For many geomatics companies the challenges of bringing new innovation to the market can seem insurmountable. If you are an SME and don’t know who Tecterra is you should find out.  Tecterra a Canadian commercialization support program with a mission to help Canadian companies bring innovative geomatics solutions to market.

Small or medium sized geomatics technology company based in the Ottawa area should consider attending a one day event being organized by Tecterra at the end of February that will focus on Investing in Geomatics Innovation.

The event will include several interesting and informative guest speakers (Ed Parsons of Google and General Rick Hillier, Former Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Forces) as well as representatives from Tecterra who will provide information about the various investment and support programs they offer.

The exact date is February 29.  There is no charge for the event but I understand seating is limited so request your invitation early.

Yesterday Chris Brogan had an interesting blog post sharing his take on the state of LBS and what it will need to take it to the next level.  As a noted and respected voice in the areas of new media communication and social networking, Chris points out what he considers to be current limitation of LBS technology application and also identifies some things he thinks would add value to the the LBS offering to consumers.  For the record, I would agree that LBS is in its infancy, that its value to the average consumer is pretty limited.  Recent studies have show that the uptake of LBS applications is limited to a small, keen segment of the population but others suggest it is growing. Having said that, I also believe there is great potential for growth in LBS application development.

Key value adds today:

• Proximity.  Identify your location to business, provide you with real time updates on information such as local traffic and weather.
• Navigation.  Plan your route, obtain real time directions.

Some new interesting developments:

• Geofencing.  An extension of proximity capability to define a region of interest around your current location or some fixed point. Applications might be to monitor the movement of a known object (like your kids or a pet?), identify businesses within some limit of my current location (barbers within three blocks).  In his post Chris Brogan refers to this as an identity register.
• M2M. Machine to machine technologies are emerging in a wide array of b2b markets it will be interesting to see how effectively these can be extended to a consumer market.

Some things that would take LBS to the next level:

Chris Brogan also mentioned temporary groups and commerce capability as important enhancements to the LBS experience.

From my perspective I see analytics as being another important enhancement both from a business and consumer perspective.

Challenging issues:

LBS applications are dependent on content.  To the extent that it is available, applications with flourish or remain marginal.  For instance, if I want to know the barbers in a three block radius of my current location, how many of the existing barbers are actually discoverable?  Obviously those that are, will benefit from the application but if I perceive the information content presented to me is incomplete my confidence in the LBS application will lag.

The other side of the content coin is information privacy.  An issue not limited to the world of LBS applications, the question of protecting information a user considers private (such as current or past location) is an important one. The idea of temporary groups may be one way of addressing privacy concerns.

Those are a few of my thoughts.   Let me know what you think.

So what do you know about machine to machine (M2M) technologies?  Not so much you say.  But I suspect you may have heard of Smart Grids.  These are a form of ‘smart infrastructure’ that employs M2M technology.

A basic definition of M2M is the suite of technologies that support wired or wireless communication between machines allowing for the exchange of information about such factors as location, temperature, device status, etc.

Simple M2M Architecture (courtesy ETSI)

Smart Grids are an example of an M2M technology implementation where infrastructure within a utility grid are instrumented with sensors that can monitor a wide variety of information such as energy consumption, power outages, etc.  These sensors are networked into a communication network that allows the sensed information to be fed to a central system where events can be monitored and various responses affected.

M2M technologies are emerging as a significant technology growth area with applications being realized in many areas.

From a geospatial perspective, M2M presents many opportunities.  At CeBit Australia in August 2010 David Hocking, CEO of the Spatial Industries Business Association boldly stated “No smart infrastructure is smart unless it’s geo-enabled.  Spatial data is the glue for Smart Infrastructure.”

Whether the centrality of geospatial information is as great as that or not, there are clear opportunities for the inclusion of geospatial technologies within the M2M technology mix for many applications.

Many of the classic benefits of geographic information systems can be exploited when M2M systems account for and collect geospatial data.  These include:

Asset visualization – the ability to view network devices being monitored in an appropriately scaled spatial context is beneficial in quickly assessing network status, problems, patterns, etc.

Asset management – geoanalytical tools can be utilized to understand the dynamic nature of the network as assets by assessing qualities like grouping, patterns, movement, etc.

Spatially structured dashboard views of key network parameters can provide both alerts and contextual information about network asset behavior.

Correlation with ancillary information – one of the strengths of GIS technologies is the ability to correlate various types of data on the basis of location.  For instance it might be relevant in an M2M utility grid application to be able to visualize the network against weather information to better understand causes of network disruption.

M2M network performance analysis – spatial measurement tools can be utilized to visualize and better understand network behavior.  These can be summative (evaluating past performance) or real time in nature.

Resource allocation and deployment – network management planning – whether for regular maintenance or emergency response, can be better planned and coordinated with a spatial reference.

While the integration of geospatial technologies with M2M infrastructure has the potential to add value to the overall network, there are issues that need to be addressed in order to achieve maximum benefit.  These include:

The degree to which network monitoring and analysis needs to be dynamic in nature?

Issues around data management:

Where is it stored?

Who owns the data?

Is the data complete?

Do the various data layers have compatible levels of accuracy?

Has the data been cleaned and structured so that it can be interfaced with other data layers?

How is the data maintained?

System connectivity:

How will systems talk to each other?

Can data from disparate systems be reliably accessed?

While there may be challenges to integrating M2M and geospatial technologies, there are also clear benefits that can enhance the value of M2M networks.

It has been said that it is the direction you set for yourself and not your intention that will determine where you end up.  I believe this to be true –  both at a personal and at a business level.

The path we set for our business is essential to where our company will be 5, 10 or 20 years from now.  While we cannot fully anticipate the future, defining the path and making critical decisions as to what needs to be done along the path must be done.

Several years ago I was providing some advice to a company that was in the process of revamping its business plan – determined to take their company to the next level.  They had arrived at a point where partly through their own hard work and partly because of outside circumstance and opportunity, they saw an opportunity for their company to expand and achieve significant growth.  I recall a lunch meeting with the founder and his long time partner – both of whom had invested time and money in getting the company to where it was.  At that meeting the founder confirmed the intentions for growth and then he made a very significant statement – “I believe the company would be better served if I handed the president role to someone more skilled at the functions required of that position.” He would continue with the company in a role that was more suited to his skill set and interest.  It was a bold statement and one I knew was appropriate based on my knowledge of the company and the business plan they were in the process of fine tuning.  The founder made the statement understanding that for his company to grow, it would take more than just intention.  It was necessary to take a very specific step – bring into the company expertise that would be required to achieve the growth they all desired and would benefit from.

All too often the scenario is completely different – one where an individual or group of individuals come up with an idea for a business.  They become business founders and owners.  They are the knowledge centre, the energy centre and the major stakeholders.  Sometimes the decision to make changes such as bringing new skill sets into the company is not easily recognized nor executed.  Sometimes the need is something else but whatever it is, it is essential that it be taken to achieve the end result – not always easy decisions but absolutely necessary.

Love or hate, award shows are part of our lives.  And in the tech world The Crunchies are the ones to watch when it comes to technology startups and innovation.  With 20 categories, they cover the gamut in the technology world.  That includes startups in the area of Location Based Services.

The 2010 Crunchies Awards have just been handed out.  Among Location Based Services startups, five bubbled to the top based on the opinion of the over 500,000 voters:

• Facebook  Places
• Foursquare
• Gowalla
• SimpleGeo
• Uber

This year’s winner being Foursquare.  Runner up was Facebook Places.  Congratulations also to Gowalla, SimpleGeo and Uber.

If you missed the event and still want to watch – check it out here.

Is Location Information Important to Project Management?

Some time ago I was involved in several discussions around the value of integrating project management and geographic or location information.

The essence of the conversation was that linking the two disciplines provided project management decision makers with important additional information to assist in the operational execution of projects.

As projects become more complex factors such as communication, resource coordination and sharing become increasingly important in managing project timing, costs and potential disruption of associated activities.

Those of us involved in the discussion agreed that a prime example of the need for tighter linkage between project management and spatially relevant data was in the area of urban capital project execution.

An understanding of geospatial information such as: environmental factors, demographics, infrastructure, transportation corridors, etc. is increasingly relevant in measuring project impact and risk.

A Spatially Oriented Project Management Solution

Recently we came across Envista a software product that integrates aspects of spatial information with project management.

The product is targeted towards municipal governments and associate utility organizations with the goal of helping these organizations identify and mitigate project conflicts.

Envista is a web-based solution that allows various stakeholders in a region to share  information, identify conflicts and provide tools for resolution conflicts and for future project planning.

From a GIS perspective Envista has the ability to accommodate data in .shp file format.  And on the project management side it is compatible with Oracle’s Primavera and IBM Maximo products.

For more information check out Envista and don’t forget their cartoon – Street Cut Capers!  We can always use more humor in this business!

Based on the research we have done, there is more that can be done in the integration of project management and spatial information.  If you know of other solutions or case study examples let us know.

Google Maps and Microsoft Bing Maps offer free and commercial (paid) licensing arrangements that enable governments, non profit organizations as well as commercial entities to leverage map technology for data visualization in a way never so easily accessible in the past.

Both companies offer base data, tools for advanced geospatial tasks such as geocoding, routing, etc. as well as API’s for map creation and publishing.  All of this seems particularly attractive when one considers that it is free.

But as the saying goes “there’s no such thing as a free lunch….”

So what should one consider when considering building map visualization applications on top of one of these platforms?  Are there risks associated with going down this road?

Consider that:

• In both Google and Microsoft’s case, the services the offer are “as is” with no commitment to long term availability, level of service or that these services will continue to be offered free of charge;
• Use of the free services prohibits you from charging for the use of your application;
• Google and Microsoft retain the rights to include advertising with applications/mash ups utilizing their mapping services;
• Both companies retain the right to use your data for their purposes; and
• You are required to indemnify Google and Microsoft against any claims that might arise from a user of your application.

And, the two companies may impose other constraints around issues such as the number of geocodes you are allowed to make, the use of their service for mobile applications, numbers of users that can access the application, etc.

None of this is to say that choosing to build your application on Google Maps or Bing Maps is a bad idea – just that you need to consider all the implications.

In some cases, you may elect to use their commercial (paid for) versions or consider other alternatives.

Application APIs are an invaluable extension to many software products, providing a means to quickly and conveniently integrate applications and data to produce value added results for specific purposes.  The resulting derivations are often called mashups.

The creation of mashups belies the convenience they bring to a broad range of applications.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the online mapping arena where software APIs are allowing users to fashion extended applications.

Mapping APIs are abundant – and resulting mashups even more so.  A recent survey of ProgrammableWeb’s directory of APIs showed 130 mapping related APIs out of a total 2,198 APIs.

Interestingly of the 5,271 mashups in ProgrammableWeb’s database, 2,354 fall in the mapping category.  Of the 50 most recently added mashups, 24 utilize a mapping related API exclusively or in combination with other APIs

Looking at the most popular APIs in terms of mashups utilizing them, 8 of the top 50 APIs fall in the mapping category.  Overall, the GoogleMap API is far and away the most popular with 2,100 mashups in the directory utilizing it compared to the Flickr API, next most popular with 552 associated mashups.

There are lots of ways to measure the extent or impact of human or natural disasters but sometimes it is challenging to gain a true perspective on their scope.  The current oil spill impacting the Gulf of Mexico and the nearby coastal areas is a case in point.  Morgan Brown whose blog I follow largely for his insight into internet marketing and related topics posted an example of how web-based mapping an imaging tools can help frame events like the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in terms that are familiar to us.

He points to a great Google Earth application built by Paul Rademacher that allows you to compare the spatial extent of the oil spill to a geography you are more familiar with.  For example, here is a clip from the application overlaying the spill over the area where I live – including many of my favourite fishing spots!   Give it a try.  A great example of how spatial technology can help us understand what is happening in the real world.   And hopefully in this case will galvanize us into action!

The location of information sources is useful information itself. Where information is published can be valuable in many ways. Hyperlocal news services are one example. They benefit from the ability to aggregate news information based on the source of that news.

Another interesting application is in mapping source information about a particular subject. I came across an interesting blog post from InSTEDD (Innovative Support to Emergencies Diseases and Disasters). Their recent blog post illustrates the value of mapping source information on a map.  In the post they show recent information tagged with ‘influenza’ by location.  They have then overlain a representation of  the data using what is called a heat map.

It should be clear that in this particular example the InSTEDD results are not necessarily pointing to events of influenza itself but they do show patterns of information dissemination that tell their own story for those knowledgeable in this field.  Depending on the nature of the source posts, the mapped results could provide useful information about the underlying issue or simply provide insight into the patterns around the actual post sources themselves.   In either case, map representation can aid in the interpretation of the results.

One of the underlying requirements for mapping data is the need to somehow attach a location to data – in this case the location of sources who published information about influenza.  This location information has to be in a form that will allow an association with a point or region in order for it to be represented on a map.   The technical term for this is geocoding and it is fundamental to all location based services or applications.

There are a number of ways in which geocoding can be accomplished.  They vary in method, degree of difficulty, accuracy and cost.  In a future post, I intend to discuss geocoding in more detail and provide and overview of various approaches that are being used.