GIS software inertia involves the use of programs the same way for weeks, months and years without any change. Existing but not yet found or explored tools, new enhancements and workflows are left to gather electronic dust as users continue to do the same tasks, the same way. Why does this happen? Is it healthy for employees? Employers? How can the silent epidemic be eradicated?

WBUR (a Boston NPR station) host Anthony Brooks interviews Nathaniel Raymond, director of operations for the Satellite Sentinel Project, based at Harvard University’s Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. The project uses satellite imagery to follow the movement of military vehicles, rebel forces, or other activities that might be leading to an attack on civilian populations, in places like Sudan, and most recently, Syria.

On the ground, Tropical Storm Irene floodwaters devastated Vermont's communities, cutting off roads and washing away homes and businesses. Now with a digital bird's-eye-view, the world can see the dramatic statewide extent of Tropical Storm Irene's damage to Vermont's landscape. Google has just updated its maps for Vermont with post-Irene satellite imagery. VPR's Mitch Wertlieb turned to two professors at St. Michael's College, Geography Professor Richard Kujawa and Environmental Studies Professor Laura Stroup to tell us the value of having these images at our digital fingertips.

This past weekend, the Commercial Mobile Alert System went “live.” FEMA and the FCC are collaborating in this effort based on previously developed systems, such as IPAWS and EAS, and implemented because of The WARN Act. The system supports nationwide as well as local emergencies. But commercial companies are providing both the backbone and the end user apps to either supplement or replace government-issued warnings. Who will win and why? Will the public understand the difference and will multiple apps be necessary or should there be just one?

This week we mull over the announcements and news from the Where Conference held last week in San Francisco. It’s supposed to be about the business of location. So how’s business? What’s hot? What’s old news?

Congressman Doug Lamborn (CO-05) has introduced a bill that would streamline federal bureaucracy dealing with map making. H.R 4233, Map it Once, Use it Many Times Act, would reform, consolidate, and reorganize federal geospatial activities. Our editors look at the bill, its implications and its future.

In this interview with John Palatiello, executive director of MAPPS, the focus is on a bill introduced by U.S. Congressman Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado that introduced the "Map It Once, Use it Many Times Act." Editor in Chief Joe Francica asks Palatiello about the bill's origin and what's next.

There are many proponents of data sharing, including the current U.S. president. But questions still linger about how best to deliver those data. Should organizations provide APIs and bulk data downloads? And, does what works for other kinds of data work as well for geodata?

This week the world learned that Garmin will adjust how its devices route users to the famous Hollywood sign, which stands in the Hollywood hills above Los Angeles. The devices will not route to the sign itself, but rather to one of two viewing areas. Is this best practice or a can of worms?

On Monday's Fresh Air [3/12/12], John Villasenor, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a professor of electrical engineering at UCLA, explains what these drones will be able to see and how they work. He also talks about the privacy and national security concerns raised by using drones for surveillance purposes.