Wednesday, March 18. 2009

Future of GIS in Real Estate: Generic to Specific?

A press release from Prudential Real Estate caught my eye. It describes a new app (details, but registration is required to actually use the tool) the company offers tailored to finding housing for military families on Oahu. We in the industry know that any generic real estate search could help any family find suitable housing. It might include proximity to schools, shopping etc., information on pricing, crime, etc. This is no different really, but it is customized for the target population. There's no need to know the address of the base where Mom or Dad will work; it's in the app. There's no need to know the relocation allowance the government pays, that's there too.

This is a great marketing move for Prudential. I sure hope they developed a template so they can offer other custom sites like this for other specialized market groups.

Study: GIS is Here to Stay in Government

Datamonitor put out the report titled "Where in the City? Using GIS to Manage Government Information." The company, of which I'd not heard until a few days ago, offers a report that says nothing most in the industry don't already know. Report author Ben Madgett: "The technology is now in wide demand at all levels of government, and across geographies as well. It’s safe to say GIS has hit the tipping point in government."

The new stat we can quote: "Nearly three quarters of government agencies in Europe and North America have, or plan to, implement geographic information systems (GIS), with over half of agencies surveyed having implemented GIS in the past 12 months." The reason? Demand from constituents.

I can't find anything about the report at Datamonitor.com (from Datamonitor: you must register to get information about the report; I chose not to do so), but you can get further info via this page.

- Silicon Republic

iPhone Turn by Turn Apps Allowed: But Don't Use Google Data

There were lots of great things in Tuesday's announcement from Google about the new OS, version 3.0 for the iPhone. Per David Pogue the new release due this summer for all platforms (free or small fee) covers all the "chronic" problems.

Those developers interested in putting maps in their apps are in luck. They can now embed maps in applications and access many of the features found in the Google Maps iPhone application.

That's great but one big frustration for users and developers has been the limitation on "turn by turn" directions; until this release they were not allowed. Now, they are, BUT you have to use "your own" data, not Google's. David Pogue puts it this way in a blog post:

Turn-by-turn directions. Programmers can now create GPS programs with turn-by-turn directions—as long as they don’t use Google’s wonderful map information. Thanks to some dumb legal restrictions, they have to supply their own map data.

Since I'm in the industry, I know about "legal restrictions" and the challenges they present. I'm looking forward to how the data providers (fee, free and open) respond to these "dumb legal restrictions." This is a marketing opportunity; let's see which companies turn it to advantage.

Obama Zeros Out Loran-C in Budget

NextGov reports that President Obama's 2010 budget does not include funds for Long Range Navigation System, Loran-C, a navigation system run by the Coast Guard. The Homeland Security Department budget zeroes out funding for the system that serves as a backup where GPS does not work well. The decision is in keeping with the president's promise to "unfund" outdated systems. The savings could top $36 million in 2010. Some are not convinced the system is no longer needed.

C|net Covers SXSWi Panel: "Using GPS and Location to Enhance Social Networking"

The big question was interoperability. Despite efforts of OGC and the recently launched OSLO, right now, "doesn't look good."

- C|net