Recent announcements from the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) confirm that World-wide technology giant Microsoft and leading forest machinery manufacturer John Deere Forestry will be represented at its National Conference in Edinburgh this May.
Innovation for Change: New drivers for tomorrow’s forestry, at Edinburgh International Conference Centre on 2-3 May, will look at the how the fast-moving developments in science and technology, and the impacts of world economics, will shape the forestry and arboriculture industry. The programme will explore not only how it impacts the way we work and new developments that will influence the sector, but also the human shifts of mind and ethics quite unlike anything we’ve experience before.
Joining an already strong speaker line-up, technology expert and entrepreneur Christos Matskas, a Microsoft Azure senior software developer, will explore the impact of an Internet of Things landscape and cloud-centric approach, which he said is important to understand:
“Data is the new oil and right now there’s a massive drive in the industry to create data platforms that can be used to collect and analyse data.
“Regardless of industry, data becomes the common denominator. Being in a position to understand how to work with this data to drive innovation will be vital. The ICF’s conferences is important because it exposes its audience to the various frameworks, platforms and tools that can be used to manage data and get meaningful insights to the future.”
Also new to the programme, Jock McKie, UK Managing Director of John Deere Forestry, part of the American corporation Deere & Company, will turn to another area technological innovation – forest machinery automation. Jock will highlight the importance of innovation in ensuring profitable future operations and look at how that will affect the existing workforce.
Innovation for Change will be opened by Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity, Fergus Ewing MSP.
As more than 220 forestry and aboriculture professionals have already booked, if you do plan to attend you are advised to secure your place soon.
For further information and booking visit: www.charteredforesters.org/innovatecon
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Hester McQueen
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+44 (0) 131 240 1425
Hester.McQueen@charteredforesters.org
