Monday, March 9. 2009

Video: Jane Goodall - Presentation at the Map World Forum

I captured a portion of Jane Goodall's keynote presentation where she describes how she came about to use GIS technology for monitoring chimpanzee habitat and the general ecosystem near the Gombe National Forest as part of the work going on at the Jane Goodall Institute.

Thursday, February 12. 2009

TomTom Map Share Feedback Even Surprises Tele Atlas

This week, Tele Atlas (TA) announced the first release of their global street network that is augmented with data from TomTom Map Share, a service offered to users of TomTom portable navigation devices (PND) that allows them to independently report a variety of road network changes including impedences, new signage, etc. The feedback is sent to TA, a TomTom company, but as a consequence of collecting so much additional data, TA recognized that it was also capturing new road geometry not previously mapped.

Users of TomTom PNDs have the option of providing feedback in a few different ways. One is to manually indicate road blockages, for example, but another is to share certain bits of data such as speed and position. As it turns out,TomTom users were leaving their PNDs on even in areas where there was sparse or no road coverage such as certain regions of Eastern Europe. This feedback made it's way to TA database managers that are recognizing that new road segments were being added to the community contributed data. This new information allows the company to selectively dispatch crews to verify new road geometry and perhaps identify pockets of new users for additional marketing and advertising.

I spoke to Mr. Arnout Desmet while attending the Map World Forum conference in Hyderbad. Directions just recently interviewed Mr. Desmet when it was announced that TA had signed a agreement with the Survey of India (SOI) to incorporate SOI data into the TA road database. He also informed me about TA's historical speed profiles which are now being incorporated into traffic information. TA began collecting speed information in 2006 and now has a database of historical profiles in 5 minute increments for various times of day and now over months of time. Essentially, TomTom users are acting as probes on the street network collecting a vast amount of data that now equals twice the entire road network of Europe every 24 hours according to Mr. Desmet. He believes this is a unique service that TomTom provides to users.

Field Service Management ROI Numbers

People are always asking us for the size of certain markets. Today at the Map World Forum, Prakash Iyer of Trimble offered these numbers for the Field Services Management (FSM) market based on an Aberdeen Research report, which he said was conducted in 2007. [Directions Magazine published results of a 2006 FSM report from Aberdeen)

FSM is predicted b to be $1.7 B by 2012

Market Drivers – better service; constant cost pressure; increased productivity; vehicle and driver safety; Sarbannes-Oxley compliance

Typical ROI

12% increase in service profitability
13% increase in vehicle utilization
15% reduction in average travel time per job
10% decrease in overtime pay
28% increase in driver compliance

From Earth Orbit to Drill Bit: A View for Integrated, Location-Aware Mining Operations

At the Map World Forum in Hyderabad, Martin Nix of Leica Geosystems presented a vision for a true top (think GPS satellite) to bottom (think drill hole) vision of location-aware mining operations. Certainly, GPS solutions for vehicle location tracking have been widely used in mines before but Leica’s vision is to develop an entirely integrated approach that involves highly precise positioning from drill hole navigation and operation to vehicle telematics. A key driver of implementing these new systems is safety as well as improving machine operator efficiency and fleet management. Nix commented that providing visual information to both dispatchers and vehicle operators increases awareness of all aspects of mine operations and empowers all workers with much needed information. Both in the operations center and in the vehicle cockpit, maps and the location other vehicles in the mine can be displayed along with machine diagnostics. Nix explained that centimeter-accurate positioning for mining will avoid digging and drilling too far or not far enough in addition to reducing material loss. So precise and sensitive are these new tools that it will help determine rock type in order to guide drill bit usage and power. How close is Leica to delivering this vision? Nix explains that remote diagnostics is already in place. However, work needs to be done is the use of imagery to be used in real time. More collaboration with suppliers and more work on technology are needed, but incrementally there are many parts available now.

Tuesday, February 10. 2009

Off Topic: Mumbai Attacks Alter Indian Priorities of National Security

Watching from afar in the U.S., the terrorist attacks in Mumbai last November were frightening and disturbing. But after just a short while in country viewing local news and reading newspaper reports, the "26/11" attacks, as they are being called, are profoundly seen as India's 9/11. Speaking with some local delegates to the Map World Forum in Hyderabad who were in Mumbai at the time, it seems the attacks opened the eyes of government officials to the need for more emphasis on national security. Whoever was responsible and from wherever the attacks were planned, the tension between India and Pakistan is building once again. While security was certainly present when I attended the Map World Forum in 2007, the presence of the Vice President of India, Shri M Hamid Ansari, brought additional scrutiny of attendees with the restriction of no laptops, cell phones or cameras. While the world is certainly focused on the global economic crisis, tension beween two nuclear powers is an additional worry for the world.

Indian Ministry or Earth Science Focuses on Developing Tsunami Early Warning System

In an interview conducted with Dr. Shailesh Nayak, Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Science (Government of India), we discussed the use of GIS in developing a tsunami warning system that was begun shortly after the Indonesian tsunami in December 2004. India recognized a need for a rapid response system for tsunami warning. His department instituted a program to develop a three-part system using sensor systems to monitor tides, ocean bottom pressure recorders, and other coastal monitoring stations. He emphasized the need to acquire data in real-time. However, in order to enact a warning system that was accurate, there was a need to establish a huge database of tsunami models.

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