Appistry Makes 2010 Predictions for Cloud Computing

In 2009, Appistry, the provider of enterprise cloud computing services, provided their predictions. For 2010, the company once again looks ahead to where they see the cloud computing paradigms shifting.

2009 Predictions
—The “year of the cloud” for the enterprise
—Cloud platforms begin to overtake App Server
—Several organizations offer cloud standards but debate to rage on
—HP works its way into middleware
—Amazon enters platform arena with new tools

2010 Predictions
—Market disruptions accelerate into 2010
—The "cloud" experiences growing pains
—2010 – the year of Platform as a Service
—The Cloud Shapes Data, Data Shapes the Cloud
—Put up or shut up year for tech firms; A bubble looming (Are grow rate predictions too high for public cloud companies?)

The archived webinar allows you to hear the experts elaborat on their predictions.

Federal Transportation Dept Audit Explores Traffic.com Concerns

The concerns run from simple ones like reliability of the sensor network, to more complex ones revolving around data licensing:  the data from the company’s federally funded sensors is not available to local, state and federal governments to use in real time without payment. Promised revenue sharing with local and state partners (no funds were ever distributed, though Traffic.com does sell the data to many organizations). Also bothersome is the DOTs response to findings detailed in an audit by the Transportation Department’s inspector general provided to the NYTimes before it will be made public. The DOT simply cited “nine letters from members of Congress — many of whom had received frequent campaign contributions from executives at Traffic.com — who demanded, among other requests, that it skip a competitive bidding process and give more money to Traffic.com.”

Representative Anthony D. Weiner (NY) requested the audit. He suggests the government should cancel the now 10 year old Traffic.com agreement, “reclaim the equipment and put the project back out to bid under new terms.” Traffic.com is now owned by NAVTEQ.

- NY Times

Education Tidbits

Idaho State University history professor J.B. “Jack” Owens received a National Science Foundation award for a project titled “Understanding social networks within complex, nonlinear systems: geographically-integrated history and dynamics GIS.” About $1.3 million of the four-year grant will go to ISU, with about $471,000 to go to the University of Oklahoma and co-principal investigator May Yuan.

The project will focus on historical data from the first global age, 1400-1800, which will be generated through archival research, geographically-integrated data mining from digital files of historical documents and secondary works written by earlier historians, and data sets contributed by interested historians. Because the data will be made available to the project in different formats, the project will design a system to reorganize data sets into a common database format. The resulting database, the various software products, and documentation about techniques of analysis and visualization will be freely distributed through a project web site for use in research and classroom instruction.

- Idaho State University

NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (GIS) INTERNSHIP PROGRAM – DEADLINE JAN 31, 2010

“The GIS Internship Program is open to community college, undergraduate, and graduate students majoring in the fields of geography, technology, and civil engineering with experience in geospatial technology or an interest in developing their skills in spatial data technology in support of NASA’s mission. A student majoring in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), history, archaeology or any other major and demonstrating an interest in working in historical documentation and geospatial technology (GIS) will also be considered.”

- Oregon Spacegrant Blog

I had a little back and forth with the folks at Frostburg State about this grant from Frostburg State University Foundation:

Dr. Fritz Kessler of the Geography Department was awarded funds for a portable Global Positioning System (GPS) device to collect raw data which will then be used to map the local area. This research will look at how the use of such GPS devices coupled with specialized Web services are changing the way map-based information is produced and distributed by the novice cartographer. The collected data will use mapping services like Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps to create maps that can be shared across the Web. This mapping process will also be demonstrated in Kessler’s cartography classes as they study how the Web, GPS devices, and other mobile technologies have changed the field of cartography.

At first, Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps were identified as non-profits. Then as open source. I’m glad this is now straightened out. I wonder if one goal is to provide the collected data to a mapping service? May I suggest OpenStreetMap as a great place to share it?

- updated press release
- original press release

Foster kids in the Redlands area are getting a taste of GIS and GPS thanks to a program at the University of Redlands. Saturday’s program, timed to coincide with GIS Day, is part of the Partnership for Youth in Foster Care and is a collaborative program with the university’s School of Education and San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. The students will use software and materials from ESRI.
- Redlands Daily Facts

The Institute for Health, Social, and Community Research (IHSCR) at Shaw University has been awarded a five-year research grant for $4,116,437 from the National Institutes of Health, National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD). The grant will be used to implement The Shaw NCMHD Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) Project. Of note for geospatial folks: “The award will also develop the new Center for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and supplement the Health Services Resource Library within the new state-of-the-art research facility on Shaw’s campus.” Shaw is private university, affiliated with the Baptist church, and is the oldest historically Black college in the South. It’s in Raleigh.

- press release

Remote Sensing Tidbits

Yiqioa Wang, a University of Rhode Island professor, and research partners will use a $1.15 million, four-year grant from NASA to use satellite data to see what development pressures and climate change may be threatening the scenic trail in the future.

- http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20091207/NEWS01/912070319/1009”>Citizen Times

“The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UC San Diego and Arizona State University have been awarded a $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to operate an internet-based national data facility for high-resolution topographic data acquired with LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology. The facility will also provide online processing tools and act as a community repository for information, software and training materials.”

- press release

Einar Bjorgo summarizes the UN’s use of satellite imagery in support to emergency response, in particular its use in humanitarian relief operations.

- http://community.zdnet.co.uk/blog/0,1000000567,10014632o-2000581318b,00.htm”>ZDnet UK Tech for Change

GPS/NAV Tidbits

MacWorld compares nine navigation apps for the iPhone. Bottom line (Google Maps Navigation is dealt with separately):

Overall, AT&T Navigator was the best app among those with low prices, recurring monthly fees, and small app sizes; among the large apps with pre-loaded maps, Navigon MobileNavigator scored the highest. Combining decent quality with a low price, MotionX was the best bargain among all the apps I reviewed.

- MacWorld

The WSJ blog winds up a marketing experiment by Blu Dot, a furniture maker based in Minneapolis. It placed its fancy chairs, some with GPS devices and all with notes asked takers to “call in for an interview” on street corners. Strangely, the blog post refers to “thieves” although this was purely a marketing play.

- WSJ blog

In other GPS marketing news, BrickHouse Security is again offering free GPS tracking and video cameras to help keep parts of outdoor holiday displays from disappearing.

- Star Ledger

And, one more GPS marketing story: Ohio-based Dillie the deer, ok her family, won the Zoombak contest for creative uses of the tracking device. Dillie is a family pet (I saw the deer on the news recently, with no mention of the contest) and the device allows the owners to keep track of her should she get out. They bought the device after that occurred the first time.

- Norwich Bulletin