Tuesday, March 17. 2009

Podcast: A New Map of the Geospatial Marketplace

The geospatial technology provider marketplace is growing every day. New players are hitching their wagons to the demand for enterprise solutions from specialized corners of information technology, not to mention the far corners of the globe. How can we make sense of the lay of the land and what the future may hold? Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg explore a new map (graphic after break) and the possible road ahead.

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Tuesday, November 11. 2008

Podcast: Platformization - Marketing or Solution?

Players in the geospatial arena are offering grouping of products referred to as platforms or portfolios to address enterprise needs. Bentley this week announced its V8i portfolio. A few weeks ago Microsoft rolled out its Single View Platform. Are these launches just marketing efforts or is there more?

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Wednesday, October 29. 2008

NGA's Murrett Emphasizes Commitment to Commercial Satellite Imagery Industry

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's directory, Vice Admiral Robert Murrett, stongly emphasized, several times during his address at the GEOINT Symposium, that no other agency in the U.S. government supports and is committed to the health of the commercial satellite imagery (CSI) industry than his agency. "The array of sensors we have is getting more and more important all the time; Panchromatic sensors are our bread an butter but other sensors will become important like hyperspectral and LiDAR," said Murrett. "We need to tip our hat to our domestic partner," he said referring to the successful launches of GeoEye-1 by GeoEye and WorldView-1 by DigitalGlobe.

In other comments, Murrett said that the NGA's foundation level data cannot be taken for granted referring to the geodetic control, controlled imagery and elevation data that must first be prepated before any analyses can be perfomed. Having data that is readily retrieved and rapidly adaptable to circumstances on the ground to support warfighters is a key mission of the NGA.

An "F" in Marketing Savvy

At GEOINT this afternoon, I approached the Zebra Imaging booth and marveled at the 3-D holographic displays. I wanted to grab a quick photo to use in this blog post but, WHOA..."Excuse me...no photos sir, came the voice." What was that? You're not selling this product? See the press badge? Do you want free publicity? Is it a secret? I know it's holographic but it's not invisible. So, I was handed some marketing literature which quickly made its way into the circular file. That was bad form...So, they still get the blog post but an "F" in marketing savvy. (no hyperlink either)

Attendance At GEOINT Looks Robust; Exhibits "So So"

Attendance at GEOINT this year in Nashville at the Opryland Hotel looked very robust by looking at the opening session; I'd estimate about 2500 people. Exhibitor's however thought the traffic was light to moderate. My take was that most booths were busy but not overly crowded...not even Google.

Tuesday, October 28. 2008

Nav Devices...They're Like Spell Checkers..."It's OK Not to Think"

As I was driving back to my hotel tonight from the GEOINT conference in Nashville, a short five mile drive, I used my NIM-powered VZNavigator to find my way from the Opryland Hotel. And it dawned on me...PNDs are like spell checkers...they give you permission not to think.

Back in the day...I would prepare for this kind of short journey by using a paper map,  look for street names and landmarks. Now, I just listen...rather, I'm told where to go. It's like a spell checker; you don't have to spell very well but that's OK, your misspelled and sometimes horrible grammar get corrected. In this case, your navigation IQ can be amplified and generally you can "tune-out" to your environment. Such is the pity.

As we get more into connected nav devices and greater data streams allow for better navigation, we may (and I emphasize "may") lose local familiarity or the desire to navigate by landmarks. If you are looking for a business or other location and stop at a gas station, most locals will tell you to navigate by local landmarks..."Turn right at the McDonald's and head toward the Big 10 Tire sign...it'll be on your right..." or some such reference. I'd like to see if my next PND will navigate me by landmarks and POIs.