Microsoft Wants You to Know…Bing Maps Now Using Nokia Backend for Traffic and Geocoding

Building on the existing strategic partnership between Microsoft and Nokia, today we’re announcing that Bing Maps is now using Nokia backend services for Traffic and Geocoding. With the goal of helping get places faster and get more done, here are the key things Nokia services will do for Bing Maps:

• Bing Maps will now offer Nokia-powered traffic results in 24 countries.
• Improved and expanded traffic information in the US, adding traffic fo side streets in addition to freeways.
• Bing Maps will begin using Nokia geocoding countries, offering improved routing and directions.

- Microsoft PR which sends you to this blog post

Students Prep for Dam Failure and other Education GIS Tidbits

Students from Indian Hills Community College [Iowa] Geo-spatial Technology class worked with the Army Corps of Engineers at Red Rock. The group made six maps utilizing data from the Corps of Engineers, Mahaska County GIS Coordinator Brian Knudtson, along with data from the Iowa Geological Survey of the Iowa Dept of Natural Resources.

The purpose of the maps was to help better prepare for a hypothetical failure at the Red Rock Dam. Wanting to tackle a major project, the class saw this as a way to demonstrate the skills they have gained.

- Oskaloosa News

The U.S. EPA’s Office of Water is pleased to announce the Campus RainWorks Challenge for undergraduate and graduate students. Student teams are invited to create an innovative green infrastructure design for a site on their campus showing how managing stormwater at its source can benefit the campus community and the environment. Winning teams will earn a cash prize, as well as research funds for their faculty advisor to conduct research on green infrastructure.

Plan ahead: registration opens Sept 2012 with projects due Dec 2012.

- website

GeoEducation in Delaware, a subcommittee of Delaware Geographic Data Committee, sponsors an annual competition, which asked students to map an adventure in their community. Three eighth graders told the story of barrel No. 371's train trip from Norfolk to Georgetown and finally Lewes to take the win in their division. They won McDonald's gift certificates and their school recieved GIS software.

- Cape Gazette

The finals of the National Gegoraphic Geography Bee are tonight on the NatGeo Channel. Does this promote geo-literacy?

- NPR

Singapore Land Authority’s OneMap Offers Gov and NGOs Crowdsourcing Tools

In the U.S. we are still waiting to see how we might use Geoplatform.gov, but in Singapore the Land Authority (SLA) not only has its own OneMap, but now it has beta tools for government departments and non-governmental organizations to collect data via crowdsourcing via that map. One of the first users is a cat-focused organization which uses the map to have people map stray cats to address the issue. SLA has added a business query tool that will enable online purchases. This is not a private company; this is the government of Singapore. 

- FutureGov

VentureBeat: Trimble Acquires Spime

Spime?

Spime specializes in GPS software platforms for use by smartphone app developers. Its MapMan LBS Platform integrates social and location services into GPS-enabled apps. Spime also offers a navigation service and map service under the names Northstar Nav and Northstar Map. Spime’s customers include mobile operators, manufacturers, developers, and platform and semiconductor providers, who use its platforms to build location-based apps. Nokia’s Navteq has partnered with Spime for its GPS technology.

Most of its offerings are white labeled, so its not a brand that's well-known in the LBS or consumer space.

VentureBeat reports the news citing Spime CEO's Shankar Narayanan, chief executive's LinkedIn page. There's no official word from Trimble on its website as this post goes to press. It's unclear if Trimble plans to use the technology in its professional offerings or if maybe this is a move into the platform space.

- VentureBeat

Dr. Oz Likes GIS and other Health GIS News

Dr. Oz and his crew were in Philadelphia giving 15 minute physicals and compiling the data from them for the mayor. Medigadget did an interview with Oz's  medical unit clinical event director, Mike Hoaglin and caught this gem about GIS.

Medgadget:  Are there any trends in medical technology or innovation (e.g. quantified self, big data analytics) that you and Dr. Oz are particularly excited about?

Hoaglin:  In general, much of the data out there remain untapped and hold a treasure trove of information that can really transform the way we think about health. We’re particularly excited about the potential of decoding unstructured data through natural language processing technology, where we can pull critical data elements from prose writing. Incorporating GIS technology into disease surveillance will allow the earlier intervention in devasting health crises as tell-tale symptoms are reported earlier.

- Medgagadget