Kaine Arkley
FIEA’s Foresttech, the specialist communications, data and apps events that cater for what is to drive the future of the forestry industry were a successful addition for the forestry industry. Source: Timberbiz
The niche events held in Australia and New Zealand drew just under 300 specialists in the field with the take home message for the industry being to collect, collate, analyse and utilise all data – in short, to plan better, measure better and cut better.
Senior resource managers from Australia and New Zealand highlighted the changing skill sets now sought by forestry companies.
Natural resource skills that traditionally have come from University trained foresters weren’t so much in demand as the focus is on forest inventory and resource management.
So increasingly staff are working with “big data” forestry managers and are looking for mathematicians, biometricians and statisticians.
One major forest inventory company said that the last employee taken on was a specialist in computer gaming to work with them to collect and process their forestry data.
“The real benefits from an expo such as this is the peer to peer interactions that occur,” Timberlands Pacific Technical & Planning Manager Kaine Arkley said.
“All of the speakers are approachable and very happy to continue down a common path of interest.
“For forest managers that do not routinely come in contact with others in the same field, the two days spent at the expo are invaluable.
“The contacts you make are true resources which can save time and energy by answering questions and pointing you in the right direction.
“The key take home for me is to do your homework prior to the event, know specifically what you want to get out of it and who you want to talk to.
“Specifically, how industry is using research and the payback they are receiving was a key learning for me, and I feel our company’s investment in areas or remote sensing are the right ones.”
FIEA-organised events for 2016 are:
MobileTECH
Hamilton, New Zealand, 30-31 March.
Wood Innovations
24-25 May, Rotorua
31-May – 1 June, Melbourne
Woodflow Optimisation
14-15 September, Rotorua
20-21 September, Melbourne
ForestTECH
16-17 November, Rotorua
22-23 November, Melbourne
