Tuesday, February 17. 2009

The U.S. Economic Stimulus Package - What's in it for Geospatial

The economic stimulus package signed today into law by President Barack Obama totals $787 Billion. Is there anything in this bill that can be remotely "tagged" as stimulating the geospatial industry? There's been lots of talk about the "trickle down" effect of how infrastructure projects will spur the business of road and building design, site selection, and analysis. But is there anything more specific than that? The Wall Street Journal published a fairly comprehensive list of where spending will be appropriated. So, let's analyze, albeit as an "educated guess," where the spending "might" impact the geospatial technology sector:

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Ex-Thompson Associates Start New Retail Site Selection Company

Noted retail site selection authority Bob Buckner, formerly the president of Thompson Associates that was acquired by MapInfo in 2003, has opened a new company called Intalytics. Buckner and other Thompson colleagues, including David Huntoon, were profiled in the business section of Michigan Online recently. Huntoon was quoted as saying that "Our primary research is helping retailers determine their optimal store deployment," which was Thompson's primary strength when they helped customers like Home Depot with their site selection strategy.

NZ LBS Competition Deadline Extended

In what seems to be a day-to-day occurrence, another deadline has been pushed up. New Zealand's GeoSmart has decided to extend the deadline for its Location Innovation Awards competition until next Monday, 23 February, at 5pm. The company says that after contacting those who signed up, many said that they'd be able to finish their projects with another week.

- The Channel

Geographers Suggest Bin Laden's Probable Location

The research by Thomas Gillespie and John Agnew of the University of California-Los Angeles is reported in the MIT Internation Review. In short the pair and other team members used a variety of information inputs, including night imagery, electricity use and other data, along with some profiling principles, to suggest three different compounds in Parachinar, a town 12 miles from the Pakistan border, where Bin Laden may be hiding.

USA Today reviews the process:

Essentially, the study generates hiding-place location probabilities. It starts with "distance decay theory," which holds that the odds are greater that the person will be found close to where he or she was last seen.

Then the researchers add the "island biographic theory," which maintains that locales with more resources — palm trees for tropical birds and electricity for wealthy fugitives — are likelier to draw creatures of interest.

"Island biographic theory suggests bin Laden would end up in the biggest and least isolated city of the region," Gillespie says, one among about 26 towns within a 20-mile distance of Tora Bora.

Well-known geographic-profiling expert Kim Rossmo of Texas State University in San Marcos, suggests the researchers are on to something but may be a bit overconfident: "It's important to think outside the box, and this is an innovative idea worth more pursuit. However, the authors are much too certain of their conclusions."

- UCLA News release
- USA Today

Blue Dasher gets Tele Atals/NAVTEQ Treatment from the Press

After reading dozens of articles about how Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ drive the streets to collect data, it's nice to see a new company in the data collections spotlight: Blue Dasher. While much is the same - a strange car gets stares as it drives around the neighborhood and it can't take pictures in some locations - much is different. Blue Dasher is capturing high resolution images on all sides and the top of the car allowing for 360 degree visualization. It creates a sort of tunnel through which one can drive, bike or run. The collections are speculative and will hopefully be sold to real estate companies, commercial developers and Web services firms. The big challenge for Blue Dasher perhaps is simply distinguishing its for fee data from the "free" Google StreetView.

- Tampa Bay Online

Mapping of the West Bank

JumpStart International is beginning its efforts to map "developing countries" in Palestine. The first place to be mapped is the West Bank. Participants will learn GIS, surveying and cartography skills to produce a street map of the West Bank using web-based open source software. Among the partners: Relief International, the Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem and Atlas Corporation the largest land survey and map-making company based in the West Bank. The data will be in the public domain. Sounds like OSM should say hello.

- Ma'an News