WeoGeo is a new marketplace for geographic data, and unlike other "sharing" sites, this one is about buying, selling and empowering other to created value added data. As the website moves out of beta at the end of September we get the inside story on where the idea came from and a tour from WeoGeo CEO and co-founder, Paul Bissett. The podcast is 16 minutes long and was recorded on Sept 20, 2007.

MetaCarta's new Local Alerts Service for Publishers allows users to request stories on specific geographies (down to a neighborhood) and give publishers new ways to attract reader and provide relevant advertisements. Adena Schutzberg interviews Rick Hutton Vice President of Content Services at MetaCarta on the new service and its future.

The annual meeting of the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) is next week, so our editors consider the role of the Geographic Information Officer, GIO. Is it necessary? Will it have the visibility and authority necessary to compete for funding and to control the "fiefdoms" of state and local governments? How will we train such leaders? The podcast is 12 minutes long and was recorded on September 17, 2007.

This week we explore how the recent disappearance of adventurer Steven Fossett is, despite its sad nature, a teachable moment. We learn the latest on satellite imagery available for the search from DigitalGlobe's Chuck Herring and then explore how we in the geospatial community, educators, and parents can educate, even as we hope for a positive outcome. We also look at hyperspectral imagery, one of the tools in the searcher's toolkit.

As summer ends our editors look ahead to the remaining months of 2007. We will share some expected events including satellite launches, regulatory decisions and business rollouts that we expect may impact our work in geospatial. Let's have a look into the future. The podcast is 14 minutes long as was recorded on August 31.

In his brief comments after being inducted into the URISA GIS Hall of Fame, Michael Goodchild commented that "volunteered information" (what we call user generated content) is one of the next big things for geospatial. Where are we as a community in encouraging and taking advantage of that "local knowledge"? Our editors take a look at OpenStreetMap and TomTom MapShare and examine the challenges ahead.

Vice Admiral Robert B. Murrett was appointed Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency on July 7, 2006 and leads one of the largest military organizations dedicated to geospatial information gathering and intelligence analysis. His staff of highly trained geospatial technologists are deployed in domestic operations to support natural disasters as well as being deployed in combat zones to support the warfighter. Prior to his appointment, Murrett served as the Director of Naval Intelligence. The interview with Admiral Murrett touches issues related to the NGA's organization, its mission to train a highly technical staff and its ability to support a growing need for global intelligence gathering using geospatial technology.

TruePosition's Mike Amarosa, vice president for public affairs, and Brian Varano, marketing director, spoke with Editor-in-chief Joe Francica about the Notice of Proposed Rule Changes submitted to the Federal Communications Commission regarding its existing mandate to cellular carriers to more accurately locate wireless phone calls to E911 public safety answering points, or PSAPs. There are obvious differences of opinion about whether the changes should be adopted and what technologies can be used if such changes were authorized. With some phone manufacturers including GPS chips to support emergency and other location-based services while others rely on network-based technologies such as multilateration, there is much debate about the best location-determination methods. TruePosition is one company offering a hybrid solution which is discussed in this interview.

SiRF is collaborating with Intel and the Travel Channel is partnering with Tele Atlas. What do these two seemingly unrelated announcements have to do with each other? "Infotainment." The marriage of location-based services, travel and entertainment is heating up and both the chip and entertainment industries are in overdrive vying for new and different in-vehicle experiences.

Three announcements this week point to the next steps beyond local search. We look at a new mobile shopping service, a patent for pay-per-location-based ads, and a "who's buying what" mapping soloution. Are these warrented? Will they make money? What do they say about the future?