This past week Spatial Energy and the IEEE became two of the latest organizations to announce competitions aimed at students and users of geospatial technology. Why do these keep popping up? Are they good for the geospatial industry?

The Supreme Court ruled that police must have warrants to attach GPS trackers to suspects' cars. Nokia closed its NAVTEQ developer program. What do these actions say about the state of location-based services in 2012?

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.

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?

The first weeks of January brought three big changes in the geospatial world. A well-known on-line mapping app, "indiemapper" went free; Pakistan announced plans for managing map makers; and Esri began repositioning ArcGIS Online as a content management system. Are these changes for the best?

U.S. commercial remote sensing has boomed but has it hit a wall because of budget concerns or is this merely a pause before the true explosion of commercially available imagery goes mainstream?

Several geospatial announcements and events made our editors respond, "Huh?" This week, to wrap up the year they share the surprises of the past twelve months.

Our editors step up to the plate to evaluate last year's predictions and offer new ones for the geospatial marketplace in 2012.

We’ve all been in a situation where our expertise in or familiarity with GIS turns us into a mini-lecturer on the topic. You might be chatting with a fellow passenger on a plane or be giving a lightning talk, a quick five minute presentation on the topic. What three ideas should you share?

From satellite photos to hand-drawn store maps, location-based marketing improves...but only incrementally this year. This week we look at the ways in which marketers are using location to drive potential customers into stores and whether customers are taking the bait.