Brisbane, with its strong surveying background and currently home to the biggest concentration of major infrastructure development in Australia, has won the right to host the world’s preeminent global surveying conference. The International Federation of Surveyors’ (FIG) prestigious Working Week, to be held at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) in 2025, is expected to attract 1,700 of the world’s leading surveyors and spatial experts.
The city is in a prime position to host the 2025 conference having been recently announced as the host city of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with its accompanying reputation for hosting large world class events and as an active and engaged surveying and spatial hub.
Paul Digney, President of Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI), the conference host association, led the successful bid with the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre team, supported by industry partners, Tourism & Events Queensland, Tourism Australia and Brisbane Economic Development Agency. Digney said Brisbane was viewed very positively by the FIG selection committee and that as the future Olympic 2032 city, there was an opportunity to raise the bar even higher for the major event of the world’s surveying industry.
“Brisbane has a rich and very long history of surveying. It is very accessible with a world-class conference venue in the heart of the city, close to hotels and a location where delegates can enjoy and share in the city’s culture and atmosphere. It is also a clean, green city with a strong commitment to the environment.”
One of the key goals of the conference, he said, was enhancing the capacity of the profession to develop the knowledge and innovative thinking to help deliver more sustainable and resilient communities, aligning with the theme of the conference, ‘Surveying and geospatial: Creating resilient solutions for sustainable communities.’
“We want the conference to be a focal point to work together and unite us as one. As an industry we tend to be fairly fragmented at times. Uniting the sector would be a real positive for the industry and we think Brisbane, with so much new infrastructure happening, will be perfect as a ‘living lab’ of best practice surveying technology innovation. It will be an exciting time for Brisbane and a great time for our global profession to visit Australia.”
BCEC General Manager Bob O’Keeffe AM, said FIG Working Week was one of 15 international conference bid wins for Brisbane and the Centre so far this year, with a strong line-up of other international meetings in the pipeline. “The Centre was honoured to work with its long-term association partners, the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute (SSSI) for a great outcome, on bringing this conference to Brisbane for the very first time and I look forward to welcoming delegates from the surveying and spatial sector to an exciting and energised future Olympic city.”
“Tourism Australia is thrilled to be supporting the International Federation of Surveyors’ (FIG) prestigious Working Week, to be held in Brisbane in 2025, through its Bid Fund Program,” said Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison. “Attracting large-scale international events has a significant role to play in both generating global attention for Australia’s capabilities as a world-class business events destination and in supporting the recovery of our tourism industry more broadly.”
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said securing a significant international event such as FIG would not only boost the city’s visitor economy, but also cement Brisbane’s reputation as a leading business events destination. “As global attention turns to us ahead of the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we’re excited to capitalise on this momentum and put Brisbane on the international stage as a world-class destination for business events and their delegates,” he said.
