• 2010-2011 Review of Publicly Traded Location Technology Stocks

  Thursday, January 26th

  Editor in Chief Joe Francica provides an encapsulated review of publicly traded geospatial information and location technology companies. The global economic turmoil has had a dramatic impact on this technology sector, with few companies delivering positive gains for shareholders. The roller-coaster ride of the last two years is unlikely to change but opportunities exist for investors who believe that location-based information is still an essential driver of business.

• Why LiDAR Has Become the “Go To” Technology for Utility Corridor Mapping

  Wednesday, January 25th

  In December, Infotech Enterprises and DTS GIS participated in a Directions Magazine webinar to present a cost-effective solution to the NERC-mandated transmission line monitoring. This webinar sparked more good questions than could be answered during the allotted time. Here those answers are presented in detail.

• Meet Your Colleagues: Dino Ravnić

  Wednesday, January 25th

  Dino Ravnić is the co-founder and CEO of GIS Cloud, Ltd, and he is passionate about the present and future of GIS in the cloud. When asked to send us a picture of something he enjoys doing (fishing? hunting? ballroom dancing?), he gave us one of him working on GIS cloud capabilities for GPS.

• Socium: 1Spatial’s Online Data Validation Service Launches in US

  Wednesday, January 25th

  Socium, a subsidiary of 1Spatial, is launching an online data validation service in the United States on February1st. Directions Magazine interviewed Abbie Beckford, customer relations and marketing manager at Socium, to learn the details of the offering.

• Podcast: GIS Teachable Moments in the News

  Tuesday, January 24th

  Three items in the news in early January are teachable moments in geotechnology, for students and citizens and for the geospatial community. They include satellite imagery from the cruise ship Costa Concordia, Google tangling with OSM and World Bank, and an outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease explained by geography.

• Geospatial Data Content Licensing and Marketing in the Era of Data as a Service - An Interview With James Cutler, CEO, emapsite.com

  Monday, January 23rd

  James Cutler, CEO of emapsite, a geospatial data provider in the UK, discusses how selling data online has evolved over the last 10 years to accommodate new licensing agreements and data delivery platforms. He forthrightly expresses the opinion that “open data” is a promise yet to be fulfilled.

• Service-oriented Visualization of Virtual 3D City Models

  Wednesday, January 18th

  Virtual 3D city models can effectively communicate complex 2D and 3D geospatial data. Myriad applications, from urban planning to solar potential of roof surfaces to noise pollution, can be modeled and visualized. However, massive amounts of data need to be processed. Authors Jan Klimke and Jürgen Döllner of the Hasso-Plattner-Institut, University of Potsdam, Germany detail a new, service-oriented approach that may solve some of the challenges of visualizing 3D data.

• Meet Your Colleagues: Laxmi Ramasubramanian

  Wednesday, January 18th

  Laxmi Ramasubramanian is an associated professor of urban planning and design at Hunter College, City University of New York. She's also currently serving as the vice president and president-elect of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS). 

• Podcast: Geo at CES 2012

  Tuesday, January 17th

  Geotechnology appeared in cars, social media "cockpits" and nearfield communication (NFC)-enabled phones at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Is it evolution or revolution?

• Real Estate Industry Offers Huge Entrepreneurial Opportunities Using Geospatial Technology

  Monday, January 16th

  How big is the real estate industry? Did you know it is larger than all investments in the stock market? So, given its enormity, what entreprenuerial opportunities exist for using geospatial technology? Gil Castle, a 30-year industry veteran and past URISA president, shows just where new career ventures might be found.

• GIS Adoption and Use on College Campuses: An End-of-Year Review and Look Ahead to 2012

  Thursday, January 12th

  The University Consortium for Geographic Information Science conducted a survey in 2011 "to understand if and how GIS adoption and use on college campuses has evolved over the years." The goal is the creation of a database of best practices for guiding successful campus engagement. The results from the 94 responses suggest a variety of uses for GIS on campus and a mix of outcomes from similar engagement strategies.