Articles

The “IT Geo-Evolution”– The Evolution of Geospatial Technology in IT

David Kingsbury 02-04-2005

Right now is the most exciting time to be an information technologist for the information technology (IT) industry. Pick up any IT publication and the headlines are about how IT must improve service to support overall business decisions. Intergraph's David Kingsbury discusses why location visualization and analysis is critical to asset management.

Executive Interview with Jeff Meyers, President, Miner & Miner

Joe Francica 02-02-2005

In early December of last year, Miner & Miner, developer of ArcFM, was acquired by Telvent, a company focused on the energy, transportation, and real-time traffic markets, and who just recently went public itself. Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, spoke by phone with Jeff Meyers, President of Miner and Miner to get his thoughts on the acquisition and how he thinks the company will be able to grow.

Hints on Phoning Home from a Travel Pro

Mike Dobson 02-01-2005

In this article, we share with Directions readers, who are frequently called upon to travel from the U.S. to other countries, some strategies on controlling the costs of calling the U.S. when traveling abroad.

Microsoft MapPoint Fleet Edition

Hal Reid 01-30-2005

On January 11th Microsoft unveiled MapPoint 2004 Fleet Edition to their MapPoint partners. This is not a new product release, but rather a licensing and pricing re-structure designed to give Microsoft partners more flexibility. This article highlights the key changes.

There's a Storm Brewin’ - WiFi vs. Everything Else

Michael Shean 01-27-2005

As with other technological “revolutions” the move to wireless broadband will create winners and losers. While it is too early to determine who the winners will be, it is clear that the emergence of Wi-Fi technology will profoundly alter how we access and exchange information and more importantly how we interact with the world around us. This article talks about the clouds of scores of Internet-enabling Wi-Fi radio signals gathering in major cities.

U.S. Poised to Capitalize on Location Services

Jason Angelides 01-26-2005

Carriers in the U.S. have made substantial progress in building out the infrastructure for the E-911 roll-out. As a result of E-911 and several other factors, wireless analysts and industry experts suggest that the U.S. wireless location application market is poised for substantial growth. This article looks at the opportunities and challenges U.S. carriers face.

Forestry Giant, JD Irving, Counting on Small Changes to Decision-making to Account for Big Gains to the Bottom-line

Moira Finn 01-25-2005

New Brunswick-based forestry giant JD Irving, Limited (JDI) is counting on seeing much more money from its forestry operations in Atlantic Canada and the Northeast US in the coming years. But rather than coming from capital investment in land, equipment or facilities, the forest products company is instead making supply chain management changes that it expects could result in more net cash flow – as much as 10% above current annual operating income – from its existing operations. This article describes how they are planning to do that.

The Location Aware Enterprise: Foundation For Efficient Operations and Emergency Response

Alan Leidner 01-24-2005

This article is the second in a series about "The Location Aware Enterprise." There is hardly a more striking example of the benefits of the Location Aware Enterprise than what happened in New York City (NYC) during the response and recovery operations for the 9/11 tragedy. During that disaster and emergency response, many organizations — city, regional, state, federal, private and non-profit — pooled their resources and worked together.

ESRI Software Implemented as Primary Component of Lithuania's National Cadastre System

Jim Baumann 01-22-2005

After wresting its independence from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991, Lithuania underwent a series of significant changes in its governmental structure and direction. One involved the development of laws to restore land ownership, and organize a system to manage real property, which helps re-establish confidence in a country's ownership rights and business environment. This article talks about the country's State Enterprise Centre of Register and its GIS-based database.

Tsunami Support from MapAction - GIS to the Far Reaches of the World

Hal Reid 01-19-2005

With minimal notice, MapAction volunteers leave their comfortable heated and air conditioned GIS environments for someplace in the world which may have neither. Power is intermittent at best, data may be limited or almost non-existent and critical map production is derived from their laptops and portable printers and whatever current imagery is available. From Asia, to the Middle East, to Africa, wherever there is a disaster, you may find the volunteers from MapAction.

Protecting the Water Supply from Terrorism

Kevin Coleman 01-16-2005

Protecting the water supply from terrorist attacks is a very large task. With all the attention and activity since 2001 why is the water supply still a likely area of attack? How real is the threat? How difficult would it be for terrorist to strike? These questions and more will be addressed in this article by Kevin Coleman.

Creating and Manipulating Multidimensional Tables with Locational Data Using OLAP Cubes

Konrad Dramowicz 01-15-2005

OLAP databases are referred often as “cubes” since they have a multidimensional nature. Each result of querying, browsing, and summarizing can be viewed and stored as a separate cube. This article looks at different methods for getting involved with OLAP cubes and how they might be integrated with GIS applications.

Tsunami Update

Directions Staff 01-12-2005

It feels like the major emphasis in the past week is how we, as a technology community, are getting organized around volunteering our time and resources to assist in the relief effort. This article highlights four organizations that are involved in providing GIS-related data and/or services, and all could use your help.

Executive Interview with Amar Hanspal, Vice President, Autodesk Collaboration Services

Hal Reid 01-10-2005

During Autodesk University (Nov. 28 – Dec. 1, 2004), Hal Reid spoke to Amar Hanspal, vice president of Autdesk’s Collaboration Services about the company’s product, Buzzsaw. Buzzsaw is an online project collaboration service used by more than 100,000 design and construction professionals (according to the Autodesk website).

Geography and the National Science Foundation

Thomas J. Baerwald 01-07-2005

This article provided by Association of American Geographers National Counsillor Thomas J. Baerwald of the NSF, talks about the NSF's mission, and about funding sources for geography-specific investigations within the NSF.

GIS Response to Indian Ocean Tsunami

Directions Staff 01-05-2005

The nature of our "horizontal technology" requires us to participate in planning for, response to, and mitigation of disasters, both man-made and natural. We have been tracking websites offering spatial information and mapping resources related to the tsunami disaster. Here are several we have found. Please do not hesitate to contact us with additional resources you are aware of, as we would like to maintain this list.

Making Sense of Census data: A case study from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Aymen A. Solyman 01-05-2005

Census operation is a very important event in the history of a nation. This operation covers every bit of land and property in the rural and urban areas in the country. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the Central Department of Statistics (CDS) conducts census operations every 10 years. This article describes a system developed for KSA census data distribution.

The Location Aware Enterprise: An Integrating Business Principle

Susan Kalweit 01-04-2005

Ed. Note: Sue Kalweit of Booz Allen Hamilton offers the first in a series of articles about the "Location Aware Enterprise." She offers a challenge "to think, talk and act enterprise-wide in the broadest business context possible" as we begin planning for the second annual Location Technologies and Business Intelligence conference.

ESRI, Partners, Aid in Tsunami Response

ESRI Staff 01-03-2005

Executive Interview with Jean-Marc Nasr, Spot Image's CEO

Joe Francica 01-01-2005

Joe Francica recently had the opportunity to interview Jean-Marc Nasr, CEO of Spot Image. Nasr discusses Spot's focus on being a data provider on the leading edge of customer service, rather than on the bleeding edge of technology. His focus is to "provide access for decision makers to reliable information in a dependable time frame."

Location Intelligence for Emerging Markets: Focus on China

Ian Clemens 12-31-2004

In Ian Clemens' last article, he talked about how location intelligence, the merging of GIS with business intelligence, can provide strategic advantage to companies looking to do business in emerging markets like China, Russia and India. This article begins with a focus on China, specifically.

An Executive Interview with Carsten Heiermann, CEO, LuraTech on JPEG 2000

Joe Francica 12-30-2004

LuraTech was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Germany with offices throughout Europe and the U.S. The company is a developer of JPEG2000 implementations and technology for the color compression of images, data and scanned documents. Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, interviewed Carsten Heiermann, CEO of LuraTech, to get a better understanding of the company's products and technology.

Choropleth Mapping with Exploratory Data Analysis

Ela and Konrad Dramowicz 12-29-2004

The choropleth mapping technique, which uses “ranges” or “graduated color,” is a type of thematic mapping that focuses usually on a single theme with data summarized by statistical or administrative areas. This purpose of this technical article, by Dr. Ela Dramowicz, is to demonstrate how exploratory data analysis (EDA) can help in choosing the most appropriate method for creating choropleth maps.

Location Intelligence Perspective: “The map is not important”

Bill Huber 12-26-2004

Is the map is not important? You tell me.

Location Intelligence Perspective: To 'GIS the Enterprise, Or Enterprise the GIS?'

Bill Huber 12-24-2004

If any topic brings forth visions of blind people groping at the elephant, the fundamental architecture of how GIS fits into enterprise applications is it. Which camp are you in? Should you invest in a complete spatial platform or let the database do the work? This is your opportunity to "sound off." Read more.

Location Intelligence Perspective: More than ROI

Bill Huber 12-23-2004

ROI, or “return on investment,” is on everybody's mind these days, but I'm not sure it means exactly the same thing to everybody. A classic, common-sense approach to ROI is this: you invest in a technology, you implement it, you observe its effect on your practices, and you measure its results, both in currency and in “softer” terms such as customer satisfaction. Read other examples by Bill Huber from existing examples from today's corporations.

Location Intelligence Perspective: Demonstrating the Value of Location Technology

Bill Huber 12-22-2004

There has been plenty of discussion about “proving” the ROI (return on investment) of GIS and location technology. Naturally, there are many differences of opinion from vendors and users about what we're even talking about. Yet, that does not prevent a consensus from emerging. This article is the first in a series entitled "Location Technology Perspecitive" by Bill Huber who will attack this subject from several angles and render his interpretation that will benefit both user and vendor alike.

Santa Hal's Christmas List

Hal Reid 12-18-2004

We asked Hal Reid to come up his Christmas Wish List, with the idea that if a geo-nerd like him would want it, a geo-nerd like you would probably want it too. So consider this a reader service for those of you whose friends and relatives are asking what you'd like. Just ask them to point their browser to this page for the full list!

GIS Provides Customer Satisfaction for Hong Kong Bus Company

Jim Baumann 12-13-2004

For more than 25 years, Hong Kong has been developing its mass transit system, which has ultimately evolved into the primary means of transportation within the city. Components include subways, rail systems, ferryboats, taxis, trams, moving stairways and travelators, and a highly automated bus network that includes five different companies. This article describes how one of the largest providers of public transportation uses GIS in a customer service application...

Autodesk University 2004: Las Vegas Valley Water District

Hal Reid 12-11-2004

While Hal Reid was attending Autodesk University 2004, he was treated to a field trip to the Las Vegas Valley Water District to view CAD and GIS integration up close. Read more about what he learned.

Autodesk University 2004: WOW! Technology

Hal Reid 12-10-2004

While at Autodesk University 2004 last week, Hal Reid uncovered a networking appliance that helps move large files fast -- a must in an industry like GIS where we generate extremely large files at the drop of a hat. The company, Riverbed, has developed Steelhead appliances that help move large files over a WAN. Read more...

A Look at the Leading Edge in Geospatial Information Gathering

Hal Reid 12-07-2004

Sometimes technology that originates from within the military has a way of moving down to the private sector. In order to see what is coming, we have to look at what these people are using now. An integrated system that was shown at GEOINT 2004 was the Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), which Hal Reid describes for us.

Mid Suffolk District Council's e-government Initiative Includes GIS Intranet and Internet Access

Linda Bestow 12-04-2004

Mid Suffolk District Council (MSDC), in support of e-government policy, implemented Mid Suffolk Mapping within their web portal, allowing public access to spatial information about the area. They also implemented an intranet-based mapping system for the delivery of a wide range of map-based information to any Council officer who needed it. This article describes the current status of the project.

Autodesk University 2004: Strategic Trends

Hal Reid 12-02-2004

Corporate philosophy can indicate the nature of a company’s products, the way they do business and the type of competitor they will be. It can also give you a clue as to their future. Hal Reid, on site at Autodesk University 2004 this week, provides an overview of a press briefing on key strategic trends as Autodesk sees them.

UCGIS Assembly Review

Dr. Ling Bian 11-30-2004

UCGIS held a successful Assembly on October 20-24 in Adelphi, Maryland at the elegant Inn and Conference Center, University of Maryland University College. Dr. Ling Bian brings Directions readers up-to-date on the highlights of the meeting.

The Smart Pipe Approach for LBS:

Jonathan Spinney 11-23-2004

A bit more than a year ago in another Directions Magazine article entitled Mobilizing Existing Users of Geographic Information - The Dumb Pipe Approach for LBS, Jonathan Spinney of ESRI wrote about an LBS value-chain debacle that had little hope of realizing a fruitful future unless industry players matured to focus solely on individual core competencies. He's since learned that solutions are being developed...

A Primer on How to Create a Customized Segmentation System

Konrad Dramowicz 11-22-2004

Dr. Konrad Dramowicz of the Centre of Geographic Sciences in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, offers our readers a detailed "how to" about how and why you might want to create a customized segmentation system. Dr. Dramowicz teaches such courses as Data Mining, Advanced Location Analysis and Spatial Analysis and Geostatistics.

Interview with Xenotran Founder, Dr. Derrick Page

Joe Francica 11-21-2004

Joe Francica spoke to Dr. Derrick Page, founder of Xenotran, recently. Xenotran is a design and engineering company that focuses on research, development and manufacturing of electronic and mechanical products for military and commercial applications. Joe’s interview w/ Dr. Page focuses on XenoVision Mark III, a product that builds full color, accurate topographic models in under two minutes.

GIS Finally Making Cents: Growth Companies Tap the Enterprise Power of GRID Systems

Stephen Webster 11-20-2004

Stephen Webster, COO at Tactician, brings us up-to-date about how Tactician's completely re-engineered core analytic engine and mapping technology is addressing geo-marketing challenges for its customers such as Avon and OSRAM Sylvania.

Turkish Government Bases National Emergency Response System on GIS Technology

Jim Baumann 11-15-2004

August 17, 1999 will forever remain etched in the minds of the Turkish people. In addition to devastating earthquakes like that one, Turks are also vulnerable to other common natural and manmade disasters. To develop an integrated response to potential national disasters, the Republic of Turkey tasked its Ministry of Environment, a longtime user of GIS technology, with developing a national emergency response center, designated as the Emergency Center Project (ECP). This article describes where they are in the process.

Convergence: GIS/Communications/Information Technologies

Kevin Coleman 11-13-2004

Homeland security columnist Kevin Coleman discusses how the convergence of these three technologies will affect us. The three critical technologies are poised to converge over the next few years and culminate into a suite of capabilities that will have significant implications in business, government and homeland security. Each of these technologies in and of themselves provide significant capabilities and value to organizations, but combining the new capabilities, including Location-Based Services (LBS), will allow organizations to fundamentally rethink how they operate.

The Making of a Web Map - 2004

Joe Francica 11-12-2004

In our second annual Web Mapping Contest, 85 contestants were asked to enter their vital stastics of how they created their applications. This article provides a compendium of that information and will be extremely useful to those looking to deploy applications using web mapping technology. Read more...

The Oscars of Web Mapping - 2004!

Steve Lombardi 11-11-2004

Steve Lombardi, our favorite guy-who-wears-a-lot-of-black, is back for his second year of commentary on the Directions Magazine Web Mapping Contest, offering Oscars in categories ranging from Best Raster Imagery to Least Nerdy ...

NGA Head General James R. Clapper Answers Wide-ranging Questions about NGA

Hal Reid 11-10-2004

General James R. Clapper is the director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). The NGA’s primary mission it to provide timely, relevant and accurate Geospatial Intelligence in support of national security, and as such, is "setting up the nature of the technology for the rest of us," said his interviewer Hal Reid. Reid, himself a former member of the U.S. Army's intelligence community, asked Gen. Clapper some wide-ranging questions about the NGA, imagery acquisition, employee motivation, prioritization, managing organizational chaos, working with other federal agencies, and finally, what aspect of the job gets him out of bed in the morning. Read more.

So ... How About That Election Coverage?

Nora Parker 11-10-2004

Joe Francica’s article last week on The Media, Mapping and the U.S. Election - Just Plain Boring brought quite a bit of discussion. Leading up to the election, we had heard that some interesting technology was going to be in play at the major TV news networks. Generally speaking, Joe’s sense was that if there was a lot of technology available, why weren’t we seeing it? Here’s a summary of much of the feedback we got at Directions.

Election Results - MapInfo's Jon Winslow Follows Up On His Predictions

Nora Parker 11-08-2004

In the days leading up to the election, Jon Winslow, MapInfo's director for social research, offered a look at the demographics answering the question, "Who are America's Swing State Voters?" He bravely made some predictions about how those demographic groups might vote, and why. Here he talked to Directions Magazine about the election results and how they related to his predictions.

3D Geo-DBMS

Martin Bruenig and Sisi Zlatanova 11-06-2004

Martin Bruenig of and Sisi Zlatanova of explain the benefits of using spatial DBMSs in both GIS and CAD/AEC systems, including multi-user control on shared data and crash recovery, automatic locks of single objects while using database transactions, advanced database protocol mechanisms to prevent the loss of data, data security, data integrity and operations that comfortably retrieve, insert and update data. They also consider the challenges in doing so.

Web Mapping with SVG

Roger Harwell 11-05-2004

Roger Harwell of Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions discusses why SVG is rapidly becoming a popular choice for rendering maps. This is especially true in the geospatial web software applications area, because SVG, an Extensible Markup Language (XML) encoding or grammar, is designed to work effectively across platforms, output resolutions, color spaces, and a range of available bandwidths.

And the Winners Are ...

Nora Parker 11-03-2004

During the first three weeks of October, the Directions Magazine/Microsoft Corporation 2004 Web Mapping Contest received 85 really amazing entries. Then from October 21 to the end of the month, you (our readers) voted for your favorite contestant. Participation is the key to this kind of effort, and we wish to offer our thanks to the hundreds of people from around the world who entered and voted! Without further ado, the winners are...

Data Integration and Interoperability: ISO/OGC Standards for Geo-information

Carl Reed III 11-02-2004

Dr. Carl Reed helps readers understand current OGC efforts relating to data exchange between GIS and CAD systems, and what the future of will likely hold in terms of OGC specification work in this area... Data exchange and/or data integration has been always rather problematic between CAD systems as well as between CAD and GIS. Increasingly, however, there is a requirement to be able to seamlessly utilize both GIS and CAD data in a common application environment. Read more...

Call for Papers Issued for Location Technology & Business Intelligence 2005

Nora Parker 11-01-2004

Directions Magazine announces a Call for Papers for the 2005 Location Technology and Business Intelligence conference. To learn more about the conference, and about submitting a proposal, click the link above.

Location Based Services – MapPoint Location Server and Global Positioning System (GPS)

Steve Milroy 10-31-2004

This article compares and contrasts Microsoft’s MapPoint Location Server and more traditional GPS devices in LBS scenarios. We will explore technology, architecture, costs and the relevant approach for different solutions.

Executive Interview with Dr. Matt Tate, Vice President, Geospatial Solutions Federal, Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions

Hal Reid 10-30-2004

Intergraph's Vice President for Geospatial Solutions Federal, Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions, talks to industry veteran Hal Reid about GeoMedia and Dynamo, and how they play in today's military and intelligence market.

Common Pitfalls When Analyzing WMS/WFS Capabilities

Nuke Goldstein 10-29-2004

Nuke Goldstein, founder of CarbonTools, describes some of the challenges he's faced in reading and analyzing capabilities from an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) compliant Web Map Service (WMS) or Web Feature Service (WFS), and solutions he's successfully implemented. This seemingly simple task involves some major difficulties, and he offers his experience to help others who may have come across similar issues.

Who are America's Swing State Voters?

Jon Winslow 10-27-2004

Jon Winslow, MapInfo's director for social research, takes us through a detailed look at three swing states from the demographic perspective... In the 2004 election, political experts expect a set of “Swing States” to define the line between victory and defeat for Bush and Kerry. The handful of states, including Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania, are considered undecided.

GEOINT 2004: Leveraging Technology in a new Era of Cooperation within the Intelligence Community

Hal Reid 10-26-2004

Senior Contributing Editor of Directions Magazine, Hal Reid, a former member of the U.S. Army's intelligence community himself, provides his analysis of GEOINT 2004. "While coming home from GEOINT 2004, I was thinking about the events, presentations and the overall ambiance that seemed to be quietly embedded within this experience. This show was more than an exhibition, a PowerPoint, or a conversation in the hall." Read more.

Interoperability Demonstration at GEOINT 2004

Nuke Goldstein 10-25-2004

Visitors at GEOINT 2004 in New Orleans could not have missed the Geospatial Interoperability Demonstration at GEOINT 2004. Located near the entrance of the main exhibition floor and running numerous times throughout the day, the demonstration attracted lots of attention. The demonstration showcased new and established technologies for accessing and exploiting Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT). Read more...

Three Standard Geocoding Methods

Ela Dramowicz 10-24-2004

Ed. Note: This is the first in a series of "Business Geographics 101" articles to be provided by Dr. Ela Dramowicz that will cover the basic techniques required for spatial business analytics. In order to geocode data, it must contain information about location such as a street address, a postal code (or at least part of it), or a name of an area, e.g. county, census subdivision, etc. Geocoding is about adding x, y coordinates to point locations represented by these pieces of information. Three main methods of geocoding are available: by street address, by postal code, and by boundary.

GIS in the Rockies Wrap-up

Nora Parker 10-23-2004

Hard to believe, but this is the conference’s 17th year. According to Tina Cary, exhibits and promotions coordinator for GIS in the Rockies 2004, the final attendance tally was 579, a 5% increase over the previous year. This was the first year the exhibit hall had WiFi available, and also the first year the conference sponsored a Geocaching event. John W. Hickenlooper, Mayor of the City and County of Denver, gave the luncheon keynote speech on Wednesday.

Wow Technologies Found at GEOINT 2004

Joe Francica 10-21-2004

The GEOINT 2004 Exhibition in New Orleans had one primary underlying theme: Visualization is a key technology driver. All of the product in our WOW Technology overview involve some new aspect of visualization to make it easier for the analyst to interpret or process multispectral imagery. See our top five "WOW Technologies" for GEOINT.

Tenet, Kerry Keynote GEOINT Conference

Joe Francica 10-19-2004

Former CIA Director George Tenet and Former Senator Robert Kerry addressed the 1800 conferees of the GEOINT 2004 meeting in New Orleans this past week. Tenet, in his keynote address stressed the imperative of innovation, accuracy and timeliness of geospatial information to the intelligence community. Senator Kerry, a member of the 9/11 Commission, emphasized the unique importance that geospatial information will have on future intelligence gathering activities.

International Demographic Data - A Look at Geoscape

Geoscape International Staff 10-18-2004

Geoscape International provides market intelligence to a diverse array of organizations throughout the world via information products, software and consulting services. The focus is on helping clients understand their opportunities for multi-national and multi-cultural business growth, with particular strength in The Americas. Offerings are being rapidly increasing throughout Europe and Asia. This article is an introduction to the company, and an explanation of its primary focuses.

An Industry Grows Up

Carey Mann 10-14-2004

In the last few weeks, we have seen a flurry of discussion around the use of the term “geospatial” to describe the broad industry that provides spatially related technology, products, and services. The catalyst for this discussion was the decision by the Open GIS Consortium to change its name to “Open Geospatial Consortium.” Carey Mann, Vice President of Geospatial Business Development for Bentley Systems, summarizes some of the discussion and its implications, and generally weighs in favorably on the name change and its indication that our industry is "growing up."

Breakthroughs in Geospatial Analysis Applied to Mountains and Fish

Richard A. Marston 10-13-2004

Mountain regions are significant to human activities in a variety of ways, and some of these same characteristics combine to present a non-trivial challenge to those who wish to study them using geospatial techniques. Mountains cover 52% of Asia, 36% of North America, 25% of Europe, 22% of South America, 17% of Australia, and 3% of Africa…making up in total 24% of the Earth’s continental surfaces (Bridges 1990). This article, by the vice president of the Association of American Geographers, talks about how GIS is helping study issues relating to geomorphology and fisheries.

Mapping Progress in Aalborg, Denmark

Jim Baumann 10-13-2004

More than 650 years ago, King Valdemar of Denmark granted Aalborg, then a thriving coastal village on the Limfjord, a charter that regulated the relation between the king and the municipality and empowered civic leaders to provide efficient local government and services to its citizens. This article describes how a heavy-duty enterprise GIS is continuing to help the citizens do so.

MapInfo Releases StreetPro in the Asia/Pacific Region

Nora Parker 10-13-2004

We recently received a press release from MapInfo announcing that StreetPro was available for Malaysia. We couldn’t help but feel curious about the status of the StreetPro product line in the Asia/Pacific region. Wal Mayr, Director of Products, and Sean Richards, Product Manager, both of MapInfo Asia/Pacific, kindly answered many questions for us. MapInfo currently has StreetPro products (street centerline files with street name and address information) available for Australia, New Zealand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand (samples can be viewed, below). Next to be released will be China, Hong Kong and Vietnam. Mayr and Richards emphasize that developing these databases in the Asia/Pacific region is an evolutionary process – the databases are perhaps not as complete and accurate as would be the case in other regions of the globe, but it is the best available data, and will improve over time. Read more...

News from OGC's September Meetings

Sam Bacharach 10-12-2004

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) (formerly the OpenGIS Consortium) held its 51st Technical Committee and Planning Committee meetings in Chicago during the week of September 15. The meeting was sponsored by NAVTEQ. Sam Bacharach, the OGC's executive director for Community Outreach and Adoption provides highlights from the meeting.

The Enterprise Spatial Challenge

Jack Pellicci 10-11-2004

The convergence of geospatial technology with mainstream IT platforms is driving enormous advances in the ability to deploy spatial information across the enterprise and the Web. Geospatial tools, including GIS, are now able to deliver more reliability, security and scalability as they leverage IT infrastructure. In doing so, these geospatial technologies become enabling services to more mainstream business applications. Mr. Pellicci, senior vice president of Oracle Corp. discusses the ramifications of "a new world" of spatially aware enterprise systems.

Update on the Master Address File/TIGER Accuracy Improvement Project

Joe Francica 10-08-2004

The Census Bureau is trying to improve accuracy of TIGER's digital street centerline to approximately 96%. The spatial accuracy of the centerline is intended to be not more than 7.6 meters. Harris Corporation has the contract to complete the eight-year project with independent checks by the Census Bureau. Read more for an update on activities by the Census Bureau.

Directions Launches Career Center

Directions Staff 10-08-2004

Today, Directions Magazine launched an expansive Career Center to provide both Employers and Job Seekers with many resources for geospatial technology professionals. The new area contains features for posting jobs and resumes and will list jobs from around the world. Click here for more information...

Data Visualization: Virtual Geographic Environments combining AEC and GIS

Hui Lin and Zhu Qing 10-07-2004

Visualization is a natural extension of communication and functions in the “visual thinking” domain. Visualization emphasizes intuitive representation of data so as to enable individuals to understand the nature of phenomena represented by the data. The visualization of data is one of the central tasks in the field of AEC (architecture/engineering/construction) and GIS. Read more about how advances in human-computer interaction have created completely new paradigms for exploring graphical information in a dynamic way.

Mount St. Helens' Map Resources

Joe Francica 10-07-2004

On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted producing a cataclysmic mixture of ash, rock debris and hot gases (nuees ardentes) cascading down the southern slopes of the volcano, essentially blowing out the side of the mountain and killing 57 people. Today, the mountain is reigniting interest in volcanology as it spews ash and steam from the lava plug that caps the crater. Directions Magazine presents some mapping resources and online interactive websites...read more.

Bioterrorism and the Food Supply

Kevin Coleman 10-01-2004

The goal of terrorists is to strike fear in the hearts of their targets. This can take many forms. They may wish to cause death, shock, economic disruption, loss of faith in authorities, psychological trauma, dread, or just uncertainty. Perhaps the act that would most readily accomplish this would be an attack on the United States’ food supply. Protecting the food supply has been a priority for public health officials for decades. Traditionally, industry and regulators have depended on spot-checks of manufacturing conditions and random sampling of final products to ensure safe food. This system is seen as more reactive than preventive because it finds problems after they have occurred rather than as the food is being prepared. This article discusses the risks and postulates how GIS is a necessary part of the solution.

Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Deals with Hurricanes

Kimberly Morton 09-30-2004

With more than half of Florida’s 17 million residents directly affected by Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Frances, the Florida Farm Bureau (FFB) Insurance Companies is using GIS technology to analyze the thousands of claims it is receiving on a daily basis and more quickly respond to the needs of its’ policy holders. By using geo-spatial technology to present a visual representation of current claims, FFB can quickly locate areas with the highest concentration of claims and deploy the necessary resources, such as adjustors, claims agents and insurance agents. For instance, after a natural disaster, FFB uses geo-spatial technology from MapInfo Corporation to predict possible (and then to display actual) losses by overlaying event information, such as hurricane track and wind speed against its policyholder points.

Consumer Demand for Real-time Location Grows

Steve Lombardi 09-28-2004

A few weeks ago, Dodgeball was featured on NPR, prompting a few of us in the MapPoint group to try it out. Dodgeball stands out from the pack of contemporary friend-of-a-friend (FOAF) networks like Friendster and Tribe with an interesting twist – the use of location to let you know when a friend or an acquaintance a few degrees removed is nearby. We spend a lot of time thinking about social networks, like your MSN contact list, and how location and presence information can make them more useful, so this seemed like a natural fit and caught our collective “eye.” Much like the other FOAF services, you need to fill in a brief profile about yourself, and then nag your friends to do the same, finally adding each other to your friends list. Then, in theory, the fun begins – you go about your life moving freely through space and receive a text message on your mobile when someone in your network is nearby. Cool concept that definitely sounded worth checking out.

3D Topological Framework for Robust Digital Spatial Models

Rod Thompson 09-27-2004

Concepts from the discipline of topology have proved to be useful tools in the management and analysis of digital spatial data, for the definition of spatial relationships, and for the maintenance of consistency. Although currently more visible in the GIS world, topology is equally important in CAD/AEC applications. To date, however, commercially available database software in the GIS field restricts topological storage to 2D only (or 2D with elevation values). Generally speaking, the CAD/AEC operates within a more restricted form of topology, with relationships such as overlap between objects being determined “on the fly.” One of the critical issues in “closing the gap” between the disciplines of GIS and CAD/AEC is the requirement that representations of spatial objects be shared, and handled consistently by different software environments.

GIS in Your State - Here's What's Going On and Who's in Charge

Joe Francica 09-23-2004

Do you know what GIS activities are happening in your state? The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC), a coordinating body of statewide GIS administrators, has compiled a list of activities occurring within each state and links to resources for data and project information. Directions Magazine has formatted this list for easy viewing by state. This is a tremendous resource guide that you will want to bookmark for future reference. Directions Magazine appreciates the cooperative effort we have had with NSGIC and we thank the board, especially Zolt Nagy, for granting permission to publish this information.

Wireless Carriers are Making Great Progress Implementing Wireless E911... So What's the Problem?

David Williams 09-22-2004

Most Americans dialing 911 from their home or business phone expect nearly instant results on their doorstep from emergency responders. What is less clear to them and even seasoned technology, government, and business professionals is the level of technology infrastructure and operational processes required to provide these 911 services. For most of them it just works, and that is all that matters. Many of them would be upset or even horrified to find out that dialing 911 from their wireless phone would likely give them far different results. Emergency dispatchers today responding to wireless 911 calls cannot, for the vast majority of these calls, determine the caller’s current location, often jeopardizing response time and too often resulting in the victim not being found in time.

NSGIC 2004 - Conference Overview: A focus on FEMA

Joe Francica 09-21-2004

NSGIC president Bill Johnson welcomed the approximately 325 attendees to the 2004 Annual Conference, an increase by nearly 50% from last year. The focus of the conference was squarely on understanding how states interface to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Map Modernization program. Karen Siderelis, Associate Director for Geospatial Information for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) also addressed the plenary session on the changes at the USGS.

PRIZM CE: A New Segmentation Product for Canada

Nora Parker 09-20-2004

Ed. Note: Last week, Environics Analytics announced a new segmentation product for Canada that incorporated psychographics. The product will be marketed in the US by Claritas. Although very busy with the release of new product, company president Jan Kestle took a few moments to update us regarding the product, answering a few quick questions. We do expect to take a more in-depth look at the product in the months to come, so please stay tuned.

An Interview with Jeff Kerridge, Senior Vice President of International and Defense Sales for DigitalGlobe

Nora Parker 09-19-2004

Jeff Kerridge has been in the field of GIS/Remote Sensing for about 20 years now, and has focused primarily on the uses of satellite imagery in analysis. As part of our new series focusing on "cool people in the field of GIS," Jeff graciously allowed us to question him about his education, career experience and current position with DigitalGlobe.

Accurate Tax Jurisdiction Assignment – A Difficult and Complex Proposition

Bob Meador 09-17-2004

Collecting and disbursing sales tax revenue is a major challenge for businesses working in states that have a variety of sales tax jurisdictions. Tax collection has become very complicated and sophisticated in the last decade as a result of tax rates being assigned by point of use as opposed to point of sale in many states. This article describes some potential solutions to this challenge.

IBM Releases DB2 Universal Database - Stinger

Directions Staff 09-16-2004

IBM announced the release of DB2 Universal Database (UDB) that includes capabilities for autonomic computing, an enhancement that IBM says will, “allow organizations to complete complex jobs up to seven times faster than before while also reducing the time spent on administrative tasks by up to 65 percent.” In addition, enhancements also include new featutes for DB2 Spatial Extender, DB2 Geodetic Extender, and a development environment for supporting web services called, Spatial Integration Adapter for WebSphere Studio. Read more...

Tracking Residential Growth after the 2000 Census:

Ken Needham 09-14-2004

Valencia, California, like thousands of similar suburban communities in the United States, underwent major growth in the ‘90s, and the pace of its expansion has not slowed in the first decade of 2000. New housing continues to come online in quantity and on large tracts of undeveloped land. In order to account for this new residential development in its household counts, to place the households on the streets where they live and to attach to them a demographic profile, Scan/US developed a National Household Growth Tracking process. These new consumers are now tracked on the national landscape using Scan/US, Inc’s MicroGrid cartography. MicroGrids – grid squares as small as 1/16 of a square mile – allow the market analyst to directly estimate the impact of the updated consumer base on nearby retail activity.

A Look at NAC Geographic

Nora Parker 09-14-2004

Ed. Note: With NAC Geographic Products, Inc.’s recent announcement that their Universal Address System was licensed to US-based Zeitgeist Data Management, Inc. to support ZDM’s wellActivity.com application, we felt this might be a good time for a more in-depth look at this Toronto-based company. We contacted NAC’s offices to ask if they would be willing to answer some questions for us, and they graciously agreed, offering president Dr. Xinhang Shen for an interview. NAC is on a mission to “revolutionize” addresses the world over. Eight characters, using a proprietary system developed by NAC, would identify all locations currently identified by addresses in the world. You can geocode your address at NAC’s website for free, and get directions to other NAC-geocoded addresses. Partners such as Microsoft’s MapPoint Web Service and others are using this technology.

De Beers - Diamond Hunting with GIS

Joe Francica 09-13-2004

De Beers, the worlds largest diamond supplier, has employed GIS for over twelve years where it functions primarily in their exploration division. De Beers Group Exploration is in the process of standardizing on one system, which includes prospecting, laboratories, and document management systems. GIS will be directly linked to the Prospecting Information System and will play an important role in the integration. Read more...

Large-scale Three-dimensional Geographic Information Systems meet the Systems for Architecture, Engineering and Construction

Roberto Lattuada and Jonathan Raper 09-08-2004

Historically GIS and AEC have developed as solutions to different problems in different domains: the former optimized for the modelling of new, but well defined objects; the latter for the re-construction of existing objects about which only sparse and incomplete information is available. The modelling of complex systems that go beyond the drawing part of the problem well into the simulation, budgeting, environmental impact analysis and decision support makes a strong case for a tighter integration of GIS and CAD/AEC in a full three-dimensional environment.

What’s in a Name Change?

Carl Reed III 09-08-2004

Why did we change the name of the OGC and why now? Good questions. The former name “Open GIS Consortium” has been used since 1994. There is strong name recognition – not just in the US but globally. So why change the name? The short answer is that the scope of work has changed over the last ten years. When the OGC was formed, our initial focus was defining interface standards that allowed seamless format and vendor independent access and interchange of GIS data (content). The Consortium's ongoing work now encompasses content and service discovery, access and interoperability.

Geospatial Integration with Asset Management Using Web Services

David Holmes 09-07-2004

Every business and organization has assets, no matter how large or small. Asset management systems provide excellent tools for collecting, managing, and analyzing the data pertaining to infrastructure assets for local governments. Including a geospatial technology component greatly improves the efficiency of asset management, visualization, and analysis. With a Web Services integration approach, organizations have more options in deciding when it is appropriate to include geospatial information and capabilities. This article will explore some of the workflows and benefits of integrating geospatial technologies with Asset Management. In addition it will focus on the use of Web Services architecture for the integration.

Location Intelligence for Emerging Markets: Step 1, Getting the Data Right

Ian Clemens 09-01-2004

There is no surer sign that emerging markets like China, Russia and India are coming of age than the increase in the number of requests we are getting from our customers for location data and analysis for these markets. As companies search for new markets for growth opportunities, they quickly realize that lack of established presence in these markets leaves them with no historical or internal data resources to pull from—such as customers, points of sale, or even supplier information. In these cases, location data sources such as geography and demographics can provide the foundation for establishing location intelligence.

Digital Mapping Helps Sell Franchise Territories in Australia

Michael Vanderkelen 08-28-2004

Digital mapping technology is helping unlock the complexities and mysteries of accurately allocating geographic territories for anyone planning to franchise a business. This article describes how Answer Group Services did just that. According to Michael Fullick and Mark Mahony, directors of Answer Group Services (AGS), located in Sydney, Australia, “digital mapping is crucial because it reassures franchiser and franchisee that a geographic territory has the potential to ensure a given volume of business.

Location-based Services - We're Getting Closer: Lesson's Learned from ESRI's LBS Summit

Hal Reid 08-27-2004

At the ESRI User's Conference in this month, members of the telecommunications industry gathered for a one-day Location-based Services (LBS) Summit. The meeting focused on the progress that was made by wireless carriers to offer location-based services, especially in the U.S., and determine a model for promoting these services. The session also addressed mobile computing. There is a definite connection between the two, and there is growing evidence that they are beginning to merge in terms of devices and services.

Judy Martz - Montana's Governor Speaks Out For GIS in State Government

Joe Francica 08-25-2004

It is rare that a state's chief executive addresses a technology conference; rarer still when it is a GIS conference. Governor Judy Martz of Montana was one of the keynote speaker's at ESRI's Senior Executive Seminar, and Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, got to sit down with the governor in an exclusive interview to talk about technology in her state.

Top Ten Enhancement to ArcGIS 9

Directions Staff 08-23-2004

ArcGIS 9.0 includes several key enhancements. Here is a list of the Top Ten as composed by ESRI staff.

'WOW Technology' Found Among the Many Exhibitors at the ESRI User's Conference

Directions Staff 08-23-2004

In any large trade show, such as the ESRI User's Conference, it is easy to get numbed by the variety of vendors, the repeat technology, and even some of the eye candy that vendors use to get you to saunter by their booth. In spite of the size and sheer overwhelming number of exhibitors at a show where there are over 12,000 attendees, Editor-in-chief Joe Francica, and Senior Contributing Editor Hal Reid, found five technologies that stood out and easily passed the WOW Factor test.

Honolulu - A High-Tech Pacific Jewel

Joe Francica 08-20-2004

One of the keynote addresses at the ESRI Senior Executive Seminar (August 6, 2004) was given by Mayor Jeremy Harris of the City and County of Honolulu. Rarely before has a politician spoken with as much clarity on the applications and potential for GIS as Mr. Harris. This is a city official who not only believes in the technology but can lead with vision from a position of understanding of how to "think spatially." The result is the "remaking" of Honolulu into a high-tech town...Read more.

ESRI Senior Executive Seminar - A Gathering of GIS Eagles

Joe Francica 08-19-2004

ESRI hosted its Senior Executive Seminar for invited dignitaries on August 6, 2004, some of whom were only peripherally exposed to GIS previously; others were experienced professionals, but all comprised a diverse crowd of users, executives, and politicians. Roger Tomlinson moderated this mini-symposium for over 300 attendees. Tomlinson opened the session with a quip by saying, “They call me the ‘father of GIS’… well I admit I got the lady pregnant…but Jack Dangermond raised the kids.” Read more...

Product Overview - ArcGIS 9

Hal Reid 08-18-2004

ArcGIS 9.0 is actually not a specific product per se, but rather an umbrella term for products that are developed to move "lock-step" in versioning. You might also view ArcGIS 9.0 as several umbrellas depending on the size of the installation. In the review of the ArcGIS 9.0 architecture, the reader will get a synopsis of ESRI's most recent release of their product suite.

ArcGIS 9 and the Geodatabase

Hal Reid 08-18-2004

The concept of a geodatabase is to provide a set of best practices, for the creation of a data model that well addresses the need for storing geographic data and provide a set of rules that govern the post and extraction process. ArcGIS 9 and the way it works with the geodatabase have been improved to increase performance. The following report will give the reader a fundamental understanding of the concepts and improvements to this version of the geodatabase for ArcGIS 9.

GIS Maps Bring Tourism, Telecom and Environmental Info to PDAs Throughout Europe

Dan Ahern 08-16-2004

A single currency and open borders are not the only things that the European Union is doing to bring together a patchwork quilt of countries. The European Commission launched the ODIN (geographic distributed Information) Project in 2000. According to the project managers, "The ODIN project aims at developing innovative paradigms for the design of open, distributed, and networked tools to boost the integration of an entire new class of just-in-time (at the point of need), interactive, value-added, map-based and personalised services for the mobile citizen (tourist, entrepreneur, commuter, farmer, etc.) paying a special attention to the promotion of natural and cultural assets of rural areas." Read more...

Geo-semantics and Ontology – Bridging AEC and GI systems

Thomas Bittner 08-13-2004

One of the major problems facing systems for Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) and Geographic Information Systems (GI systems) applications today is the lack of interoperability among the various systems. In the process of integrating different software applications, substantial difficulties can arise when translating information from one application to another. Here we focus on semantic difficulties, which include cases where in two applications the same symbol is used to refer to different things and cases where different symbols denote the same thing. What is needed is some way of explicitly specifying the terminology of applications in an unambiguous fashion. Ontologies can provide such means.

The Changing Role of India and Indians in the U.S. High Tech Sector

Kavita Pandit 08-10-2004

As readers of Directions Magazine no doubt are aware, the topic of outsourcing GIS and information technology jobs to India is at the center of a brewing political storm this election year. (Indeed the July 17 2004 issue carried an article on this topic.) Outsourcing is seen by some as the root cause of the high unemployment rate of information technology workers over the past few years. Others maintain that outsourcing work to India will allow American firms to remain productive and competitive given the shortfall in labor as baby boomers retire and American students choose not to pursue careers in engineering and technology. Regardless of which side one is on, what is uncontroversial is the fact that Indians – whether living in India or the United States – have assumed a prominent position at the core of the U.S. information technology (IT) sector. In this feature article, I discuss the fascinating confluence of industry restructuring, change and reform in U.S. immigration policy, and growing liberalization of the Indian economy that collectively brought Indians to center stage in the U.S. high tech sector. Four distinct periods can be identified.

Places2protect: New data resource helps address emergency situations

Nora Parker 08-10-2004

Eddie Pickle at IONIC recently made us aware of a new data product he helped develop. Places2protect would help government agencies, charged with handling an emergency, know where critical populations (e.g. schools, hospitals, nursing homoes) are located. We asked him to provide additional information about the product to our readers. Read more.

NSGIC Ramps Up for 14th Annual Meeting

Nora Parker 08-06-2004

The National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) holds its annual meeting in Austin, TX, Sunday, Sept. 12 through Thursday, Sept. 16. The NSGIC session format for the 2004 Annual Conference will highlight state activities in particular theme areas. Directions Magazine had the opportunity last week to speak to Rick Memmel, GIS Coordinator for the State of Wyoming, and this year’s NSGIC conference chair. While the agenda amounts to a fairly impressive group of topics, we asked Memmel what he expected to be the hot topics this year. He pointed to two that he expects people to be talking about during breaks, at lunch and during the evening at Austin-area bars.

2004 Vespucci Summer School on GI Science - A Success!

Michael Gould 08-04-2004

What do you get when you mix some of the brightest young (and not so young) Geographic Information researchers from US, Europe and around the world, expert senior instructors leading the discussion, wireless internet, and the backdrop of the Tuscan hills overlooking Florence, Italy? The Vespucci Summer School of course. Read more about this unique educational experience conducted by some of the leading experts in GIS.

City of Hamilton Corporate GIS Rocks On

Nora Parker 08-04-2004

The City of Hamilton is a Canadian city with a population of over half a million, situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario. While it’s known as the “Birmingham of Canada” for its industrial focus, within the GIS crowd, it is becoming known as “The Heart of GIS Rock’n’Roll” for its amazing enterprise-wide do-anything-go-anywhere GIS. We recently visited with Keigan Systems’ (see “Product Overview: Keigan System’s Keigan GRID”) Robert Gammon and colleagues for a relatively routine overview of some new functionality we wanted to report on. I don’t want to underplay the fact that they are doing some very cool things with grid formats that make them highly useful within the analytical context. But what really caught my interest were the applications Gammon showed to demonstrate the functionality he was highlighting – application after application featured the City of Hamilton with what we would consider “non-traditional” analyses. So I asked if we could follow up to learn more about them.

Seeing is Believing: New Partnership Delivers Ground Truth for Investment Decisions in Sales, Marketing and Real Estate

Stephen Webster 07-30-2004

Tactician Corporation recently announced that it has integrated its award winning Tactician® Online marketing portal with Keyhole® 2 PRO, the latest release of Keyhole Corporation’s pioneering Internet 3D earth visualization solution. Made famous by images of Baghdad provided to network television during the early days of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Keyhole 2 PRO is high performance 3D client software combined with an Internet hosted massive database of satellite images and aircraft fly over photography. By integrating this technology with Tactician Online’s mapping, analytical and data tools, Tactician has now made possible a compelling ground truth solution with significant business implications for sales, marketing and real estate professionals.

Executive Interview - Robert Cardillo, Director, Source Operations and Management, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency

Joe Francica 07-29-2004

Directions Magazine's Editor-in-chief, Joe Francica, conducted the following interview with Mr. Robert Cardillo, Director of the Source Operations and Management Directorate for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, or NGA. We think you will enjoy this interview as it covers a variety of topics related to their current mission, and in particular, how the NGA functions in it critical role of providing information to the battlefield commanders as well as the policy-makers in the war on terrorism.

The Strategic Implications of Wal-Mart's RFID Mandate

David Williams 07-29-2004

Over the last few years the cost declines of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, combined with improvements in sensitivity, range and durability, have enabled widespread RFID use in the logistical planning and operation of supply chain processes in the manufacturing, distribution and retail industries, and helped move its adoption into services such as security and access control, tracking, and monitoring/management. Up until recently, though, the adoption of such technology has been somewhat scatter-shot; some companies use it, some don’t; within any given company that does, it may be used for some types of supply chain operations but not others; or is used only with some types of customers – its adoption has been a relatively immature “hit-or-miss.” This environment changed dramatically last June when Wal-Mart Stores announced that it would require its top 100 suppliers to put RFID tags on shipping crates and pallets by January 1st 2005, and earlier this month announced that it will expand its RFID efforts to its next 200 largest suppliers by January 1st, 2006. This article discusses the strategic implications of this mandate for business, not just Wal-Mart’s direct suppliers but also many other types of companies that will be affected (whether they know it yet or not), including GIS providers.

Executive Interview - Jack Pellicci and Xavier Lopez, Oracle Corporation

Joe Francica 07-27-2004

In this exclusive interview for Directions Magazine, Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica discusses with Jack Pellicci, Group Vice President of the Business Development Group for Oracle’s Government, Education, Health and Aerospace/Defense Industries, and Xavier Lopez, Director of Oracle’s Spatial, Location and Network technologies group, how Oracle is addressing customer needs for location technology and what customers are looking for in terms of functionality to allow spatial information to become a strategic advantage for the corporation.

3D Data Acquisition and Object Reconstruction for AEC/CAD

Vincent Tao, Ph.D. 07-21-2004

The latest technology developments clearly show an improvement (resolution and accuracy) of 3D data collection techniques: aerial and close range photogrammetry, airborne or ground-based laser scanning, mobile mapping and GPS surveying. A lot of research has been conducted toward the automation of 3D object reconstruction. There are a variety of approaches with varying resolution, accuracy, turn around time and cost. The major approaches toward 3D data collection and object reconstruction using photogrammetry, laser scanning, mobile mapping, and map-based reconstruction will be discussed. We will compare these technologies from an AEC application view point.

NAVTEQ Adds Elevation Contours to In-vehicle Navigation Data

Nora Parker 07-20-2004

In June, NAVTEQ announced that elevation contours had been added to the in-vehicle navigation digital map data for Europe and North America. Directions Magazine talked to Mateo Bartoli, Product Manager, in Veldhoven, The Netherlands, to learn more about this new enhancement.

Easier-to-Use Mapping Applications and Standards Help Bring Environmental Maps to Canadians

Dan Ahern 07-19-2004

To bring GIS data out beyond the usual government officials and engineers – in other words, into the hands of the general public – access must be easy for the lay person. If complex downloads and viewers are required to view maps, Internet users may find the process daunting. Indeed, even GIS specialists may run into trouble if differing formats require them to juggle different software downloads. The people behind GeoConnections, a Web-based Canadian government and private initiative, recognized that the key to broadening usage of GIS information was to make the process simple. GeoConnections has a special stake in making sure that maps are seen by the widest possible audience: its partners are developing the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI), which is making the country’s geospatial data and services accessible online.

Executive Interview - John Betz, Director, Planning & Business Development, MapPoint Business Unit, Microsoft

Joe Francica 07-15-2004

John Betz was been with Microsoft's MapPoint Unit almost from the very beginning. He was one of the visionaries for the MapPoint product and now gives us his thoughts of the company's direction on location technology in product development. Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, sat down to talk with Mr. Betz at the CTIA conference this year.

Digital Sensors vs. Film Cameras: Collier County, Florida Test Drives Digital Sensor

Carah Lynn Billups 07-14-2004

For years, film has been used to capture data for aerial photography. This process was wrought with limitations. The film process was inconsistent, time-consuming and costly, yet no other method was able compete with film in both quality and versatility. In 2003, the Property Appraiser’s Office of Collier County, Florida needed updated, countywide orthophotos. These photos are updated regularly to help the tax appraiser determine the value of all real and tangible personal properties located in Collier County. The county decided to "go digital" instead of using film. Read about how they underwent the switch.

Large-scale 3D data integration - An Introduction to the Challenges for CAD and GIS Integration

Sisi Zlatanova 07-10-2004

This is an introduction to a 10-part series being published by Directions Magazine on the integration of CAD and GIS technology. Dr. Sisi Zlatanova is the editor of this series that will result in a book being published at the end of 2004. Directions Magazine is please to bring you this series. Read more...

Terrorism Risk Management For Finance and Insurance Organizations

Kevin Coleman 07-07-2004

The role of risk management in the normal operation of business is well known and understood. In fact, the vast majority of organizations practice risk management on a regular basis. Most of these organizations have formal programs established to institute this practice across the enterprise. However, one major piece of the puzzle is missing; a piece so critical one would have to ask if these programs can be effective without its inclusion. Read more...

GIS-T at Airborne Express - Part 2

Shaun McMullin and Patrick Moore 07-05-2004

Part 1 of this two-part series discussed how Airborne Express used MapPoint to address some important aspects of organizing its business, including projecting station resources based on pick-up density and activity. This second part addresses how Airborne Express developed additional, more sophisticated business management capabilities by loosely coupling aspects of its SDA application with ArcGIS. These include improving route structures and morning package sorts.

4-H Programs Introduce Youth to GIS and GPS Technology

Directions Staff 07-03-2004

The U.S. Department of Agriculture maintains the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Services or CSREES. The CSREES mission is to “advance knowledge for agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being, and communities through national program leadership and federal assistance.” One of the programs they maintain is the 4-H Youth Technology Leadership Team Program that fosters the learning of geographic information systems and the global positioning satellite system. Read more...

Tele Atlas Receives Clearance to Purchase GDT - See Exclusive Interview with Mike Gerling - the New COO

Joe Francica 07-01-2004

On Monday, June 28, 2004, Tele Atlas received clearance from the United States Department of Justice to complete the acquisition of Geographic Data Technology, Inc. (GDT). Directions Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica (JF), spoke with Mike Gerling (MG), the current president of GDT and the person who will assume the job of Chief Operating Officer of the newly merged entity. Following is a transcript of that interview about the structure and objectives of the new company.

The UCGIS Research Agenda – driving forward by locating challenges

Gregory Elmes 06-30-2004

A vital component of the mission of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS) is to foster multidisciplinary research in Geographic Information Science. UCGIS is an institutional organization comprising more than 70 members, widely recognized as an important voice of Geographic Information Science (GIScience). To accomplish the research element of its mission, UCGIS provides research priorities for advancing theories and methods, and also an organizational framework to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration, and commitment to basic GIScience and initiatives driven by national needs. This article provides the reader with an overview of these initiatives.

Mobility Revisited for the Enterprise

Majdi Zahran 06-23-2004

The Location-based Services market continues to experience significant advancement in handheld, mobile device performance and capacity, and competitive pricing. While this may be welcome news to many enterprises and users, it may be seen as a trap for some mobile solutions vendors. Much of the problem is that advancements in hardware have contributed to a blurring of the line between desktop solutions and mobile solutions. Read more...

GIS-T at Airborne Express - Part 1

Shaun McMullin and Patrick Moore 06-23-2004

This article describes a GIS-T application that was developed by Integral GIS in Seattle, Washington under the direction of Airborne Express, Inc. The application was created under extremely tight budgetary constraints so cost effective development was required. The software also had to fit within an established operational environment so tool output needed to be consistent with work-flow and field procedures. The goals of low cost development, implementation and high user adoption rates were met and contributed to Airborne’s successful strategy of creating the highest delivery and pick-up productivity to date. The application provided the necessary data to enable efficient planning of routes. These factors drove the ROI success of this project.

An Interview with Jamie Bisker, Director of Research for the Insurance Practice at TowerGroup

Nora Parker 06-21-2004

Jamie Bisker is the Director of Research for the Insurance Practice at TowerGroup, and has over 25 years of experience in information systems with 18 years in the insurance industry. In that time, Jamie has been responsible for technology implementations, strategic planning and technology architectures in life as well as property and casualty (P&C;) insurance. Directions Magazine spoke to Jamie at the Location Technology & Business Intelligence conference, May 10-11, to gain an understanding of how he sees location technology folding into the insurance industry, and what the future might hold.

Bridging the Worlds of CAD and GIS - Part 1 of a Series on CAD-GIS

Peter van Oosterom 06-17-2004

This article is the first in a 10-part series on CAD-GIS integration. Dr. Sisi Zlatanova of Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands will edit the series, the results of which will be published in a book.

Dr. Peter van Oosterom, and co-authors Jantien Stoter and Erik Jansen, write the keynote article on this series about the collision of these two, interrelated technologies. Directions Magazine is pleased to bring you this series. Read more...

Outsourcing Becoming A Hot Topic Among GIS Job Holders/Seekers

Richard Serby 06-17-2004

How has "outsourcing" affected your company? Are you out of a job because of it? Richard Serby of GeoSearch looks at the issue and how "profoundly" it may influence the coming elections. Read more...

Understanding MapInfo's RiskReview

Directions Staff 06-16-2004

MapInfo recently announced the release of a new product, RiskReview, an exposure tracking solution for insurers that uses location information to improve risk assessment and enhance underwriting business decisions. The product was developed in conjunction with MarketScout, a Dallas, Texas based insurance distribution and technology firm. Directions Magazine talked to Kimberly Morton, MapInfo’s Director of Location Intelligence – Risk Management. We asked for a layman’s description of RiskReview, and for a better understanding of how it might apply in the insurance industry.

Los Angeles Engineers Do More with Less, Using GIS

Dan Ahern 06-15-2004

The city of Los Angeles has an infrastructure system that rivals that of some small European countries. With 6,500 miles of sewer lines, spread over the city’s 750 square miles, it comes as no surprise that the management of L.A. construction projects can create a logistics nightmare. This article details development of a true web based GIS (NavigateLA) that allows the public to view maps showing everything from sewer pipe depth, installation dates, construction materials and the location of storm drains via the 400 map layers available.

An Interview with ESRI BIS's Lynn Wombold, Director of Data Development

Nora Parker 06-13-2004

ESRI BIS's Community Tapestry is a new segmentation system that succeeds ACORN in the US. Directions Magazine spoke to Lynn Wombold, one of the key architects of the system, to learn more about it.

Towards Enterprise GIS: Utilizing Rich Internet Applications to Drive Adoption

Ian Clemens 06-09-2004

At a recent SYS-CON technology symposium, Macromedia gave a keynote address entitled “SOA+RIA=ROI,” that outlined how the benefits of web service architectures (SOAs) combined with a new breed of internet application, dubbed rich internet applications (RIA), would bring higher levels of return on investment (ROI) to the enterprise. The main thrust of the keynote was that the widely popular Flash technology and platform, now exemplified by a new breed of RIAs, had matured beyond a technical novelty solely in the hands of Flash specialists. This trend is visible in the GIS community where companies like IDV Solutions are using Flash technologies, combined with location-enabled enterprise data, as solutions that provide demonstrable return on investment.

New Segmentation System Focuses on Retail Financial Services Marketing

Nora Parker 06-08-2004

Information Asset Partners (IAP), a company formed in early 2003, has recently released a new market segmentation system entirely focused on providing product-specfic predictive information for marketing retail financial and insurance products. EmpirixTM, built using US Census demographics and SRI Consulting Business Intelligence's MacroMonitor survey data, offers 27 different predictive segmentations for marketing financial products.

Geospatial Technologies Working for Environmental and Social Justice

Victoria A. Lawson 06-07-2004

The discipline of geography has much to contribute to understandings of crucial issues of environmental and social justice from global to local scales of analysis and action. In this article, Dr. Lawson, AAG vice president, focuses on how geospatial technologies can be employed to devise policies that represent a range of perspectives on environmental and social processes such as deforestation, urban sprawl, drought and pollution.

Increasing Data Quality and Performance at the UK Environment Agency

Bob Chell 06-03-2004

The United Kingdom's Environment Agency is in the process of examining various aspects of the National Flood and Coastal Defence Database system with respect to reliability and performance. One of the aspects examined has been the impact on the performance of their browser applications of both the quality and quantity of spatial data held within their Oracle database. The complexity of their spatial data, both in size or precision, has a direct effect on both the speed of data retrieval and queries against this data by the user. This article takes a look at whether it was possible to simplify the data and still get similar analytical results.

Three Blind Men and the Elephant – Can we see the big “picture” of Business Geographics

Hal Reid 06-02-2004

A big part of change is being able to see it coming. We almost always find ourselves as one of the proverbial three blind men and the elephant when it comes to change. Never quite being able to see the entire picture. Contributing Editor, Hal Reid, says, "I continue to believe there are several things that will identify American business in the 21st century." Read more about what they are...

Intergraph's GeoMedia WebMap Publisher - Product Overview

Joe Francica 05-29-2004

Intergraph’s latest enhancement to its GeoMedia product family is GeoMedia WebMap Publisher. The product is a superset of GeoMedia WebMap that simplifies the workflow of going from a project constructed within GeoMedia to a website that enables the visualization of project features. GeoMedia WebMap Publisher is now included as a standard feature of GeoMedia WebMap.

Combating West Nile Virus With Remote Sensing

Ian Anderson 05-28-2004

Imagine enjoying a nice day outside and getting bitten by pesky mosquitoes. Nothing unusual about that. However, what if, as a result of mosquito bites, you experienced symptoms such as nausea or fever, or even worse, paralysis or death? Now that’s a scary thought! That is why, when the West Nile Virus (WNV) found its way to North America in 1999 via mosquitoes, the public became concerned about the suddenly harmful consequences a mosquito bite may carry. In the five years since its arrival, nearly every state has reported the presence of the virus. In California, the Monterey County Health Department took pro-active steps to address the threat of West Nile to its community.

Bentley Systems BE Conference 2004 Awards of Excellence in Geospatial Projects

Joe Francica 05-26-2004

Each year, Bentley Systems nominates projects in which its user's have been engaged over the past year for one of their "Awards of Excellence" in a specific discipline. In Geospatial, thirty-one projects were nominated in five categories. Directions Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, was one of the adjudicators along with Carey Mann and Styli Camateros, vice presidents of Bentley, and Matt Ball, Editor of GEOWorld Magazine. The projects represented a diverse cross section of applications that were submitted from local governments, federal agencies, utilities, engineering firms and research laboratories. Greg Bentley, CEO, commented that he always enjoys being involved with these projects because they have a conclusion, a finished result. The awards were announced at a dinner in their honor and hosted by Alan Farkas of Farkas Berkowitz & Company, a Washington-based management consulting firm.

Plumbing is Good: RedSpider Web 3.1 Makes Getting Imagery Easier

Directions Staff 05-21-2004

According to a recent press release from IONIC Enterprise, IONIC's RedSpider Web 3.1 is enablibling imagery access for SPOT Image and NASA. We thought readers would be interested in learning more about why RedSpider Web 3.1 is important to users of remotely sensed imagery, so Directions Magazine chatted with Chris Tucker, President and CEO of IONIC Enterprise and Eddie Pickle, COO of IONIC Enterprise, about it. RedSpider Web 3.1 is deep-down enabling technology that isn’t visible to a user. As Tucker puts it succinctly, “We do plumbing – we do shiny pictures too – but the good stuff is the plumbing. If you can’t the water to the shiny picture, who cares?”

Review of the Plenary Sessions at the Location Technology & Business Intelligence Executive Symposium

Directions Staff 05-20-2004

The Location Technology & Business Intelligence exeuctive symposium focused in on several functional areas to further address enterprise-wide and ROI issues in CRM, real estate, insurance, field service and logistics as they related to location technology and business intelligence. In each plenary session, two to four case studies were offered (described below), which were then commented upon by a panel of senior technology providers. Below we describe the sessions’ case studies. To view a list of sessions and technology panelists, click here (http://www.locationintelligence.net/2004_agenda.html).

GDT’s In-Vehicle Navigation System

Joe Francica 05-18-2004

GDT has been anxious to demonstrate its entry into the in-vehicle navigation system market. This article gives a brief overview of the system on which they supplied the sreet and content data to Denso for the Lexus LS series cars.

Using GIS To Lure Attractive Retail Businesses Downtown

Dan Ahern 05-17-2004

Can GIS technology help change the character of a downtown area, and revitalize a city’s commercial districts? That’s the plan for development officials and planners in Fremont, a city of 208,000 people in the San Francisco Bay Area. Faced with a number of commercial vacancies in its shopping areas, the city sought new ways to spread the word about available spaces, especially for smaller, emerging businesses. The solution: a GIS-based Web site that provides a wealth of info for small business owners and real-estate brokers – who don’t need to have computer-science degrees to use understand the Web-based data.

Network Centric Warfare

Kevin Coleman 05-14-2004

Technology has influenced almost every aspect of our lives. It has brought about a “C” Change in business, society, politics, and defense. Strategic changes in the ways in which war is fought have occurred in recent years due primarily to advances in science and technology. The value of superior technology was clearly evident in the Gulf War and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Realistically the technology used to support those two conflicts is at least a decade old if not older. What new technology will evolve over the next decade that will further improve the military's capabilities on the battlefield? One technology sure to fall into that category is Network Centric Warfare (NCW). Read more...

GIS Software Usability – is it more than a marketing slogan?

Külli Tiits 05-10-2004

This article discusses usability improvements for those who provide GIS services for larger user groups and includes a detailed look at simple map manipulation: zooming, panning, selecting objects.

OGC Launches OWS-2

Dr. Ignacio Guerrero 05-07-2004

Recently, the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) announced the launch of a major new initiative, Open Web Services Part 2, or in short, OWS-2. OWS-2 will address the issues of common architecture, image handling and decision-support tools, information interoperability, location-based services, and conformance and interoperability testing and evaluation. Addressing these issues represents an effort to create a consistent baseline of open geoprocessing services. Dr. Ignacio Guerrero of Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions, reviews the the features and complexiites of OWS-2. Read more.

A Road Map for Spatial Information Systems within the Enterprise - Part 2

David Sonnen 05-06-2004

IDC identifies four Spatial Information Management (SIM) technology segments: Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Enterprise Location Services and Software (ELSS), Location-Aware Transaction Services (LATS), and Spatially-enabled IT Infrastructure (SITI). In part two of the series on "The Road Map" for spatial information technology, industry analyst, David Sonnen, provides a perpective for the future of the SIM marketplace in each market segment.

Ortho-Photos: The New Standard in Photogrammetric Deliverables

George Southard 05-04-2004

Traditionally, project requirements in the photogrammetry market have mainly focused on feature-based deliverables such as vectors. Within the last several years, however, the market has seen a new demand: image-based deliverables, mainly ortho-photos. Ortho-photos, obtained from film and digital cameras, offer huge amounts of valuable data. Overall, the market trend is that of an upward spiral: more products (in this case ortho-photos) received, plus improved quality, speed and accuracy equal more up-to-date information. Organizations that have the same product budget they did a few years ago are now able to buy more with that same amount of money, resulting in more, better-quality map products than ever before

Toward Global Interoperability

Roberta Balstad Miller 04-30-2004

There is a growing recognition worldwide that interoperability is essential to the Information Society. This is not a surprise to those who deal with geospatial data, where the need for hardware and software interoperability was recognized long ago with the formation of the OpenGIS Consortium. Increasingly, however, interest in interoperability is spreading beyond information, hardware, and software professionals and is being expressed both by longstanding and new users of data and information and by those who wish to advance development around the globe. Dr. Miller provides an update of various global initiatives and challenges us to participate.

ORBIMAGE Releases Imagery of North Korean Train Disaster Area

Directions Staff 04-30-2004

Provided here are two, 1-meter resolution, panchromatic images of the train disaster site at Yongchon, collected by ORBIMAGE's OrbView-3 satellite on April 24th, 2004, two days after a collision between two fuel-laden trains in the North Korea town caused huge casualties.

Leading With Change – SRC User's Conference Report

Hal Reid 04-28-2004

Corporations in Real Estate, Auto, Telecommuncations, and Cable highlighted the "Extend '04" SRC User's conference. Senior Contributing Editor, Hal Reid, was in attendance and provides this report on the unique approach the company is taking in holding conferences that support the growth of their customers.

Business News: Financial & Legal Update on Location Technology Companies

Joe Francica 04-26-2004

Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, provides a review and analysis of recent business news from companies in the location technology sector. From legal settlements to earnings reports and upgrades, recent current events are significantly shaping the geospatial marketplace.

DigitalGlobe Releases Quickbird Imagery of Area Affected by North Korean Train Explosion

Directions Staff 04-23-2004

DigitalGlobe is making available to the QuickBird imagery of the Ryongchon, North Korea general area where as many as 3,000 people were reportedly killed or injured Thursday when two fuel trains collided and exploded at a station near the Chinese border. Click Here for more imagery...

Old Wine in New Wineskins: Old Data with New Technology Tools

Darrell Napton 04-22-2004

Some of the most exciting geographical research today is based upon old data sources that had little utility until the development of geographic information sciences. This research is developing new baselines for environmental and land use change detection, providing valuable insights into the nature of dynamic systems, and delivering new data for models of land surface change. The results are contributing to our understanding of how humans are changing the earth.

GIS Helps Transportation Industry Keep on Truckin' in Czech Republic

Jim Baumann 04-21-2004

That venerable rallying cry for business, "Time is money" has special significance to the trucking industry, where a shipment that arrives too late or too early can affect the business of every customer and each of their successive customers on the delivery route. Read more about this dispatching and routing application for snack food delivery in the Czech Republic by ICOM Transport.

Geocoding Challenges: Why Accuracy Matters

Bryan Sears 04-20-2004

The lost opportunity or cost of manual qualification for a potential customer wanting DSL, or the penalty for incorrectly assessing tax requirements for a telephone customer, are recognized and legitimate expenses that companies will no longer tolerate. Today, the requirements for geocoding accuracy are significantly more demanding for a multitude of reasons – among them financial, security and legal. This article discusses why accuracy matters and what to do about it.

Airborne Imaging Technology: Today's Reality

Peter Fricker 04-19-2004

The era of airborne imaging sensors is firmly upon us. Although traditional film cameras and scanners are still the most widely used methods of data acquisition, there is a noticeable shift in the market as new and improved sensors enter the market. Why would professionals go from film cameras, which have been used for so long with good results, to this new technology? Simply put, sensor technology has made great strides in automation and quality; sensors are also helping make the push for smoother and more integrated workflows possible. Read more...

Reaching Our Full Strength Through Partnerships

Dan Parr 04-16-2004

March 11, 2004 will stay in our minds for years to come because of the terrible crime committed in Madrid. We were reminded once again that we share our vulnerability and our inability to respond effectively. The need for cooperation within, between, and among governments at every level-global, national, state/provincial, and local-is not a new concept. It has, however, since September 11, 2001 moved from a platitudinous concept to an urgent need. Read more of URISA President Dan Parr's column on 'partnerships.'

Toward True “Marketplace Intelligence”

Nicholas Jacquez 04-15-2004

Practitioners in the geospatial industry have long seen the benefits of applying GIS and related technologies to the analysis of business data, particularly for those categories that are geographically distributed, such as retail, food service, real estate and media. This article discusses using a Space-Time Intelligence System to develop a complete understanding of market dynamics, and communicating it with animations and linked views that encourage intuitive interaction and clarify decisions for non-technical users. For geospatial technologies to take their place in the business mainstream, the destination must be usability. Business analytics, though powerful, are meaningless unless decision makers can easily interact with the information they need to do a better job. That’s when they’ll use technology and that’s what these cutting edge tools can deliver, the “sweet spot” where human experience and intuition are enhanced by interactive technology.

Competitive Intelligence and Location Technology

Hal Reid 04-15-2004

As Business Geographers we are generally concerned with portraying spatial information so that understanding can be reached and decisions made on things that cover space and time. Directions' Senior Contributing Editor, Hal Reid, explains that "Competitive Intelligence (CI) deals with 'what are they doing' rather than 'how can we be better at what we are doing.' Because of this difference in perspective, I think there are a number of insights we can gain by exploring their world." Read more...

Geospatial interoperability – ORDBMS approaches

Samir Satpathy 04-13-2004

Interoperability is now the key feature in almost all the GIS product designs. The OGC’s initiative in this regard is phenomenal. Relational structure, Object Oriented Programs (OOPS) in software engineering has made it simple to achieve this common goal. The spatial operation is certainly different and complex than the normal Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) operation. Object Relation Database Management Systems (ORDBMS), where the database vendors have come out with their respective spatial extensions, could simplify this further.

Real-Time Travel Information - More Services...with the Right Equipment

Directions Staff 04-13-2004

Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ, competitors for digital street data, are partners for standardization of traffic codes for digital maps; Tele Atlas also has data on fuel prices at the pump! Finally, location serives that you would be willing to pay for...if

Enabling GIS in the United Arab Emirates

Jim Baumann 04-09-2004

Decision makers in Dubai, one of the seven emirates included in the United Arab Emirates federation of states nestled together in the southern region of the Arabian Gulf believe that the provision of spatial data should be effortless and invisible, much like the services of a public utility or public works department. A relative newcomer to the implementation of enterprise GIS, Dubai established its GIS Center in early 2001 with a governmental mandate to act as the sole authority in the emirate to distribute geographic data. Read more...

Geospatial Interoperability for the Organization

Jim O'Neill 04-07-2004

Government and the business community understand the need for greater integration of data and technology. Across organizations of almost any size, enterprise wide information architectures are the key to success. Our increasingly, sometimes almost randomly, interconnected and information aware society forms the basic foundation for transactions – from public policy to music downloads. This digital foundation will not support the transactional demands we place on it from both an efficiency and effectiveness standpoint without interoperability standards that allow best of breed engineering solutions from among an ever-changing field of vendors with ever-growing technology intensive products and services.

The Wireless LBS Challenge

Directions Staff 04-04-2004

At last year's CTIA conference, NAVTEQ and SiRF Technology issued this challenge: "Using NAVTEQ maps and GPS technology, application developers were challenged to build location-based service solutions that work on cell phones or wireless handheld devices." A panel of judges, representing wireless carriers, location determination companies, and technology consultants, narrowed the field of approximately forty contestants to nine semi-finalist applications. At this year's show, the winners were announced. The LBS Challenge for 2005 has already been announce. Check with NAVTEQ for details.

Location-based Services Technology Platforms & Applications

Directions Staff 04-01-2004

These two lists include software platforms and application programming interfaces to support location-based applications. The platforms are used to build LBS applications; the applications are a sampling of those on the market or will be shortly. They are not exhaustive lists, but provide a useful guide to some of the solutions that are available and were represented at the CTIA 2004 Conference. Some of these solutions focus on providing tools to the wireless telecommunication carriers, while others focus on the handset manufacturer, while still others provide a suite of functions that contain geoprocessing applications and web services.

MapQuest System Architecture

MapQuest Staff 03-26-2004

This article represents a "deep dive" into the MapQuest product line, and covers how developers can use MapQuest Advantage enterprise-class products in the following ways: Web applications; Wireless WAP; Desktop applications; and Back-end enterprise systems

MapQuest Product Overview

MapQuest Staff 03-24-2004

More than 1,400 business customers rely on LBS industry leader MapQuest to location enable their websites, applications, and back-end enterprise systems. In 2004, MapQuest updates its product line and introduces add-on applications that add value for their partners. The cornerstone of the MapQuest 2004 plan is a revamped product line built on a single platform with improved performance, scalability, new routing features, improved data presentation, and clean migration across the entire product line.

McNealy, Chambers Open CTIA with Grand Visions for Mobility

Joe Francica 03-23-2004

Scott McNealy, President, Chairman and CEO of Sun Microsystems and John Chambers, President and CEO of Cisco Systems provided the keynote addresses to open the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) conference and exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia. McNealy's dry wit and Chambers dynamism sparked the convention's opening ceremonies...Read the summary and look for Direction's special CTIA issue coming soon.

GIS Job Market Predictions

Directions Staff 03-19-2004

According to a recent article in Nature, the U.S. Department of Labor identified geographic information technology as "one of the three most important emerging and evolving fields, along with nanotechnology and biotechnology. Job opportunities are growing and diversifying as geospatial technologies prove their value in ever more areas." Read more fact and statistics...

US Department of Interior Websites Ordered Shutdown

Directions Staff 03-17-2004

According to the Washington Post, "A federal judge in Washington yesterday ordered the Interior Department to shut down most of its employees' Internet access and some of its public Web sites after concluding that the agency has failed to fix computer security problems that threaten millions of dollars owed to Native Americans." Access today to www.doi.gov, the Department of Interior's website, was not accessible. Read more...

Billions and Billions Served

John Fisher 03-16-2004

Given the rapid pace of obsolescence in the Location-based Services (LBS) marketplace, there will soon be billions of location-aware devices in the hands of billions of people worldwide. DMTI Spatial President, John Fisher, will explain why this will have profound implications for geospatial data and why it will change the world.

Exclusive Supply Agreements – who benefits?

Steve Feldman 03-12-2004

We're all familiar with those win announcements that proudly boast of a vendor's success in acquiring a new customer. But why is it that within the IT industry, and specifically the geographic information (GI) industry, the concept of exclusive supply has become the ‘holy grail’ for vendors? And who actually benefits – the customer or the vendor? Steve Feldman, GDC Managing Director, gives us his perspective.

UCGIS Held Congressional Breakfast in Washington D.C.

Dr. Ling Bian 03-10-2004

UCGIS held a successful 2004 Winter Meeting in Washington, DC, on February 5-6 on Capitol Hill. This year’s congressional program focused on the theme of homeland security, showcasing the role of geographic information science in addressing various homeland security issues to Congress staff. The program featured seven presentations from UCGIS member institutions to report research results in border security support, atmospheric hazards prediction, evacuation planning, epidemics control, critical facilities protection, rapid data integration in response to unexpected events, and current and future research needs for homeland security.

UCGIS at Its 10-Year Anniversary

Lynn Usery 03-10-2004

On December 4, 1994, 42 individuals representing 33 universities, research institutions, and the Association of American Geographers (AAG), met in Boulder, Colorado to establish the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science (UCGIS). This article summarizes current key activities and highlights the organization's progress in the intervening 10 year.

Supply/Demand Estimation Model Helps Understand Markets

David Huffman 03-09-2004

Accurately measuring market saturation has baffled retailers for years. Do conditions show signs of too much market supply and too little market demand, or just the opposite? And how much is too much? When is the right balance achieved? Retail MarketPlace is a data product that addresses this question.

Growing Importance of Smooth, Integrated Geospatial Information Workflows

Mladen Stojic 03-08-2004

Why is it important to have a smooth, integrated geospatial information workflows? The answer is obvious: an irregular workflow requires more time, energy and money, and nobody wants that. Innovations in photogrammetric automation and the advent of all-digital workflows that eliminate film processing and scanning have further strengthened workflow integration. Read more about workflow process management...

Critical Infrastructure Protection a Central Focus for GITA

Bob Samborski 03-05-2004

If there is one issue that will command our attention in the coming year—as it did throughout 2003—it is the issue of how best to protect our critical infrastructure: the vital network of physical assets that determine our standard of living and enable our way of life. GITA Executive Director, Bob Samborski, talks about how GITA and the FGDC has formed the Geospatial Leadership Coalition to address these issues.

Optimization of the Number of Orthodrome Waypoints

Klenak R. Sonja 03-02-2004

This paper deals with the practical problem of route optimization in deep-sea navigation. Practically, it is impossible to navigate strictly following the orthodrome and thus it is divided into a definite number of waypoints between which it is navigated along the loxodrome. This paper provides an answer to the questions – what number of waypoints may be regarded as optimal, what the geographical coordinates of these waypoints are and what the loxodrome courses and loxodrome distances between the adjacent waypoints are. The conclusion is that the saving expressed in percentage varies in accordance with the position of endpoints. Read more.

Location-Based Services and the Proverbial Privacy Issue

Jonathan Spinney 03-01-2004

Privacy is regularly cited as a reason the LBS industry has been slow to grow. This article explains how privacy has been solved to a degree, and it further explains why newer enterprise business models may make privacy an irrelevant argument.

RFID - Hot Technology with Wide-Ranging Applications

David Williams 02-25-2004

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is currently one of technology's hot focus areas. Ironically, it has a long and relatively stable history behind it, originating in the late 60’s, but it is only in the last few years that cost declines combined with improved technology has really enabled widespread use. Now these improvements are enabling applications beyond the physical supply chain processes of manufacturing, distribution and retail, and into services applications such as security and access control, tracking, and monitoring/management where location knowledge is critical to the success of those applications, and where the location professional can assume a leadership position.

Integrated Target Marketing For The Now-Economy

Tony Buxton 02-23-2004

If you are a marketing executive at a Global 1000 company you might be willing to concede that geographic marketing has made incredible advances over the past decade thanks to information technology. You might even agree that the capabilities of today’s desktop and online GIS systems could not have been imagined twenty or thirty years ago. I would argue that all other advances between these two breakthroughs were basically incremental in nature. Read more of Mr. Buxton's thoughts on integrated marketing for the "high-speed, wired economy."

Product Review: BusinessMAP, Travel Edition 2.0

Hal Reid 02-20-2004

While this product is targeted as the mapping tool for the Business Traveler, it has much more to offer. This is the first product in this price range that can provide almost seamless transitions from the desktop to the web and to the PDA. Out of the box, it supports Palm devices, allows for routing results, shows business locations and route directions, all of which can be moved to a Palm. Extremely useful is the Maptech topographic map and aerial photo add-on, which automatically retrieves data directly from the web. Read the entire review and see examples of the software.

Geospatial Information, Cybergeography, and Future Worlds

M. Duane Nellis 02-20-2004

I am reminded everyday of the tremendous explosion in use of geospatial information in every aspect of our lives. The invention of real-time, interactive, and mobile GPS/GIS technologies, for example, has created new real-time geographic analysis and real-time geography. Geospatial information is also at the heart of what many millennials, this new generation of young people who are helping to nurture the new field of 'cybergeography.' Read more...

GEODIVERSITY: Some Simple Geoprocessing Indicators to Support Environmental Biodiversity Studies

Dr. Jorge Xavier da Silva 02-16-2004

One of the basic problems of environmental biodiversity studies is the selection of the territorial units to be used to integrate the diversity data. It is upon these units that the identification and corresponding computation concerning the biodiversity must be safely ascertained. Our contention, in this case, is that geomorphological terminology, specifically the names of landforms identified in a thematic map, can be used as the sought territorial basis for the mentioned computations.

Interoperability – Why it Makes Good Business Sense for Our Industry

Dr. Ignacio Guerrero 02-13-2004

The GIS community recognizes that the world is not homogenous from an information technology perspective and that GIS is no longer isolated. There is an increased need for GIS to integrate with CAD systems, asset management systems, financial systems, and more. Read more about Dr. Guerrero's insights into why Interoperabilty is not just a technological challenge that must be met but one that has significant ramifications for our business.

NSGIC Promotes GIS Coordination Mechanisms for States

Jill Saligoe-Simmel, Ph.D. 02-12-2004

The purpose of NSGIC is “to encourage effective and efficient government through the coordinated development of geographic information and technologies to ensure that information may be integrated at all levels of government.” True to its purpose, NSGIC is pursuing some exciting initiatives to support member states and promote the National Spatial Data Infrastructure. This article describes two of those that support member states in their individual initiatives to inventory GIS activities and coordinate multi-jurisdictional levels of government – RAMONA and NSGIC’s State Coordination Model and Success Measures.

Technology Driven National Security Strategy

Kevin Coleman 02-11-2004

We live in a technologically intensive society where the rate of technological advancement is accelerating at a pace many find troubling. The same technological superiority that gave the US unprecedented military capabilities has also provided the engine that drives our economy. The combination of military and economic power yields unparalleled political influence. So what are the global ramifications of technology superiority? Read more of Kevin Coleman's insights on technology, economic growth, and homeland security.

Address Management for Mail-Order and Retail

Cecilia Hellman 02-10-2004

My last article discussed the benefits of a comprehensive address management plan for insurance companies. This month, we will take a look at how, specifically, mail-order companies can use address management to increase profits. To pinpoint the problem: In the United States, 17% of people move every year, 23.6% of all mail sent is incorrectly addressed, and 2.7% of all mail never reaches its destination. The costs add up very quickly for mail-order companies. Read more...

Quarterly Financials: Intergraph Shows Gains But Announces Restructure; MapInfo Revises Forecast Upward

Joe Francica 02-09-2004

Intergraph announced a restructuring charge leading to a 2% reduction in headcount for the company and the Mapping and Geospatial Solutions group bore the brunt of most of those charges. MapInfo showed only a modest first quarter profit but revised forecasted revenue estimates upward of 15-17% for the year.

DoD Heating Up

Richard Serby 02-07-2004

Rich Serby of GeoSearch says that the job market in the defense sector is "heating up" perhaps signaling a wave of hiring. But the jobs may require "Top Secret" clearance and there is a backlog of applications waiting for approvals.

Grand Junction: Dances with Developers

Terry Brown 02-05-2004

For more than a decade the City of Grand Junction, Colorado has received national acclaim for its thriving business. Among Western Colorado’s urban areas, Grand Junction is the largest, with a population exceeding 120,000. Over a decade the local economy grew at three times the rate of the population and was the 12th fastest growing metropolitan economy in the nation during the 1990s. Today, Grand Junction’s GIS embodies the city’s economic growth and serves as a nexus of information for anyone interested in developing or settling within the city limits. Read more about the city's implementation...

The swissinfo GIS

Flavio Hendry 02-04-2004

swissinfo / Swiss Radio International, an enterprise of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, has used an online Geographical Information System (GIS) for the past four years. The GIS-platform of swissinfo/SRI is available in ten languages (English, German, French, Italian, Romanic, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic) and contains over 100,000 points of interest (POI), which is the most extensive database of Switzerland published online. For the tourist and mountain aficionados this web-mapping application is pure gold! Read more...

California Wildfires: Fighting the Heat with Remote Sensing

Tom Bobbe 01-30-2004

The entire nation watched last year as news channels showed the most disastrous fires in California history swallow up about 750,000 acres of land. Containing the fires took the manpower of over 11,000 firefighters and left at least 20 people dead. The fires are now contained and out of the public limelight, but what’s being done to help in the aftermath, specifically in our industry? The Remote Sensing Applications Center (RSAC) of the USDA Forest Service has been working the problem...read how.

Wireless Location Services and Privacy Issues

Steve Lombardi 01-28-2004

What's private these days? Your medical records? Your phone conversations? Your location? All of the above? None of the above? Steve Lombardi of Microsoft offers a perspective that will be of interest to all users of wireless location technology. Read more...

Quova, Inc – Sleuthing Cyberspace for IP-based Geographic Information

Joe Francica 01-26-2004

Quova is in the business of “geolocation on the internet.” That is, since computers using the internet have an internet protocol (IP) address, it is possible to determine “where” that computer resides, not just in cyberspace, but with a physical location as well. Read more about how Quova employs "cyber-sluething" to help their customers with e-commerce retailing and internet marketing promotions.

Geospatial Companies Poised To Hire In “Jobless” Recovery

Richard Serby 01-22-2004

Sometimes the numbers just don’t make sense. The unemployment rate is down to 5.7% across the U.S.. But, there were 310,000 people who are not reported as unemployed because they are no longer collecting unemployment benefits. They just gave up looking for a job. This is supposed to mean that we are experiencing a “jobless” economic recovery. We think the “jobs” trigger has not yet been pulled. It could be a good 2004. Read more.

Fairfax County Community Services Board Emergency Response System: Notifier

Lathan Dennis 01-19-2004

Notifier is a GIS enabled Windows desktop Emergency Response System that was developed for the Fairfax County Community Services Board (CSB). It was built using Microsoft Visual Basis 6.0 in conjunction with ESRI MapObjects 2.1. MapObjects is a library of both visual and virtual components which allows the programmer to add just the right amount of GIS functionality into an application. The vector based geographic data used by this application is stored as Shapefiles which are in a very basic non-proprietary data format and are usable by most GIS systems. The Aerial photography is stored in MrSID compressed image format. Using these “low-budget” formats allows the entire geographic database to be stored on a single CD-ROM. The look and feel of the application is based on popular GIS desktop software such as ArcGIS and MapInfo.

Communication Intelligence and Geographic Information in Homeland Security

Kevin Coleman 01-19-2004

Communications play a very broad role in protecting our homeland. The convergence of information processing, communications, and GIS extends the role and increases the importance of communications in homeland defense. Strategically, it is crucial to evolve our communications infrastructure on all fronts – civil communications intercept as well as command and control communications. While communications play an important role as an offensive weapon (information warfare), this article will concentrate on the defensive aspects.

GIS Helps Maintain Quality Standards for Belgium Water Company

Jim Baumann 01-15-2004

The Provinciale en Intercommunale Drinkwatermaatschappij der Provincie Antwerpen (Pidpa) is a water supplier headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium dedicated to providing superior quality drinking water to its more than 1 million customers within its 1,000 square mile service area. Read more about how Pipda approaches the production and distribution of drinking water using GIS.

Municipal Amalgamations – the Aftermath

John Fisher 01-13-2004

Over the past decade there has been a spate of municipal amalgamations. This process of assembling a smaller number of larger municipalities from a larger number of smaller ones is generally favoured by provincial or state governments. This is largely because it leads to fewer entities with which the senior government has to do business. Now we have a growing movement for municipal "de-amalgamation," reversing the process by splitting apart the joined municipalities into their original component jurisdictions. Read more about the problems associated with managing the information infrastructure.

Envinsa: MapInfo’s New “Location Platform”

Nora Parker 01-12-2004

In mid-December MapInfo announced a new product called Envinsa. We wanted to know how this product differed from existing products and what it might mean to MapInfo’s customer base. Mike Hickey and Scott Petronis kindly answered our questions.

NSGIC: An Interview with Incoming President, William Johnson

Joe Francica 01-07-2004

William F. (Bill) Johnson is the incoming National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) president. NSGIC is engaged in a variety of geospatial initiatives between state GIS coordinators and federal agencies. NSGIC seeks also to help at the local level to communicate a vision for how geospatial technology can be used effectively and efficiently. Direction's Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica interviewed Mr. Johnson about where he thinks NSGIC should focus its attention in 2004.

Space Imaging's IKONOS Satellite Captures Devastating Impact of the Bam, Iran Earthquake

Directions Staff 12-29-2003

A one-meter resolution satellite image of Bam, Iran was taken by Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite on Dec. 27, 2003, just one day after a catastrophic earthquake struck the historic city. The image shows widespread destruction as a result of the 6.7 magnitude earthquake that leveled 70 percent of the buildings according to news reports. Click here to see satellite images.

CAD, GIS Integration: Why Would You Want to Do This Anyway?

Hal Reid 12-26-2003

In many ways CAD and GIS are like oil and water. The CAD people see their work as engineering-based with high precision placement and accurate measurement. They view GIS as neither precise nor accurate. The GIS people see their work as larger scale (who wants a map at 1:40 or 1:20?) and cartographic in nature rather than pure engineering. It is not that GIS-ers do not want the accuracy; it is just a lot harder to do over large geographies. Read Senior Contributing Editor Hal Reid's "unbiased and open-minded" opinion on this issue!

Standards That Control Standards

Steve Barrie 12-22-2003

Industry Analyst Steve Barrie delivers an interesting synopsis of standards and the true relevance to the professionals trying to make sense of them. Frustration and confusion exist leading to the development of "standards which control standards."

Five Myths About Job-Hunting in December

Richard Serby 12-19-2003

Thought job hunting during the holidays is a waste of time? Career advisor and GeoSearch CEO, Richard Serby, thinks otherwise. Read his explanation of why there are myths you should ignore during this busy time of year.

Fulton County Establishes Emergency Response Plan

Myron Messak 12-18-2003

Aided by MapInfo Corporation's grant program, Fulton County, New York was able to establish an emergency response plan whereby a coordinated effort could be facilitated between the Fire/EMS and Law Enforcement agencies in the county. Read this article written by the county's Fire Chief on how this effort was accomplished.

Tactician: From Desktop Marketing to Enterprise Solutions

Joe Francica 12-18-2003

Tony Buxton, President of Tactician Inc., is a maverick in many ways, selecting to follow his own course in the geospatial arena leading his company to focus more on desktop marketing than a more generic course of desktop mapping. Prefering instead to service a slowly growing, yet loyal base of customers, Mr. Buxton continues to expand his product offering and look at enterprise solutions in terms of expanding out from his marketing solutions base. Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, spoke by phone with Mr. Buxton to hear about the future plans for Tactician.

Impressions of Autodesk University

Hal Reid 12-17-2003

Hal Reid attended Autodesk University on behalf of Directions Magazine. You will find several articles on the program at Directions. This article focuses on Hal's impressions regarding six primary initiatives that were discussed there: 1.Lifecycle Management; 2. Merging CAD & GIS; 3. Visualization & 3-D; 4.Oracle; 5.Homeland Security; and 6. DWF files.

Autodesk University 2003 Overview

Directions Staff 12-11-2003

Last week, Senior Contributing Editor, Hal Reid Traveled to Las Vegas to cover Autodesk University 2003. Mr. Reid provides a complete synopsis of the major issues facing Autodesk with particular emphasis on CAD-GIS integration. We you will find this review a useful perspective on Autodesk's vision for geospatial production development. See the full articles below or see a summary by clicking here...

Bass Delivers Autodesk University Keynote

Hal Reid 12-10-2003

This year's keynote at the Autodesk University Conference in Las Vegas (Dec. 1-4) was given by Carl Bass, Senior VP, Design Solutions Group. Mr. Bass noted that while in the last 20 years, the PC was 1,000 times faster and dramatically better; software generally could not make this same claim. Read more from his keynote address by senior contributing editor, Hal Reid.

Expanding the View: What You Really Need are Three 17-inch Monitors for True GIS Visualization

Hal Reid 12-10-2003

Sometimes the obvious has to hit you right in the nose. Multiple monitors are one of those things that you know about, have worked with, and you forget just how cool they can be until you see them done right. That's really what you need for true geospatial visualization...

Project Lifecycle Management: A commentary.

Hal Reid 12-10-2003

Autodesk has a core concept of Lifecycle Management as an application for their products. That is, incorporating information from the initial design of a project through the construction and management of the end product, whether that project is a building or an item that is manufactured. Autodesk, however, at first blush, they seem to be missing the entire story. Read more of Senior Contributing Editor Hal Reid's notes from Autodesk University...

Temporal GIS – at Last

Hal Reid 12-10-2003

Things Are Looking Up For the Job Market

Richard Serby 12-10-2003

Reducing Vulnerabilities Via a Web Map Server: A Case Study from Southeast Asia

Franck Martin 12-09-2003

SOPAC is implementing a project funded by the European Union called Reducing Vulnerability in Pacific ACP states. The project will use Island System Management as a tool. This tool will be composed mainly of a map server, presenting maps via the web, inside a collaborative environment developed with Open Source software. Internet is the enabling tool to bring all the stakeholders around the same data and information for better decision-making and therefore reduce vulnerability leading towards sustainable development. Please read more about this project...

Technology Is Driving Required Skills

Dean Howell 12-05-2003

As more and more of the main stream GIS vendors head down the path of web enabled and customized solutions the technical skills for the GIS developer are rapidly changing. There is a very strong move to such skills as Java, ASP, VB and .NET...read more.

Business Geography and Human Conditions

Hal Reid 11-26-2003

What will the business workplace look like in the future? How will geography play a role in how we construct multi-use building? How will the development of geography will be more sustainable and flexible? Contributing Editor, Hal Reid, an expert in real estate, provides some insights based on some recent thoughts by notable authors and "futurists."

The Business Of Cartography: A Survey

Steve Spindler 11-26-2003

Before the North American Cartographic Information Society's (NACIS) practical cartography day, I put a survey online. The survey was intended to provide feedback that could be used in a round table discussion at the NACIS Conference...read about the results of this survey, here...

San Francisco's Enterprise GIS: Forward Thinking and Politically Correct

Joe Francica 11-19-2003

The City and County of San Francisco's Department of Telecommunications and Information Services (DTIS) provides the technology infrastructure for a majority of San Francisco's 60-plus departments. Many of these departments use geospatial information to plan and coordinate their daily business processes such as real property analysis and emergency services. orking with ESRI and IBM, DTIS created an enterprise geographic information system. Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, interviewed Erich Seamon GIS Manager of DTIS to find out how the city's enterprise GIS was built, both technically and politically.

What's new with MapPoint 2004, anyway?

Steve Lombardi 11-12-2003

The basemap, demographic, and point-of-interest data in the product is all new. As our customers know, a mapping tool is only as good as the data that ships with it. MapPoint 2004 for Europe and North America includes the latest data available from our data suppliers. Read more about MapPoint 2004!

Illegal Workers in the US – How to Protect your company

Glenn Letham 11-12-2003

There are hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals residing in the US. Most entered the country with a valid work visa, however, many of them are still in the country with expired visas - considered “out of status”. Given that Geographers are eligible to apply for US-based employment under the TN or H1B categories you should need to protect yourself and your company’s interests. Read more...

Navtech - 'Driving' the Competition Crazy

Joe Francica 11-11-2003

Navigation Technologies is at the forefront of providing digital street centerline data to both the geospatial and in-vehicle navigation industries. It does this by actually 'driving' as many streets as possible to collect the most accurate digital road maps. The battle to rise above the competitive fray with other companies and to deter "commoditization" of data is pitched. Judson Green, president and CEO of Navtech, has led the company to be the market leader in the in-vehicle market in North America and Europe and hopes to position the company for growth in the geospatial arena as well. Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica asked Mr. Green to "navigate" these issues in the following interview.

E911 Mapping

John Fisher 11-11-2003

The National Emergency Number Association (NENA) recently held a conference in Toronto. The conference underscored the serious issues facing the E911 system, and the impact that mapping and spatial data has on system effectiveness. The rapid growth of cellular phones has both aided and exacerbated the E911 problem. This article explores some of the issues that highlight the importance of location technology.

In Response to Mr. Sonnen's Article on the OGC

David Schell 11-07-2003

In a rebuttal to Mr. Sonnen's article, "OGC: Near a Tipping Point," OGC President, David Schell responds: "As President of OGC, I have an obligation to respond to Mr. Sonnen's opinion piece in this issue of Directions (By the way, this is the third version that has been presented to us for response.) However, the key fact here is that OGC is an organization driven by the consensus participation of its members. It is in fact our members who determine the priorities and evolution of OGC practice as a standards organization. Therefore, while I encourage OGC members to respond to Mr. Sonnen's assertions within this public forum, I think it is in the best interest of the overall membership that members address their OGC concerns, as they always have, within the open forum of the consortium itself." Please read his entire article.

OGC: Near a Tipping Point

David Sonnen 11-07-2003

In the following article, Mr. David Sonnen makes these observations: "In my opinion, OGC is nearing a tipping point between remaining a successful, consensus-based standards organization, and being seen as ineffective and a poor business investment for its members. It appears to me that OGC has encountered a situation common to most maturing organizations. As they have grown, they have accumulated a set of policies and programs, some of which are now inappropriate for their current situation." Please read his entire opinion of the geospatial standards organizations.

Personal Networking

Richard Serby 11-06-2003

Rich Serby again comes with timely advice on keeping your network of professional colleagues "alive and well" to help or be helped when the job climate turns cloudy.

Intergraph's New CEO - Can He Remake the Company into the Market Leader Again?

Joe Francica 11-05-2003

Mr. Halsey Wise stepped into the position as Intergraph’s CEO in July of this year. He comes to Intergraph with a unique, more financially-focused approach, and makes no apologies for being a "non-engineer" as had been the legacy of the company in the CEO's office and in the boardroom. Read more about Mr. Wise's vision for Intergraph.

USAO’s Eastern District of Pennsylvania Fights Gun Crimes with Technology

Garnet Daus 11-05-2003

With the implementation of a new application, the nine counties within the United States Attorneys Office (USAO), Eastern District of Pennsylvania, will be able to share criminal data in their jurisdictions, simply by logging onto the Internet. Read how they do it.

Intergraph's Response to Sonnen Article

Preetha Pulusani 11-05-2003

This letter is in response to the article titled “OGC: Near The Tipping Point” by Dave Sonnen. As a long-time member of the geospatial community and an ongoing advocate of OGC and open standards, I was extremely disappointed to read Mr. Sonnen's article. I won't waste your time and mine in addressing all of the things that are vague, superficial, irresponsible, unsubstantiated, and basically wrong about this article – many of my colleagues have already detailed these very astutely. On the other hand, I would like to point out some very important facts about OGC's tremendous accomplishments through the years so that you can assess for yourself its value to the community as a whole.

Laser-Scan's Response to Sonnen OGC Article

Dr. Michael Sanderson 11-05-2003

David Sonnen kindly invited comment on his powerful article as Laser-Scan has played a key role in the recent Interoperability initiative with Autodesk, Intergraph, and MapInfo. I have the following contribution to make:

There are 3 key points raised in Sonnen's piece as far as Laser-Scan is concerned. They are: Customers, Interoperability, and Open Source. Sonnen starts with Open Source (the GRASS initiative) and I will conclude with it.

IONIC's Response to Sonnen Article

Christopher Tucker 11-05-2003

Autodesk's Response to Sonnen Article

Chris Bradshaw 11-05-2003

Autodesk responsds to comments made by David Sonnen on the OGC.

A Look at the Quarterly Financial Numbers from GIS Companies

Joe Francica 11-01-2003

GIS companies showed modest growth during the prior quarter with Intergraph and MapInfo indicating steady progress on their balance sheets. Cautious optimism is the prevailing outlook with neither company wanting to overstate their hopes for a better 2004. Trimble Navigation far exceeded estimates with strong growth in their Field Serives product division.

The Power of Place - Corporate Real Estate 2010

Hal Reid 10-29-2003

The corporate real estate industry is in flux. Do they understand how to leverage today's location-based technology. CRE 2010 is an initiative that may put them on the right track. Read contributing editor, Hal Reid's (MCR) insights into the world he knows and loves so well. But he asks, "Do they know the Power of Place."

UPDATE - California Wildfires - NASA Imagery Reveals Fire Extents

Directions Staff 10-27-2003

Wildfires burning for days merged into walls of flame stretching for miles across parts of Southern California on Sunday causing death and destruction. Air travel has been disrupted across the nation. Over the weekend, more than 7,000 firefighters fought ten major fires in southern California, one large cluster in the San Diego area and another about 100 miles north in mountainous areas north of Los Angeles. The satellite image, covering southern California show the fire hotspots and smoke plumes over the region.

At Least It’s Not IT

Richard Serby 10-24-2003

The September unemployment rate remained steady at 6.1%. There were 18,000 new jobs created during the same period. Some new jobs created and other jobs lost. GIS was one of the winners. IT, generally, remains unstable. Read more about the current job outlook.

MapInfo Looks to Take the Risk Out of Insurance Policy Underwriting

Joe Francica 10-22-2003

MapInfo recently announced the introduction of their Insurance Decision Solution Suite (IDSS), a mapping and risk management solution for the insurance industry. Directions Magazine Editor-in-Chief spoke with Simon De La Hoyde, Strategic Market Manager, Telecoms, Insurance and Retail for MapInfo from his office in the UK, to determine the specifics of what the risks can be avoided in policy underwriting using spatial technology

Remote Sensing For Business - Trials, Successes, and a Long Way to Go

Donald B. Segal 10-20-2003

The use of remotely sensed imagery (digital aerial photography, satellite images) by businesses has come a long way in the last few years, but its widespread usage and acceptance still has a way to go. Don Segal, president of Spatial Insights suggest some constructive advice for both users and image providers and what needs to happen to spur more interest in using remotely sensed data in business applications.

The CoreNet Global Summit - Atlanta

Hal Reid 10-19-2003

Directions Magazine covered the recent CoreNet Global Summit in Atlanta. This was not the typical GIS or related technology conference, but a symposium of Corporate Real Estate Executives. These are the people who shape geography, plan the nature of future development and condition the results of Business Geography. As these are the typical end users of BG and it is wise to understand the thinking, trends and the programs that are being created by this group of people.

Microsoft SQL Server: Future Plans for Supporting Spatial Data

Directions Staff 10-17-2003

Microsoft's SQL Server database is being used to support many geospatial information products. What's the future, as Microsoft sees it for this product? Directions Magazine asked Mitch Gatchalian, product manager, SQL Server, several questions about the development of spatial functionality within this product.

Applied Geographic Solutions: A Business Model 'Channeled' for Success

Joe Francica 10-14-2003

If you are not familiar with AGS, you should be. AGS won the contract to supply demographic data for Microsoft's MapPoint 2004 desktop mapping product, beating out a highly competitive field of challengers. They are unique in that they steadfastly adhere to a business model in which they sell exclusively through a reseller channel. Editor-in-Chief Joe Francica, spoke to Gary Menger, president of AGS about the growth potential of the demographic data business and the work of the U.S. Census Bureau to provide accurate information.

Cyber Terrorism

Kevin Coleman 10-10-2003

Business, government and industry have all become addicted to information. Their reliance on information creates opportunities for terrorism. Imagine a day without the Internet. What would the impact be? Just what is considered to be cyber terrorism?

Making e-Government Happen in the United Kingdom

Matthew Spencer 10-05-2003

The UK’s e-Government initiative to provide all services online by 2005 is currently a major focus for local authorities and councils. While turning this concept into reality has been fraught with challenges, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) has made significant progress in delivering online services to its citizens by placing location-based solutions at the heart of its IT strategy.

Mobilizing Existing Users of Geographic Information? The Dumb Pipe Approach for LBS

Jonathan Spinney 09-29-2003

This article describes how wireless carriers can potentially increase network traffic and usage revenues by functioning as a wireless data and location pipe to enterprises and government agencies that manage their own location-based applications.

Governor, Turned GIS Advocate

Joe Francica 09-25-2003

After serving two terms as governor of Wyoming, Jim Geringer sought new challenges in the private sector. GIS, a tool he had come to appreciate as a policy maker, caught his attention and he recently accepted a position with ESRI. Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica caught up with the governor at the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC) conference in Nashville last week.

Interoperability - With or Without OGC

Joe Francica 09-21-2003

Last week, four geographic information system software companies announced an unprecedented initiative to promote interoperability between their software platforms via an Oracle database. Autodesk, Intergraph, Laser-Scan, and MapInfo announced that they would each release "interoperability kits" that would enable customers with mixed software environments to share data and edit an Oracle spatial database without the annoying problems of incompatibility. Read more about how this new initiative will work.

Accurate Risk Assessment in Insurance: An Address Management Solution

Cecilia Hellman 09-19-2003

Ensuring that the company database contains accurate address records can save money in myriad ways. First, there are the savings that accrue simply from getting more mail to its intended recipients on time. These include savings on postage, faster receipt of funds owed, better customer relations, and a higher ROI on marketing campaigns...after all, the direct mail piece that doesn't reach its market doesn't lead to a sale! Read more about the risks of a bad address.

The Importance of ‘Soft Skills’

Richard Serby 09-17-2003

Richard Serby's "Directions on Careers" column this month deals with "the basics" of communication skills, first impressions, and how to look "one notch above" the competition when going to an interview...all common sense issues that we sometimes forget, and which often result in missed opportunities. Get the right advice here...

Reducing Wildfire Threat in Anchorage Through GIS

Andres Abeyta 09-11-2003

The Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) has recently taken aggressive steps to reduce its risk of wildfire. In 2001, the MOA was declared a community at risk for wildfire by the USDA Forest Service. This article reviews the image processing applications used to classify vegetation and forest fuel structure and develop spatial models that produce relative fire risk maps.

Ionic Software: Compliant, not Complacent

Joe Francica 09-11-2003

Ionic Software promotes their RedSpiderWeb products as the "first truly OGC-compliant" location technology for creating web services and other solutions that are faithful to the mantra of interoperability standards. Direction's Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, spoke with Ionic's president, Chris Tucker, regarding its technology and adherence to OGC's philosophy.

The GeoSpatial One-Stop - A Review of Spatial Data Sources Within the U. S. Government

Joe Francica 09-09-2003

Directions Magazine takes a special look at the new portal developed by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in conjunction with the U. S. Geological Survey, called The GeoSpatial One-Stop (GOS). Many good data resources and plenty of sites to download data for your GIS.

IDC NEWS FLASH: Oracle 10g Extends Oracle Spatial Capabilities, 'Move May be Disruptive to SIM Vendors'

Joe Francica 09-08-2003

"I think that this announcement rates as a pretty big deal." says Dave Sonnen, IDC analyst. "Oracle's network data model, geocoding, topology, georeferenced raster, and advanced spatial analysis will make geospatial technology available to a much wider range of customers. It will be interesting to see how the geospatial vendors react." Read more about the latest moves by Oracle in the spatial information managment market.

Time to Catch Up on Your GIS Reading List

Joe Francica 09-04-2003

This week, as summer draws to a close (at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere), and none too soon for our European readers I am sure, Direction’s Magazine presents a review of the top articles published these past several months. We hope you will find them useful and, if you are in the teaching profession, we hope your classes will benefit by all of the resources found on Directions.

Thirty Years of 911...and now, Wireless 911

Jonathan Spinney 08-29-2003

As an American citizen I appreciate 911 services, particularly in a post-9/11 world of uncertainty. Now, with mobile location determination issues more or less solved we can look forward to the same security that we had with wireline service. So, where is the next hurdle. Read more about the role of public safety answering points...the PSAP!

Blue Marble Geographics: After 10 Years, Still 'Knuckling Down' to Business

Nora Parker 08-28-2003

Blue Marble Geographics turns ten this month, and as founder Jeff Cole says, considering they’re a software company founded in the early 90’s with a .com strategy, some might be surprised they’ve experienced as much success as they have. Cole took time out on the eve of a major new release of their flagship product, Geographic Calculator, to speak with Senior Editor, Nora Parker, about where they’ve been, where they’re hoping to go and what challenges they see in the future.

10 Terabit Ethernet: from 10 Gigabit Ethernet, to 100 Gigabit Ethernet, to 1 Terabit Ethernet

Steve Gilheany 08-27-2003

Every kind of networking is coming together: LANs (Local Area Networks), SANs (Storage / System Area Networks), telephony, cable TV, inter-city optical fiber links, etc., but if you don't call it Ethernet you cannot sell it. Read more about what you can expect for the future of extreme bandwidths.

The Making of a Web Map

Directions Staff 08-23-2003

How did they do it? Contestants from our First Annual Web Mapping contest used a variety of client, server, and database technology to produce some stunning results. Read on for some statistics (in graphical form) about the software employed to create these web wonders.

Special Report: URISA’s 5th Annual GIS in Addressing Conference - Street Smart and Address Savvy

Hal Reid 08-22-2003

Address matching for the average business user consists of using Street Centerline files and estimates of actual position relative to address ranges. What happens when this just isn’t accurate enough? This week in Providence, RI, URISA was addressing that issue as it relates to 911 applications, Homeland Security and using addresses as a common denominator throughout the enterprise. Read more about what is going on at the conference.

The Oscars of Web Mapping

Steve Lombardi 08-22-2003

The best of the best, the Oscars of Web Mapping, the Golden Globes of Internet GIS...it is all here and Steve Lombardi of Microsoft shows us the way. Take a tour of Directions Magazine's web mapping field of fine contestants with an eye toward the unique!

MapInfo Turns In Profitable Quarter; Rights the Ship

Joe Francica 08-21-2003

MapInfo reported a profitable third quarter, their first in several. Mike Hickey, MapInfo's Chief Operation Officer comments on the turnaround and the prospects for continued growth in the retail and insurance sectors as well as opportunities he sees on the horizon. Editor-in-chief, Joe Francica spoke with Mr. Hickey on August 7, 2003.

Redefining Quality of Patient Care and Patient Safety using GIS

William F. Davenhall 08-20-2003

Recently a major patient quality of care organization, the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), suggested that patient safety extends beyond the walls of the hospital and into the community. Experts on clinical outcomes have long recognized the fact that geography plays a critical role. This altered notion of patient safety, while on its face does not appear “radical,” does pose some interesting questions and presents new opportunities for geographic information systems, or GIS, to play a significant role.

NOAA Satellite Captures Northeast U.S. Blackout

Directions Staff 08-16-2003

NOAA has released satellite images taken before and after of the historic blackout of the Northeastern United States, which plunged millions of people into darkness. NOAA processed the night lights data taken by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). NOAA archives the data from the satellite. The images were taken from the same time period on Aug. 13 and 14, 2003.

Data Fusion and GIS - Detecting Chemical and Biological Attacks

Kevin Coleman 08-15-2003

Chemical and Biological Warfare (CBW) is considered a poor man’s nuke. They are cheap, easy to manufacture and are considered weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). Chemical and biological weapons use some of the most dangerous chemicals and diseases known to man. These weapons are at the forefront of terrorist and military threats to world safety and world peace. In past articles, we presented new and unique technologies that can and are being deployed to detect a release of a chemical or biological agent. However, it is impossible to protect every area of every city within the America. So if a chemical or biological agent were released, how soon could it be detected and would we be able to respond quick enough to contain and limit the number of people exposed? This article explores the some of the risks and remedies of dealing with the variety of chemical agents that exist in the world today.

Faulty Maps to Blame for Quecreek Mine Disaster

Directions Staff 08-14-2003

The United States Mine Safety and Health Administration issued a report on July 24th citing faulty maps as a cause for the Quecreek Mine disaster in June 2002, where nine miners were trapped for 4 days until rescued through the narrowest of bore holes through which they were lifted to safety. According to the report, "The primary cause of the water inundation was the use of an undated and uncertified mine map of the Harrison No. 2 mine. Read more and see photos and maps about the disaster.

National Preparedness: A New Look

Dr. Matthew Tate 08-13-2003

National Preparedness -- The concept, or better yet the very definition, is in transition due to changes in technology. How is any nation to be prepared for the next natural or man-made disaster? Changes in technology such as database design, geospatial applications, hardware, speed and method of transmission; plus a strong sense of urgency to protect ourselves following the 9/11 events in New York are affecting everything from technology purchases to public policy...Read more.

In Praise of the Individual Address

John Fisher 08-12-2003

Most of the things that human society cares about happen at addresses. Where people live, work and play. Where most economic activity takes place. Where crime happens. Where fires occur. Where people are injured. Where goods are bought and sold. This article will discuss how point level addressing is particularly beneficial for those applications that are dependent upon locational precision and where standard, range-based address geocoding is flawed.

A 'Safe' Perspective on Interoperability and Open Source GIS

Directions Staff 08-11-2003

Safe Software is in a unique position to support the spatial information industry with technology that promotes interoperability. They believe that that OGC has "provided clarity to the interoperability picture" and the company is also peeking into the future to see where the next opportunity may lie in capitalizing on GML and WFS. Read the entire interview with Safe's President, Don Murray, and vice president of Product Development, Dale Lutz.

Daratech Reports GIS Revenues Forecast to Grow 8% to $1.75 billion in 2003; Utilities and Government Increase Spending

Directions Staff 08-09-2003

Market research firm, Daratech, issued a press release forecasting 8% growth in the GIS market for 2003. Compared to the meager 2.4% growth in 2002, this year looks like the industry has turned the corner and is poised for growth. Their press release follows here.

Landmines! - GIS Helps Harvest the Dragon Seed

Jim Baumann 08-07-2003

Landmines have been a staple in military arsenals around the world for nearly 90 years. They are cheaply produced, difficult to detect, and easily detonated. In many ways, a landmine is the ideal weapon. It is designed to maim, not kill. It slows the advance of an enemy and confuses and demoralizes him. One of the significant characteristics of a landmine is that it works for free and never forgets its duty, standing guard over killing fields well after conflicts have ended and former adversaries have formed new alliances for joint peace and prosperity. Read this fascinating article about how GIS was used in establishing a solid database of information to be used among agencies tasked with "de-mining" these hazardous weapons.

Plotting the Renaissance in Belfast

Matthew Spencer 08-06-2003

Belfast in Northern Ireland is undergoing a renaissance having experienced record increases in economic growth and prosperity in recent years. Since 1999, this City has received over £250 million of investment from the British Government and multinational companies, which has created hundreds of new jobs in a variety of knowledge intensive industries. Read how the Council implemented GIS to improve city services and public access to information.

Location-based Services - An ESRI Perspective with Jonathan Spinney

Joe Francica 07-30-2003

Over the past few years, we have reported on Location-based Services, the hype of the early days, the transition and subsequent shakeout among companies vying for the market. There have been companies focused solely on position determination and those that can process the location of people or objects that are sending their position from wireless devices. Companies in GIS have been in the category of processing location and creating mapping software for different mobile device form factors. In this interview, Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica speaks with Jonathan Spinney, Industry Manager for Location-based Services at ESRI. Here is that interview:

A Brief History of LBS and How OpenLS Fits Into the New Value Chain

Jonathan Spinney 07-30-2003

Throughout the formative years of Location-Based Services (LBS) (circa 1997–2001), the carrier/operator approach to LBS was to implement a core node within the SS7 network that was capable of extracting the location of mobile devices from the network. This article gives a brief history of approaches to LBS architecture and identifies where OpenLS fits into the new architectural model that most operators/carriers are now embracing.

Lancaster City Police Take a Bite Out of Crime®

Garnet Daus 07-28-2003

Take a bite out of crime®. This phrase, which was made famous by McGruff® the Crime Dog in 1980, started a revolution in the U.S. in which citizens began taking crime prevention into their own hands. That trend continues today in Lancaster, Pa., where the community has taken a more organized approach to preventing crime...read more in Directions Magazine

Bringing Digital Mapping to Life: Real-Time, Dynamic Roadway Information

Richard F. Pearlman 07-25-2003

A recent U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration study reported the cost of congestion nationwide at $78 billion in 1999, representing the cost of 4.5 billion person hours of extra travel time and $6.8 billion gallons of fuel wasted while sitting in traffic. The increase in navigation usage is bringing about an increased demand for relevant travel information. JD Power and Associates 2002 Navigation Usage and Satisfaction Study found that the overwhelming majority of navigation users surveyed definitely want real-time travel information. The article will explore the coming demand for fleet managers and commuters alike.

Satellite Remote Sensing of Land Use Change

Dr. Charles Laymon 07-23-2003

This article is a case study of current and projected land use in Madison County, Alabama. It was conducted on behalf of the Huntsville Land Trust to help them determine how best to protect land and open spaces from future development and assist them predicting how much they would need to acquire to meet their goals.

The 511 Alliance: A Nationwide Traveler Information System Gets Rolling

Joe Francica 07-23-2003

On May 21st of this years, PBS&J;, SmartRoute Systems/Westwood One (SRS), Tele Atlas North American and Meteorlogix announced the formation of a national alliance to provide 511 traveler information telephone services to state and local agencies. According to the press release issued that day, "the companies are part of the 511 Deployment Coalition, a consortium of government agencies and private companies working to bring 511 services to U.S. markets." What is 511? 511 is similar in approach to the existing emergency number, 911, except that its intended use is for nationwide traveler information. Directions Magazine queried the various members to get a better understanding of how the system works, how it be deployed, and how it will be used.

Open Source Software in the Geographic and Location Industries: A Case Study

Philip Abrahamson 07-16-2003

Open source software promises an attractive range of benefits: it is free, vendor independent, and open to continual evolution and improvement by a global development community. For the Geographic and Location industries, the question is: does open source software work in practice? To offer some possible answers, this article provides a practical case study of software development for the Geographic and Location industries using open source products and operating systems. It describes the experiences by software developers at High Country Software Ltd. of Surry, UK, and provides some commentary on where other companies could benefit from the introduction of open source into their services or products.

Killpack Takes Pixxures of the Future

Joe Francica 07-15-2003

Pixxures recently hired ex-ESRI executive, Chuck Killpack, to be its president. He comes to Pixxures as the remote sensing imagery business goes through some turbulent times. Directions Magazine Editor-in-Chief Joe Francica interviews Killpack for his insights on the industry, where he sees Pixxures in the future and why he left ESRI.

ProximityDemographics: An Innovative New Concept For Demographic Analysis

Donald B. Segal 07-15-2003

The conventional use of demographics by market researchers involved with site selection is cumbersome, and typically involves the generation of maps and reports based on proximity to a proposed location. Traditional demographic data provide individual counts and tabulations for each specific unit of geography. Read how a new technique, ProximityDemographics, provides a measure of cumulative demographic data within a specified radius or drive time of each geography...only in Directions Magazine

PENNDOT Enhances Planning Efficiency with Web-Based GIS Applications and Data Access

Joe McGinnis 07-09-2003

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) has greatly enhanced the efficiency with which highway projects and maintenance activities are carried out in the state by implementing web-based GIS technology. The PENNDOT GIS serves transportation data and applications to district and county DOT offices through a wide-area network and shares key program information with planning partners via the Internet. This article will review the applications of the system and how PENNDOT district offices rely heavily on the system for monitoring the status of statewide projects and retrieving critical information.

SVG Web Mapping Used to Track Green Energy Sources

Ian Clemens 07-09-2003

In 2000, the Michigan Independent Power Producers Association (MIPPA) instituted a Michigan-based Green Power Co-op to establish a viable renewable energy-generated electricity market. Crucial to the success of the co-op is the innovative concept of tagging renewable energy power sources as Green. SVG technology was used to create a website for tracking Green Energy sources in the state of Michigan.

Geography and the Restoration of Rivers for Wildlife

Dr. William Graf 07-09-2003

Since its establishment in 1973, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has assumed a gradually increasing importance in environmental management in the United States. The effect of the Act is especially significant in matters related to water management in rivers. This brief article addresses the following questions: why has ESA become so important in water and river matters? And what is the role of geographic technology and knowledge in addressing these issues? The article concludes with two case examples where restoration is underway in attempts to reverse the loss of wildlife.

Dangermond Opens 23rd ESRI User Conference in San Diego

Joe Francica 07-07-2003

Jack Dangermond opened the ESRI International User Conference with a copious display of end-user applications from business to biodiversity. Striking in their multiplicity, it was demonstration of just how extensive the network of ESRI customers is. Dangermond’s focus during the keynote was centered on GIS as an instrument of managing an “increasingly human-affected world.” Always the environmentalist, Dangermond espoused the benefits of using GIS to educate a larger body of people to effect public policy as well as to institute best practices in business and government.

London Borough of Enfield Prepares Land Database for e-government 2005 deadline

Laser-Scan Staff 07-02-2003

Local authorities and other government agencies are working hard to achieve e-government targets: to get all government services available electronically by 2005. Spatial data will play an important part in helping deliver services electronically and in helping people to communicate and conduct information searches on a national scale in the UK. The London Borough of Enfield (LBE), a proactive and forward-looking Borough Council, is already making significant progress in addressing its e-government targets. The council has recognised that success lies in making data from each department accessible to all other departments, as well as to the wider community. In other words, creating a single, enterprise-wide database. This is not as simple as it sounds! However, LBE expects 100% clean and structured data in little more than five weeks, reducing their original estimate by almost 5 years. Find out how!

Customer, Territory Mapping and Market Area Routing to Support Effective Business Decision-Making

Robert van Wyngaarden 07-02-2003

GIS was recognized early on by Superior Propane Inc., as being a technology and a tool that could help to understand the geographic nature of their combined business enterprise which encompasses 11 operating regions across all 10 provinces and 2 of the 3 territories of Canada. Currently there are 67 market areas across Canada contained in these operating regions. This article explores how they used GIS effectively as an operational resource for finding new markets for retail outlets.

OGC's Mandate

Dr. Robert Moses 07-02-2003

In 1994, the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) took on the task of trying to get all the geospatial technology providers to reach consensus on software interfaces that would enable their systems to interoperate. Whether two systems were running on the same computer, on a local area network or on a wide area network, they should be able to operate together, regardless of differences in vendor software, operating system, or distributed computing platform. The goal was an open, vendor-neutral, non-proprietary standards infrastructure. We asked OGC to submit a quarterly high level report on the Consortium's progress and directions. Our first OGC column is by Dr. Robert Moses, president and CEO of PCI Geomatics and a member of OGC's Board of Directors.

Job Hunting Stories

Richard Serby 07-02-2003

What are the successful strategies in finding a job in a difficulat market? With the unemployment rate at 6% or higher in many areas of the country there are many highly qualified people finding themselves without a job. This means that persistence, creativity, and thoroughness are more important than ever. Read more..

Cellular-to-WiFi Handoff, Micro-LBS, and the Symbiotic Power of Location

Jonathan Spinney 06-29-2003

This article describes how wireless carrier location systems can be used as a mechanism to manage handoff between cellular networks and WiFi networks, thereby solving the ubiquitous location problem for location-based services (LBS). It also introduces the concept of micro-LBS and potential new applications therein.

Rand McNally - Not Just a Paper (Map) Tiger

Joe Francica 06-25-2003

The premier mapping company in the United States is Rand McNally and their brand is known worldwide. As the market for digital mapping products has grown, so has the company's list of software products. As more people turned to the internet to retrieve location information, Rand McNally has provided one of the most accurate mapping (if not 'the' most accurate) websites available. With their establishment of retail stores around the country, they have become a destination for traveler information. However, the company has experienced financial challenges recently and Directions Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, discussed the current situation with Joel Minster, Senior Vice President of Geographic Information Services, and how the company is positioned going forward.

Stewart Geo Technologies: From Cadastral Systems to Real Estate to Web Services

Joe Francica 06-18-2003

Stewart Geo Technologies is part of the larger Stewart Information Services Corporation. Many readers will be familiar with Stewart Title Guarantee Corporation, one of the largest title companies in the world. Stewart Geo Technologies acquired GlobeXplorer last December in order to enhance its suite of geospatial services for real estate, insurance and other industries that rely on access to large data stores of geographic information. Directions Magazine Editor-in-Chief, Joe Francica, conducted an extensive interview with Kas Ebrahim, President of Stewart Geo Technologies and Rob Shanks, founder of GlobeXplorer. The company is at the forefront of providing its vast imagery library as a web service and leveraging their spatial data warehouse for use internally to many of Stewart's operating companies, as well as their large international customer base.

Choosing a GIS Consulting Firm - Part 2 - What to Watch Out For!

Marshall Payne 06-12-2003

In Part 1 of this article, Marshall Payne discusses how you know when you need a GIS Consultant. In Part 2, he outlines what to "watch out for" in choose a consultant. This is timely advice for all who are in struggling with the right choice! Read more...only in Directions Magazine

NanoTechnology and the Fight Against Terrorism

Kevin Coleman 06-11-2003

What is NanoTechnology? NanoTechnology involves development of materials (and even complete systems) at the atomic, molecular, or macromolecular levels in the dimension range of approximately 1-500 nanometers. Some materials will contain "nano-sensors" that have the potential to transmit a variety of information, including location, about chemical agents and other biohazards. Read more...only in Directions Magazine

Why Geography Matters in Marketing Strategy - The Spatial Dimension to Customer Communications and Marketing

Duncan Houldsworth 06-10-2003

Do direct marketers, the internet marketers and others see how the physical geographical location can be used in their marketing communication strategy? Some do; others do not. There have been many successes in using spatial information for marketing campaigns. This article will outline some reasons why spatial information and geographic data can be highly useful in a wide number of communications scenarios.

Finding a Job in a Tough Market

Richard Serby 06-10-2003

Down economy? Need a job in GIS? Start here with some sage advice from contributing columnist and career counselor, Richard Serby, President of Geosearch, Inc.

Choosing a GIS Consulting Firm - Part 1

Marshall Payne 06-06-2003

Beware the GIS Consultant?!? In this very practical, two-part article on understanding the good, bad, and ugly of hiring a consultant, Marshall Payne of GeoNorth offers some solid advice that should be headed by all...even the consultants! Read more...only in Directions Magazine.

The Virtual Battlefield

Jim Baumann 06-04-2003

Location, location, location may be the battle cry for the retail sales industry, but precision mapping is literally a matter of life and death for a nation’s front line military units. Going back nearly 150 years, cartographers have employed unique technical solutions to optimize the accuracy of battlefield maps and provide the necessary support for successful military campaigns. Read more about how they do it!

Webraska Emerges from LBS Fray and Charges into Next Phase

Joe Francica 05-29-2003

Webraska, a leading location-based services (LBS) company, has emerged from the LBS market downturn, adjusted their business model, and grown a following among wireless carriers to provide both off-board, PDA-based and telematics solutions. How did they do it and what's on the horizon for this survivor of LBS technology. That's the focus this interview with Barry Glick, Webraska's Chief Executive, conducted by Joe Francica, Directions' Editor-in-Chief.

GIS: An Invaluable Tool for Realtors®

Joe Francica 05-21-2003

The demographic profile of the average residential real estate agent is a white female, age 59, who attended high school. Now place this individual in a training session for a database intensive system called the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a vital tool for any agent looking to “make it” in this profession; add GIS, and stir. A recipe for disaster? Not anymore. Solid Earth's LIST-IT is taking realtors to the next tech level.

Is Free Data A Bargain?

John Fisher 05-18-2003

In this article, contributing columnist John Fisher, President of DMTI Spatial asks the very pointed question to those of us looking to "go cheap": "Is free data really a bargain?" Perhaps says Mr. Fisher. "If your data needs are limited and you are not concerned about data currency or maintaining the data over time, free data can be quite useful. Generally speaking however, you get what you pay for." Read his entire argument here...only in Directions Magazine.

Why Open Source GIS Software?

Gilberto Câmara 05-15-2003

The last 20 years have seen dramatic developments in GIS technology and geographical information science. Fierce competition and growing user demand has resulted in a number of high-quality solutions, which are largely responsible for the vast increase in the GIS marketplace. However, the vast majority of the industry solutions is aimed at supporting basic needs of capture, archival and visualization of spatial data. Moreover, GIS software development is bound to witness substantial change in the upcoming years, induced by technological advances in spatial databases. One of the possible responses to this challenge would be to establish a co-operative development network, based on open source technology. This article will explore the benefits of an open source library of spatial solutions.

IKONOS Image Shows Oklahoma Tornado's Destructive Path

Directions Staff 05-15-2003

An IKONOS satellite image shows the path of the tornado that hit Moore, Oklahoma on May 8, 2003. The satellite image was recorded on the following day (May 9). See the brief article showing images and maps of the tornado's path.

An Interview with David Huffman, Managing Director, ESRI Business Information Solutions

Joe Francica 05-13-2003

Since the acquisition one year ago of CACI's Marketing Information group by ESRI, the company has been busy integrating the products and cultures of the two groups. Directions Magazine editor Joe Francica interviewed David Huffman, ESRI's Business Information Solutions Managing Director. Mr. Huffman has been in the demographic data business for many years, including positions with NDS, UDS, and NRB, and came over to ESRI with the acquisition. He provides extensive information on ESRI BIS's direction and where he sees the demographic data "solutions" market going in the near future.

Chatham-Kent—Community at the Touch of a Button

Jim Baumann 05-10-2003

Only 4 years ago, Chatham-Kent was formed by the amalgamation of 23 independent communities in 1998 with a mandate from the provincial government of Ontario to cut costs and streamline local government procedures. The city's GIS application has the capability of mapping a location and then finding services nearby, such as schools, hospitals, golf courses, etc. A community calendar program is also available, which allows residents to check the location and availability of public facilities for events to avoid conflicts.

The Gears Have Been Greased. Mobile Location-Based Services are ready to roll! - Part 2

Steve Lombardi 04-24-2003

This is part two in our series on mobile location-based services applications and the barriers that have prevented it from taking off. From part 1, "The mobile Internet in general, and specifically Location Based Services, haven't taken off because to date, there have not been compelling applications to drive adoption. Plain and simple. Borrowing from a bumper sticker - “No applications, No adoption.

Growth Strategies for the Corporate GIS Market

David Goldstein 04-18-2003

This is the third of a three-part series on GIS addressing the complex issue of why the business world has not embraced this powerful software’s functionality and what needs to be done to maintain and ultimately increase its market share. Author David Goldstein is president of CMC International, a Dallas, Texas consulting organization that has been helping businesses address their fundamental obstacles to growth, finding better value for their money and cutting costs to maximize return. Specialists in business intelligence, strategy, growth, and planning, CMC International has implemented GIS into their winning programs since 1988. Read Part 1 and Part II.

Oracle's Geospatial Capabilities for Enterprise Information Systems

David Sonnen 04-15-2003

In this excerpt IDC outlines Oracle's strategic role in the spatial information management (SIM) industry.The information extracted for this document was originally published in two IDC reports: The Structure of the Spatial Information Management Industry, ( IDC # 28246, October 2002); and Spatial Information Management: Competitive Analysis, (IDC# 28348, December 2002).

IKONOS Images Show War's First Attacks

Directions Staff 04-15-2003

Directions Magazine obtained images courtesy of Space Imaging and its affiliates from an area along the Tigris River in Baghdad where the U.S. had intelligence about the whereabouts of Saddam Hussein.

GIS, Information Technology, and BioTech Take Center Stage in Supporting Homeland Security

Kevin Coleman 04-11-2003

In a continuation of our coverage on Homeland Security, we will examine two technologies that are at the core of its success. We will look at the role of Information Technology, and specifically GIS, and BioTechnology have in the fight against terrorism.

The Geography of Terror

Susan L. Cutter 04-10-2003

How geographically informed is our current homeland security policy? As the nation continues to rebound from the aftermath of September 11, 2001, academic geographers and those in the private and public sectors continue to demonstrate how our science and practice can best be used to understand and respond to this adaptive threat. Geography is uniquely suited to enhance and advance our understanding of terrorism.

Microsoft Redirecting MapBlast to MSN

Directions Staff 04-10-2003

Yesterday, Microsoft redirected Vicinity’s MapBlast! Web site visitors to MSN Maps & Directions. The site redirection is as a result of Microsoft recent acquisition of Vicinity MapBlast!

GIS -- A Light in the Darkness in the Sahel

Jim Baumann 04-05-2003

Located in the poverty-stricken, sub-Saharan region of Africa known as the Sahel, the Republic of Senegal has a population of about ten million, of which more than fifty-five percent live in the rural areas of the country. The electrification rate in those areas currently stands at only eight percent, which is in sharp contrast to the urban areas where about fifty percent of the residents are on the national grid.

Mapping Environmental Risk on the Bolivian Altiplano

Gary Ostroff 04-02-2003

The Bolivian Altiplano is a flat region high in the Andes, lying between the eastern and western cordilleras of that great mountain chain. Mining gold and silver began here in the time of the Inca, and was vastly expanded under the rule of the Spanish Empire. This article discusses a GIS application to support the Bolivian Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy in assessing the health risks of mining sites, and developing appropriate remediation measures.

SPECIAL COVERAGE: The War in Iraq

Directions Staff 03-27-2003

Maps and satellite Images from the Iraqi War theater are contained in this article. Directions Magazine will have frequent updates of GIS technology usage as they become available.

The Gears Have Been Greased. Mobile Location-Based Services are ready to roll! - Part 1

Steve Lombardi 03-27-2003

Microsoft's MapPoint evangelist Steve Lombardi provides some interesting perspectives on why Location-based services application have never quite taken off...until now!

Where Will the Money Flow in the United States’ Location Based Services Value Chain?

Mike Dobson 03-26-2003

While Location Based Services seem to be regarded as the “Next New Thing,” it is unclear that LBS will result in “profit” for the majority of the players involved, although it is likely that there will be significant revenues generated by the industry. This article will look at the industry by observing trends in the market and, then, consider the segmentation of the market in order to try to understand the players that might profit as opposed to those who will not profit.

BC Hydro Integrates ERP solutions with GIS

Joe Francica 03-19-2003

In many large utilities, spatial information is utilized in a variety of ways, and usually embedded within enterprise systems for scheduling, transmission and distribution, supply chain management, or work order management. One such supplier of integrated solutions is Indus International, a company of 650 employees headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. They recently deployed their solution to BC Hydro, one of the largest electric utilities in Canada, serving more than 1.5 million customers, in conjunction with a scheduling and crew optimization system from ClickSoftware (Burlington, MA). BC Hydro also uses an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system from PeopleSoft and will implement a customer information system (CIS) from SAP later in 2003.

The Five Major Roadblocks to GIS Gaining Corporate Market Share

David Goldstein 03-19-2003

This is the second of a three-part series on GIS addressing the complex issue of why the business world has not embraced this powerful software’s functionality and what needs to be done to maintain and ultimately increase its market share. Part one of “Why has not Business Adopted GIS” focused on the frustrations of GIS fans in regard to cost versus intangible value, awareness, and operational appropriateness.

GIS and Multimedia in the Military

Chris Betz 03-18-2003

How is the military using GIS today? In this article by Chris Betz of Red Hen Systems, you get insights into "imagery intelligence," a combination of GIS, GPS, and multimedia technology in reconnaissance and battlefield planning.

IBM's Spatial Technology - An Interview with Michael Stevens

Joe Francica 03-14-2003

Directions Magazine Editor, Joe Francica, interviewed Michael Stevens, Public Sector/Spatial Solutions Marketing Manager for IBM regarding his company's spatial database products. We asked Mr. Stevens to give a review of IBM's spatial technology, its products, and where they fit with respect to database solutions from Oracle and Microsoft. Readers may recall that IBM acquired Informix a few years ago, which had the spatial databade extensions to support GIS.

Bringing Down the Wall - “Cable growth has hit a wall”

Claritas Staff 03-12-2003

Those were the words uttered by an industry analyst with Kagan World Media in citing dissatisfaction with digital packages and rate increases in the 6% range as reasons for the first decrease in national cable television subscribership since the inception of the industry. Satellite television providers have capitalized on this opportunity to gain market share by offering consumers high quality, competitively priced service backed by superior customer service. This article will demonstrate the integration of customer and category information and the use of geographic analyses to prioritize acquisition and retention initiatives within the cable industry.

The UK’s Ordnance Survey — Slicing and Dicing Data and Services

Jim Baumann 03-10-2003

While Great Britain's Ordnance Survey (OS) doesn't produce maps at a scale of 1:1 quite yet, its Landline series offers maps at a resolution of 1:1250, allowing the display of individual buildings, which is very useful to those requiring detailed mapping, such as architects, telecommunication engineers, and surveyors. In addition to Landline, the OS produces a wide variety of maps and services, including more than 25 mapping products at various scales for professional, business, and leisure use, as well as a number of services, such as consulting, database development, surveying, mapping, and printing.

University of New Hampshire GIS Maps May Help U.S. Extend Jurisdiction Over the Seafloor Beyond the Current Exclusive Economic Zone

Martin Jakobsson, Larry Mayer and Andrew Armstrong 03-10-2003

A major study of subsea mapping data conducted by the University of New Hampshire under a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) used GIS technology to provide the United States the information needed to decide how much new seafloor mapping is required before pursuing a claim that could extend the U.S. jurisdiction over the seabed and subsoil on the continental margin beyond the current Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Technology and Homeland Security

Kevin Coleman 03-06-2003

Former Chief Strategist for Netscape and new contributing columnist for Directions Magazine, Kevin Coleman begins his regular column focused on Technology and Homeland Security. He will be contributing additional insights on emerging technologies and potential new weapons...only in Directions Magazine.

U.S. Military Combines GIS and Location Technology to Create Online Tracking System

Marc Barthello 03-05-2003

With the country bracing itself for a war with Iraq, Americans are concerned about their security. Local, state, and federal agencies realize they need a single application to facilitate and coordinate the rapid movement of personnel and resources in response to emergency situations.

The Interagency Geospatial Preparedness Team (IGPT): An Interview with Susan Kalweit, Chief, IGPT

Joe Francica 03-04-2003

As part of the newly formed Department of Homeland Security, a team has been established to coordinate the dissemination of geospatial information. The Interagency Geospatial Preparedness Team (IGPT) within the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) was established "to improve the posture of state and local governments to better respond to disasters through greater geospatial preparedness; the IGPT works harmony with the Administration's E-gov initiative, Geospatial One-Stop" according to the mission statement of the team.

GIS Medals in the Safety Venue at the Salt Lake Olympics

Nancy Sappington 02-28-2003

Each day during the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake, many athletes competed in different activities at the same time at separate venues, but in the public safety arena, the playing field was the same for all the agencies monitoring the Olympic activities. For the people at the Utah Olympic Public Safety Command (UOPSC), GIS was the tool that delivered the same accurate, relevant, and up-to-date data to all the people keeping an eye on the situation. And when fans and athletes packed up to go home after the Winter Olympics, the system remained in Utah as part of the state’s Office of Homeland Security.

An Interview with Walt Doyle, Vice President, MapQuest.com

Joe Francica 02-26-2003

MapQuest.com is well known for providing maps and driving directions on the web for travelers and general information on points of interest, business locations, and other attractions. However, the company is trying to penetrate the enterprise market with more location services. Directions Magazine editor Joe Francica (JF) interviewed Walt Doyle (WD), Vice President of MapQuest, regarding the products and services offered to businesses and the recent release of MapQuest's Enterprise Server 2.0.

Why Hasn't Business Adopted GIS? - A Strategic Review - Part 1

David Goldstein 02-18-2003

We call it “our little secret.” Quite honestly, GIS has been the basis for our consulting practice since the late 80’s. We call it our “secret” not because it is one, but simply because most client executives sitting across our table are very unaware that it even exists. Most corporations remain happily in the dark about the awesome power that it contains, that the mere implementation to a basic customer database can help them make intelligent business decisions that will put them at a strategic advantage over their competition. Not that the implementation is ever easy, but certainly worth the effort in terms of our bottom line – and theirs. It is peculiar to me that more companies do not employ this valuable tool internally when it makes economic sense, but at the minimum to outsource the job, and at the same time I’m grateful for its obscurity because GIS makes us an absolute hero in the eyes of our clients.

NASA Maps Depict Shuttles Path During Break Up

Directions Staff 02-14-2003

Houston, TX - The NASA website dedicated to providing information about the ongoing Columbia Space Shuttle investigation has provided a report showing the path of the shuttle as it passed over the southwestern United States. The report, entitled "STS-107 Accident Investigation Ground Track and Events Summary Based on the Rev 12.1 Master Time Line," shows maps created with Microsoft's MapPoint software.

WANTED: Professional Geographers...Now More than Ever!

Reginald Golledge 02-12-2003

For decades, professional geographers were reluctant to admit that they actually were geographers. Such an admission brought about responses such as “I hated geography in school” or “I don't need to know where bananas are grown” (I guess they didn't expect to be on Jeopardy). Things are changing. Today's geographer is often an applied geospatial analyst, using technology such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Analysis (SA) to solve an increasing variety of social, economic, political and environmental problems. As a matter of record, Applied Geography (as an Association of American Geographers Specialty Group) has been around for about three decades. But geographers have been conducting important applied work for a lot longer than that.

The Direction of Oracle's Spatial Strategy

Joe Francica 02-11-2003

If you want to learn anything about Oracle Spatial, you'll end up talking to Xavier Lopez. Mr. Lopez travels extensively extolling the features and benefits of Oracle's location technology. Direction's Magazine editor Joe Francica compiled a series of questions for Mr. Lopez to allow him to qualify some of the recent product configuration changes and and other business decisions taken by Oracle in light of a shifting market.

Addressing Data Errors: Getting Mail Headed in the Right Direction

Cecilia Hellman 02-11-2003

How much money are you wasting on direct mail? And, if a promotional letter reaches the wrong destination, how many customers are you really losing because your address database is "dirty," "old," or lacks the proper format.

In this article by QAS Marketing Manager Cecelia Hellman, she examines several areas that should be carefully checked before one piece of mail is sent. "Address management problems can even affect revenues. Consider a year’s worth of marketing campaigns, in which a million pieces of direct mail are sent. "Assuming a modest 1% conversion rate, and a 10% rate of mail that reaches its destination either too late or not at all, due to address errors, how much business could be lost?" Read further...

Is Geo-Level Demographic Data Still Relevant in the CRM age?

Duncan Houldsworth 02-11-2003

As the market for demographic information changes and evolves, organizations become more and more sophisticated in how they want to analyze data, specifically commercial organizations as they use it for applications of customer recruitment, and market development. Here in the Micromarketing industry, we have witnessed the increased emphasis on customer transactional data and household, or even “person level,” data with a degree of skepticism and possibly fear. At the same time, we have seen decreased emphasis on the traditional staples of our industry: census derived demographics at a regional or local geographic level. So why is geographic data still relevant in the CRM age? Find out...only in Directions Magazine.

Is GML only for Internet GIS?

Mark Prins 02-10-2003

Need a GML primer? Mark Prins of CARIS takes us through the details in this article. "GML provides both a vendor neutral as well as implementation neutral format that is optimally suited for distribution over a network."

Quality Metrics for Map Databases in Vehicle Routing Applications

Bert Jakubs 02-10-2003

Mr. Bert Jakubs of Tele Atlas North America presents an outline for those considering the implementation of a vehicle routing application. Specifically, he presents advice about what to look for in a map database that is essential for location-based services.

SPECIAL REPORT - Satellite Imagery of Shuttle Debris Area

Joe Francica 02-06-2003

Space Imaging's IKONOS Satellite captures debris area in Nacogdoches, Texas minutes after shuttle tumbles to earth.

Technology Tackles Troublemakers as the War on Crime Heats Up

Jim Stark 02-05-2003

He’s been on the run for over a year. Hiding in caves, mountaintops, and countrysides, Osama Bin Laden is America’s most wanted. As U.S. military forces vigilantly track and monitor his every move to try to capture him and his henchmen, arguably the most effective weapon in their arsenal is global positioning systems, more commonly known as GPS.

Inside the Beltway: Geography at the National Research Council

Dr. William Graf 02-05-2003

Professor Graf provides ample reason why all geographers need to be cognizant of the work by the National Research Councils (NRC) two bodies focussed on mapping issues. "The importance of the two geography committees at NRC is that they give American geographers a voice in issues of national and international importance, and they put geographers on a similar footing with physicists, chemists, medical specialists, biologists, and other scientists." Read about what has been done and how to get involved...only at Directions Magazine.

LBS: Turning Corners in 2003

Jim VanderMeer 01-29-2003

Much of the hype and hysteria of LBS that occurred in 2000-2001 has passed, as has the doldrums of 2002. This month, our contributing editor on LBS, Jim VanderMeer from Airbiquity takes us through what he believes will be a maturing of the market and “realistic implementations of location revenue models.”

Interview with Larry Delaney, MapInfo's Director of Location-based Services

Joe Francica 01-29-2003

Directions Magazine interviewed Larry Delaney, MapInfo's Director of LBS technology, to determine how MapInfo was weathering the bursting of the LBS bubble and when he thought we might see a rebound in this sector. Read the entire interview to get a perspective on MapInfo's strategic direction and where Mr. Delaney's sees the potential in the next 18 month's for this market.

RAM is 100 Thousand Times Faster than Disk for Database Access

Steve Gilheany 01-28-2003

Contributing writer, Steve Gilheany, makes a compelling argument for moving all data to RAM. Crazy? Maybe, but access speed is key and the gap is narrowing between the cost of RAM and that of disk space. Read more of Mr. Gilheany's insights in the "Nuts & Bolts" special feature...only in Directions Magazine.

MetroGIS - A Regional Collaborative of Local Governments pulling together for Spatial Data Management

Joe Francica 01-22-2003

Directions Magazine caught up with Randy Johnson at URISA this past year and he talked about the success of MetroGIS, which won the Exemplary Systems in Government award. Mr. Johnson is the Staff Coordinator for this collaborative that shares spatial technology resources in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. Read this article to find out how one region of local governments is finding innovative ways to spread costs.

Satellite Data Companies Look back at shaky 2002; Look ahead to 2003 with NIMA Contract

Joe Francica 01-18-2003

The report this past week that the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) had awarded a five-year contract for the acquisition of high-resolution satellite imagery to Space Imaging and DigitalGlobe was welcomed news. Last year proved difficult for these companies that have large investments in technology and a heavy reliance on government contracts. In an exclusive and timely interview with the top executives from these satellites data providers as well as from Pixxures Inc., Direction's Magazine editor Joe Francica explores the reasons for a shaky 2002 and where the demand for products will be for the year ahead.

A Spatial Database Technology Update with Dr. Ignacio Guerrero, Intergraph

Joe Francica 01-13-2003

Directions Magazine conducted an extensive interview with one of the key software principals of Intergraph Corporation, Dr. Ignacio Guerrero, who is Vice President of Development for the Mapping and Geospatial Solutions Division. Dr. Guerrero spoke at length about the improvements in Oracle9i in addition to the collision he sees approaching between the topology that Oracle is building into Oracle10i and Laser-Scan’s Radius topology. Read more about where he sees spatial databases heading…only in Directions Magazine.

Thinking Spatially

Reginald Golledge 01-12-2003

Multi-Channel Site Networks: Challenges and Considerations

Scott Munroe, Ph.D. 01-10-2003

Dr. Munroe of Integras, a division of Claritas, Inc., provides a plan of attack for retailers who develop multi-channel networks. However, he offers this caution: "No methodology or system can completely consider the large number of confounding factors that enter into the development equation between the time networks are planned and real estate secured." Read more to find out his recommended strategy...only in Directions Magazine!

The Need for Operational Business Geographics Solutions

Steve Walden 01-10-2003

Product Overview: GIS Interface for State-of-the-Art Natural Waters Modeling

Gary Ostroff 01-09-2003

MapInfo Seeking New Direction with Acquisition of Thompson

Joe Francica 01-07-2003

MapInfo's recent announcement about its acquisition of Thompson Associates signals a somewhat new direction for the company as it moves more fully into the customer relationship managment business where location technology is needed. Chief Operation Officer, Mike Hickey, was interviewed about the move that will absorb Thompson's assets completely into the aCRM business unit.

Bentley Systems to Broadly Strengthen Hold on DOT Marketplace with TransDecision Purchase

Joe Francica 01-06-2003

In a move to further advance its competitive position in providing geospatial solutions to state-level departments of transportation (DOT), Bentley Systems announced that it had acquired TransDecision’s DOT division. The purchase will allow Bentley’s Linear Data Management Solution (LDM) to incorporate TransDecision’s Linear Referencing System Extensions (LRSx) and more completely address the analytical needs of the transportation management workflow. Read more about how the Bentley will now be organized to bring a strong focus to the DOT market.

Spatial Analysis Trends in Health and Safety

Kim Anderson 01-05-2003

Bentley to Acquire Infrasoft Corporation; Also Announces Purchase of TransDecision's DOT Division

Joe Francica 01-05-2003

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, announced that it has executed an agreement to acquire Infrasoft Corporation, a global software and services company with operations based in the United Kingdom. In a separate announcement, Bentley will acquire TransDecision's DOT division including the Linear Referencing System Extensions (LRSx™) software.

MapInfo Acquires Thompson Associates

Joe Francica 01-04-2003

MapInfo made a major announcement on January 6th with the acquisition of Thompson Associates for approximately $13 Million. The AnySite Software Division is also included in this purchase. Directions will have more on this story in the Wednesday Digest Newsletter.

The Geographic Internet : Open for Business

Philip Abrahamson 12-29-2002

“Dynamicization” – Organizations that survive in a Mobile Society

Hal Reid 12-16-2002

XML Web Services, GIS, and Location Technologies - Part 2

Steve Lombardi 12-15-2002

What can Brown Do For You? UPS Logistics Turns Brown to Gr$$n

Joe Francica 12-05-2002

In this month’s feature interview, we spoke with Len Kennedy, Vice President of UPS Logistics. Mr. Kennedy provided us with the reason large transportation and distribution companies need to build efficiency into their operations.

Environmental sanitation mapping -- Record and geographical analysis of environmental incidents in Sierra Barrosa-Aguada Toledo fields, Neuquen, Argentina

Jose Martin Catalini 11-20-2002

The conduct of hydrocarbon exploration and production activities in environmentally sensitive areas is a good reason for developing activities designed to diagnose the condition of each area of operations and establish mechanisms for preventing potential incidents.

XML Web Services, GIS, and Location Technologies - Part 1

Steve Lombardi 11-19-2002

Microsoft's acquisition of Vicinity - IDC's Perpsective & Outlook

David Sonnen 11-13-2002

What was Microsoft's strategy in acquiring Vicinity Corporation, publishers of MapBlast? Dave Sonnen, consultant and market research analyst for IDC, provides some insight.

How Location Intelligence is Paramount to Protecting Our Nation

Brian Lantz 11-12-2002

How HP is putting a lock on the GIS hardware business

Joe Francica 10-15-2002

Claritas Demographers Find ‘Critical Flaws’ in ‘All Demographics Are (Almost) Created Equal’ Article

Claritas Staff 10-13-2002

The Spatial RDBMS in the Enterprise

Jason Weinberger 10-13-2002

Simple Stuff 10 - Evolving to a PDA

Hal Reid 10-08-2002

GPS, GIS, the Boss, and the Budget

Greg Pendleton 10-01-2002

“Analytical” Customer Relationship Management (aCRM) – MapInfo and the CRM market

Joe Francica 09-18-2002

Women in GIS: Caitlin Dempsey, Editor-GIS Lounge

Joe Francica 09-18-2002

Disaster Response Liaison for Onsite Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing Data

George Davis 09-10-2002

All Demographics Are (Almost) Created Equal

Mike Pugliese 09-08-2002

Data Quality: Before The Map is Produced

Mike Mayberry 09-08-2002

A Business Model for the Global GIS Business Environment

Mehdi-ul-Hasnain Syed Qadri Bokhari 09-05-2002

9-11 Remembered

Joe Francica 09-05-2002

NCEES Approves Revision to Model Law for Surveyors

Bruce Joffe 08-27-2002

Using an Area Sampling Frame to calculate livestock statistics in the Gauteng Province, South Africa, within a GIS

Craig von Hagen 08-20-2002

ODC – The Open Data Consortium: A project to standardize data distribution

Bruce Joffe 08-14-2002

Moving into the 21st Century with Business Geographics

Hal Reid 08-06-2002

Product Review: Autodesk MapSeries

Paul Amos 08-05-2002

SPECIAL REPORT: Microsoft & AT&T; Wireless join forces in providing Location-based Services

Joe Francica 07-31-2002

The Orton Family Foundation: GIS Educators & Entrepreneurs

Joe Francica 07-29-2002

Product Overview: iMODEL from Claritas

Joe Francica 07-28-2002

Ubiquitous Wireless Location Interoperability

Jim VanderMeer 07-23-2002

Women in GIS: Lisa A. Desautels, President, Graphic Imaging Services, Inc.

Joe Francica 07-23-2002

The Fundamentals of GPS

Greg Pendleton 07-16-2002

Mortgage Lenders Deal With Last Year of 1990 Census

Martin Sohovich 07-15-2002

Product Overview: Radius Topology from Laser-Scan

Lisa May 07-10-2002

Interview with Bob Nascenzi, President and CEO, Claritas

Joe Francica 07-03-2002

An interview with Carol Bartz, CEO, Autodesk, Inc.

Joe Francica 06-25-2002

Business Geographics and Satellite Remote Sensing 2002--Time to Take Another Look?

Robert van Wyngaarden 06-23-2002

HP, Compaq carve out new organization to address GIS market

Joe Francica 06-22-2002

Augusta County, Virginia tackles data integration for Water & Wastewater System

Garnet Daus 06-18-2002

Spatial Indexing for Document Access

Steve Gilheany 06-17-2002

Flash/SWF for GIS

Chris Goad 06-10-2002

Wireless: The Key to real-time damage assessment

Mike Morrow 06-02-2002

Wireless handheld computing is evolving as the emergency manager’s answer to obtaining real-time intelligence from the field. A recent live demonstration of the latest technologies sheds some light on technology that works and technologies needing more work.

Debut of the DC Atlas

Joe Francica 06-01-2002

We interview Adam Rubinson, co-director of the DC GIS & Vicki DeFries, GIS Manager, Office of the Chief Technology Officer, Washington D.C. about the debut of DC Atlas.

Building a power plant? Start with a good map!

John Arnold 05-18-2002

Conceptual regrading using three-dimensional GIS to evaluate mine reclamation

David L. Jordan, P.E. 05-18-2002

Women in GIS: Kim Anderson, GE Smallworld

Joe Francica 05-18-2002

There is Hope for GIS in Rural Communities: A profile of Hope, Arkansas

Joe Francica 05-16-2002

Directions Magazine recently conducted an interview with the people responsible for establishing GIS technology in the city of Hope, Arkansas, a rural town of about 11,000 people and more popularly recognized as the birthplace of former president Bill Clinton. We asked Catherine Cook, the city manager, and Darrell Allen, GIS Manager about how it got started and their current site configuration. The information they provided is a detailed look at how one city is taking advantage of GIS and how it maintains its mission. Their insights will be extremely informative to those local governments who are just now looking at what might work best for their rural communities.

Retail Sales Models: An Interview with Dr. Richard Fenker

Joe Francica 05-16-2002

Directions Magazine conducted a brief interview with Dr. Richard Fenker, Vice President and Chief Software Architect of Market Insite Group. Dr. Fenker, formerly the founder of Tangram Corporation, which recently merged with Market Insite Group, has developed sales forecasting systems for over 100 major US corporations and Tangram's models have been used to help select approximately 100,000 retail locations for clients such as McDonald's, Blockbuster, Brinker International, Lowe's Companies, Pep Boys, Applebee's, Eckerd Corp., Valvoline Instant Oil Change and others.

Women in GIS: Shawana Johnson & Susan Sinclair of Global Marketing Insights

Joe Francica 05-16-2002

As part of Directions Magazine's continuing series "Women in GIS" we present the women of Global Marketing Insights. Shawana Johnson (pictured on the left), President, and Susan Sinclair, a senior associate, have been around GIS for a long time. Both served time at EOSAT, where Dr. Johnson was Director of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for nine years, and Ms. Sinclair was Managing Director of Worldwide Distribution for ten years and had been the Director of Oracle Corporation's Global GIS/Land Management Group. Directions Editor, Joe Francica (JF) conducted the interview.

Simplifying the World

Reginald Golledge 05-14-2002

It is a bit facetious to remark that “the world is a complex place.” We all know that. But, given this, how are we able to understand it? In truth, we haven’t achieved such a goal yet, but we’ve moved a long way on a path heading in this direction.

The Keys to the Warehouse

Scott Sinclair 05-14-2002

An Exclusive Interview with Michael Graff

Joe Francica 05-14-2002

SVG and GIS

George Seff 05-07-2002

Maps on your PDA - Simple Stuff #8 - Mapping the Trade Show Floor

Hal Reid 05-07-2002

The Leaflet Company use Retail Footprint to demonstrate real-life shopping flows to high street locations.

John Rae 04-30-2002

The Benefits of GIS/911 Integration

F. Pierce Eichelberger 04-23-2002

This article will highlight the many benefits of GIS and 911 integration as experienced in Chester County, PA. The County has taken an integrated approach to GIS and 911-- from MSAG/geofile building through current implementation and support. The advantages of integration are many--addresses can be leveraged for a far larger number of users, exact addresses can be placed in a context of address range information, precisional accuracy of GIS data and maps is usually better, focus on core staff competencies, improved division of labor, economies of scale, improved use of software tools, and a more extensive geographic systems/database model for all address and geographic referencing features. Each of the benefits will be enumerated with examples and details.

GIS & Steganography - Part 3: Vector Steganography

Bill Huber 04-18-2002

There are plenty of ways to hide messages within images. This is relatively easy because an image, being an array of pixels, typically contains an enormous amount of redundant information. If you have ever compressed a Windows bitmap (.bmp) file, for instance, you will have noticed that 90 to 99% of the file disappeared. You can hide information in that extra space.

Maps on your PDA: Simple Stuff #7 – Simple Access to Demographics on the Web

Hal Reid 04-16-2002

Amy Pasini: GIS in Health Pioneer

Joe Francica 04-16-2002

As Manager of GIS and Injury Prevention at Baystate Health System in Massachusetts, Amy Pasini knows first hand "the big picture" about where spatial information can be used in public health. Ms. Pasini provides insights from her six years of experience in developing the program at Baystate, a level 1 trauma center and the largest regional employer in Western Massachusetts. Read more about her career and where she sees GIS being used for health initiatives in a post 9/11 environment.

GIS & Steganography - Part 2: As applied to MapInfo and ArcView

Bill Thoen 04-16-2002

Retail Store Lifecycle Management

Gil Castle 04-09-2002

"Essentially, retailers need to better coordinate the activities of all departments involved in one or more phases of the entire lifecycle of a store. A given retailers’ site selectors, store designers, construction crews, staff-and-stock managers, merchandisers, advertisers, asset managers, etc., should no longer perform their tasks in a sequential, isolated manner."

GIS & Steganography - Part 1: Hidden Secrets in the Digital Ether

Bill Thoen 04-09-2002

What is a Landmark and What Really Are the World's Most Significant Landmarks?

Reginald Golledge 03-26-2002

Landmarks are key components of the way we organize our knowledge of global, regional, and local environments. Our knowledge of the world is usually described as our "cognitive map.” This does not mean that a cognitive map is like a cartographic map - although there is no clear evidence that such a relationship does or does not exist.

Maps on your PDA: Simple Stuff #6 – A Handful of Demographics in Real Time

Hal Reid 03-26-2002

Hal Reid has been looking at mapping on both the Palm-based PDAs and the CE based PDAs so we could see our Franchise territories. One of the applications that seemed to immediately bring the PDA out of the address book and calendar mode was Demographics for the Real Estate Rep.

Maps on your PDA ... Simple Stuff #5

Hal Reid 03-11-2002

Business and IT Ramifications of Geocoding in Customer Data Integration

Martin Sohovich 03-11-2002

MapInfo's Business Partner Program

Directions Staff 02-28-2002

Simple Stuff 4 – A Franchise Territory on the IPAQ

Hal Reid 02-26-2002

Microsoft’s MapPoint Alliance Program

Joe Francica 02-26-2002

Internet Maps and Routing with ESRI products

Eugene Kostin 02-26-2002

ESRI Business Partners Quotes

Directions Staff 02-26-2002

Integraph’s Team GeoMedia Business Partner Program

Directions Staff 02-26-2002

ESRI’s Business Partner Program

Directions Staff 02-26-2002

Women In GIS: Susan Carson Lambert, Geographer

Directions Staff 02-25-2002

Frankfort, Kentucky based state employee serving on a detail to the U.S. Geological Survey as an Intergovernmental Advisor on the National Map who served as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Office of Geographic Information from 1996 until February of 2002

GIS Job Outlook 2002

Andrew Ratzlaff 02-19-2002

The Hard Truth About GIS Mapping and E911

Sam Wallace 02-19-2002

Simple Stuff 3 – A Franchise Territory – Almost

Hal Reid 02-13-2002

ASPRS issues new strategic plan for organization

Directions Staff 02-13-2002

Simple Stuff 2 – Franchise Territories on the Palm – Part 1

Hal Reid 02-06-2002

Careers in the Geospatial Sciences:The New Professional

Richard Serby 02-06-2002

Spatial ASP - Internet GIS Is Here - Part 2

Anthony J. Quartararo III 01-30-2002

Simple Stuff - Putting Around with Palm Devices

Hal Reid 01-24-2002

Spatial ASP - Internet GIS Is Here - Part 1

Anthony J. Quartararo III 01-24-2002

A game of information arbitrage

Gil Castle 01-16-2002

A review of the Geospatial Technology Report 2001 by GITA

Joe Francica 01-16-2002

Hype vs. Reality of Location-Based Services – LBS at the end of 2001

Jim VanderMeer 01-16-2002

Meeting the Telecommunication Industry's Challenge of Tax Jurisdiction Assignment: A Case Study at Verizon

Martin Sohovich 01-09-2002

Women in GIS: Dr. Nancy von Meyer, Vice President of Fairview Industries

Directions Staff 01-09-2002

A Look Beyond - Part 4

Directions Staff 01-09-2002

Adding Location Based Services for the Web - Part 2

Robert Chou 01-03-2002

Interview: Leonid Berstein, President, Software Technologies, Taganrog, Russia

Joe Francica 01-03-2002

A Look Beyond - Part 3

Directions Staff 01-03-2002

Adding Location Based Services for the Web - Part 1

Robert Chou 12-19-2001

Technology Update: Oracle9i and Telcontar's Drill Down Server (DDS)

Joe Francica 12-19-2001

Conference Review: National League of Cities -- Congress of Cities and Exposition focuses on Homeland Security

Bill White 12-19-2001

A Look Beyond - Part 2

Directions Staff 12-19-2001

A Look Beyond - Part 1

Directions Staff 12-12-2001

NACORE gathers for one final time

Joe Francica 12-12-2001

Sidebar: NACORE gathers for one final time

Joe Francica 12-12-2001

Linear Referencing and Dynamic Segmentation Software Review

Jane E. Goodman 11-28-2001

Ground Zero - The Geographic Center of the Financial World

Joe Francica 11-28-2001

Ways to Map Cyberspace

Martin Dodge and Rob Kitchin 11-07-2001

Targeting Voters with GIS

David Opitz 10-18-2001

Autodesk Case Study: Denver International Airport

Chad O. Mills 09-19-2001

Analysis and Forecast of USGS GeoData Demands on the Web

Bill Huber 08-09-2001

Map Data Controversy in the U.S.

Bill Huber 07-31-2001

The Evolution of Modeling Tools in GIS

Dr. Ronald Eastman 07-18-2001

What’s the Big Deal About Geography Network?

Adena Schutzberg 07-12-2001

ESRI UC 2001: On the Scene at ESRI UC

Bill Huber 07-10-2001

Women In GIS: Janie French

Directions Staff 07-09-2001

Vice President of Staubach Retail Services, Janie French, contributes to our series on Women In GIS.

Microsoft MapPoint 2002 Review

Adena Schutzberg 06-14-2001

MapPoint has matured since it's first release in 1998. The latest version promises the ability to import ESRI shape files and MapInfo data--a previously missing feature that held back the Microsoft GIS product. Adena Schutzberg reviews...

GIS ASPs: Ready for Action?

Adena Schutzberg 06-07-2001

Fired Mapmaker Arouses National Controversy

Adena Schutzberg 05-25-2001

Is Ian Thomas, a USGS contract employee allegedly fired for posting caribou calving area maps of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, really an environmental hero? Adena Schutzberg informs us with the whole story.

An Interview with Blue Marble’s Jeff Cole

Adena Schutzberg 05-18-2001

A few weeks ago Blue Marble launched it's BeyondGeo.com service. Jeff Cole, Blue Marble president, offers some insight into how this new offering will affect Blue Marble and the GIS community.

Opening An Application To Competing File Formats Is Good Business

Joseph Schwartz 05-14-2001

Conventional wisdom once dictated that an application should only be able to utilize certain proprietary file formats. Mapping software that reads numerous file formats is inherently more valuable to consumers.

A Look at the GIS Side of Intergraph's Q1 Results

Adena Schutzberg 05-04-2001

Intergraph recently set up it's GIS division as a seperate business segment. This makes it much easier to track the companies performance in the GIS market. We take a look at First Quarter 2001.

Leica Acquires ERDAS, LH Systems; Expands its Focus on the GIS/RS Market

Adena Schutzberg 04-30-2001

Leica recently announced the acquisition of ERDAS and LH Systems. Adena Schutzberg offers her analysis on this piece of big GIS news.

GIS at Autodesk: An Interview with Kim Davis

Adena Schutzberg 04-26-2001

Adena Schutzberg invited Kim Davis, Director, Marketing and Product Management, GIS Division at Autodesk, to explain that company's outlook.

Microsoft Releases MapPoint 2002

Joseph Schwartz 04-24-2001

Microsoft's release of MapPoint 2002 marks the third version of its popular desktop mapping product. Joseph Schwartz shares the details of MapPoint 2002 from a pre-release interview today with members of the MapPoint development team.

Recycled Supercomputing for GIS?

Bill Thoen 04-17-2001

Think that old computer collecting dust has seen it's glory days? You may be surprised to learn that these old junkers can be turned into GIS supercomputers. Bill Thoen explains.

Women In GIS: Jane Huzil

Directions Staff 04-16-2001

Director of Technology Projects for Michael Baker Corporation. Jane provides insight into the use of GIS by HUD and the Department of Justice.

Maps To Go: Build Your Own for the Intranet

John Maines 04-09-2001

South Florida journalist builds affordable GIS system for large news operation

The World in a Box Reviewed

Adena Schutzberg 03-30-2001

A one-hour public television program spearheaded by GITA and funded by several GIS and technology companies.

John Sailor Remembered

Adena Schutzberg 03-29-2001

John Sailor was a founding principal and Senior Vice-President of Boston-based Geonetics.

Mapping An Environment: Forester Harnesses Power of GPS/GIS Convergence

Joseph Schwartz 03-27-2001

Mapping software alone is useful in many applications and handheld GPS units are very popular with consumers, but the real power of these technologies emerges when they are integrated into geospatial analysis solutions

What do GIS consultants charge?

Bill Huber 03-13-2001

Directions Magazine Editor Bill Huber asked the Internet GIS community how much consultants charge for GIS services. He learned more than just the range of hourly rates.

Lasoo: The Best of the Spatial Web Searches

Adena Schutzberg 03-12-2001

There are plenty of geographic search engines to choose from. Find out what separates Lasoo.com from the crowd.

Women In GIS: Ruth Bowers

Directions Staff 03-05-2001

GIS Processor and Technician for TerraPoint LLC

Do We Need Another MS Windows for the Wireless World?

Joseph Schwartz 03-01-2001

Lack of compatibility has stalled the widespread implementation of wireless data services. A wireless MS Windows could be the answer.

Podunk Towns Hit the Web

Adena Schutzberg 03-01-2001

Adena Schutzberg takes a look at ePodunk, a company that's attempting to breathe new life into smaller geographies.

RTFD Fights Fragmentation

Joseph Schwartz 02-07-2001

Rapid Growth in Wireless Home Networking Predicted

Joseph Schwartz 01-29-2001

A Wireless Superbowl

Joseph Schwartz 01-28-2001

Wireless Location Industry Association Schedules First Meetings

Joseph Schwartz 01-27-2001

Women In GIS: Clare Stother

Directions Staff 01-25-2001

Junior Consultant of InfoTech speaks out

Women In GIS: Adena Schutzberg

Directions Staff 01-02-2001

One of the most knowledgeable veterans in the GIS industry tells us how she got there.

Women In GIS: Kija Kim

Directions Staff 12-06-2000

President and CEO of Harvard Design and Mapping Company, Inc.

Women In GIS: Joan Gardner

Directions Staff 11-27-2000

President of AGI, shares her GIS career

Working With Autodesk MapGuide

Jeff Koncz 11-07-2000

Our web developer tries out Autodesk MapGuide on the Directions Events Directory

An End to Dialog Slog in MapBasic Development

Bill Thoen 09-19-2000

We review a very welcome developer's tool which eases one of the most tedious tasks in MapBasic

Women In GIS: Diane Thompson

Directions Staff 07-25-2000

Consultant from Earth Observation Services talks of her 30 years in geomatics

Reprojecting Grids

Bill Huber 07-18-2000

Introductory explanations of georeferencing, datums, spheroids, and the like.

ESRI UC 2000: Closing Session

Bill Huber 06-30-2000

ESRI UC 2000: ArcView's Transformation

Bill Huber 06-29-2000

ESRI UC 2000: Technical Workshops Begin

Bill Huber 06-27-2000

ESRI UC 2000: ESRI Launches The Geography Network

Bill Huber 06-27-2000

ESRI UC 2000: On the Scene at ESRI UC

Bill Huber 06-26-2000

Telematics-A New GIS Marketplace

Mike Sheldrick 06-05-2000

Mike Sheldrick begins our coverage of a potentially huge GIS market

MapWorld Conference Report

Katina Michael 05-23-2000

MapInfo hosts its 7th Annual international User Conference in San Antonio, Texas

Women In GIS: Stephanie Williams

Directions Staff 04-26-2000

From Nanny to GIS

Women In GIS: Meredith Williams

Directions Staff 04-19-2000

We interview the GIS Specialist of Branner Earth Science Library at Stanford University

Women In GIS: Katina Michael

Directions Staff 03-27-2000

We interview the Market and Network planner for Nortel Networks(Asia Pacific)

Women In GIS: Rachel Loehman

Directions Staff 03-14-2000

Archaelogy leads to GIS

Women In GIS: Preetha Pulusani

Directions Staff 03-07-2000

We interview the EVP of the Mapping/GIS business at Intergraph

Women In GIS: Heather Da Fonte

Directions Staff 02-22-2000

We interview the Managing Director of MapCentric

Geocoding Canada

Jeff Koncz 02-15-2000

Using DMTI's GeoPinpoint to reference Canadian point data

Women In GIS: Zainul Nurani

Directions Staff 02-04-2000

Zainul shares a little of her philosophy with Directions magazine

Women In GIS: Elizabeth Marshall

Directions Staff 01-28-2000

Remote sensing research scientist migrates to commercial GIS

Women In GIS: Tina Cary

Directions Staff 01-20-2000

We interview Tina Cary and learn what it takes to start your own GIS business.

The Interpolation Process

Philip Wyatt 01-18-2000

A look at the fundamentals of grid surface generation

Industry Responses to SIM Series

David Sonnen 01-18-2000

Responses from 5 industry leaders to David Sonnen's ongoing series on the structure of the Spatial Information Market.

Spatial Plus Knowledge Base

Spatial Plus 01-10-2000

Useful questions and answers about MapInfo Professional

Not-So-Random Numbers

Robert Edwards 01-10-2000

Several mapping programs have had their RANDOM functions called into question. In this article, a better approach is offered.

Women In GIS: Stephanie Routh

Directions Staff 01-10-2000

We interview the GIS Project Leader for the City of Phoenix; one of her many titles.

Women in GIS: Gillian Kendrick

Directions Staff 11-30-1999

Smallworld's Head of Global Strategy for the telco sector tells us what it's like

Routing to Marco Island

Steve Wallace 11-18-1999

Our Contributing Editor tries out three on-line Travel Planners

Women in GIS: Lorraine Green Mazerolle

Directions Staff 11-16-1999

Incorporating GIS in Criminal Justice

Political Fund Raising with Geodemographic Tools

David Opitz 11-16-1999

The former Chairman of the Republican Party in Wisconsin tells how GIS was critical in that party's recent revitalization.

Women in GIS: Liza Casey

Directions Staff 11-08-1999

We interview the Director of Enterprise GIS for the City of Philadelphia

The Cost of Quality in Enterprise GIS

Anthony Quartararo and Mary Lynn Krohn 11-08-1999

Understanding the true cost of quality in an enterprise-wide GIS adds value to the business process.

Women in GIS: Heidi Whitehill, Scout Geographics

Directions Staff 11-01-1999

Our Women in GIS series continues; what it's like to strike out on one's own

SIM: Fitting in With Everything Else

David Sonnen 10-25-1999

David Sonnen's series on the structure of the Spatial Information Management (SIM) industry continues in Part two.

The Best Map Book in Print

Directions Staff 10-25-1999

The ESRI Map Book is now 14 years old, and 120-pages full. Here's how it's made, with some samples.

If a Picture's a Thousand Words, What's this Worth?

Directions Staff 10-22-1999

Lawrence Faulkner can take the output of your mapping software and produce a 3-D model. And it's all automatic, as if you sent it to your printer instead.

Women in GIS: Joan Myhill, Smallworld

Directions Staff 10-18-1999

From Optometry to GIS; an interview with the Director of the Core and Cross Industry Division at Smallworldwide.

Women in GIS: Nancy LaVigne, Crime Mapping Research Center

Directions Staff 10-08-1999

We interview the Director of the Crime Mapping Research Center at the National Institute of Justice

The History of GIS

Bill Thoen 09-30-1999

Bill Thoen reviews History of Geographic Systems: Perspectives from the Pioneers, the first book to focus fully on the history of GIS.

Dressing Up Maps

Steve Wallace 09-24-1999

Using a moderately priced paint package, Steve Wallace offers some tips to improve the final output quality of your maps.

Women in GIS: Lisa Ackerman, Integration Technologies

Directions Staff 09-21-1999

Our Women in GIS series opens with an interview with Lisa Ackerman, Vice President at Integration Technologies

Data Formats Don't Matter

Directions Staff 09-13-1999

SAFE Software's work with PanCanadian, a client with multiple-format GIS data they needed to disseminate, led the company to develop a new web-based product

Structure of the Spatial Information Management Industry - Part I

David Sonnen 08-30-1999

David Sonnen, Contributing Editor at Directions and Editor of IDC's authoritative annual report on our industry, introduces a new taxonomy for Spatial Information Management.

Software Companies Partner in Telecommunications Market

Directions Staff 08-20-1999

Why Granite Systems turned to Object/FX to supply graphical tools for its customers

So Much Data, So Little Information

Anthony J. Quartararo III 08-06-1999

A look at a comprehensive and integrated Management Information System for AM/FM/GIS projects

ESRI User Conference: Vendor Fair Opens; New Products Announced

Directions Staff 07-28-1999

On the scene report from ESRI's 1999 User Conference in San Diego

ESRI User Conference: Dangermond Opens Conference

Directions Staff 07-27-1999

On the scene report from ESRI's 1999 User Conference

World's Biggest GIS Conference

Directions Staff 07-26-1999

On the scene report from San Diego, where over 8,000 gather at ESRI's 19th Annual User Conference.

MapInfo Wishlist Response #1

Andrew Dressel 07-26-1999

MapInfo's Andrew Dressel responds to reader's wishes for MapInfo Professional.

A Dress Rehearsal for Y2K: Are You Ready?

John Lovell 07-11-1999

The GPS System faces its own problems next month with the GPS Week Number Rollover.

Rules of Thumb for Mapping Component Customers

Jeff Cole 06-08-1999

Jeff Cole, founder and President of Blue Marble Geographics, offers controversial advice to potential users of mapping software components.

Newspapers and GIS

Directions Staff 05-13-1999

How GIS is used to support editorial content and investigative reporting at two major news dailies.

Heavyweight GIS in Healthcare

Directions Staff 03-29-1999

Jewish Hospital HealthCare Services relies on ArcView Business Analyst for a wide variety of planning tasks.

Part III: GIS Sheds Lights on Changing Utility Industry

Eric Cohen 03-04-1999

Utilities, rich with data, are using the power of GIS to respond to their new competitive environment. Part III in Eric Cohen's series.

The Cadillac of Street Databases

Directions Staff 03-02-1999

Navigation Technologies delivers the data for all in-car navigation systems in America. We visit their offices and travel with a data collection team.

Internet Acceptance is the Driving Force Behind eCommerce

Joe Francica 02-26-1999

A sidebar to Joe Francica's feature on eCommerce and Retail.

Part II: Filling the Cavities … with GIS

Eric Cohen 02-22-1999

A dental consortium finds out that putting demographic and lifestyle data on maps is a powerful tool for planning what practices should be opened and where. Part II of Eric Cohen's series.

Part I: Reading, ‘Riting, ‘Rithmetic and Rasters

Eric Cohen 02-18-1999

In the first of a three-part series, Eric Cohen discusses the role of geodemographics in solving a business problem in higher education.

What is Precision Agriculture?

Betsy Pfister 12-01-1998

Based on "site-specific" methods, this emerging methodology of modern farming involves studying and managing variations withing fields.

MapInfo, Claritas diverge on the geodemographic landscape.

Directions Staff 11-25-1998

As of November, 1998, former partners MapInfo and Claritas are now competing for the same clients; here's why

GIS Brings Physicians and Patients Together

Directions Staff 11-25-1998

A look at how Scripps, a Southern California hospital and physician network, uses desktop mapping software

Data Industry Update Appendix A: Introduction to Geodemography

Directions Staff 11-25-1998

This is a document Polk's Bruce Carroll prepared for Polk's internal consumption, but we print it here because it gives a good introduction to geodemographics.

Data Industry Update Appendix B: How Psyte was developed

Directions Staff 11-25-1998

Although prepared for a Polk (internal) audience, this gives good background on the development of their PSYTE system.

Industry Reactions: Dimitri Rotow

Directions Staff 11-16-1998

The marketing manager of Manifold Systems gives his views on the significance of Microsoft's MapPoint 2000.

Industry Reactions: Barbara Pilliod, MapInfo Corporation

Directions Staff 11-06-1998

Barbara is in MapInfo's Public Relations department; she speaks about MapInfo's views on Microsoft's MapPoint 2000

Industry Reactions: Jeff Cole, Blue Marble Geographics

Directions Staff 11-05-1998

Industry Reactions: John Cassidy, Geographic Data Technology

Directions Staff 11-05-1998

Industry Reactions: Gary Menger, Applied Geographic Solutions

Directions Staff 11-05-1998

Industry Reactions: Howard Slavin, Caliper Corporation

Directions Staff 11-05-1998

Microsoft Maps A New Niche

Joseph Schwartz 11-04-1998

Published the day after Microsoft announced their MapPoint product, here is editor Joe Schwartz' take on the significance of this announcement for our industry.

Could Broward County Voters Be Our Future?

Lucy Chabot 11-02-1998