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.

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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

Google Maps Flu Vaccine Provider App

I’m not sure why this is so exciting, but Google created a My Maps app that offers locations and times for accessing seasonal and H1N1 Swine Flu vaccines. ReadWriteWeb is very excited:

The application gives vaccine location hours, when available, and even lets users know when vaccine supplies have run out at a particular location.

Data sources?

Project managers Roni Zeiger, M.D., and Jennifer Haroon wrote on the official Google blog, “Especially given slower than expected vaccine production, we think it’s important to bring together flu shot information in a coherent manner. We’ve been working with HHS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state and local health agencies to gather information on flu vaccine locations across the country, particularly for the H1N1 flu vaccine (both the nasal-spray vaccine and the shot).”

Now, Google has gathered information about locations of flu vaccine shots from 20 states in the U.S. Google is also collecting information from chain pharmacies and other vaccine providers in all 50 states. Currently, users can find vaccine shots available from retail chains such as Walgreen’s, CVS, Kmart, and WinnDixie.

In my local search each Walgreens came up twice. Also, there is no information on the source of the data. I’d err on the side of sourcing and visit my state’s public health website.

- ReadWriteWeb

New ESRI Viewer to Play With

Check out #ESRI #Geoportal #Flex Data #Finder Widget: http://geoss.esri.com/geoviewer - supports AGS, ArcIMS, WMS & GeoRSS.

@martenhogeweg

I didn’t have much luck running it in Safari - could not zoom in…and could not figure out how to clear a search. (The help is not yet implemented.)