The HRIC is a leader in empowering the community to use GIS technology. It supports both school and university GIS education programs.

HRIC can supply schools and colleges with geospatial data for the Lower Herbert Valley and beyond. The images and GIS files are ready to use in ArcMap. This data is free of charge, but the user will need to sign a Data Licensing Agreement.

The large amount of data available includes orthorectified aerial photographs, towns, roads, rail, drainage, contours, cadastral plots, cane blocks, vegetation and land use.

HRIC has enjoyed assisting the teachers and students of Ingham State High School since 1998. The project in 2008 involved the students mapping facilities and fixtures around the school. For example, two students spatially analysed the amount of litter around the school grounds, relating it to the location of bins, then suggesting new sites for the bins.

Teacher Brian Newman and HRIC’s GIS Officer Derek Tickner showed the students how to use their data in ArcMap by creating feature classes, adding points, polygons and attribute tables, using appropriate symbology, labelling and linking locations to photographs.

HRIC is also involved with introducing primary school students to GIS. Raymond and Derek visited the Victoria Plantation State School to give a presentation, which was followed by a lively question and answer session. The kids then ran around the field with a GPS device, linked to a laptop showing their progress.