Geisenheim, Germany – April 25, 2024 – Topcon Positioning Systems has announced a new manufacturing facility will be built in Geisenheim, Germany, near Frankfurt, for the company’s Topcon Electronics operation. The announcement was made during a groundbreaking ceremony on April 16. The ceremony coincided with the production milestone of the one-millionth product to come off the line at the company’s current Geisenheim facility, where in-cab displays are made for Topcon’s agriculture and construction solutions portfolios as well as for global OEM customers. The new state-of-the-art manufacturi ..read more

Santa Fe, New Mexico, 24 April 2024 – Descartes Labs Government (DLG) is announcing the launch of Retina (Rapid Exploitation Through Interactive Analysis) at GEOINT 2024. Retina is an innovative solution that integrates Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) for rapid intelligence extraction, enabling government agencies to see the world in real-time clarity through a single, streamlined interface. The DLG Retina dashboard provides regional insights of network and communication interruption events. This example demonstrates blocked access to WhatsApp across Chin ..read more

Washington, April 23—Associated Builders and Contractors today issued the following statement opposing the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule that will change overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The final rule increases the minimum annual salary level threshold for exemption in two phases: from the current level of $35,568 to $43,888 on July 1, 2024, and to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025. In addition, salary thresholds will update every three years starting on July 1, 2027. “ABC appreciates that the DOL recognized the value in retaining the methodology used by the prior admini ..read more

Washington, April 23—Associated Builders and Contractors today issued the following statement opposing the Federal Trade Commission’s final rule to ban noncompete clauses. The FTC voted 3-2 to issue the final rule today. “The final rule to ban all noncompete agreements nationwide—except existing noncompetes for senior executives— is a radical departure from hundreds of years of legal precedent,” said Ben Brubeck, ABC vice president of regulatory, legal and state affairs. “Ultimately, this vastly overbroad rule will invalidate millions of reasonable contracts—including construction project ..read more

April 23, 2024 – The most significant release of UgCS, the best and most powerful flight planning tool for drone pilots, has landed! SPH Engineering is proud to announce the release of UgCS 5.0, marking a major milestone in drone flight planning software evolution. The biggest UgCS update in years is bringing along a refreshed and more friendly user interface. New UgCS 5.0 is inspired by the professional drone pilot community’s feedback, allowing pilots to tackle complicated projects and fly with LiDAR. This update is a significant step toward making drone flight planning faster and more intu ..read more

Expo showcased technologies to help prevent 14,000+ annual incidents of buried utilities damage in Colorado Colorado Springs, Colo. – Common Ground Alliance (CGA) – the national association dedicated to protecting underground utility lines and the people who dig near them, this week hosted its 2024 Annual CGA Conference & Expo at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. With 1,400 damage prevention leaders in attendance, the CGA Conference & Expo is the largest gathering of its kind in America. More than 38 times each day on average in Colorado, buried power, water, gas, internet, and other ..read more

Aarschot, Belgium, 18 April 2024 – Virtual Surveyor has enhanced its popular smart drone surveying software with new planimetric survey capabilities. In addition to multiple performance modifications, Virtual Surveyor version 9.5 now enables users to quickly, easily, and accurately survey 2D features from drone orthophotos and add them to the 3D topographic model generated from the same data set. Duplicating a manhole drawing with the Move/Copy tool. “The new planimetric tools significantly improve the speed with which users can survey the features that reside on top of the topography,” said ..read more

GEO Business, the UK’s largest geospatial event, returns to ExCeL London on 5-6 June 2024.  GEO Business is a platform for you to connect with the geospatial community and unlock the potential of geospatial innovation. This free-to-attend expo acts as a one-stop-shop for finding the latest solutions to collect, analyse, store and share spatial data. Get up to date on the newest developments from 130+ geospatial brands, from market leaders to disruptive start-ups. Speak to the teams behind the technology, get expert advice, and see products in action with hands-on demos. Plus, access uniqu ..read more

Dale Beeks, the prolific collector, researcher, and dealer of early American surveying equipment, of Mt. Vernon, Iowa died in late 2023. Recognized and respected as an authority on early surveying equipment, Dale also collected microscopes, telescopes, medical devices and other philosophical equipment.  Dale was an encyclopedia, always available to share his vast knowledge. A man of many talents, Dale was also an accomplished musician, playing several instruments. He was a member (and welcome stand-in) of several eastern Iowa musical groups. A celebration of Dale’s eclectic life was re ..read more

Centimeter-accurate navigation works on most commonly used survey devices — with intelligent assignment of local datums (April 15, 2024 – Santa Clara, CA) Today, Point One Navigation — a precision localization and navigation leader — officially launched support for GIS product creators, surveyors, and construction professionals on the Polaris RTK Network. Polaris provides cm-accurate positioning at scale across the United States, Europe, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea and is easily integrated into any dual-band GNSS receiver with RTK support. Historically, achieving pr ..read more