Census Director Robert Groves haf named 10 new members and a chairwoman to the Census Bureau’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC). The SAC provides advice on the design and implementation of Census Bureau programs. Cool. Every one of them was an academic, save one.
Jack Dangermond, founder and president of Environmental Systems Research Institute in Redlands, Calif. ESRI is a privately held geographic information systems software company.
- press release
A press release from Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, a private university (not to be confused with Penn State Harrisburg) teaches geotechnologies. In fact it boasts the only four-year degree program in Geospatial Technology in the central pennsylvania region. Cool. Interesting? The title of the press release announcing this fact was:
Geospatial Technology Job Market Predicted to Grow by 35 Percent
The source of that statement? "... a recent lecture by Dr. Christopher Sutton, professor of geography at Western Illinois University" (cited in APB a few weeks ago). The source of that statistic? It's not clear, but according to the local paper and the press release what Sutton said was: "It's estimated that the geospatial job market right now is growing by 35 percent annually." I found the state cited by the Dept of Labor which cites GITA. The date of that statistic? The DOL page is 2004 updated 2010. The GITA page has no date and no source for the statistic.
- press release
Pictometry announced a new corporate identity. I was not really sure what that meant, so first I looked up corporate identity. I found this from Wikipedia:
In marketing, a corporate identity is the "persona" of a corporation which is designed to accord with and facilitate the attainment of business objectives. It is usually visibly manifested by way of branding and the use of trademarks.
That's pretty much what I expected. The new look, with a NBC Peacock-like graphic is "signaling the Company's transition from an image capture provider to an image analytics and complete solutions maker." The company tagline is (and I guess was): The Aerial Oblique Photography Company. Perhaps that will change in time, too.
- press release
by Adena Schutzberg on 09/05 at 03:00 AM |
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After a rather tumultous few years in which the Geospatial Information and Technology Association (GITA) saw attendence at their annual conference fade and their regional chapters in some disarray, executive director Bob Samborski sees the group turning the page and entering a new era. He said that while the annual event will be cancelled, the association is looking to affiliate with other organizations in which geospatial plays an ancillary role. GITA will be looking to work with the Utilimetrics Association, a utilities technology organization, and supporting their Autovation Conference. GITA will also be manageing the FOSS4G event in the fall and perhaps expanding their very successful Oil & Gas Conference to incorporate upstream exploration topics. It received an extension on its contract with the Department of Homeland Security for its Geospatially Enabling Community Collaboration (GECCo) program.
Organizationally, Samborski has realigned his staff leaving four full-time employees and also recently pulled out of the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) citing dysfunction within that group.
by Joe Francica on 07/13 at 06:13 AM |
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I spoke with Bob Samborski, president of the Geospatial Information and Technology Association (GITA), this morning regarding some reports that have been surfacing about the status of the Geospatial Solutions Conference that took place this week in Grapevine, Texas. Attendance for the association's annual conference had been declining in recent years and there had been discussions among board members as to the future of the event. Several factors, inlcuding the economy, have led Samborski to indicate that the conference "had run its course." Both from attendees and exhibitors the feedback had been that while the program was excellent, the attendance was disappointing.
For next year, Samborski indicated that whatever the association decides, it will be "not this conference...not [in] this format." No dates have been confirmed for next year nor a meeting venue. This was the 34th annual meeting for the association and Samborski said it took some time for him to come to the conclusion that this may be the final event, but hastened to add that other alternatives are being discussed. One of those alternatives may include co-locating a similar GITA event with Utilimetrics, another utility technology association at their Autovation conference. Samborski felt that since Utilimetrics was another association that the fit with their business model may be most appropriate. These details will all be worked out in the future and an official statement from GITA will be forthcoming.
My take: Over the last several years, I've commented on the state of the GITA conference (2005, 2007, 2010) and have had many conversations with Bob. I think the decision taken at this time by the association is the proper one and the move to build relationships with other, similar utility technology associations will benefit the community of users and association members. It's time to change and as geospatial techology matures, we're seeing a shift toward vertical solution events rather than broad GIS conferences. While the conclusion of this annual event may seen unfortunate, the association should and will look toward other avenues to forge a different technology community.
by Joe Francica on 04/13 at 07:05 AM |
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The launch is offered in connection with a discount price to join GITA:
Become a GITA Member for $99 9/9/09 -12/31/09
That gives you “exclusive access to two of the Center’s most exciting features, a year-round online community launching in October and an GIT4Infrastructure Information Feed launching in November that will be the most extensive feed for all things geospatial, infrastructure, and the stimulus package.”
- press release
—- original post 9/9/09——
GITA’s Geospatial Information Center for Infrastructure at git4infrastructure.org launches on Wednesday.
Per the site it’s an “online, interactive information center that will constantly evolve to give GITA constituents daily information for geospatially managing, protecting, maintaining, and operating the infrastructure.” Some content will be free to all, but two aspects - an online community and a specialized feed - will be for GITA members only.
via @BrentJones_ESRI
by Adena Schutzberg on 09/09 at 01:22 PM |
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Do we encourage the next generation of young geospatial professionals to get degrees in specific disciplines such as geology, forestry, urban planning, etc. or do we train them to be “geospatial thinker” with a degree in GIS? This was the question posed at a panel at last week’s Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference. This week we review the panelists’ thoughts and offer up our opinions.
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by Adena Schutzberg on 04/28 at 01:00 AM |
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