We had an excellent turn out last Thursday for our first afternoon seminar (around 45-50 people) and a set of complementary and fascinating presentations.

Matt Elsey from ESRI(UK) gave a fascinating presentation last Wednesday on Enterprise Architecture and GIS. This was a joint meeting with the Enterprise Architecture Specialist Group.

As we start the new year, we are looking forward to a full programme of activities in the Geospatial SG, starting with a joint meeting with the Enterprise Archiecture SG on the 20th January on Enterprise Architecture and GIS - an ESRI perspective (re-scheduled from January 7th due to the weather)

Several geoblogs mentioned that DigitalGlobe successfully launched WorldView-2. From SS: WorldView-2 will provide the highest resolution commercial satellite imagery available at 46 cm panchromatic. The satellite will also offer the most spectral bands from a commercial satellite with four standard colors (red, blue, green, near-IR) and four additional colors (red edge, coastal, yellow, near-IR2). The satellite also includes high-precision attitude sensors and GPS for what is billed as the highest geolocation accuracy yet available with predicted performance in the range of 4.6 to 10.7 meters. See also the official WorldView-2 website and the related stories below.

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Rich Owings writes "In a move that shocked many GPS fans, Garmin rolled out beta firmware for their latest generation handheld receivers allowing you to add aerial photos, USGS topos, park maps, marine charts, etc., by georeferncinga .jpg as a KMZ file in Google Earth. It was announced in this low key blog post. I put up a new post today with some tips and resources."

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It's noted on the blog; it seems Mapquest is no longer issuing press releases on such things. That's interesting - and very Google-like! I wonder how it will impact coverage of their announcements? One data point: This blog post was from 10/6 and I j...Read more

I continue to argue that the place for data providers, except those ready to take on the world, is to find those niches not filled. Case in point: Ken Amsden of FirearmsMaps.com. As a beginning hunter he could not find maps of the legal hunting areas...Read more

Jonathan Feldman is stepping up to tell us how: he details what the feds, state and local, education, and private sector must do. He doesn't call out the public to do anything (ironic after the last few days I had at LI talking about crowdsourcing!) ...Read more

It was a rumored for some time that Google was replacing the incumbent street centerline provider and we confirmed yesterday via Tele Atlas that Google would use its own street data for Google Maps in the United States. It was to everyone's surprise ...Read more

uismedia writes "MapViewSVG, uismedia's powerful tool to create Web maps, will now be presented with a new name: Mappetizer. With this the name is changed, but the innovation will continue: Demanding Online-GIS-Applications on the base of vector technologies, which are supported from all major browsers and don't need any specific web server technology. With Mappetizer 8, ArcGIS projects can be export into the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) or into the Microsoft Silverlight format. The SVG/HTML format now integrates the modular JavaScript library Dojo Toolkit, so Dojo widgets, like menus, tabs, and other tools are provided. This is a great way to enrich websites with various interactive features that work across browsers. Microsoft Silverlight allows to develop rich internet and desktop applications (RIA) and Web map applications on up to date standards. Especially for small and medium-sized project, and for projects which do not have to be frequently updated, Mappetizer will be the solution. With its wide field of application, the easy use of the exported Web map project, GIS data can be presented easy, appealing and innovative to a large target group. No knowledges in SVG, Microsoft Silverlight or Web server technology are needed. If you have got appetite, more information, examples, and an evaluation copy are available on the internet: http://www.mappetizer.de/" We mentioned MapViewSVG a few times in the past, see below.

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Jeremy Heffner writes "In conjunction with Walk21, the 10th International Conference on Walking and Livable Communities (New York, Oct. 7-9), Avencia is launching Walkshed.org Philadelphia, an online application that enables the public to calculate and map the walkability of any Philadelphia neighborhood, based on individual preferences.

Walkshed Philadelphia was inspired in part by Alan Durning of the Sightline Institute and Walk Score. Durning originated the concept of a "walkshed index" that scores a location based on the quantity and diversity of amenities within a one-mile radius. Walk Score was then the first to implement Durning’s idea by building an online application to automatically score the walkability an address based on its proximity to various amenities. Walkshed builds on these efforts. It was built by Aaron Ogle, one of Avencia’s software developers, as part of Avencia’s 10% research project program." See also related stories below.

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"You want a perfect system, but until we got this higher technology, we did not have a perfect system. The new GIS system made it much more easier to locate errors." Peoria City Election Commission Executive Director Tom Bride on some coding erro...Read more

Some claim it's the largest payment of its kind in a California records disclosure dispute. The county this week turned of the sum to the First Amendment Coalition after it won the three year battle to make the county data available under the Califor...Read more

Now, by us, I mean the geospatial community, not just Directions Media. The past day revealed many changes within Google Maps (here's Google's statement on the matter, on its LatLong Blog). Bloggers have raised many questions related mostly to th...Read more

Like pretty much all blogs are reporting, here is the news from the geothought blog : "Well, the big news of the day is that Google has dumped Tele Atlas as the main data provider for Google Maps in the US, and is providing its own map data from a variety of sources (presumably also including its own Streetview teams). They've also added the ability to point out errors in the map, another addition to the crowdsourcing techniques they've been using. The announcement has caused a flurry of discussion of course. James raises questions about various aspects of the data (especially parcels). Steve speculates that the same thing will happen in Europe and that the beneficiary there will probably be AND. "

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Today, you will be able to watch the launch of DigitalGlobe’s (NYSE: DGI) WorldView-2 satellite. The launch is scheduled for 11.38 a.m. PDT.  The launch will be streamed LIVE over the Internet, accessible here: http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/s...Read more

MapAction has deployed to the Philippines to support the United Nations response to the Tropical Storm Ondoy disaster in the Philippines. They’re producing many map products, distributed through ReliefWeb and are using OpenStreetMap data collected by the incredible and resilient OpenStreetMap Philippines community.

I hope this makes a small difference to the work there, to help everyone there affected by the disaster.

This is a big result of several years work by the OpenStreetMap community to make open data comprehensive and usable enough for places where it’s needed most .. the places most vulnerable, and also least mapped. It’s taken a lot of effort to listen to the intense requirements of disaster response, and likewise, for forward thinking responders to understand the value of OSM. All “good news”, but of course the floods in Manila are just one of several sudden onset disasters the world face right now, and the unfortunate fact is that they will happen again. This positive step, to my mind, means that we’re just a little bit more prepared.

I really admire how MapAction works (and wish I had taken the chance to train with them when I lived in the UK). They quickly respond to disasters in the first crucial moments, collect data and create maps. They’re agile, but still understand well institutional needs. Mostly, their tools are ESRI oriented, but they have a desire to learn. I expect they used the Shapefile exports from Cloudmade.

This kind of use of OSM, roads for background contextual data in a PDF, is just a first step. OSM is figuring out how to make paper products, and integrate many web and mobile toolkits into deployable, off the grid, interactive applications. We’re developing techniques for authorities to approve revisions of OSM. We’re working closer with responders, in forums they’re familiar with, and soon enough the PDFs on ReliefWeb will contain the message “if you want to download or edit the data in this map, just open this url”. Disasters inevitably strike hardest on the poor, especially the improvised urban living of slums, and we’re working to map these invisible places. Check into Humanitarian OSM Team for more.

A Tele Atlas spokesperson provides this statement on some rumors floating around the Location Intelligence Conference. "Tele Atlas confirms that Google has decided to stop using Tele Atlas map data for the U.S. Google will now use its own map data...Read more

Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI) is in renewed negotiations NAVTEQ about supplying its data to the company. Aboue seven years NAVTEQ began discussions to purchase OSI digital data. Oddly, the article I read refers to NAVTEQ (actually Navteq) as a GPS co...Read more

Here's a bunch of geonews in batch mode before I accumulate too many. Coming as a surprise to me, the open source desktop GIS uDig team released an alpha version of uDIG3D which brings 3D to uDig. To ESRI users, ArcGIS 9.3.1. is now supported on Windows 7. PLB announced Emerillon, the map viewer for GNOME: "Why another map application do you say? Simply because none of them is free AND targeted at the Gnome desktop AND has ease of use in its (visible) goals." Spatial Sustain offers an entry on Vancouver's preparation to open access of their GIS data and another one on a USGS analysis of users requirements for the US National Map. There are new Ordnance Survey licences in the U.K.: "You can use the data for your internal evaluation and testing purposes only. You cannot develop or demonstrate the data." If you want to read more on augmented reality, the O'Reilly Radar offers more. Google now allows you to use AdSense in new ways on your Google Maps. There's also more tours to highlight climate change in Google Earth. Please do a search to find previous related stories.

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