Over 270 delegates attended the ForestTECH series in November 2017. All of the major forestry companies in Australia and New Zealand were represented along with representatives from major Indonesian and South African forestry companies.

Last year new data collection technologies were highlighted. ForestTECH 2017 reviewed advances being made on accessing, processing and better interpreting the associated big data streams that were being collected out in the field. The task that was been grappled with by many forestry companies was how best to sort through and use the collected data and convert it into something that’s usable for all stakeholders.

The focus for ForestTECH 2017 was “unlocking the true value of data”. New systems for better measuring, managing and analysing this information was again reviewed as part of the 2017 technology series. Emphasis was also put on research findings from recent in-forest trials and from a world class three-year, AU$1.8 million collaborative research project on remote sensing jointly funded by Forest & Wood Products Australia (FWPA), forestry companies, universities and government.

Leading Australian and New Zealand researchers who’ve been working alongside local forestry companies were for the first time able to share their results. ForestTECH 2017 was also able to review some of the disruptive technologies that were showing real promise for research, in business and operationally, out in the forest. These included technologies like; artificial intelligence, the IOT, machine and deep learning, robotics, automation, UAV’s and the use of virtual and augmented reality.

Research into remote sensing of plantation forests in this region for resource assessment is world class. We’re leading the world right now in how new platforms and sensor technologies are being used to acquire, analyse, process and use 3D dense point cloud data. What is unique to Australasia is the collaboration that exists between researchers (with a range of disciplines both inside and outside the forestry industry), the key technology providers and industry on both sides of the Tasman who have been working on these projects.

Also, what is unusual, compared to other parts of the wood supply chain, is the sheer speed of change. UAV’s for example, just two to three years ago were being looked at as a potential and maybe cheaper tool for getting an eye up in the sky for forestry operations. They’re now been routinely used for functions like; acquiring inventory data, forest health surveys, tree survival counts, quality assurance and tree height measurements. In just 16 months, over 65 UAV pilots have been trained from forestry companies in New Zealand. Similar numbers are being trained by larger forestry companies in Australia. Small, robust lightweight UAV’s are now part of the technical tools being used by field foresters.

There is also a very short lag time (often just six months at the moment) between the time research results are being relayed to forestry companies to the time that it’s being implemented operationally. ForestTECH 2018 will provide local forestry companies with a timely and independent overview of recent advances, both in research and in the operational use of the technology, made in just 12 months on forest data collection tools and systems that have been developed to better measure, analyse, report and act on this captured information.