Tuesday, February 10. 2009

Off Topic: Mumbai Attacks Alter Indian Priorities of National Security

Watching from afar in the U.S., the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November were frightening and disturbing. But after just a short while in country viewing local news and reading newspaper reports, the "26/11" attacks, as they are being called, are profoundly seen as India's 9/11. Speaking with some local delegates to the Map World Forum in Hyderabad who were in Mumbai at the time, it seems the attacks opened the eyes of government officials to the need for more emphasis on national security. Whoever was responsible and from wherever the attacks were planned, the tension between India and Pakistan is building once again. While security was certainly present when I attended the Map World Forum in 2007, the presence of the Vice President of India, Shri M Hamid Ansari, brought additional scrutiny of attendees with the restriction of no laptops, cell phones or cameras. While the world is certainly focused on the global economic crisis, tension beween two nuclear powers is an additional worry for the world.

Indian Ministry or Earth Science Focuses on Developing Tsunami Early Warning System

In an interview conducted with Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Science (Government of India), we discussed the use of GIS in developing a tsunami warning system that was begun shortly after the Indonesian tsunami in December 2004. India recognized a need for a rapid response system for tsunami warning. His department instituted a program to develop a three-part system using sensor systems to monitor tides, ocean bottom pressure recorders, and other coastal monitoring stations. He emphasized the need to acquire data in real-time. However, in order to enact a warning system that was accurate, there was a need to establish a huge database of tsunami models.

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Creating a Sustainable Lens...a Digital Globe: Remote Sensing CEO's Offer Future Vision

Two remote sensing technology CEOs offered provocative insights into how they will conduct their companies in the near future at the Map World Forum in Hyderabad, India today. Jill Smith of DigitalGlobe wants her company to proactively collect imagery of regions of the world where climate change or other problems might be of interest to the global geospatial community. Dr. Robert Moses of PCI Geomatics believes that one day we will use a web service to query and analyze for change detection in a region using not only a time-series of remotely-sensed imagery but advanced classification algorithms to automatically map and highlight the affected areas. "The greatest opportunity is to enable a true model using all of the available sensors," said Moses.

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Refocussing at MetaCarta

I spoke to John Donnelly, Executive Vice President Worldwide Sales and Marketing at MetaCarta, about some recent changes at the company. He explained that at the end of last year the company began making plans to trim and refocus. The upshot was a 10% layoff in January. More recently, the Board of Directors stepped in and arranged for five year CEO Ron Matros to step down. The search is already underway for a new CEO with several candidates already lined up. Donnelly expects to have an announcement later this spring on the appointee.

MetaCarta has been doing quite well with 20% growth in 2008. Still, there was a sense it was time to realign for the next stage. That meant combining sales and marketing (which now report to Donnelly who had been the head of global sales) and more emphasis in core markets of public sector and energy and a bit less in the media arena. While there's been some good uptake in many media markets, the current challenges in that sector made the company think it was time to back off a bit. But it doesn't sound like it will be for too long: the new CEO may well have experience in media, advertising and consumer facing solutions.

Donnelly was quick to point some recent contracts. British Transport has signed on the use the technology as it prepares for the 2012 Olympics (press release). The Department of Homeland Security and Shell Oil have re-upped. And, wi-max provider ClearWire offers location-based content on Clear365, using MetaCarta tools. Also coming: a deal with Microsoft.

Time for "How to Lie with Maps - The Web Version"?

I just read "How Google Maps Can Save -- and Disrupt -- Lives" by Frank Patalong writing at Speigel Online. It's a nice round up about how maps can be used for good or can "make trouble." The article highlights how those pros and cons may be amplified by the Web itself. The themes in the article not really news to those who've studied maps and cartography and are watching how the Web becomes part of our societal framework.

Still, it may be time for Mark Monmonier (or someone as insightful) to "update" his classic "How to Lie with Maps" for the Web generation. (That book was required reading in Mr. Meyer's cartography class in 19985.) Any takers?

Geospatial Industry in India: "I do not see any specific slow down" Says Minister of Science & Technology and Earth Science

It's rare that a politician can wax prophetically on geospatial technology. Maybe it's his training as a lawyer, but Shri Kipal Sibal, India's  Minister of Science & Technology, can articulate better than most any geospatial technologist a vision for what's needed to expand opportunity in his country. 

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