and even autonomous delivery being explored and an explosion of the sharing economy generally, this event is perfectly timed.”
Simon Cooper Managing Director of event organisers Interpoint said “we are experiencing an age of faster deliveries and higher customer expectations. And we are seeing localised customer service and low cost delivery options.”
Home Delivery will address issues such as optimising fulfilment, bringing stores to customers and helping small, local businesses reach new customers. It will include transport options, different payment methods and many of the new IT technologies and apps that are rapidly becoming disruptors and innovators in the last mile of the supply chain.
Australia Post’s first customer trial is expected to follow later this year. Depending on its success, and the legal, security and privacy provisions that will need to support it, RPAS will be landing on your lawn soon after.
For further information please visit http://www.homedeliveryworld.com.au/
Written by Anthony Wallace
http://www.spatialsource.com.au/home-delivery-takes-off-in-australia/
The US state of New York has passed legislation that will gradually raise the minimum wage to $15, bringing it level with the rate in California.
Rising global inequality has made minimum wages a hot topic in countries around the world, as governments attempt to ensure low-paid workers have the chance to escape relative poverty. For example, the UK has also recently introduced aNational Living Wage of £7.20 ($10.25) for workers aged over 25.
So what does the minimum wage look like around the world?
On top Down Under.
Click here to view the chart that shows the situation in 27 countries across the globe (based on data from 2013). The figures have been adjusted to their post-tax rate and for purchasing power parity, in US dollars.
Australia has the most generous minimum wage, with workers earning a minimum of US$9.54 an hour. Next is Luxembourg, where workers can expect to take home at least $9.24 after tax. The top three is completed by Belgium. Here, the post-tax minimum wage sits just above $8.50.
Several other European nations feature high up the list, with Ireland, France and the Netherlands following Belgium. There are also places in the top half for New Zealand, Canada and the United States, among others.
The minimum wage and inclusive growth
Last year’s ‘Inclusive Growth and Development Report’ from the World Economic Forum highlights the link between minimum wage policies and inclusive growth.
The report argues that “data shows that inequality often starts in the labour market.” Therefore a broad package of coherent labour market policies, including minimum wages, is vital to tackle inequality and ensure that economic growth benefits everyone.
The report points to International Labour Organisation data showing that changes in the distribution of wages and job losses accounted for 140% of the increase in US inequality between 2006 and 2010.
“Ensuring that the benefits of growth reach the many rather than the few is one of the great challenges of our time, and rising wages are clearly a key driver of inclusive growth. When wages remain stagnant, imposing a minimum wage is one vehicle for driving them higher,” explains Jennifer Blanke, Chief Economist at the World Economic Forum.
“This of course leads to higher wages for those with jobs, but the potential downside is that employers cut jobs, leading to higher unemployment. History has shown that minimum wages that are not ‘too high’ have a benign effect on unemployment, and can be an effective lever (although the threshold is of course difficult to determine). Recent efforts to impose much higher minimum wages are experiments that will provide us with a better understanding of how and under what conditions they work best.”
Written by Joe Myers
Sourced from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/04/where-are-the-world-s-highest-minimum-wages?utm_content=buffer0fdcf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
It’s Friday!
What better way to celebrate than clicking here to view the Spatial Jobs Online Weekly Newsletter. As always, it includes available positions in the Spatial Industry – you can apply for and post jobs online, making things easy for you.
Have a fantastic weekend and welcome to the second half of 2016!
Going Back to Work
Just as you’re getting used to being home with your baby and your work life feels like a distant memory, you realize that your maternity leave is coming to an end. The thought of waking up at 6 a.m. and racing off to a job after being up all night with a crying baby seems impossible. And then there’s the guilt: How can you spend so much time away from your infant?
No matter how long and hard you’ve thought about your decision to return to work, and how sure you are that it’s the right choice, you need to be prepared for mixed emotions. “You might feel guilty about leaving your baby in someone else’s care — or you might feel guilty about being eager to go back to your old life,” says Karol Ladd, coauthor of The Frazzled Factor: Relief for Working Moms. Although you’ll inevitably encounter a few bumps along the way, these five tips will make heading back to work a little less stressful.
Practice Your New Routine
It’s bound to take a while to learn to balance your new roles — and you’ll do so more quickly if your daily routine is efficient and well organized. The best way to make sure your new schedule will work? Do a couple of practice runs the week before you’re due back at the office. If possible, arrange for your child care to start a week or so early so that you can try out your routine — and get used to parting with your baby. Make sure you set your alarm extra early your first week back to give yourself time to work out any kinks in your schedule. And don’t forget to come up with a good backup plan for days when your baby (or your babysitter) is sick.
Get as Much Rest as You Can
One of the biggest complaints of working moms is sheer exhaustion — and when you’re overtired it’s much easier to fall to pieces. Your own sleep needs should take priority over doing another load of laundry or cleaning up the kitchen. And have your husband pitch in whenever possible. Because you’ll be getting up so early, you should aim to get to bed earlier too. Sticking to a 9 p.m. bedtime helped Heather Hill, of DeWitt, Michigan, get enough rest before her son Connor was sleeping through the night. “I woke up for the 2 a.m. feeding, and by that time, I’d had about five hours of sleep with a few more hours still ahead,” says the mother of Sean, 6 years, and Connor, 10 months.
Keeping It Together
Set Aside Time for Your “Mommy Life”
You’ve probably made a handful of new “mom friends” while on leave. Don’t put those friendships on the back burner once you start working. “Relationships with other moms are vital,” says Ladd. “You need them for emotional support.” Aim for regular weekend get-togethers. Gina Yager, mother of 5-month-old Mia, made it a point not to lose touch with her new friends when she went back to work. “On Saturdays, I’ll meet the girls and their babies at a coffee shop, and I’ve also joined a ‘mom and baby’ yoga class,” says the mom from Henderson, Nevada. “And I stay in touch during the week through our online support group.”
Keep It Together at the Office
Although you might feel like an absolute wreck when you’re at your desk — worrying about your baby, feeling physically and mentally exhausted, being daunted by the piles of work that have built up in your absence — don’t let your boss think you’re off your game. Keep your concerns to yourself, and avoid venting to your coworkers. Remember, your new juggling act might even make you more productive. “I’m a better boss now that I’m a mom,” says Sue Hermann, of Denver, mother of Sarah, 3, and Sophie, 10 months. “I’m more willing to delegate, more able to think outside of the box, and definitely better able to multitask.”
Hang in There
In your first few months back on the job, you will undoubtedly encounter days when you decide that you can’t manage and need to quit. But stick with it — at least for a while. Experts say most moms need time to get used to a new routine. If after a few months you’re still unable to cope, think about asking your boss for a flex schedule that lets you work from home one or two days a week, or for a part-time arrangement. Come up with a concrete plan before approaching your boss. “But be prepared for the possibility that your boss will reject your proposal and give you an all-or-nothing ultimatum,” warns Donna Lenhoff, JD, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who specializes in work-family issues. If that’s the case, maybe it’s time to consider whether this job is right for you. “Your goal,” says Ladd, “is to find a healthy balance that works for you, your career, and your family.”
Nursing at Work
A Working Mom’s Guide to Breastfeeding
If you’re planning to continue nursing, you’ll need to get the pumping routine down well before your return to work.
Start pumping and freezing the milk a month before you’re due back on the job. You’ll get in the habit of pumping and build up an emergency supply.
Let someone else bottle-feed your baby. “He needs to get used to being fed by someone besides his mother,” says Kathy Baker, Peer Counselor Program training administrator at La Leche League International.
Talk to your boss to come up with a pumping schedule that works for both of you. You might suggest dividing your lunch hour into pumping sessions: You’ll need to take 15- or 20-minute breaks two to three times a day.
Find a private location. “If your company doesn’t have a designated lactation room, perhaps there’s an empty office or conference room that you could use to pump,” suggests Baker. “Some women get creative and hang a curtain around the outside of their cubicle when no privacy is available.”
Having Second Thoughts?
“Unless you have a contract that specifically states you’ll return to work on a set date — which can happen in some union or high-profile jobs — you can decide to quit whenever you choose,” says attorney Donna Lenhoff of the National Employment Lawyers Association. Though your employer does have the right to take you to court to get back the health-insurance premiums and wages paid during your maternity leave, Lenhoff says that this rarely happens. As for the best time to give your boss notice, the sooner, the better.
By Amy Capetta
Sourced from http://www.parents.com/parenting/work/life-balance/going-back-to-work-after-baby/
Saturday is the day to have YOUR say in the voting stands. Make sure you know which political group is right for you.
If you aren’t certain who you should vote for, Click here and go to Vote Compass. “Vote Compass is an educational tool developed by political scientists designed to help you explore how you fit in Australia’s political landscape.” You will be asked a series of questions to find out which Party is closest to your values and ideals. Make your vote count.
A small Victoria firm is intent on making a big splash in the Alberta oil and gas market with a new online tool that puts the power of water into the hands of exploration companies.
Foundry Spatial, a six-year-old environmental consulting firm, has just launched the Alberta Water Tool, which provides real-time information on the quantity of water available in any location where exploration may take place.
Founder and chief executive Ben Kerr said the tool draws water information from 30,600 surface and groundwater allocation points and 185 hydrometric stations for 181,000 unique watersheds in Alberta. He said that means companies will be able to make better exploration decisions and in a more timely manner.
Kerr, who started the company after working as a computer mapping specialist for the provincial government for eight years, said water has become a huge issue for the oil and gas industry, where hydraulic fracturing and shale gas are key players.
“It’s changed the whole industry. They need water to produce petroleum,” he said.
Kerr said the data they mine is readily available, but it can take days or weeks for consultants to pull it together in what is often a very costly report.
Instead, Foundry Spatial has built technology and a delivery system that allows exploration firms and government ministries to log into the database and produce a customized report on a specific area in real time.
“We do it at a fraction of the cost,” Kerr said. Foundry Spatial charges by volume. A single report would be $1,000, but a company that needs them often could pay as little as $400 each. “Companies want to do it themselves and do it now,” said Kerr.
The tool was originally developed by Foundry Spatial for the B.C. government, and the company is paid to maintain its technology and continue to provide the product.
The first version of the engine was developed in 2012 for the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission and was recognized with a B.C. Premier’s Award for Regional Innovation.
“It helps resource managers in government as well as water users get access to information about how much water there is, what existing demand is for it and what the environment needs all in a matter of seconds,” Kerr said.
The technology developed by Foundry collects the data, builds a computer model and extrapolates information from that about areas that are unknown.
“It lets you choose any spot you’re interested in and produce a report describing that exact location,” Kerr said.
Though it was just launched two weeks ago, Kerr has already secured one Alberta client, with another five expected to sign on in the coming months.
He said the quiet oil and gas market has helped, rather than hurt. “Our value proposition is efficiency,” he said. “So it’s an ideal time to launch a product in Alberta if a product is about saving people money.”
While oil and gas is driving the market for the product right now, Kerr said it has applications for mining, agriculture, forestry, First Nations and basically anyone who requires water.
“This technology [is] of interest to every single industry because every single industry depends on water,” he said.
The company has also developed tools that help people find and access environmental monitoring information, and is working on a product that will allow people to look at a specific location — such as their homes — and see what effect a massive earthquake would have on it.
“It will let them see what could potentially happen to their property and offer suggestions on how to mitigate the damage,” he said.
Written by Andrew Duffy
– See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/business/victoria-firm-helps-to-pinpoint-crucial-industry-water-supplies-1.2283221#sthash.Mu5s5W0f.dpuf
New research into the global impacts of invasive species by Australia’s government-funded research body, CSIRO, has identified the countries most threatened by invasive species. The research has found that sub-Saharan African countries are most at risk, while China and the USA pose the greatest threat.
The research, which is published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that although the chances of invasive species entering Australia were relatively high, the overall threat to agriculture is lessened due to our robust management practices.
The research examines the worldwide distribution of nearly 1300 invasive pests and pathogens, international trade flows, and each country’s main agricultural production crops, to determine potential invasion risks and impact.
This is the first analysis of invasive species’ threat to global crop production on a country-by-country basis, calculating the total potential cost of these species invading each of the 124 countries.
Senior researcher Dr Dean Paini said the research found that the most vulnerable countries were located in sub-Saharan Africa.
“These countries generally do not have diverse economies making them disproportionately more dependent on agriculture,” Dr Paini said.
“As a result any threat from invasive species can potentially have a greater relative impact on these countries.”
The study also determined which countries present the greatest threat to the rest of the world given the scale of agricultural export and the invasive species already established.
The USA and China posed the greatest threat as a source of invasive species, however this is not surprising given the high number of pests already present, the scale of their agriculture export industries and their role as regional food hubs with an extensive network of trade partners.
Conversely, as the countries with the largest agricultural export industries, the USA and China could also experience the greatest absolute cost from further species invasions.
However, their ability to manage or mitigate the impact via means such as pest management, plant breeding, crop substitutions, or imports, means that their agriculture industries are not as vulnerable as those of developing countries.
As trade volumes continue to increase and more trade connections are made between countries, the pressures from invasive species will only intensify.
“This research provides insights that will enable the first steps towards the management of invasive species at the global scale,” Dr Paini said.
“By identifying the countries and regions that are most vulnerable, governments can make informed decisions regarding the deployment of resources necessary to protect their borders and agriculture industries by limiting the further spread of invasive species.”
By Anthony Wallace
http://www.spatialsource.com.au/threat-of-invasive-species-mapped-internationally/
what3words has garnered widespread attention of late, following the adoption of the innovative addressing system by the Mongolian national postal service. The adoption by Mongol Post marks the largest scale adoption of the addressing system to date.
what3words uses a unique combinations of three words for each 3mx3m square on Earth. The adoption of what3words by Mongol Post makes a lot of sense in a nation where addressing is notably inadequate for the needs of its citizens. A large proportion of the Mongolian population live nomadic or semi-nomadic lives, meaning that their postal addresses will shift wildly over time. For these purposes Mongolia’s existing addressing is inadequate across its huge geographic area of 1.6 million square kilometres- almost the size of Queensland. Even in urban areas, the addressing is often insufficient and based by a means of reference to nearby features.
what3words and Mongol Post have addressed this issue (excuse the pun) using what3words to provide a unique address for every 3m x 3m square across the nation. Mongol Post will be making the address system integral to its service. It is expected this will help drive the country’s economic development, especially as it is adopted across other applications such as emergency services, logistics and personal navigation.
The move is perhaps a part of a larger wave of adoption of what3words, whose popularity is driven by the universal simplicity of the system.
what3words claim that its addressing system is already being used in over 170 countries by logistics firms, navigation apps, travel guides and NGOs.
Closer to home, Australian firm Mercury Project Solutions this month partnered with what3words in anticipation of the demand for implementing location-based solutions where traditional addressing does not exist or is inadequate. Mercury’s local spatial business consulting services will be utilised for integration of what3words across Australia and New Zealand.
The system has already been adopted by Land Tasmania, which has integrated what3words search capability into LISTmap. In Tasmania, many areas in the south-west of the state have inadequate addressing and people struggle with communicating a precise location easily. To overcome this, the ‘Locate Me’ of LISTmap now includes what3words addressing in addition to traditional coordinates.
what3words can be used by anyone by using the online map or downloading the free app (Google Play/iTunes).
By Anthony Wallace
http://www.spatialsource.com.au/what3words-reaches-mongolia-and-australia/
Imagery suppliers DigitalGlobe and global maritime data experts exactEarth have announced a strategic alliance to offer joint services to the commercial fishing industry and to aid in combating illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
IUU fishing is currently recognised as a major threat to achieving sustainable fisheries, with the potential to cause an irreversible change in ocean ecosystems. Several decades of overfishing in the world’s major fisheries has created large declines in commercially important fish populations.
The alliance will see exactEarth’s advanced automatic identification system (AIS) maritime information services integrated with DigitalGlobe’s high-accuracy, high-resolution commercial satellite imagery. Both organisations’ big data and predictive analytics capabilities will be used in order to help governments to address IUU fishing and also their broader maritime surveillance.
“26 million tonnes of fish, representing approximately $23 billion in lost revenue, are taken each year through illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” said Peter Mabson, CEO of exactEarth. “This has created a compelling case for governments and commercial organisation to find a solution to stem their IUU losses.”
“With DigitalGlobe we believe we have the solution required and we will be first-to-market with a satellite-based AIS system to solve this problem. Our Alliance will enable governments and commercial organisations to monitor fishing activity in and around their borders, respond to suspicious activity and hold vessels accountable for their catch.”
Tony Frazier, SVP & GM of Services for DigitalGlobe says that the partnership represents the first commercial solution to combat illegal fishing: “Illegal fishing costs countries billions of dollars each year and impacts livelihoods of millions,” he said.
“The Alliance will enable our customers to receive AIS data covering a broader territory, which in turn will help them to enhance their overall maritime governance decisions and increase transparency for our changing planet.”
Written by Anthony Wallace
http://www.spatialsource.com.au/combatting-illegal-fishing-with-satellites/
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