Globe and Mail on Esri GIS in Canada

The article notes only one company, Esri and extensively quotes Esri Canada head, Alex Miller. There’s nothing new here for those in the biz, though a Miller statement on the Canadian census decision to drop the long form prompts some comments. He states:

We are really upset about the long form census being dropped because it is a tremendous source of all kinds of information that fuels geographic analysis of all kinds of things,” he said. “Banking, insurance, retail and manufacturing – they all use this extensively to try to improve productivity. I just can’t imagine a more short-sighted view.

The comment I found most telling:

8/31/2010 8:05:40 PM
I’d like to know if this is new news for any readers. I work in this field and thought that people generally know that this stuff goes on.

- Globe and Mail

3M Agrees to Acquire People Tracking Company

3M Corporation will acquire Attenti, an Israel-based company for $230 Million, that tracks people via GPS. Attenti’s clients include companies in the security and telecommunications industries.