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Great Barrier Reef Foundation wins two international awards for water quality data platform

Our innovative new platform, developed with GP One Consulting, tracks progress towards reducing water pollutants in real time.

Great Barrier Reef Foundation wins two international awards for water quality data platform

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation, in collaboration with GP One Consulting, has won two Asia-Pacific Spatial Excellence Awards for a data collection and visualisation system that helps delivery partners track their progress on reducing water pollutants.

The innovative spatial data platform was awarded the top prize in the Environment and Sustainability category and the Spatial Enablement category by a panel of industry advisors from across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. 

The Environment and Sustainability category recognises organisations that have excelled in utilising spatial products to resolve pressing environmental issues, such as the threat of pollution on the Great Barrier Reef. The Spatial Enablement category recognises organisations that have deftly applied spatial solutions to achieve better outcomes in a process or project. 

“The system that GP One Consulting developed is the first of its kind in this field,” say Great Barrier Reef Foundation water quality program manager Milena Gongora. 

“Tracking management practice change and its impact on water quality at a program level has been a long-standing challenge for investors. This system allows the Foundation to have a level of transparency no other Reef water quality investor in the last 10 years has come close to.” 

The system allows users to visualise progress towards water quality targets in real time.    Top Image: GBRF program manager Milena Gongora (centre) with GP One technical consultants Peter Reyne (left) and Jesse Bridge (right).

The system allows users to visualise progress towards water quality targets in real time.

Top Image: GBRF program manager Milena Gongora (centre) with GP One technical consultants Peter Reyne (left) and Jesse Bridge (right).

At the onset of the Reef Trust Partnership, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation identified a need to establish transparency of on-ground actions to maximise the impact of its investments to reduce pollutants running into the Great Barrier Reef. 

To achieve this, the Great Barrier Reef Foundation partnered with Queensland-based spatial data experts, GP One Consulting, to develop a spatial data platform that simplifies data collection for partners and allows the Foundation and program managers to visualise progress towards water quality targets in real time.  

The spatial data platform consists of an app where partners enter information about their on-ground water quality projects and secure dashboards for managers and investors to visualise progress. 

This data allows the Foundation to manage the program nimbly and ensure its water quality programs are on track to meet pollutant reduction targets in the most cost-effective way possible. 

“The system enables us to manage public funds more responsibly by helping achieve the highest possible water quality impact with the funds available,” adds Ms Gongora.