Wednesday, November 11. 2009

LINZ Interested in Public/Private Data Options

Land information minister Maurice Williamson and Land Information NZ (LINZ) chief executive Colin MacDonald noted being open to working with private companies to secure data for the citizenry of New Zealand. In one exercise, all the attendees at the ESRI NZ user conference were asked to stand, then to sit if they didn't want to cooperate with LINZ. Reportedly, just one person sat.

Also interesting, private company Critchlow Ltd, Director Steve Critchlow noted his willingness to make some of his IP available.

"If it's on the right terms" Critchlow Ltd would be prepared to transfer some of its intellectual property to government, says Steve Critchlow.

Critchelow himself was there as he chairs the Spatial Industries Business Association of NZ and was as I understand it, invited to speak on a panel. Stuff.co.nz reports: "ESRI and Critchlow Ltd are competitors so no Critchlow staff attended the bulk of the conference."

- Stuff.co.nz

PolicyMap Widget Available

Remember PolicyMap, that cool site (powered by Placebase's PushPin, now apparently owned by Apple) that offered up simple to make interactive maps to help in policy decisions? Now there's an embeddable widget to put those maps on your website. Alas: "Up to 3 widgets at a time can be available for free to Premium subscribers and at an additional $500 per year to annual Standard [free] subscribers. Widgets are available to non-subscribers for $1,000 per year."

This new offering -- The PolicyMap Widget -- is a customizable instance of PolicyMap that displays interactive maps on your website in just a few, simple steps. Like PolicyMap, the widgets can display data at a variety of geographies -- from an address to a block group, zip code or congressional district. PolicyMap widgets are fully interactive -- giving both the visualization of a thematic or heat map.

Continue reading "PolicyMap Widget Available"

Corporate Owners: Geotech Not that Important in 2009

The Tenth Annual Survey of Owners from FMI Corp., and CMAA (Construction Management Assn. of America) McLean, Va., resulted in a report: Inflection Point: Defining the Future of the Worldwide Construction Industry. The effort surveyed 191 participants, representing various owner types, types of construction, industry sectors, and geographies.

Here's the relevant data for our world:

The study shows maintenance technology—GIS (geographic information systems), GPS (global positioning system), and BIM (building information modeling)—was one of the least important factors in 2009. However, as we look out to 2014 FMI says the importance of this type of technology will rise for owners.

I don't think I've heard of GIS and GPS referred to as "maintenance technologies." Does that suggest they are not used before and during construction? I know less about BIM but thought that was used across the lifecycle, too.

- Constructech

Update: The Canton, Ohio Google Issue

Update: Canton is back where it belongs...but when you search for Canton, Ohio, you are not taken there. Instead, you are still in Massillon. So, I guess while the label is now there, the geocoding is not up-to-date.

Continue reading "Update: The Canton, Ohio Google Issue"

AT&T Labs Shows of New Tech Ideas

AT&T Labs in San Francisco held an open house last Thursday to show off its Emerging Devices division, and some location-based services, social networking, and medical devices of the future. Most were, well, lame (coupons based on location!). The augmented reality platform isn't lame but feels a bit behind the times:

Another project currently being cooked up in AT&T's Labs, this is called Air Graffiti. AT&T's version of augmented reality, it allows users to virtually tag places with tips, web links, sales information, personal notes, and more. When people then look at digital maps they can see the information for places tagged as they walk down the street. The carrier is aiming to build the back end of this platform and sell it to companies that want to make their own location-based services.

- Silicon.com

Crowdsourcing Where Animals Cross the Road

I-70 Wildlife Watch can use Google Maps of the interstate corridor to pinpoint an animal sighting (live or dead) within a tenth of a mile. The goal is to increase driver awareness of animals, which cause many accidents per year and to implement safety efforts in Colorado.

- Westworld Blog