GPS Tracking Contest and other GIS Competitions

An group of companies including Deloitte, Deutsche Telecom, HYVE and The RWTH-TIM Research Group have banded together......to hold a contest with prizes worth more than $10,000, inviting people to use their imagination and present their wildest and best ideas for tracking anything—people, animals or objects of any size. The goal is to come up with new state-of-the-art, machine-to-machine (M2M) communications solutions.

Entries due: April 10.

- Ideabird via Sat News

The European Earth Monitoring Competition GMES Masters takes place on an annual basis and calls for new ideas and services making the best use of earth observation data from Europe's flagship program on Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES). Initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA), the Bavarian Ministry of Economy, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and T-Systems and supported by the European Commission and European Space Imaging GmbH, the GMES Masters 2012 will call for submissions between 1 June and 16 September 2012 in six categories.

This year there's a new challenge centered on the use of new applications for very high-resolution satellite imagery.

- press release

GISCI reminds GIS folks:

Land Cover Classification Contest and other GIS Competitions

Land Cover Classification Competition: Join Now!

First  Prize: The top ten validators will become co-authors of the paper:
Generation of a global hybrid land cover dataset.

Other Prizes

• Best Classifier – highest quality with  the  highest number of validations: 35 Euro Voucher from Amazon

• Second best Classifier: 20 Euro Amazon Voucher

• Third best Classifier: 20 Euro Amazon Voucher

This is part of the Geo-Wiki effort. Competition ends March 30.

- via SlashGeo

Google Map Maker University Mapping Contest for the US and Canada

Register now and start mapping February 13, 2012 through March 9, 2012!

 

Be a part of a university mapping contest open for US and Canadian students who currently study at a university in these two countries! From February 13, 2012 to March 9, 2012, improving the maps of your campus can give you a chance to be a local hero and the highest scoring entries will win prizes like Samsung Galaxy tablets, Samsung Android phones, Google Map Maker messenger bags, and more! 

NYC’s Belt-mounted GPS-enabled Radiation Detectors and other Government GIS News

The New York Police Department is launching a mobile radiation detection system equipped with location-tracking GPS technology that it says could help avert a so-called "dirty" bomb attack.

Two hundred ten officers stationed around the World Trade Center will wear the belt-mounted detectors said to be the first to use GPS (hard to believe, isn't it?). Permanently mounted sensors will also be used to help identify and locate dirty bombs.

- Reuters

The WHYY News and Civic Dialogue Director has partnered with GIS shop Azavea, the Daily News and others on Fix Philly Districts, an awareness campaign featuring a mock redistricting plan competition and civic engagement forums.

...Later this month, Azavea will host webinars on their sleek DistrictBuildersoftware, which will drive the contest, during which you, John Q. Public, will envision what the city’s legislative boundaries should look like and compete for $1,000, official presentation of your district plan and, you know, civic pride. TheDistrictBuilder software has been used nationwide for federal redistricting campaigns, an interest of Azavea founder Robert Cheetham.

It seems every state is having such a contest just using different software packages. What does that say about interest in redestricitng and the state of GIS?

- TechPhilly

It's a mess in the areas of the Civic Center in NY with lots of construction, but soon a city block sized map will be there to help locals and visitors find key buildings included court houses.

To help the wandering masses help themselves, Williams has been working for more than a year on a solution — the first comprehensive street map of the entire Civic Center to be posted in the area.

The map, slated to arrive later this month, will take up the length of a city block, and will hang as a series of banners ringing the construction site outside 26 Federal Plaza. It was designed by Poulin + Morris Inc.

It will be more thorough than some other posted street maps in the area, most of which only show a portion of the area around the Civic Center — for example, only showing the area south of Reade Street and not including the northern area near the courts.

- DNA Info