Articles

Driving Business Value with Geographic Business Intelligence
David Loshin 08-26-2008
VF Corporation, the world's largest apparel company, believes in location intelligence. It's using the technology to learn what consumers want in each geographic area. Then, by feeding demand, VF can enhance profits. Learn how VF worked with SRC to boost the bottom line by tracking 10,000 retail locations, more than 100,000 SKUs (stock keeping units) and 200 lifestyle variables.

Podcast: The Olympics and Geographic Education
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 08-26-2008
With this past weekend's Beijing summer Olympics closing ceremonies the event goes into hibernation for another four years. What will we recall? Phelps' eight swimming golds? The Chinese taking more golds than another other country? A first Olympic gold medal for Mongolia (in judo)? Perhaps. But will anyone following the games say they learned a bit more about the world, about geography?

Pacific Team Delivers GEOINT in Paradise
Shanan Farmer 08-21-2008
For some, "duty" in Hawaii means sun and fun. For others, especially those working for the NGA, it means watching out for cyclones, tsunamis and terrorism. The NGA team supporting the U.S. Pacific Command has an extremely high operational tempo that contrasts sharply with the relaxing atmosphere of the Hawaiian Islands. The NGA Support Team provides flexible, in-depth and predictive, regionally focused geospatial intelligence analysis to the Joint Intelligence Operations Center and Special Operations Command Pacific and the 7th Fleet.

Podcast: Outdoor gear purveyor REI Presents on the Company’s New User-generated Maps Campaign
Web 2.0 Mapping and Social Networks Meetup Group 08-20-2008
REI's Rico Simpkins, Online Community Development Manager, speaks about the past, present and future of REI. Up until now, REI's Internet presence has been merchandise-based. REI's new goal is to bring the community they foster in their stores, to the Web, part of which is getting users to share vacation information such as user-generated maps of their travels. In Rico's words, he wants to develop an "online" community that gets people "offline."

Olympics Provide Showcase for 3D Geospatial Models
Joe Francica 08-20-2008
Amid the gold, silver and bronze of the Beijing Olympics is TIN ... that is, triangulated irregular networks, used to create the terrain models that you see during NBC's televised coverage. High resolution satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe and visualization software from AEgis Technologies helped to create both the terrain and Olympic venue building models that viewers see on TV. Editor-in-chief Joe Francica went behind the scenes to get the details about the mapping and visualization technology that created these incredible graphics.

Podcast: Why is Autodesk Up in a Down Economy?
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 08-19-2008
Our editors ponder Autodesk's quarterly expectation-beating revenues. The company reported solid growth around the world even as gas and food costs remain high. Just what is the company doing right and what can we extrapolate to geospatial companies in particular? Also, a look at Autodesk's recent acquisition of 3D, standards focused company in Germany.

Western Australia's SLIP Enabler Transforms how Government Uses and Shares Spatial Information
Mark Ducksbury 08-14-2008
The Shared Land Information Platform (SLIP) has transformed the way the Western Australian government uses and shares spatial information. SLIP uses Internet technology for linking agency systems to create a single online access point to real-time land and property information from more than 200 datasets within 19 agencies. This article highlights the technology behind SLIP and its benefits to the region and beyond.

Three Takeaways from ESRI UC 2008
Adena Schutzberg 08-13-2008
By the third day of this event, Adena Schutzberg was getting the sort of questions she's come to expect at large geospatial gatherings: "What was the theme?" "What did you see?" "What was the event about?" This year she found three key ideas of note.

Notes from the ESRI UC 2008 Exhibits Floor
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 08-13-2008
The 2008 ESRI User Conference Exhibits cover a huge part of the San Diego Convention Center. Our editors share their finds and observations among the many booths of hardware, software, data and services companies.

Podcast: A GIO for DOI: Implications and Questions
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 08-12-2008
Last week Secretary Kempthorne announced plans to appoint a Geographic Information Officer, or GIO, for the Department of the Interior. After having a week to ponder the announcement, our editors raise some practical and political questions about the position and who may fill it.

ESRI UC Exhibits: Three Small Companies and Their Clever Ideas
Adena Schutzberg 08-11-2008
Adena Schutzberg made it a point this year on a pass through the exhibit hall to speak to companies with which she was not familiar. She found a bumper crop of small companies with unique ideas about how to use the cloud, build out 3D models for free, and really communicate 3D information.

GeoWeb Conference: A High-Level Overview
Jean-Sébastien Turcotte 08-08-2008
Korem's JS Turcotte attended the GeoWeb 2008 Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia organized by Galdos Systems recently and offers this overview. The conference focuses on the merging of GIS technologies, methods and applications with the Internet. Approximately 350 people attended the conference, ranging from the traditional GIS crowd to newbies using tools such as Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth to geo-enable their Web sites or applications.

ESRI UC: Technical Keynotes
Adena Schutzberg 08-07-2008
Adena Schutzberg reviews two technical keynotes: "A Framework for Implementing GIS on the Web," presented by Clint Brown, and "ArcGIS 9.4, the Road Ahead," presented by Damian Spangrud.

Five Questions with geoVue’s VP of Sales and Marketing, David Powell
Joe Francica 08-06-2008
The downturn in the economy is impacting retailers due to increasing costs for both transportation and raw goods. Editor-in-Chief Joe Francica asked geoVue Vice President of Sales and Marketing David Powell about the technology solutions available to retail and real estate executives who, as a result of this downturn, are facing declining patronage and revenues.

Podcast: LBS Infrastructure Market Predicted to Grow to $2.2 Billion by 2013 by ABI Research
Joe Francica 08-06-2008
In this interview, Editor-in-chief Joe Francica spoke with Dominique Bonte, Principal Analyst, Telematics & Navigation for ABI Research in London, England. ABI Research released a report (July 2008) stating that Location Based Platforms and Infrastructure Licensing Revenues would reach $2.2 billion by 2013, sizable growth from that of today which ABI estimates at only $111 Million. Francica spoke to Mr. Bonte to get more information on the LBS infrastructure market specifically.

Podcast: ESRI UC Morning Plenary - Our Take
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 08-05-2008
Our editors review the morning plenary at the 2008 ESRI User Conference. The main focus included enhancements in ArcGIS 9.3, 3D, imagery and announcements from Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of Interior, who stole the show.

Kempthorne Announces that 35 Years of Landsat Data Available Free
Joe Francica 08-03-2008
Speaking at the ESRI UC Senior Executive Summit in San Diego, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, announced that the 35 years of archived Landsat data will be made available over the web free to the public by the end of the year. Read more and listen to Editor-in-chief Joe Francica's interview with Secretary Kempthorne and USGS Director Mark Myers.

A Sense of Place En Route
Adena Schutzberg 07-30-2008
Usually we associate "sense of place" with a point or an area. But what about applying it to a linear feature like a road, trail or path? Adena Schutzberg ponders the issue.

Primer: GeoJSON
Adena Schutzberg 07-30-2008
The GeoJSON format has "made the big time" in some sense as the final specification is complete and Safe Software announced full support for it. This "for non-programmers" short essay answers key questions including; What is it? Why is it special?

Podcast: How to Read Microsoft's 3D Effort with trueSpace
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 07-29-2008
This week Microsoft announcedthat its recently acquired trueSpace 3D model creator is now free and models created with it can be uploaded as collections to Virtual Earth. What does that say about what Google, Microsoft and the geospatial community think about what tools and data are required for today's maps?

The View from Here: Confidence, Hearsay and Easy-to-Use GIS
Adena Schutzberg 07-24-2008
Why is GIS still so hard to use in 2008? Is it the software providers who are responsible or is it the users? It has something to do with confidence and hearsay, suggests Adena Schutzberg. The good news: she's optimistic about the future for GIS users.

Podcast: MISO and ESRI: Current Status and the Future
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 07-22-2008
"MISO" stands for Microsoft, IBM, SAP and Oracle, the big enterprise players in the market today. All have a toe or more in GIS, but all also have a tie to ESRI. What's the state of those relationships and what new players also want and need to hook up with the big E? Our editors explore these questions and toss in a few other letters, G, A and B into the alphabet soup.

Online Registration - How Location Helps Strike the Right Balance for Retailers
Bruce Wilkinson 07-18-2008
Did you ever wonder how websites use those tidbits of information you may leave on their websites, such as a ZIP Code or your age range? This article from Nielsen Claritas explains how with just a bit of information, offered in response to a fair trade, retailers can understand and serve their online and off-line visitors better.

Webcasts of Geospatial Web Services 2008
Directions Staff 07-18-2008
The Geospatial Web Services workshop at Centre for Geospatial Science, University of Nottingham held June 16-17th, 2008 had an interesting twist: a live webcast. More than 300 viewers followed the presentations over two days. Organizer Dr. Suchith Anand of the University wants to share the content as he believes "technologies like webcasting and podcasting will help in widening participation of GIS research conferences and events for the benefit of the society at large."

Safe Software and WeoGeo Announce the Next Step in Geospatial Cloud Computing
Adena Schutzberg 07-17-2008
Today Safe Software and WeoGeo will announce a partnership to bring spatial ETL (extract, transform and load) technology to the cloud. Adena Schutzberg is confident there will be more geospatial applications running the cloud in the near future.

Podcast: Interview with Safe Software and WeoGeo on Cloud Computing
Adena Schutzberg 07-17-2008
Safe Software and WeoGeo are partnering to bring spatial ETL (extract, transform and load) technology to the cloud. Not sure what the cloud is? Not sure how geospatial technologies can take advantage of it? Safe's president Don Murray and WeoGeo's CEO Paul Bissett tackle these topics and prepare you for your future in the cloud.

July 2008: The Current Housing Market
Lynn Wombold 07-16-2008
The predominant development in 2008 is not growth, but decline - the fallout from the downturn in the housing market. There are still areas of growth, pockets of prosperity to report; however, there are few areas untouched by the decline of the housing market and the ensuing credit crunch. ESRI's chief demographer, Lynn Wombold, takes a close look at the current housing situation in the context of demographic factors.

Podcast: You are a Sensor
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 07-15-2008
Clever researchers have determined that you, even without a portable device can be an effective geographic sensor. This week we explore examples of how individuals, sometimes along with their electronic gadgets, can act as effective sensors for disease or natural disaster. Our editors share some proven techniques and explore how this type of data collection might play out in the future.

What I Learned Moving to a Mac
Adena Schutzberg 07-14-2008
When you attend a conference are you seeing more people with Macs? Unlike a few years ago when Mac users were either hip programmers or not so tech-savvy folks, more and more regular computer users are going Mac, both in and outside of geospatial. Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg joined the group back in March and thinks back on those three months to share what she's learned. While she appreciates what the Mac can do, the real revelation how her computer use has moved to the cloud.

SERVIR Viz: A 3D Data Access and Visualization System for Mesoamerica
Jessica Coughlin, Sid Cuff and and Nathan Krause 07-10-2008
The challenge may sound familiar: deliver geospatial data hosted remotely at many different locations via one access point to many different levels of user. The goal may also soud familiar: share, disseminate and visualize across eight countries, with multiple languages and in some areas, limited infrastructure. But, more than likely, you've not yet heard about the solution: SERVIR, the Regional Visualization and Monitoring System for Mesoamerica, which extends from southern Mexico to Panama, including Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. The Institute for the Application of Geospatial Technology (IAGT) developed a key part SERVIR Viz, a free, easy-to-use data access and visualization framework for geodata built on NASA's World Wind. Three team members give us a tour.

Advanced Geospatial Intelligence Enhances Commercial Imagery
Kensey Liebsch 07-09-2008
Advanced Geospatial Intelligence or AGI, applied to imagery is what we'd likely call "image analysis." It describes techniques "to look beyond the visual information depicted in the image." For the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, NGA, that has two key implications: more intelligence and the ability to create and then share unclassified products with partners for a variety of uses. Kensey Liebsch of NGA explores the present and future of the analysis and the core imagery.

Podcast: Web Mapping Platform Migration
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 07-08-2008
Last week Ask.com moved off its longtime mapping platform to Microsoft's Virtual Earth. What are the practical choices these days for those who want mapping as part of their portals? Has customization and a unique look and feel been overshadowed by a few strong hosted solutions to which everyone will eventually migrate? Our editors sort out the options and trends and end up using the "c" word - commodity.

Podcast: Tracking Fleets...On Land and Water - An Executive Interview with Pointer Telocation's Israel Ronn
Joe Francica 07-07-2008
In today’s executive interview podcast we spoke with Israel Ronn, General Manager of Pointer Telocation's products division. Pointer Telocation is based in Isreal and is a supplier of Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and asset management solutions for fleet management and they are working with G4S Telematix S.A. of Greece to provide tracking technology for live coverage of a series of Mediterranean sailing races. Editor-in-chief Joe Francica spoke with Mr. Ronn about the event and about Pointer’s technology.

Retailers Go IP Geotargeting - Turning Internet Clients into Foot Traffic and More
Joe Francica 07-07-2008
It's not enough anymore to just have a good supporting website to capture additional retail sales. The Web experience for individuals not only needs to be customized for the retailer's "frequent buyers" with regard to their buying preferences, but can now be specifically targeted based on their location, as well. Ace Hardware is using Internet Protocol (IP) geotargeting technology to immediately recognize its Web traffic to create a nearly hyperlocal experience for its Web visitors. Editor-in-chief Joe Francica explores the technology with executives from Digital Element and GSI Commerce.

Skyhook's XPS 2.0 - Location Solutions for Truly Converged Devices
Joe Francica 07-03-2008
For a cell phone user living in a deep urban canyon, a GPS signal is often difficult to obtain and if you are indoors, nearly impossible. Location determination often requires other means if a clear GPS signal can't be acquired. Assisted GPS provides a backup to a clear line of sight based on triangulating cell tower locations but sometimes the accuracy falls short for some applications. Since its inception, Skyhook Wireless offered the ability to triangulate position based on a database of Wi-Fi hotspots to help solve both problems. Now, the company is offering a way to incorporate all three location determination technologies to solve the problem of indoor positioning and improving accuracy.

Podcast: Location Determination Goes Hybrid
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 07-01-2008
Skyhook announced a hybrid location determination software solution that can tap into GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell towers to locate devices. What does that mean for knowing where you are anytime, anywhere? Is this step forward accompanied by an increased sense of location privacy comfort? Our editors explore the new technology and offer a suggestion for tackling the privacy bugaboo.

Mapping It All Out: FEMA's GIS Program Has Positive Impact On Moss Point Recovery
FEMA Staff 06-30-2008
When the average person thinks of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its role in the recovery of a community after a disaster, images of the initial response usually come to mind; a man in a FEMA shirt sitting at a table signing residents up for disaster assistance, an assembly line of workers unloading bottles of water from a truck and handing them to waiting disaster victims or, perhaps, a FEMA official joining local, state and national leaders on a tour of the disaster area. The aforementioned imagery provides a relatively narrow perspective of FEMA's functions and responsibilities. A great example of the lesser known roles of FEMA's assistance comes through the GIS program.

Naming Names
Adena Schutzberg 06-26-2008
On Monday, Nokia reported it would acquire Plazes for an undisclosed sum. Plazes is reasonably well-know in the geospatial arena for its location-tagged messaging offering. Outside our community, Plazes' geospatial focus and clever location-related name didn't necessarily come into play in reports about the acquisition. Adena Schutzberg explores how the media understands this small, but increasingly important company, and what it says about the terms the geospatial community holds dear.

MapInfo 9.5 - Under the Hood
Joe Francica 06-24-2008
Editor-in-chief Joe Francica spoke with Moshe Binyamin, MapInfo Professional Product Manager, about some of the features announced in the release of MapInfo Professional 9.5. The product was released on June 11.

Five Questions with Susan Marlow About Parcel Datasets
Adena Schutzberg 06-19-2008
Smart Data Strategies has been in the parcel / land records business for 20 years. In the last year or so, parcel data has become an incredibly hot topic. Today, several large commercial companies are in the process of building a national parcel dataset. Adena Schutzberg asked Susan Marlow, CEO of Smart Data Strategies, about parcel data.

Five Questions (Plus One) About Korem's Mapworkspace
Adena Schutzberg 06-18-2008
In May, Korem launched a website aimed at MapInfo Professional users that allows them to share their workspaces and associated files. Adena Schutzberg asked Korem’s vice president and CTO, Jean-Sébastien Turcotte, about the product.

Podcast: Who is #1 in GIS...and Does It Really Matter?
Joe Francica 06-16-2008
Who's #1 in GIS? How big is the GIS market? Is the impact of Google affecting the sales of GIS vendors? These questions are asked all the time and the answer is...nobody really knows. But more to the point, does it really matter? With the fragmentation of the geospatial technology market during the last few years, it is difficult to place a number on the total size of the market, despite the best efforts of market research firms. Editor-in-chief Joe Francica lays out a framework for the sectors of the geospatial market and what really needs to be considered when trying to size the market...but as importantly, why the numbers today are irrelevant.

Podcast: Exclusive Interview with Judson Green, President & CEO, NAVTEQ
Joe Francica 06-12-2008
In an exclusive interview, Judson Green, president and CEO of NAVTEQ spoke with Directions Media Editor-in-chief Joe Francica about a broad spectrum of topics related to the growth of the location-based services market and the ability of NAVTEQ to address an exploding market for digital map products. Green spoke of the opportunities for NAVTEQ not just in terms of its current ability to serve a variety of market segments but provided some insights in what may be possible in the future with NAVTEQ data. "Don't think of our map going into a nav system in the front seat of the car; think of our map going into the engine of the car to help drive the car ... and therein you find dozens and dozens and dozens of applications which would fundamentally improve the safety of the car, the productivity of the car, the efficiencies, and we think that's a very exciting area," he said. Green, once the president for Walt Disney Attractions, now has the challenge of sorting through the opportunities that range from real-time dynamic content to advanced driver assistance systems.

Serendipity in News and Travel
Adena Schutzberg 06-11-2008
Are you the type who grabs the latest cell phone with GPS? Or upgrades to the latest tools for tracking your hiking expedition or bike ride? Not all geospatial professionals are geo-gadget people. Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg isn't one when it comes to satellite navigation devices - she doesn't have one. In this editorial she explains the choice in one word: serendipity. She puts it this way: "It's my contention that if you follow a track too closely you are not open the wonders you may find along the way."

Podcast: Speedy Browsers for Web Mapping ... Which Ones Are Faster?
Joe Francica 06-09-2008
It's always about speed. In the early days of geospatial technology, the argument was about getting things done faster with speedier computers: VAXes, mini-VAXes, and those "wiz-bang" 486 PCs! Now the discussion has changed. With geospatial solutions being delivered by Internet-based mapping programs some of the bottleneck with speed is tied up in browsers. Is Internet Explorer faster than Mozilla? What browser best renders maps and which is tops in security? Editor Joe Francica explores the options.

The Open Geospatial Consortium: Fostering a Climate for Collaboration
John F. Olesak 06-03-2008
The OGC is best known for creating standards, but one of its great contributions is as a forum for collaboration. In this article, John Olesak of Northrop Grumman Information Technology TASC highlights how organizations come together and enhance efforts including national spatial data infrastructures and the global spatial data infrastructure. He explains that "collaborative environments are difficult to achieve and maintain over time. OGC has a proven track record of keeping a balance between a structured steady course and the rapid adaptation and assimilation of new ideas."

Seven Questions about Contigo's New Mobile Items Monitoring Patent
Joe Francica 06-03-2008
Contigo received a patent earlier this year for monitoring the locations of mobile items. The patent is not linked to a specific location technology, meaning it applies to existing and perhaps future technologies. Editor-in-Chief Joe Francica asked company representatives to share insights on the implications of this patent for the company's existing fleet tracking and future solutions.

Podcast: Wither Paper Maps in a World of Satellite Navigation?
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 06-03-2008
This week the California State Automobile Association announce it would end its production of road maps due to falling demand. The slack will be picked up by the national Association. At the same time police and response organizations are warning the public and their staffs to keep a paper map on hand. What is happening to paper maps as GPS devices become part of our daily lives? Editors Adena Schutzberg and Joe Francica share their thoughts.

Five Questions (Plus One) About TRF and the New Version of PolicyMap
Directions Staff 06-02-2008
GIS has long been used in development and redevelopment efforts. The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) updated its PolicyMap online application which serves organizations and individuals interested in redeveloping and revitalizing neighborhoods. Maggie McCullough, TRF's director of PolicyMap explains the project's vision, technology and business model in answering our questions.

Operations Meets Analytics at Pitney Bowes MapWorld '08
Joe Francica 05-30-2008
To understand how MapInfo and Group 1 Software, both divisions of Pitney Bowes, will be positioned going forward, an attendee of MapWorld 2008 need only observe the trade show floor. Joe Francica explains.

Issues and Ideas from the New York State Geospatial Summit 2008
Adena Schutzberg 05-29-2008
Did you ever attend a regional GIS conference that really was not about the region's GIS or even about the work you do day to day? Adena Schutzberg did; she spoke at the New York State Geospatial Summit, an eclectic event held in the wilds of New York State. It's a small, all-plenary event designed to get geospatial professionals to think outside their daily work "boxes." The 2008 edition did just that as she explains in this event wrap-up.

Podcast: (Geo)technology 2008 - Findability, Accessibility, Portability
Adena Schutzberg 05-28-2008
This week Adena Schutzberg offers a condensed version of the presentation she gave last week at the NYS Geospatial Summit, in Skaneateles, NY. It focuses on the challenges of finding, accessing and moving Web-based content both geospatial and otherwise, and highlights some technologies and tools addressing those challenges. She also looks into the future and predicts what she expects to see in these areas in the coming months and years.

NSDI Implementation Strategies
Asmat Ali 05-24-2008
"What are the strategies to implement NSDI?" Asmat Ali asserts no consolidated documents exist at the moment to answer that question. In this paper he reviews only socio-technical approaches to implementing NSDI, highlighting the Rainbow Metaphor Approach and the Public Private Partnership Approach. Neither approach alone offers all the potential benefits, but each brings key elements to the table.

Five Questions About Avencia's Sajara
Adena Schutzberg 05-21-2008
Avencia launched a new version of its Web-based digital asset management (DAM) software, Sajara, earlier this month. Why are consulting firm offering products? How is the revolution in online mapping changed demands on digital asset management? We posed these and other questions to company president and CEO Robert Cheetham and the Sajara team.

Podcast: ESRI and Google Offer New Solutions for Finding and Using Geospatial Data
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 05-20-2008
At last week's Where 2.0 conference held in Burlingame, California, Google's John Hanke and ESRI's Jack Dangermond shared the stage to describe their updated vision for making ESRI's users' geodata and services more usable across the Web. Our editors describe the key points in this technological and business handshake and explore its implications.

Addressing Fire
Carl Hancock 05-16-2008
England's fire services are tapping into many location technologies to get the right information to the right people at the right time. Many partners have come together to outfit vehicles across the region with Mobile Data Terminals complete with data from the National Land and Property Gazetteer. Carl Hancock explains how it all comes together.

Business Globes 1.0
Joe Francica 05-14-2008
What is it you like about Google Earth, really? Satellite images or the "zooming" factor? The ability to use the "globe" to grasp a much wider perspective has implications for how businesses can manage their multinational operations. Joe Francica explores "business globes" that will be created specifically for organizations or industries, and how they might support a better view of a corporate ecosystem from a geographic perspective.

Podcast: Four Technologies That May Soon Impact Geospatial - Are You Ready?
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 05-12-2008
The editors look outward to find technologies that will impact how geospatial products and practices will change in the next 12 to 24 months. Some of the suggestions are already appearing in cutting edge products, others are not yet implemented in geospatial solutions, but we expect them to be soon.

The LI 15 Minute Update: Short Conversations with Geo Technology and Data Providers – Part 2
Adena Schutzberg 05-09-2008
Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg challenged exhibitors and attendees to provide updates on their organization's latest news and products in just 15 minutes. She shares a sampling of interesting tidbits from WeatherBug, WeoGeo, Seisan, MapQuest and Quova in part two of a two-part article.

The LI 15 Minute Update: Short Conversations with Geo Technology and Data Providers – Part 1
Adena Schutzberg 05-07-2008
Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg challenged exhibitors and attendees to provide updates on their organization's latest news and products in just 15 minutes. She shares a sampling of interesting tidbits from Tele Atlas, Europa Technologies, Ubisense and Microsoft in part one of a two-part article.

Location Intelligence 2008: Maturing Market Players Look for New Relationships
Adena Schutzberg 05-06-2008
Directions Media hosted the fifth annual Location Intelligence Conference last week in Santa Clara, California. Adena Schutzberg shares how a location-savvy audience reacted to the possibilities for indoor location tracking, discusses a lightning panel, and details BP's work implementing location intelligence across the entire 100,000 person company. She also offers up the key themes of the event.

European Mobile Mapping Trends
Michael Fisher 05-06-2008
Where is Europe compared to the rest of the world with location-based services? What cultural differences suggest a preference for "locate services" or "friend finders" versus turn-by-turn navigation that is a staple of the U.S. market for LBS? And why does the word "free" raise skepticism in some parts of Europe? Michael Fisher explores some of these difference and adds his own forecast for location-based advertising.

Podcast: Why is it so Hard to Sell Geospatial Technology to the Enterprise?
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 05-05-2008
Senior executives from leading technology companies, speaking at our Location Intelligence Conference last week shared that the entire value proposition for spatial enablement is a "push" to the market rather than a "pull" or demand for the technology. Our editors ask: Are we doing an adequate job of selling the technology to more of the people who will eventually implement geospatial tools with other IT solutions? Why is it still so hard? What are we not doing well? Will it take another "Google Earth" to push the technology deeper into corporate computing or a new crop of graduates to be more geospatially enlightened?

Top Ten Things I Learned at LI 2008
Joe Francica 05-05-2008
Location Intelligence 2008 provided a glimpse into some of the technology trends shaping the industry. Conference Chairman Joe Francica provides a quick takeaway on his observations of the event and the conversations he had with attendees. The conference took place last week in Santa Clara, CA.

GCI Sells Maptech
Adena Schutzberg 04-30-2008
Maptech, a company known in geospatial circles for its Terrain Navigator Pro and Pocket Navigator map applications, but even more well-known in marine circles for its paper and electronic marine navigation tools, quietly went on the block earlier this year. Adena Schutzberg takes a look at the company's interesting past and its expected future.

Podcast: Do You Think Spatially?
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 04-29-2008
An interactive session at a recent regional GIS event prompted our editors to explore how we are trained in GIS, and how and if we use spatial thinking in our day-to-day work. Are we just pushing buttons and following recipes or are we truly using the underlying ideas of how people, places and things behave in space? Does it matter if you are trained in geography vs. GIS vs. another discipline? What does the future look like for those skilled (or not) in spatial thinking?

17th Annual GIS SIG Draws Genesee/Finger Lakes Region Geospatial Users to Tackle Local and Universal Challenges
Adena Schutzberg 04-28-2008
Adena Schutzberg has argued in the past that you can learn as much (or more) at a regional GIS gathering of a few hundred than at a multi-day event of several thousand. Case in point: the 17th GIS Special Interest Group Conference serving the Genesee/Finger Lakes Region of New York state held last week. Not only did neighbors learn what neighbors were doing, they also were forced out of their comfort zones to explore topics outside geospatial technology and at its heart.

Satellite Imagery Production Grows Up: Land Cover for Local Governments
Adena Schutzberg 04-24-2008
Earth Day 2008 has just passed providing solid evidence citizens and governments are turning their attention to all things green. Local governments are hearing the call of green as well and often look to acquire a land cover dataset to understand what's on the ground within their geography. Until recently such a dataset was the result of a one-off negotiation with an aerial firm and/or a imagery analysis specialist who could turn the image into land cover polygons. But there's a new game in town that takes advantage of high resolution satellite imagery and accelerated feature extraction, making land cover data more accessible for even the smallest towns. Adena Schutzberg explains how three companies have come together to introduce land cover datasets for the Chicago area next month, hoping to tap into the pent up demand.

Pitfalls of SDI's Hierarchy
Asmat Ali 04-22-2008
A spatial data infrastructure model must serve many constituents. Asmat Ali, the Assistant Director of the Survey of Pakistan, explains how the data may be developed by corporate, local, state, national, regional or global interests, and each potential creator imbues them with different characteristics "due to different needs at these different levels." That, he suggests, presents a potential pitfall, which he aims to address via a new SDI hierarchy model for federated nations.

Cost-effective Information Interoperability for All-Hazards Events in Spite of Decreasing Preparedness Funding - Part Two, The Solution
Ric Skinner 04-20-2008
Ric Skinner follows up on last week's article describing the environment of diminishing all-hazards preparedness funding, with a vision for a solution. He offers the concept of the "Disaster Management Interoperable Information System" (DMIIS) that would provide participating towns, agencies and other resources with a cost-effective capability for enhanced situation awareness, disaster response, resource request and allocation, and a collaborative environment for training and exercises.

Cost-effective Information Interoperability for All-Hazards Events in Spite of Decreasing Preparedness Funding - Part One, The Environment
Ric Skinner 04-17-2008
Emergency management agencies are expected to do more with less. The scope of responsibility is increasing at the same time as budgets are decreasing - and are likely to decrease even more sharply as federal and state agencies cut funding. Ric Skinner describes the environment and need in part one of this two part article, presented here. In part two, he will review a potential solution for how agencies can become better prepared for "all-hazards" events by implementing a cost-effective information interoperability solution.

Product Review: Maptitude 5.0
Michael Cline 04-16-2008
Caliper Corporation's Maptitude has a reputation for being a powerful, easy-to-use desktop mapping program. Version 5.0, released early this year, should turn a few heads according to reviewer Michael Cline. He suggests that GIS professionals will find more advanced analytical capabilities that take Maptitude beyond a simple mapping tool. Users will also like the low cost offering, which includes some functions unavailable in more expensive packages.

NGA and Mongolia Map New Horizons
Margaret Jorgensen and Chuck Boyer 04-14-2008
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has had an exchange and cooperative agreement with Mongolia since 2004. What's in it for NGA? The opportunity to collect gravity and elevation data over the country, gain access to the latest country maps and geographic names database, to name a few. What's in it for Mongolia? Access to NGA base data for mapping, use of loaner GIS workstations, training and more. There's an interesting "win win" situation going on as NGA helps develop geospatial capabilities in this fast-growing democracy on the other side of the world.

An Insider's View of Remote Sensing Fire Applications for Conservation
Rhett Butler 04-09-2008
Remote sensing is increasingly used as a tool for conservation management. Beyond traditional satellite imagery popularized by Google Earth, new sensing applications are allowing researchers located anywhere in the world to track fires, illegal logging and mining, and deforestation in some of Earth's most isolated regions using a computer or handheld device.

Podcast: BI and Web 2.0 and the Latest in Location Privacy Lawsuits
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 04-08-2008
This week our editors revisit two themes that continue to pop up as geospatial technology, ideas, visualization and data move into the mainstream IT world and popular culture. First we look at two announcements regarding the integration of Business Intelligence or BI, with online mapping. Then, we'll pick apart the latest data capture privacy lawsuit - where a couple is suing Google over StreetView images of their house.

ADCi's Barb Wenninger Discusses Company Strategy
Directions Staff 04-07-2008
Barb Wenninger was recently promoted to the position of director of Sales and Marketing at American Digital Cartography, Inc. (ADCi), where she has worked for six years. In her new position Wenninger will be responsible for managing and growing ADCi's sales activity, as well as planning, implementing and directing the company's marketing and public relations strategies. ADCi has been around for 20 years, and is best known as a provider of digital cartography data. Wenninger brings more than 20 years of experience to her new role. Directions Magazine asked her several questions about her career and the company.

Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging Rebrands as ERDAS and Takes Aim at the Enterprise Geospatial Market
Joe Francica 04-03-2008
Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging announced yesterday that it is rebranding the company as ERDAS. The new tagline, "The Earth to Business Company," is a clear signal ERDAS wants to be a more aggressive player in the enterprise geospatial market. Unshackling itself from the Leica name allows the company to develop a stronger, more focused software brand. Read more in this report from Editor-in-chief Joe Francica.

3D, BIM and Going Green: Cities Are Challenged by a New Geospatial Revolution
Joe Francica 04-02-2008
Green is the "new black." BIMs (building information models) evolved from 3D, and geospatial technology finds itself in the midst of so much disruption that revolution is afoot. The beneficiary of all these changes? Perhaps, Mother Earth. From the 2D world with which we "mappers" are most familiar to a third dimension that includes not just terrain but the buildings that occupy it, geospatial technology is trying to keep up with new demands from those seeking better visualization of their environment. Joe Francica reports.

Podcast: Deep Dive into Real-Time Traffic and Location-based Advertising on Mobile Handsets
Joe Francica 04-02-2008
What's new in receiving real-time traffic information on your mobile handset? What's the latest in location-based advertising? Discover the latest information in Editor-in-chief Joe Francica’s interview with Tim Lorello of TeleCommunications Systems. This is the second part of an interview conducted on March 20, 2008.

Podcast: EU Investigates Geodata Acquisitions; Pitney Bowes Plans Growth, Rebranding
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 04-01-2008
This week the European Union extended its investigations into the acquisition of Tele Atlas by TomTom and NAVTEQ by Nokia causing stocks to drop and some to wonder what's ahead. Here in the United States Pitney Bowes CEO talked up his plans for growth for its recently acquired MapInfo, along with a rebranding of the corporate parent. Our editors explore what's ahead on all three fronts.

Freese and Nichols Automates Field Data Collection with Digital Pen and Paper Software Platform from Adapx
Mark Valentino 03-31-2008
Mark Valentino of Freese and Nichols explains how the company recently integrated the new digital pen and paper software platform, Capturx for ArcGIS Desktop, into field operations. The company specializes in engineering and architecture, inventory and asset management, as well as environmental science, and collects a large volume of geospatial information for most of its projects.

How Current Household Geo-Demography Can Help With Site Location
Larry Martin 03-28-2008
In recent years spatial technology has evolved so that anyone with a personal computer and access to the Web can, with only a few mouse clicks, "see" almost any place on earth. That raises expectations when it comes to how current data are -- and for retail network planners (the folks figuring out where to open, close and move stores) having the most recent demographic data possible is critical. The Gadberry Group's Larry Martin describes the demand and touches on his company's offerings.

Addressing: The Revenge of Geography
Timothy Grayson 03-27-2008
Canada Post's Timothy Grayson takes a deep dive into addresses and explores their relevance in an increasingly online world. "Pondering a future for location intelligence is a speculative journey through geographic permanence and human transience that ends with proving location intelligence to be evermore crucial to businesses and governments," says Grayson. Read more...

Podcast: Location-based Emergency Alerts
Joe Francica 03-26-2008
In times of a natural disaster how will local authorities alert you to potential danger? Or, how will you be alerted in case something happens on the campus where your son or daughter is in school? Tim Lorello of TeleCommunications Systems talks with editor-in-chief Joe Francica to discuss short messaging services as well as other mobile alerting technology that his company and the wireless carriers are implementing to comply with WARN Act.

Five Questions About ((Echo))MyPlace
Nora Parker 03-26-2008
The Carbon Project received $100,000 in funding from the National Science Foundation to further develop its product, ((Echo))MyPlace. There is a possibility of up to $1.1 million in additional funding. The company is seeking $3 million in private investment. Nora Parker asked The Carbon Project's founder, Nuke Goldstein, and its CEO, Jeff Harrison, some questions about ((Echo))MyPlace.

Podcast: Google Map Edits, ESRI Dev Summit, RFID in the News
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 03-25-2008
Google's opened up "Point of Interest" editing to all. ESRI gives its third party developers new application development environments. China and Wal-Mart push the envelope on RFID. Our editors look at these developments and what they may mean to the geospatial community and beyond.

Exploration and GIS: Closing the Productivity Gap
Carmela Burns 03-21-2008
Exploration software and GIS are essential for geologists searching for petroleum and mineral deposits. With discoveries harder to find, geoscientists are collecting more data than ever before and examining their findings with greater scrutiny. This article, by Geosoft's Carmela Burns, discusses integration between earth mapping platforms like Geosoft and ESRI's ArcGIS environments, and describes a case study at Brazil-based mining company Companhia Vale do Rio Doce.

Oracle Pushes Deeper into the Enterprise with Vertical Applications: Highlights of the Oracle Spatial Users Meeting 2008
Joe Francica 03-19-2008
Oracle conducted its annual users group meeting following the GITA conference in Seattle on March 13. From the outset, it was clear that Oracle is continuing its rapid move from simply supporting core spatial data types for spatial data management to offering "full blown" application suites. Last year's meeting revealed the beginning of this trend. This year's customer and partner presentations further illustrated the move. Joe Francica reports.

Podcast: GITA 2008 - A Post Conference Interview with Bob Samborski, Executive Director
Joe Francica 03-18-2008
Just after the final session at GITA's Annual Conference, Executive Director Bob Samborski sat down with Editor-in-chief Joe Francica to review the association's new emphasis on infrastructure and its special track dedicated to emergency response. Samborski shared his thoughts on how the change affected this year's event planning and the conscious effort to highlight the importance that GITA members bring to solving the challenges brought on by the world's aging gas, water, electric and telecommunication utilities.

Podcast: Broadcasting Your Location on Social Networks, Blogs and Mobile Devices
Joe Francica 03-17-2008
The MyLoki service from Skyhook is location-enabling social networking websites like Facebook. Ted Morgan, CEO and founder of Skyhook provides his insights into the new service and the hurdles that must be addressed regarding privacy concerns as well as cultural barriers that come with publishing your location. Listen to this brief podcast with editor-in-chief, Joe Francica.

New Dimensions in Spatial ETL: Safe Software's FME User Conference 2008
Adena Schutzberg 03-17-2008
Safe Software's FME User Conference was a GIS conference that was not so much about GIS. The challenges are geographic, to be sure, but the conference was really about integration - integration of data, platforms, services, levels of government, etc. Adena Schutzberg reports.

Agile Adoption in the GIS Industry
Chris Spagnuolo 03-13-2008
The software development world has taken a keen interest in agile development practices and agile project management. The practices have crossed the chasm, becoming part of mainstream application development, according to Chris Spagnuolo. But has the geospatial development worldpicked up on agile? Spagnuolo explores the results of a recent survey on that topic.

An Expedition into the Abyss of Addresses: The IEE Conference Exposes the Achilles Heel of the Location Intelligent Enterprise
Joe Francica 03-13-2008
At the Intelligent Enterprise Expedition (IEE) Conference hosted by DMTI Spatial in Toronto on March 5-6, Joe Francica heard a recurring theme that is reverberating throughout the industry: Addresses linked to customer files are too often wrong. This problem is costing forward-thinking companies time and profits to fix and clean customer records before they even attempt spatial analysis. Even basic geocoding is still a major "pain point."

Podcast: Apple iPhone SDK and Yahoo! Fire Eagle Open Doors to LBS Apps
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 03-11-2008
This past week two of the many tech players with a toe in the geospatial waters, Apple and Yahoo, announced new developer offerings that will add to the twists and turns location based services have taken on the road to maturity. One of the services of the iPhone SDK is Core Location, meaning developers can develop native applications that take advantage of the pseudo-location abilities. We'll have a look at the iPhone SDK and Fire Eagle from a geospatial perspective plus explore what the real reason is for wanting navigation on your mobile device.

State of Delaware to Deploy a Public Health Preparedness System
Martin Jakobsson, Larry Mayer and Andrew Armstrong 03-10-2008
The state of Delaware tapped a team of three organizations, Integrated Warehousing Solutions, ESi and Towson University's Center for Geographic Services, to assemble and provide a "public health preparedness" system. Integrated Warehousing Solutions' (IWS) President Carl Brewer shared details of the project in this brief article.

Smooth Dataflow Assures Smooth Oil Flow
Jim Baumann 03-07-2008
During the long process from extraction to refining, crude oil is pumped through an intricate system of closely monitored storage tanks and distribution pipes that help maintain an uninterrupted flow of petroleum products to both industry and the individual consumer. In this article, ESRI's Jim Baumann discusses how Texas-based Plains All American Pipeline uses technology to control that process and adhere to strictly enforced federal regulations for storage and transportation of crude oil.

Follow up: Details on the USGS Use of Tele Atlas Data in USGS Product
Directions Staff 03-06-2008
At the ESRI Federal User Meeting (Feb. 20-22), Tele Atlas announced that some of its data would be used in USGS map products. Directions Magazine followed up with Tele Atlas, which put us in touch with USGS to provide some background. Kari Craun, director of the USGS National Geospatial Technical Operations Center, answered our questions on the agreement and use of the data.

5 Questions: IDV's Visual Fusion Server Explained
Nora Parker 03-05-2008
In this brief interview, IDV Solutions explains the "how and why" their Visual Fusion differs from other composite applications. Visual Fusion has the ability to focus the display of data around its "where" and "when" elements, and then display this in a rich, highly interactive user environment. Senior Managing Editor Nora Parker posed five questions to IDV Solutions' Product Manager Scott Caulk about the company's latest release, Visual Fusion Server 3.0.

Assemblymember Jose Solorio's Bill Threatens Public Access to Government Geodata - Background Documents
Bruce Joffe 03-04-2008
Background documents referred to in Bruce Joffe's article titled "Assemblymember Jose Solorio's AB1978 Threatens Public Access to Government Geodata"

Assemblymember Jose Solorio's Bill Threatens Public Access to Government Geodata
Bruce Joffe 03-04-2008
GIS consultant Bruce Joffe is leading an effort to oppose California legislation proposed by Assembly Member Solorio that would harm access to geospatial public records. This article, by Joffe, explains the situation, and includes links to the bill in question, the explanation of the bill from Solorio's office, and a list of individuals to contact to register your opposition.

Podcast: Report to NGA, NRO Questions Commercial Remote Sensing Mission
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 03-04-2008
The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) commissioned the report titled, "Independent Study of the Roles of Commercial Remote Sensing in the Future National System for Geospatial-Intelligence" early last year. It explores four possible business cases for how the government and private companies might work together to provide needed imagery for those agencies and their government clients. The suggested path is not the status quo and may have implications for the two current U.S. commercial satellite providers, DigtialGlobe and GeoEye. Our editors try to tease out what the report means and its implications.

On-Demand Demographic & Consumer Demand Data For Better Business Intelligence
Nora Parker 03-03-2008
Asterop is a business intelligence data company based in France. The company recently announced Asterop On-Demand, an online software solution for retailers, real estate brokers, marketers and other consumer-facing businesses. The company's CEO and chairman, Christophe Girardier, will be speaking at this year's Location Intelligence Conference. This article features a one-on-one interview with Girardier by managing editor Nora Parker.

ESRI Emphasizes New Workflows through ArcGIS 9.3 Enhancements at Federal User's Conference
Joe Francica 02-27-2008
Joe Francica reports on the ESRI Federal User Conference. Included in the coverage is Jack Dangermond's keynote presentation and a discussion of ArcGIS 9.3 enhancements.

The FBI's GIS Initiative - iDomain
Joe Francica 02-26-2008
Until 2005 the Federal Bureau of Investigation depended on a "thick client" approach to GIS that included ArcGIS deployed at 12 field offices with limited means for sharing information. Despite recognition by the FBI's director of intelligence that GIS was a key technology for its work, no coordinated efforts to manage the GIS initiatives were forthcoming. That changed in 2005 with the Domain Management Initiative, iDomain. The initiative grew, and in January 2007 the FBI's goal was to provide specialized training and equipment for two or three users per field office. Joe Francica reports.

Podcast: Search and the Google Effect Two Years Later
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 02-26-2008
It's been two years since Google Earth blasted onto the scene helping neophyte and experienced geographers gain better appreciation for geography and their world. But where are we now? What's the future of globes? What are the next steps? Who will take them? Our editors have some ideas.

Autodesk Positions Itself for 2008 and Beyond
Adena Schutzberg 02-22-2008
Autodesk invited journalists from all over the world to learn about its vision for 2008 and beyond at Autodesk World Press Day in San Francisco last week. Executive Editor Adena Schutzberg highlights how the company positions itself as a provider of prototypes, its success in utilities and, perhaps most interestingly, what's going on in Autodesk Labs that will be valuable to geospatial practitioners.

Travel a Key Theme for Two Speakers at Location Intelligence Conference
Nora Parker 02-21-2008
Fran Marshall of National Geographic Maps and Chris Ackermann of the Travel Channel are speakers at the Location Intelligence Conference, which takes place this year in Santa Clara, CA, April 28-30. They'll be sharing insights from projects that make information about places both far and near more accessible to more people, and also enhance the bottom line. Both companies expect to reap significant gains from these initiatives. Their repurposing of existing content will be relevant to many different industries.

Dr. Duane Marble Explains William L. Garrison Award
Nora Parker 02-19-2008
The Association of American Geographers and Dr. Duane Marble recently announced the third annual William L. Garrison Award. The purpose of this award is to encourage doctoral-level students to "increase their knowledge of computer science and to apply this knowledge to their research in geographic science." Nora Parker asked Marble to provide further background and information about the award.

Podcast: Two Newsworthy Maps, One Gets All the Glory
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 02-19-2008
Researchers published two studies this week that included important maps. One highlighted the human impact on the world's oceans. A second documented the past, current and future vulnerability of the U.S. population to natural disasters. Press coverage of the first study was considerable, with the map distributed far and wide on the Web and beyond. Coverage of the second was limited to the scientific and geographic press. Why the disparity? Our editors review the maps and offer their thoughts.

ImagePatch: Updating Imagery One Patch at a Time
Adena Schutzberg 02-18-2008
Perhaps you remember the old joke, "Everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it!" An updated version for those using online and organizational mapping applications might be, "Everyone complains about how old imagery is, but no one does anything about it!" A company called TerraPixel is stepping up to address this challenge with a service called ImagePatch.

Capturing Speed and Location Yields New Applications
Joe Francica 02-14-2008
TCS was just awarded a U.S. patent for geographic monitoring that provides information on when a mobile phone or device user enters or exits an area, as well as the speed of that user. Joe Francica explains what this capability offers consumers and why it's exciting.

Neighborhood Boundaries: The Next Big Thing in Geographic Data
Adena Schutzberg 02-12-2008
Geographic databases of political boundaries, streets and water features are quite old, dating back nearly to the beginnings of GIS. Digital neighborhood boundaries are relative newcomers, dating back only a few years. With January's announcement from Zillow that the company would share its neighborhood boundary data for free, this seems a good time to explore the nature of this data layer and how some of the major players approach its creation.

Portland Police Bureau Makes Geospatial Widely Accessible
Nora Parker 02-11-2008
The Portland, OR, Police Bureau, is "pretty progressive as far as getting into new technology." Indeed - the organization's GIS unit built a public-facing Web-based CrimeMapper application that gets about 1.8 million hits a year. Nora Parker interviewed Christy Khalifa, a police crime analyst, to learn more.

Podcast: Super Tuesday, Geographic Alerts, and Maps in Election Coverage
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 02-08-2008
Super Tuesday was a day of severe weather in the South and some high tech mapping and analysis across the media airwaves and wires. Our editors examine the state of warning systems for severe weather and other hazards and praise the use of maps in election coverage.

The Strategic Power of OGC Standards
Christopher Tucker 02-08-2008
Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging's Chris Tucker discusses recent decisions their group has made that illustrate how OGC standards remove the barriers to information flow.

Spime's PositionOne Benefits GPS Chip Manufacturer
Joe Francica 02-06-2008
PositionOne from Spime is a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL)-compliant middleware solution that resides on the phone device. The technology acts as a gatekeeper between the GPS chip and the LBS application as well as accelerating the time to fix with it’s A-GPS capability. Joe Francica gives an overview of the new offering.

CEGIS Response to NRC Report
Adena Schutzberg 02-06-2008
Last week's podcast focused on the National Research Council Report titled "A Research Agenda for Geographic Information Science at the United States Geological Survey," which offered 12 recommendations to the Center of Excellence for Geospatial Information Science (CEGIS), a research arm of USGS. The acting director of CEGIS contacted Directions Magazine to provide a bit more information and to, in his kind words, "correct some misunderstandings."

Podcast: News roundup on Nuvifone, Microsoft Bid for Yahoo and OS' OpenSpace
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 02-04-2008
It was a big week for news from a variety of sectors. Our editors take a look at Garmin's announcement of its nav-phone, the Nuvifone, Microsoft's offer to buy Yahoo and the Ordnance Survey's opening of it's API for developers, OpenSpace.

GPS and GIS Technology Changing the Culture of Navigation
Eva Dodsworth 02-02-2008
Time, technology and user needs are constantly changing the way we do things, often making them easier and less expensive. When two great technologies are combined, a new innovation is created. Such is the case with GPS and GIS - into a fabulous little tool called the Personal Navigation Device. As is the case with many inventions, it changes the way we traditionally did things forever. But is that a good thing? Eva Dodsworth, Geospatial Data Services Librarian at the University of Waterloo Map Library, wonders.

Product Overview - LizardTech's GeoExpress 7
Nora Parker 01-31-2008
LizardTech's latest version of GeoExpress 7 integrates with its other imagery data management products into a new "suite" offering. Other upgrades include the ability to crop images by polygons using shapefiles, improved cropping tools (including one that automatically de-mosaicks an image), a series of despeckling tools, and the availability of a floating license. Nora Parker offers this overview of the latest version.

NASA Scientists Learn to Speak New Language
Dauna Coulter 01-30-2008
A group of atmospheric research scientists at NASA's National Space Science and Technology Center, or NSSTC, felt a little like they were in a foreign country when they first met with representatives from the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Public Health recently to discuss a research partnership. But the partnership has taken off, and the group hopes to soon shed new light on reasons stroke rates vary based on geography and race.

Podcast: Going Down the Wrong Road?...Using MapShare by TomTom to Update PND Maps
Joe Francica 01-30-2008
Is your street in the wrong place on your personal navigation device (PND) or maybe not there at all? Did you see a McDonald's restaurant that's located on the wrong side of the road? Users of TomTom's PNDs can now make changes to the street network database from their in-vehicle PND and upload changes to TomTom via the Internet. Editor-in-chief Joe Francica interviews Tim Flight, editor of GPS Review, who has been performing an independent analysis on TomTom's MapShare program to see how soon updates are making it into the hands of consumers.

A Fluid Situation: Cities Seek Online Platform for Citizen Action to Fix Stormwater Problems
Lisa Epstein and Philip Pridmore Brown 01-27-2008
Pressure is building on public officials to embrace "green" building and management strategies, and constrain the skyrocketing costs of infrastructure projects. A movement is underway to use green infrastructure to counteract the environmentally damaging impact of urbanization. Urban stormwater and its associated pollution are a particularly acute problem. Lisa Epstein and Phillip Pridmore Brown of Thetus Corporation describe a project in Portland, OR, that addresses these concerns.

Podcast: USGS in the News: Landsat/NRC Report
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 01-26-2008
USGS is in the news this week as we learned that Landsat 5 is back in business after a battery scare and the National Research Council offered some specific recommendations for the USGS' research agenda. Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg examine these issues and their implication for remote sensing and The National Map, among other things.

Technology Convergence, Market Horizontalization and, Voila: Information Fusion
Sam Bacharach 01-24-2008
Some of us can remember when telephone, print media, film, radio, TV, phonograph, photographs and computer data (what little there was) were treated as separate or "stovepiped" technologies. Over the last several years, technology convergence has resulted in a new generation of multimedia and multimode communication products. The same is true of geo-enabled technologies - they are converging and their respective markets are becoming more horizontal. The OGC's Executive Director for Outreach, Sam Bacharach, explains how standards are playing a role in this convergence.

2007 Year-end Stock Performance Analysis of Public Location Technology Companies
Joe Francica 01-24-2008
Joe Francica takes a look at the wild ride that was the geospatial stock market of 2007. It would have been prescient to sell stocks on December 31, 2007 believing that the stock market gods had blessed the location technology sector with abundant gains during the year and so investors could be excused for taking some much-deserved profits. And perhaps some of you did just that. Despite the current tumultuous situation in the stock market, 2007 was a superb year for location technology stocks.

Emerging Tech You Should Know About: Jing
Adena Schutzberg 01-23-2008
New tech tools are arriving at an astounding pace and many are free. Adena Schutzberg explores a new image and video capture tool that might help you in your day-to-day professional (and personal) life - Jing. Jing makes it easy to record and demonstrate a particular workflow in a software product, for example, and eliminates the more tedious alternative of trying to explain the details in written form. Jing is a productivity tool that may have some quirks but gets the job done.

Transportation Projects Simplified with GIS Integration
Susan Marlow 01-21-2008
Growing demands on road infrastructure is making life more and more difficult for transportation professionals. State and local transportation agencies are using GIS tools to help alleviate the stress, solve problems and make informed decisions about rights of way. Susan Marlow of Smart Data Strategies explains and offers several state department of transportation case studies.

Palm Beach County Plugs Its Wastewater System
Lloyd Wander 01-18-2008
Protecting the environment is no longer a matter of civic conscience or discretion. Increasingly, municipalities are being held to strict federal standards for wastewater collection, wastewater treatment and related activities. Palm Beach County needed maps and data about its wastewater system and found a way to create and collect them quickly.

Geography Lessons for Online Retailers
Louella Fernandes 01-17-2008
Despite the broad reach of the Internet, successful online traders need to focus tightly on individual customers. One way of doing that is to identify exactly where they are located. Quocirca's Louella Fernandes explains.

Podcast: Agile Practices - An Introduction
Adena Schutzberg 01-17-2008
Did you ever wonder what happens to bring your GIS software to market? For many years a process referred to as the "waterfall method" was used. In the last 10 or so years a new method came on the scene, one referred to as agile practices. Today, with insights from agile proponents like Chris Spagnuolo and Dave Bouwman, GIS development organizations, including ESRI, are looking to this new way of managing and developing software.

West of Ireland Town Goes 3D
Joe Francica 01-16-2008
It's no secret that Ireland is in the process of transforming itself from Europe's sleepy backwater into a vibrant economic powerhouse many have taken to calling the Celtic Tiger. Technology is playing a major role in this transformation, and here is an interesting geospatial example. The quiet hamlet of Westport in the West of Ireland recently received support from Google to create an interactive 3D digital town on Google Earth. With its advanced visualization capabilities, the model will drive both economic development and tourism.

Podcast: Why is the Geospatial Marketplace so Difficult to Measure?
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 01-15-2008
This week editors Adena Schutzberg and Joe Francica tackle a question that is difficult to answer (or, rarely has a clear answer). The question is: How big is the geospatial market or a part of it? That's often followed by: Who has the definitive numbers on how much money is to made and how many users and potential users are out there? They take a look at some resources and tease out why firm numbers are so difficult to acquire.

Mobile Today becomes What Tomorrow?
Christopher J. Andrews 01-14-2008
Chris Andrews takes a few minutes to imagine futuristic uses of geospatial technology and wonders how far off these kinds of applications really are. Mobile computing devices are rapidly becoming ubiquitous in our daily work and personal lives. Andrews looks at how technology drivers are pushing the integration of geospatial and mobile technology into the future.

NGA Supports Afghan Mapping Initiative
Bruce Kiracofe 01-11-2008
The Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office (AGCHO) got a big boost in its national mapping program when the NGA stepped in to offer additional resources. The partnership has resulted in the Afghan Mapping Initiative, with its goal to essentially rebuild and modernize the national mapping program that was in place before the Taliban regime dismantled it.

Retailer Targets Growth in the Hispanic Sector
Nora Parker 01-10-2008
La Curacao is a small but rapidly growing department store chain specifically targeting the Hispanic demographic. Directions Magazine interviewed Jeff Forman, manager of real estate for La Curacao, about the company's use of location intelligence in its aggressive expansion plans. To put things into perspective, the stores are large (100,000 sq. ft. each) and the network currently consists of 10 stores, all located in California. According to Forman, for a small but growing retailer, using location intelligence tools is critical: "If you're a 600 store chain and you miss the mark with one of your locations, it's much easier to absorb the pain. For companies such as La Curacao that until recently was only a six store chain, if you open up a lemon it could have dire effects on the company's future."

Podcast: GITA's Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference Explained
Nora Parker 01-10-2008
Nora Parker interviewed members of GITA's organization about the major changes the organization is making to its flagship annual conference. This year there will be a significant focus on infrastructure - an area that is screaming for attention, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers 2005 report card. "There is a huge need for technology to solve our current social and economic problems," said GITA's executive director, Bob Samborski, and this year's conference aims to provide the resources to do that. He was joined in the interview by this year's GITA president David Nemeth of Panhandle Energy and the 2008 program chair, Mike Cerkas of GeoAnalytics. This podcast is sponsored by GITA.

Creating an Extensible GIS with SOA and Web Services
Ross Smith and Andrew Sheahen 01-09-2008
Many GIS programs stem from the need to solve a specific business problem. But as soon as that initial application is set up, we've all had the experience of seeing demand for additional applications grow quickly. Ross Smith and Andrew Sheahan from PA Consulting advocate a SOA/Web services approach to your GIS environment so that you can move switftly to accommodate these needs - not only is it a solid approach, it can make you and your team look good, too!

Podcast: Oil at $100/barrel - Is GIS Part of the Answer?
Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg 01-08-2008
Last week brought the news that oil was trading at a record high of $100/barrel. Will this price point demand more specialists and specialized tools for exploration, specifically geospatial ones? Is geospatial work associated with the oil patch seen as a potential career for GIS students? Our editors try to connect the dots between the renewed interest in oil prices, new sources of energy and geospatial technologies.

Product Review: Terrain Navigator Pro version 8.0
Paul Amos 01-06-2008
Terrain Navigator Pro lets you access the U.S. Geological Survey topographic quadrangle maps and USGS Digital Ortho Quarter Quads. The newest version offers new data enhancements and new functions to incorporate data from Google Earth. Paul Amos offers this review.

Public vs. Private Financing of Remotely Sensed I