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Joe Francica

Joe Francica

Francica is the editor in chief and vice publisher of Directions Media, the leading online publishing group for location technology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) reaching nearly 200,000 visitors each month. Now comprising four publications and two major conferences, Directions Media is the largest publication dedicated to the location technology sector. Personally, Francica has authored over 200 articles and editorials on topics ranging from market research, wireless location-based services, retail trade area analysis, and the use of geographic information system (GIS) technology for business applications and he has been sought out for his market guidance by the national media, venture capitalists, and market research groups. He serves as a member of the board of directors of Directions Media.

Along with his weekly Internet podcasts and daily commentary at Directions Magazine, he has contributed to three books, Profiting from a GIS (published in 1993 by GIS World Books; edited by G. Castle), Geographic Information Systems in Business (published in 2005 by Idea Group Publishing; edited by J. Pick), and the Encyclopedia of GIS (published by Springer). In conjunction with colleagues at Penn State University, Francica has developed a course entitled “Location Intelligence for Business,” for the university’s online GIS program.

Francica helped to develop the Geospatial Technology Competency Model (GTCM) in 2010 for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration that seeks to support the creation of model curricular for two- and four-year colleges. In addition, Francica serves on the National Visiting Committee for the National Science Foundation supported Geospatial Technology Center of Excellence (Geotechcenter.org) at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas.

In his early career, Francica was engaged in developing applications of hyperspectral remotely sensed data for mineral exploration and was one of the first geologists to map the Indus suture zone between India and Pakistan with Landsat imagery. While working for Sun Exploration and Production Company, Francica was active in utilizing Landsat Thematic Mapper data for oil and gas exploration. After receiving his MBA, Francica worked for GIS software companies, Tydac and Intergraph, in management roles. In 1991, Francica originated the column "GIS for Business" published by GIS World Magazine and later because editor of Business Geographics Magazine in 2000.

Personally, Mr. Francica received his bachelors degree (BA) from Rutgers University (New Brunswick, New Jersey) in Geology in 1978, followed by a master's degree (MA) in Earth Science from Dartmouth College (Hanover, New Hampshire) in 1980, and a master's degree in business administration (MBA) from the Edwin L. Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, Texas) in 1989. In the late 90’s he obtained a national ranking as a Masters runner and still holds state records at certain distances in Alabama. He lives in Huntsville, Alabama with his wife and has four sons.
 

Information

  1. Company: Directions Media
  2. Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Links

  1. Twitter

Recent Content by Joe Francica

  1. Attention Shoppers! aisle411’s Indoor Location App is a Hit with Top Retailers (January 14th, 2013)
  2. Everything You Need to Know about Landsat 8 (January 10th, 2013)
  3. “BIM Is Accelerting Very Rapidly” - An Interview with Mike DeLacey, Microdesk (January 3rd, 2013)
  4. Intergraph Retools, Revamps Entire Geospatial Product Suite (January 3rd, 2013)
  5. Directions Magazine to Provide More Options for Geospatial Professionals in 2013 (January 2nd, 2013)
  6. Rich Data, Big Data: A Day at Nokia’s U.S. Headquarters (December 20th, 2012)
  7. Top 5 Location Technology Videos for Fall 2012 (December 18th, 2012)
  8. Top 5 Location Intelligence and Analytics Articles for Fall 2012 (December 13th, 2012)
  9. Top 5 GEOINT and Remote Sensing Articles for Fall 2012 (December 12th, 2012)
  10. Autodesk University: A Focus on Innovation (December 4th, 2012)
  11. You Should “Be Inspired” by Infrastructure Projects (November 19th, 2012)
  12. Okay, You Geo, Cyber and Energy Guys ... Go Innovate! (November 12th, 2012)
  13. Nokia, Oracle Create Tighter Integration between Nokia Location Platform (NLP) and Oracle Fusion Middleware (October 8th, 2012)
  14. 2012 Reader Survey:  Social Media, Local User Conferences Reflect Preferences (October 8th, 2012)
  15. The iTunes of Maps: A New Business Model for Map Publishers (October 3rd, 2012)
  16. Anticipating the Unmanned Aerial Systems Marketplace (October 1st, 2012)
  17. Apple Needs to Acquire TomTom (September 30th, 2012)
  18. Exclusive Interview: Dr. Walter Scott, Founder, Vice President and CTO, DigitalGlobe (September 26th, 2012)
  19. Trucking Fleets Leverage Traffic Data to Work Smarter, Cut Costs (September 13th, 2012)
  20. DigitalGlobe Tells Analysts It’s Prepared for Growth (August 8th, 2012)
  21. Alteryx Wants to Put Big Data Spatial Analytics at Your Fingertips (July 16th, 2012)
  22. TerraGo CEO on the Acquisition of Geosemble (July 16th, 2012)
  23. An Overview of Pitney Bowes Software’s Server and Web Technology for Geospatial Applications (July 11th, 2012)
  24. New Features for MapInfo Professional Version 11.5 #insightscon (June 14th, 2012)
  25. Hexagon 2012: Recap of Technology Announcements and Product Innovations (June 11th, 2012)
  26. Intergraph’s GIS Product Roadmap Comes Into Focus (June 11th, 2012)
  27. Hexagon 2012: Using the Modeled World to Understand the Real World #hex12 (June 6th, 2012)
  28. An Open Letter to the CEOs of DigitalGlobe and GeoEye (May 14th, 2012)
  29. Retailers Go Geofencing ... Again (May 10th, 2012)
  30. GeoEye Offers, DigitalGlobe Rejects Offer to be Acquired (May 6th, 2012)
  31. A Look at Bentley’s New Release of Descartes V8i (SELECTseries 3), Focused on 3D Image Processing (April 25th, 2012)
  32. Meet Your Colleagues: Kerry L. Wright (April 18th, 2012)
  33. Podcast: Interview with John Palatiello, Executive Director of MAPPS on HR 4233 - ‘Map It Once; Use It Many Times Act’ (March 30th, 2012)
  34. SpaceCurve Tackles the Complexity of Geospatial “Big Data” (March 7th, 2012)
  35. Esri’s Federal GIS Conference Wrap Up (March 1st, 2012)
  36. Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, After All, It’s About Geospatial Jobs (February 29th, 2012)
  37. 2010-2011 Review of Publicly Traded Location Technology Stocks (January 26th, 2012)
  38. Geospatial Data Content Licensing and Marketing in the Era of Data as a Service - An Interview With James Cutler, CEO, emapsite.com (January 23rd, 2012)
  39. The Marcellus Shale Play ... Hot Prospecting, Cool Geospatial Lease Data (January 19th, 2012)
  40. Podcast: Interview with Dr. Frank Kelly, Director, USGS EROS Data Center (January 18th, 2012)
  41. GeoDesign Is About Collaboration and Process (January 11th, 2012)
  42. The NGAC Challenges FGDC to Restructure, Use GSA Procurement Process (January 2nd, 2012)
  43. Top 10 Videos from Directions Magazine’s Archives (December 28th, 2011)
  44. Top 10 Articles of 2011 from Directions Magazine’s Archives (December 21st, 2011)
  45. Directions Magazine Editors Look Back at 2011; Make Bold Predictions for 2012 (December 13th, 2011)
  46. Podcast: Looking for that Unique Christmas Gift for the Cartophile? Try Axis Maps’ Typographic Map (December 12th, 2011)
  47. Podcast: Press Briefing with National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Director Letitia Long, GEOINT Symposium 2011 (October 20th, 2011)
  48. Podcast: Interview with Keith Masback, President U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation - Impressions on the 2011 GEOINT Symposium (October 20th, 2011)
  49. GEOINT 2011 - Recap of Day 2 (October 18th, 2011)
  50. GEOINT 2011 - Recap of Day 1 (October 17th, 2011)

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More from Directions

Journal News Removes Interactive Gun Permit Map

The Lower Hudson Journal News has been under fire for publishing a map of gun permit holders in two counties in New York State  before Christma. (APB coverage 1, 2, podcast). On Friday January 18 the paper removed the interactive map. Why? Publisher Janet Hasson gave answers in a media statement and in a letter to readers.

In a statement in response to The Poynter Institute (a journalism school) she argued:

With the passage this week of the NYSAFE gun law, which allows permit holders to request their names and addresses be removed from the public record, we decided to remove the gun permit data from lohud.com at 5 pm today. While the new law does not require us to remove the data, we believe that doing so complies with its spirit. For the past four weeks, there has been vigorous debate over our publication of the permit data, which has been viewed nearly 1.2 million times by readers. One of our core missions as a newspaper is to empower our readers with as much information as possible on the critical issues they face, and guns have certainly become a top issue since the massacre in nearby Newtown, Conn. Sharing as much public information as possible provides our readers with the ability to contribute to the discussion, in any way they wish, on how to make their communities safer. We remain committed to our mission of providing the critical public service of championing free speech and open records.

In a letter to readers published on Friday she wrote:

So intense was the opposition to our publication of the names and addresses that legislation passed earlier this week in Albany included a provision allowing permit holders to request confidentiality and imposing a 120-day moratorium on the release of permit holder data.

She goes on to say that during the 27 days the map was online any one interested would have seen it and that the data would eventually be out of date. She also noted that the paper does not endorse the way the state chose to limit availability of the data.

The original map/article still includes a graphic - but it's a snapshot, a raster image, with no interactivity. Says Hasson in the letter to readers:

 And we will keep a snapshot of our map — with all its red dots — on our website to remind the community that guns are a fact of life we should never forget.

I continue to applaud the paper for requesting the data via a Freedom on Informat request, mapping it, keeping the map up despite threats and criticism and now responding to state law. I think the paper did a service to the state, to citizens and to journalism.

- via reader Jim and Poynter

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What’s new with JavaScript and geospatial - wrapup from the js.geo event
Privacy 2013 Style: Exploring New LBS Devices and Services
Attention Shoppers! aisle411’s Indoor Location App is a Hit with Top Retailers
US Topo - A New National Map Series, 2012 Update
Recent Developments in Remote Sensing for Human Disaster Management and Mitigation - Spotlight on Africa: An Overview
Drones: War machine today, helpful tool tomorrow - NPR Marketplace
Everything You Need to Know about Landsat 8
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