Sherbaz Hashmi - remember the name as you may well see him in a future Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Receiving an award in San Diego - at the largest GIS tech event on the planet - the ANU student successfully edged-out an impressive field of local innovationists with his inventive application that uses crowdsourced data and smart mapping technology to streamline the reporting of community issues.
Using Esri's world-leading GIS technology, Hashmi's aptly named Shout Out app enables members of the public to easily report issues including road damage, air pollution, abandoned cars and even roadkill.
Like many of his contemporaries Hashmi is driven to unleash the latest tech, coupled with inventive thinking, to combat many of the world’s most common problems.
“Shout Out takes tech – which is accessible to everyone – and transforms what is inherently a painful process into something more efficient and effective and more aligned to community expectations when it comes to connecting with public services,” he said.
Awards programs like these provide students like me with a platform to really make a name for ourselves in industries that are evolving and changing at such a rapid pace says Hashmi.
US based technology giant Esri’s global Young Scholar Award and $100 million national GIS in Schools programs aim to connect students with cutting-edge mapping technology at a time when the spatial industry is experiencing an exponential rate of growth.
A recent Global Geospatial Industry Outlook report identified the GIS technology sector world-wide to be worth a mammoth $500 billion (USD) and a key sector for the “jobs of the future” – for an estimated three generations.
It is no wonder then that tech giants like Esri are starting at the school gate when it comes to investing in programs that seek out the next Steve Jobs or Jack Dangermond.
Skye Rodgers, Esri Australia’s GIS in Schools program manager said students as young as 12 have the opportunity to get hands-on with technology that underpins some of the most progressive governments and corporations across the globe.
“The geo-technical aptitude demonstrated by both the teachers and students we connect with on the program has me under no doubt that we will see many more Sherbaz Hashmis making a positive impact in this world,” she said.
With the 2019 Australian Esri Young Scholar Award title now his to own, Sherbaz Hashmi’s next move is to finish his Bachelor of Software Engineering and Bachelor of Environment and Sustainability.
To find out more about the Esri Young Scholar Award program or the GIS in Schools initiative visit esriaustralia.com.au/gis-for-schools
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