GPS World

Tag: GSS Monthly

  • Reader Response on Open Source and Mobile Devices

    I’ve received some great reader response from readers regarding my articles on open source GIS and mobile devices. I’ve included them in this week’s column along with my comments.

    Open Source GIS

    As you can read below, the comments are directed at my statement regarding technical support for open source GIS software. I wrote that, essentially, “you’re on your own” to find solutions to technical problems and implied that open source GIS software support is not as good as commercial GIS software due to the lack of accountability. These readers clearly disagree and are passionate about the responsiveness of the user community and commercial support for open source GIS software.

    By way of background, following are links to two articles I’ve written in the past two months on open source GIS that the readers are referring to:

    May 17, 2012 – Open Source GIS

    May 24, 2012 – Open Source GIS: Part II

    Hi, Eric.

    Thanks for your paper. Please avoid spreading old FUD such as:

    There’s no accountability, no priority tech support, no one to call when you can’t figure out why things aren’t working, etc. You’re on your own, sort of.

    Which is plainly false. e.g., for QGIS, there are a number of companies that provide first class support, of far higher quality (having access to source code) than you can get for proprietary software, at favourable rates.

    By spreading such wrong opinions you actually damage, even if unwillingly, our work, and the open source ecosystem.

    All the best.

    Paolo – Italy

    Hi there, Eric.

    I would just like to mention my own personal experience and view on your statement about being on my own when using Open Source GIS software.

    I am using both commercial and open source in my organization, I pay quite a bit for the commercial support in the form of an annual maintenance fee. I don’t pay anything for support for the open source products I use, not because there aren’t any offerings, but it is more difficult do convince my company´s hierarchy to buy the same kind of annual support contract for open source products.

    Now, even under these circumstances, I get more results from the “unofficial” open source support from mailing lists then from the commercial support contract.

    Let me give you some examples on commercial support:

    1. I discovered, to my surprise, the latest version of the commercial product didn’t support wms services on computers with international settings (comma instead of dot as decimal separator). I waited a year and a half for that)
    2. I have found that the commercial product is 100% slower (half the speed) with a supported database product than the open source equivalent. The support told me that it was the database’s fault (which was aggravating). I had to log the sql statements and prove them wrong. I’m still waiting for a solution. There is no guarantee this will be solved. I was informed an enhancement request was filled but it is not publicly viewable.

    On the other hand, I had some problems with the open source product, without any support contract. I’m seeing a quick release cycle that solves a good portion of known bugs and problems, almost always solving my problem in the process. But the best thing that happened to me is when my particular bug is fixed under 24h and I can immediately download the fixed version. I even had a situation where I needed a new feature and someone developed an initial version in a week. A day later, one of the main developers included a similar feature in the core of the program.

    So, really, stating you are on your own when using open source products is really just not true and really a disservice to your audience when you state that so firmly.

    From my own experience, I am convinced there is a problem with changing our usual procedures. Instead of buying a product that includes one year of some kind of support (many times ineffective), and  then paying a fee annually, we must switch to using a free product, whose cost is that when we change it for the better we contribute that back to the rest of the users. And we can and should buy commercial support when our usage pattern reaches the level when it makes sense to acquire this type of contract.

    Thank you for your article. Other than this particular point, I enjoyed reading it.

    Best regards,

    Duarte – Portugal

     

    Dear Mr. Gakstatter,

    It’s great to see open source GIS featured in gpsworld.com (98.27.162.175/gpsworld.com) but I cannot agree with the following statement:

    “there’s limited amount of technical support available to implement and maintain the apps”

    There are both very professional companies (redacted) and enthusiastic communities behind any of the graduated OSgeo projects.

    As you mentioned correctly, one main issue is “market awareness” concerning open source GIS. Another issue is the very limited marketing budgets which makes it difficult to push the message and articles claiming lacking support are unfortunately not encouraging the average user to look into open source.

    I really appreciate that you picked up the topic of open source, I’d just  hope that correct pointers the the many support possibilities would be included.

    Best wishes,

    Anita – Austria

     

    I just read your article on Open Source GIS, dated May 17, 2012. I agree that it will be interesting to see where FOSS GIS goes in the future, I have to question your view on support.  I have been a user of proprietary GIS and image processing software for 10 years (from ArcView 2 through present day ArcGIS 10.1, ERDAS IMAGINE, ENVI, MapInfo etc…) and I have to say that I have received MUCH better “technical support” the past two years with FOSS products than I ever had with the other proprietary products.  Many of the FOSS packages have excellent document and reference websites (could be because these are built by the developer s and users alike, and added to continuously.)  There are also a large number of blogs and other websites documenting steps in these packages.  Additionally, the email lists are incredible.  I can usually find what I need WITHOUT having to call someone!  In the past, I was a heavy user of ESRI Knowledge Forums, which I thought was great when I started. ESRI staffers did not post as much as you would like. Numerous questions would go months or years without an answer or post by ESRI. The numbers of qualified people posting to the ESRI forums and email lists were far outnumbered by the users and were less responsive when needed. Maybe there is also a factor that is you recived software and support for free, then you’re more willing to help others. As well, being a tech support person myself for many years, I can attest that many ESRI/ArcGIS users do not understand much about GIS and cannot answer may questions posted. There are of course, local user groups, but many are specific to their needs. IT was tough in the ESRi world to get support than in the FOSS world.

    One last comment is the adoption of gvSig. Quantum GIS has really taken off and is the primary FOSS GIS desktop people use. MapWindow also is becoming very popular and used heavily by US federal govt related groups. Both of which feel closer to traditional GIS. gvSig is also a little different in its feel and use.

    John – Delaware USA

     

    I’d like to thank these folks for taking the time to write about their experiences. I’m going to continue to investigate, understand, and start using open source GIS to gain a feel for it. Initially, my interest in open source GIS was focused on mobile apps, such as gvSig Mobile, but I also see there’s an effort to develop Quantum GIS Mobile for Android, which could be very interesting given the tremendous adoption of Android in mobile devices. Also, the website agenda doesn’t reflect it yet, but I’ve added a keynote speaker on open source GIS to the 2012 Field Technology Conference general plenary. It’s important for the GIS user community to understand what’s available.

     

    Operating System Wars: Android, iOS or Windows Mobile?

    I also received an email from a reader regarding my series on mobile devices and operating systems. I’ve written a few articles on this subject recently. In fact, an article titled “Expert Advice: Mobile Computing on the Rise” will be in the GPS World print magazine in the July issue, which is what the following reader email is referring to. For more background, refer to the following articles:

    April 27, 2012 – Mobile Device Operating System Wars: Android vs. iOS vs. Windows Mobile

    May 10, 2012 – Thoughts on Mobile Devices, UAVs, and Cheap Data-Collection Software

    July 4, 2012 – Mobile GIS Webinar Follow-up and the New Google Nexus 7 Tablet

     

    Eric,
    Just read your July 1 article “Expert Advice: Mobile Computing on the Rise.” Seems every time you write on mobile I feel compelled to send you an email follow up. This time’s no exception.
    I too remember the Grid computer days when a tablet’s heft was in tons, handwriting recognition involved mystical templates that helped you shape your letters just so with the stylus, screen visibility outdoors was essentially non-existent and battery life diminished at the same rapid rate as water evaporating in the southwestern desert sun on a 115 degree day. I absolute agree that WinMobile’s future is questionable and even if that OS does manage to avoid emulating dinosaurs it will likely remain relegated to professional uses only with high price points both for hardware to run that OS and for the software that makes owning a device powered by it marginally worthwhile. Ruggedized hardware is the best thing going for WinMobile in my mind and I believe that’s all that can save it from becoming fossilized. But that advantage is beginning to resemble the Garmin/TomTom legacy losing traction nowadays.
    Where we differ, however, is that I’m already willing to go WAY out on the limb and give the trophy for victory in the mobile war to Android devices. Here’s why.
    My first smartphone was an Apple iPhone 3GS and when it came time to move up to a new phone, I wrestled quite a long time between Samsung Android-based offerings and the very new at that time Apple 4s. If you guess that I went for the Android for my second smartphone and that’s why I’m emailing you, you’d be wrong. Although I absolutely hate several limitations of iOS-based phones (no removable battery, throttling back to near non-existence of Bluetooth by Apple, and zero removable storage specifically), I went iOS yet again primarily because of Siri (which I’ve not been that thrilled with) and the fact I already had many iOS apps that I’d paid for and understood how to use.
    But when it came time to buy my first non-Windows (… and I’m not talking WinMobile) tablet, I reversed course totally. I purchased a Toshiba Thrive which I really love. I don’t even bother to pack my Win7 laptop for most business trips nowadays. I have a small twelve inch laptop case with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard and I just grab the Thrive and the case and I’m good to go. When I first got the Android OS tablet, many of the apps that were readily available in iOS were not there. By that I’m not talking about DropBox or the Weather Channel app … I’m taking specialized category level not there. I was blown away, for example, that I couldn’t find a camera app that geotagged photos taken with the Thrive. Over time, however, that gap has narrowed so it’s far less a factor and I really like the fact that I can take my 128 GB SDXC chip on which I have all my geospatial professional, university teaching and personal files and pop it out of my work Win7 laptop and into the Thrive and head out across the county. QuickOffice lets me read MS Office docs and make changes on the go. Right now, I’d not trade my year and a half old Thrive for a new retina display iPAD even if Apple paid me what the new IPAD costs if I had to give up my Thrive.
    Knowing that just my enthusiasm about someday being able to take a terabyte of geospatial data on an Android tablet with me to the field will probably not convince you to join my declaration of victory, I’ll finally get to the point of this email.
    The fact is that MANY vendors are introducing this summer ruggedized Google-based tablets. Contrast that to the fact that iPADs will always have to be encased in some kind of protective shell. That’s the piece of the story that I think you missed. To me this is a very big deal. A Panasonic Toughbook Android offering compared to the delicate iPAD for use in my geography is a no brainer. I also don’t expect to see too many daylight optimized iPAD screens coming out anytime soon from Apple.  Also MIA in your piece was easy of development.  Friends and I are building a new geospatial apps company and so we’ve been done a bit of development on both Android and iOS. So far we’ve used Flash Builder and created FLEX-based apps just by checking the two appropriate boxes for iOS and Android Mobile. Then it came time to test the apps. I can tell you that the venture capital sized fee required, the CDC DNA sample, TSA full body scan and NSA screening one must endure plus the length of Apple’s approval process to be able to just push a simple test app out to a few devices from iTunes compared to the far more pleasurable experience fielding a test Google app leave me never wanting to write again for iOS. And then there are the UDIDs for every darn iOS device you plan on testing your code on. Developing on iOS is a royal pain compared to Android. Pain of development is the second thing not in your write up.
    Yes I find the lack of being able to create a folder unifying programs of a general type (telecom apps, office apps, etc.) on one of the Thrive’s home screens to be a bit of a pain but I really like being able to switch out my Thrive’s battery when I need a new one or I need one that’s freshly charged to head out into the field.
    So … I predict loudly (because unlike you I have nothing to lose in doing so), Google will win the field mobile race beating Apple as you said but I’m thinking more like three years and I believe ruggedized hardware designed specifically for field use that cost more than a Thrive but far less than a Getac Win7 convertible or a Trimble GeoXT will be a key factor in that victory.  And if ArcPAD for Android or a Trimble GeoXT with Android comes out…best get out of the way ‘cause a Tsunami’s coming.
    Keep up the great articles and I hope you find my thinking interesting,
    Larry – West Virginia USA

     

    I largely agree with Larry. I think the mobile operating system war will likely be won by Android (market research predictions support this), and Windows Embedded Handheld might end up being the choice for “professional” users. Why? It’s all about the apps. Of course, there are tons of professional apps written for Windows Mobile (Windows Embedded Handheld will run them) and we’re starting to see geospatial apps being written for Android. Yes, there are geospatial apps written for iOS too, but if you look at the potential upside, I keep hearing that Apple just isn’t a developer-friendly environment, and as Larry mentions, Apple will always be focused on the consumer market, so don’t expect a ruggedized version of the iPad anytime soon. However, on the flip side, one Apple developer relayed to me that it’s very helpful that Apple retains strict control over app development for iOS devices:

    “When Apple upgrades IOS, it is pushed out to all devices (pad/pod/phone) and the updates are very well documented in terms of what changed. He said users just agree and they all get it, very rarely does someone say no to the upgrade. So, you have basically one version to program for/test at a time. Long story short, you only have to program the different screens and the rest is standardized. The info is there to tell you what the device is, so it is easy to have one app look diff or add something for a pad w/larger screen than on the phone.

    For android, the OS is open, so every manufacturer and/or provider and every different phone from them can have a different/unique OS. It starts out the same but some add features others don’t and most modify the code to suit their needs. Then, upgrades only happen if the manufacturer and/or provider decide they want to upgrade them and which ones (old phones might not get upgraded for example).  So, lots of Androids out there are not on the same/most current OS. Users can’t just do upgrade themselves, a generic version might not work right on their phone and most people don’t look for upgrades anyway.”

    Over the next six months, it’s going to be really interesting to watch what kid of geospatial apps are introduced for iOS and Android. That will be the main driver behind the adoption of mobile devices based on iOS and Android. It will also be interesting to watch how many new devices are introduced that are running Windows Embedded Handheld/Windows Mobile.

     

    Again, thanks to the readers for taking time to write and stimulate further discussion on this fascinating subject.

     

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • Reader Response on Open Source and Mobile Devices

    I’ve received some great reader response from readers regarding my articles on open source GIS and mobile devices. I’ve included them in this week’s column along with my comments.

    Open Source GIS

    As you can read below, the comments are directed at my statement regarding technical support for open source GIS software. I wrote that, essentially, “you’re on your own” to find solutions to technical problems and implied that open source GIS software support is not as good as commercial GIS software due to the lack of accountability. These readers clearly disagree and are passionate about the responsiveness of the user community and commercial support for open source GIS software.

    By way of background, following are links to two articles I’ve written in the past two months on open source GIS that the readers are referring to:

    May 17, 2012 – Open Source GIS

    May 24, 2012 – Open Source GIS: Part II

    Hi, Eric.

    Thanks for your paper. Please avoid spreading old FUD such as:

    There’s no accountability, no priority tech support, no one to call when you can’t figure out why things aren’t working, etc. You’re on your own, sort of.

    Which is plainly false. e.g., for QGIS, there are a number of companies that provide first class support, of far higher quality (having access to source code) than you can get for proprietary software, at favourable rates.

    By spreading such wrong opinions you actually damage, even if unwillingly, our work, and the open source ecosystem.

    All the best.

    Paolo – Italy

    Hi there, Eric.

    I would just like to mention my own personal experience and view on your statement about being on my own when using Open Source GIS software.

    I am using both commercial and open source in my organization, I pay quite a bit for the commercial support in the form of an annual maintenance fee. I don’t pay anything for support for the open source products I use, not because there aren’t any offerings, but it is more difficult do convince my company´s hierarchy to buy the same kind of annual support contract for open source products.

    Now, even under these circumstances, I get more results from the “unofficial” open source support from mailing lists then from the commercial support contract.

    Let me give you some examples on commercial support:

    1. I discovered, to my surprise, the latest version of the commercial product didn’t support wms services on computers with international settings (comma instead of dot as decimal separator). I waited a year and a half for that)
    2. I have found that the commercial product is 100% slower (half the speed) with a supported database product than the open source equivalent. The support told me that it was the database’s fault (which was aggravating). I had to log the sql statements and prove them wrong. I’m still waiting for a solution. There is no guarantee this will be solved. I was informed an enhancement request was filled but it is not publicly viewable.

    On the other hand, I had some problems with the open source product, without any support contract. I’m seeing a quick release cycle that solves a good portion of known bugs and problems, almost always solving my problem in the process. But the best thing that happened to me is when my particular bug is fixed under 24h and I can immediately download the fixed version. I even had a situation where I needed a new feature and someone developed an initial version in a week. A day later, one of the main developers included a similar feature in the core of the program.

    So, really, stating you are on your own when using open source products is really just not true and really a disservice to your audience when you state that so firmly.

    From my own experience, I am convinced there is a problem with changing our usual procedures. Instead of buying a product that includes one year of some kind of support (many times ineffective), and  then paying a fee annually, we must switch to using a free product, whose cost is that when we change it for the better we contribute that back to the rest of the users. And we can and should buy commercial support when our usage pattern reaches the level when it makes sense to acquire this type of contract.

    Thank you for your article. Other than this particular point, I enjoyed reading it.

    Best regards,

    Duarte – Portugal

     

    Dear Mr. Gakstatter,

    It’s great to see open source GIS featured in gpsworld.com (env-gpsworld-integration.kinsta.cloud) but I cannot agree with the following statement:

    “there’s limited amount of technical support available to implement and maintain the apps”

    There are both very professional companies (redacted) and enthusiastic communities behind any of the graduated OSgeo projects.

    As you mentioned correctly, one main issue is “market awareness” concerning open source GIS. Another issue is the very limited marketing budgets which makes it difficult to push the message and articles claiming lacking support are unfortunately not encouraging the average user to look into open source.

    I really appreciate that you picked up the topic of open source, I’d just  hope that correct pointers the the many support possibilities would be included.

    Best wishes,

    Anita – Austria

     I just read your article on Open Source GIS, dated May 17, 2012. I agree that it will be interesting to see where FOSS GIS goes in the future, I have to question your view on support.  I have been a user of proprietary GIS and image processing software for 10 years (from ArcView 2 through present day ArcGIS 10.1, ERDAS IMAGINE, ENVI, MapInfo etc…) and I have to say that I have received MUCH better “technical support” the past two years with FOSS products than I ever had with the other proprietary products.  Many of the FOSS packages have excellent document and reference websites (could be because these are built by the developer s and users alike, and added to continuously.)  There are also a large number of blogs and other websites documenting steps in these packages.  Additionally, the email lists are incredible.  I can usually find what I need WITHOUT having to call someone!  In the past, I was a heavy user of ESRI Knowledge Forums, which I thought was great when I started. ESRI staffers did not post as much as you would like. Numerous questions would go months or years without an answer or post by ESRI. The numbers of qualified people posting to the ESRI forums and email lists were far outnumbered by the users and were less responsive when needed. Maybe there is also a factor that is you recived software and support for free, then you’re more willing to help others. As well, being a tech support person myself for many years, I can attest that many ESRI/ArcGIS users do not understand much about GIS and cannot answer may questions posted. There are of course, local user groups, but many are specific to their needs. IT was tough in the ESRi world to get support than in the FOSS world.

    One last comment is the adoption of gvSig. Quantum GIS has really taken off and is the primary FOSS GIS desktop people use. MapWindow also is becoming very popular and used heavily by US federal govt related groups. Both of which feel closer to traditional GIS. gvSig is also a little different in its feel and use.

    John – Delaware USA

    I’d like to thank these folks for taking the time to write about their experiences. I’m going to continue to investigate, understand, and start using open source GIS to gain a feel for it. Initially, my interest in open source GIS was focused on mobile apps, such as gvSig Mobile, but I also see there’s an effort to develop Quantum GIS Mobile for Android, which could be very interesting given the tremendous adoption of Android in mobile devices. Also, the website agenda doesn’t reflect it yet, but I’ve added a keynote speaker on open source GIS to the 2012 Field Technology Conference general plenary. It’s important for the GIS user community to understand what’s available.

     

    Operating System Wars: Android, iOS or Windows Mobile?

    I also received an email from a reader regarding my series on mobile devices and operating systems. I’ve written a few articles on this subject recently. In fact, an article titled “Expert Advice: Mobile Computing on the Rise” will be in the GPS World print magazine in the July issue, which is what the following reader email is referring to. For more background, refer to the following articles:

    April 27, 2012 – Mobile Device Operating System Wars: Android vs. iOS vs. Windows Mobile

    May 10, 2012 – Thoughts on Mobile Devices, UAVs, and Cheap Data-Collection Software

    July 4, 2012 – Mobile GIS Webinar Follow-up and the New Google Nexus 7 Tablet

    Eric,

    Just read your July 1 article “Expert Advice: Mobile Computing on the Rise.” Seems every time you write on mobile I feel compelled to send you an email follow up. This time’s no exception.
    I too remember the Grid computer days when a tablet’s heft was in tons, handwriting recognition involved mystical templates that helped you shape your letters just so with the stylus, screen visibility outdoors was essentially non-existent and battery life diminished at the same rapid rate as water evaporating in the southwestern desert sun on a 115 degree day. I absolute agree that WinMobile’s future is questionable and even if that OS does manage to avoid emulating dinosaurs it will likely remain relegated to professional uses only with high price points both for hardware to run that OS and for the software that makes owning a device powered by it marginally worthwhile. Ruggedized hardware is the best thing going for WinMobile in my mind and I believe that’s all that can save it from becoming fossilized. But that advantage is beginning to resemble the Garmin/TomTom legacy losing traction nowadays.
    Where we differ, however, is that I’m already willing to go WAY out on the limb and give the trophy for victory in the mobile war to Android devices. Here’s why.
    My first smartphone was an Apple iPhone 3GS and when it came time to move up to a new phone, I wrestled quite a long time between Samsung Android-based offerings and the very new at that time Apple 4s. If you guess that I went for the Android for my second smartphone and that’s why I’m emailing you, you’d be wrong. Although I absolutely hate several limitations of iOS-based phones (no removable battery, throttling back to near non-existence of Bluetooth by Apple, and zero removable storage specifically), I went iOS yet again primarily because of Siri (which I’ve not been that thrilled with) and the fact I already had many iOS apps that I’d paid for and understood how to use.
    But when it came time to buy my first non-Windows (… and I’m not talking WinMobile) tablet, I reversed course totally. I purchased a Toshiba Thrive which I really love. I don’t even bother to pack my Win7 laptop for most business trips nowadays. I have a small twelve inch laptop case with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard and I just grab the Thrive and the case and I’m good to go. When I first got the Android OS tablet, many of the apps that were readily available in iOS were not there. By that I’m not talking about DropBox or the Weather Channel app … I’m taking specialized category level not there. I was blown away, for example, that I couldn’t find a camera app that geotagged photos taken with the Thrive. Over time, however, that gap has narrowed so it’s far less a factor and I really like the fact that I can take my 128 GB SDXC chip on which I have all my geospatial professional, university teaching and personal files and pop it out of my work Win7 laptop and into the Thrive and head out across the county. QuickOffice lets me read MS Office docs and make changes on the go. Right now, I’d not trade my year and a half old Thrive for a new retina display iPAD even if Apple paid me what the new IPAD costs if I had to give up my Thrive.
    Knowing that just my enthusiasm about someday being able to take a terabyte of geospatial data on an Android tablet with me to the field will probably not convince you to join my declaration of victory, I’ll finally get to the point of this email.
    The fact is that MANY vendors are introducing this summer ruggedized Google-based tablets. Contrast that to the fact that iPADs will always have to be encased in some kind of protective shell. That’s the piece of the story that I think you missed. To me this is a very big deal. A Panasonic Toughbook Android offering compared to the delicate iPAD for use in my geography is a no brainer. I also don’t expect to see too many daylight optimized iPAD screens coming out anytime soon from Apple.  Also MIA in your piece was easy of development.  Friends and I are building a new geospatial apps company and so we’ve been done a bit of development on both Android and iOS. So far we’ve used Flash Builder and created FLEX-based apps just by checking the two appropriate boxes for iOS and Android Mobile. Then it came time to test the apps. I can tell you that the venture capital sized fee required, the CDC DNA sample, TSA full body scan and NSA screening one must endure plus the length of Apple’s approval process to be able to just push a simple test app out to a few devices from iTunes compared to the far more pleasurable experience fielding a test Google app leave me never wanting to write again for iOS. And then there are the UDIDs for every darn iOS device you plan on testing your code on. Developing on iOS is a royal pain compared to Android. Pain of development is the second thing not in your write up.
    Yes I find the lack of being able to create a folder unifying programs of a general type (telecom apps, office apps, etc.) on one of the Thrive’s home screens to be a bit of a pain but I really like being able to switch out my Thrive’s battery when I need a new one or I need one that’s freshly charged to head out into the field.
    So … I predict loudly (because unlike you I have nothing to lose in doing so), Google will win the field mobile race beating Apple as you said but I’m thinking more like three years and I believe ruggedized hardware designed specifically for field use that cost more than a Thrive but far less than a Getac Win7 convertible or a Trimble GeoXT will be a key factor in that victory.  And if ArcPAD for Android or a Trimble GeoXT with Android comes out…best get out of the way ‘cause a Tsunami’s coming.
    Keep up the great articles and I hope you find my thinking interesting,
    Larry – West Virginia USA

     

    I largely agree with Larry. I think the mobile operating system war will likely be won by Android (market research predictions support this), and Windows Embedded Handheld might end up being the choice for “professional” users. Why? It’s all about the apps. Of course, there are tons of professional apps written for Windows Mobile (Windows Embedded Handheld will run them) and we’re starting to see geospatial apps being written for Android. Yes, there are geospatial apps written for iOS too, but if you look at the potential upside, I keep hearing that Apple just isn’t a developer-friendly environment, and as Larry mentions, Apple will always be focused on the consumer market, so don’t expect a ruggedized version of the iPad anytime soon. However, on the flip side, one Apple developer relayed to me that it’s very helpful that Apple retains strict control over app development for iOS devices:

    “When Apple upgrades IOS, it is pushed out to all devices (pad/pod/phone) and the updates are very well documented in terms of what changed. He said users just agree and they all get it, very rarely does someone say no to the upgrade. So, you have basically one version to program for/test at a time. Long story short, you only have to program the different screens and the rest is standardized. The info is there to tell you what the device is, so it is easy to have one app look diff or add something for a pad w/larger screen than on the phone.

    For android, the OS is open, so every manufacturer and/or provider and every different phone from them can have a different/unique OS. It starts out the same but some add features others don’t and most modify the code to suit their needs. Then, upgrades only happen if the manufacturer and/or provider decide they want to upgrade them and which ones (old phones might not get upgraded for example).  So, lots of Androids out there are not on the same/most current OS. Users can’t just do upgrade themselves, a generic version might not work right on their phone and most people don’t look for upgrades anyway.”

    Over the next six months, it’s going to be really interesting to watch what kid of geospatial apps are introduced for iOS and Android. That will be the main driver behind the adoption of mobile devices based on iOS and Android. It will also be interesting to watch how many new devices are introduced that are running Windows Embedded Handheld/Windows Mobile.

     

    Again, thanks to the readers for taking time to write and stimulate further discussion on this fascinating subject.

     

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

     

  • Mobile GIS Webinar Follow-up and the New Google Nexus 7 Tablet

    Thanks to those able to attend the June 21 webinar titled “Mobile GIS: What’s the New Normal? Windows, Android, iOS, Open Source?” If you weren’t able to attend and would like to listen to it, you can by registering here. It’s a fascinating discussion about the direction that mobile GIS devices are taking in the future. To top it off, two days after the webinar, Google announced its own tablet computer, the Nexus 7.

    I conducted three live audience polls during the webinar. One audience member noted that by asking the poll questions after presenting slides on the subject that I may have skewed the results. I guess it’s possible, but I think most audience members already had some idea of which direction they were going even before attending the webinar. However, I do agree that by presenting information the audience may not have been aware of (such as Microsoft’s commitment to support Windows Mobile until at least 2019), that this may have caused audience members to reconsider or change their answers based on new knowledge, but isn’t that what the webinar is supposed to do? Provide timely and current information for more informed decision-making?

    Followng are the poll results from the webinar.

    Poll #1: For Mobile GIS work, which type of device do you prefer?

    Poll1

    Gakstatter comment: The audience results don’t surprise me. Some might expect that smartphones would be higher, but as one audience member noted, “The screen is too small and who wants to risk using their phone?” Also, there are a very limited number of mobile GIS apps available for smartphones running Android or iOS. But, I think the fundamental issue is risk. Yes, for lightweight mobile GIS, a smartphone may be very useful, but if you’re tasked with an all-day intensive mapping project, would you really use a smartphone for this? It’s a valid question.

    Poll #2: Which Mobile device operating system do you foresee using in the future for Mobile GIS?

    Poll2

    Gakstatter comment: This is interesting, but not completely surprising. The dominance of Android makes sense because the vast number of Android-based devices being introduced, from smartphones to tablets. I expected the iOS number to be higher, but I think what’s hurting iOS is the lack of apps for mobile GIS and the inability of iPads/iPhones to interface (Bluetooth) with external sensors (such as GPS, lasers, cameras, etc.). Another interesting point is the high number of “Don’t Know yet” responses (27.4%). With the lack of powerful mobile GIS apps for Android and iOS and the user community’s uncertainty about Microsoft’s intentions with Windows Mobile, there’s a lot of “wait and see” going on. My gut tells me that Windows Handheld will garner the largest share of the “Don’t know yet” audience. It’s going to take quite some time before mobile GIS Android apps are developed, introduced, debugged, etc. Plus, there are so many versions and variations of Android that I think developers will have to target certain devices to support. It’s not a “one-size-fits-all” thing. An app developed for Android doesn’t mean it’s going to run properly on all Android devices.

    Poll #3: In the future, do you think your organization will be using cloud-based mobile GIS apps or standalone mobile GIS apps?

    Poll3

    Gakstatter comment: I have to say, this is the most confusing webinar question I’ve ever asked. During the webinar, I noted this and asked the audience to respond Yes for cloud-based apps and No for standalone apps. If you understood it that way and responded accordingly, the results seem reasonable. Either way, there’s no doubt about the huge interest in working with cloud-based apps. It’s going to be interesting to watch where the cloud-based apps go. It’s not like a small consulting company or local government agency can deploy cloud-based mobile GIS apps easily. They would need a whole level of back-end support (hardware and software) to do this. In that case, maybe there’s companies that will offer SaaS (Software as a Service) for these folks to use? That starts to make sense. But, where are they? Is ArcGIS for Android/iOS and Google for Android as good as it’s going to get? One segment where I have seen some traction is local governments offering mobile GIS SaaS from companies like Accela and CitySourced.

    If I haven’t said it enough, what’s hindering Android and iOS in mobile GIS is the lack of apps. Esri will never have ArcPad (arguably the world’s most popular mobile GIS software) rewritten to Android or iOS, that’s pretty clear. Esri’s successor for ArcPad is ArcGIS for Windows Mobile, in which they just released version 3.0. It’s a hybrid standalone/cloud app so you can use it when your not connected to the Internet, but it still doesn’t have some of the useful features that ArcPad (and others) have like supporting related tables and direct support for raster imagery, CAD, and shapefiles that don’t have to be “pre-processed” in ArcGIS. There’s really nothing similar for Android or iOS.

    Due to the lack of apps for Android and iOS apps, I’m not so quick to write off Windows Mobile devices as many people have. As poorly as Microsoft has communicated its intentions, they have committed to supporting Windows Embedded Handheld (essentially, the same as Windows Mobile) until at least 2019. That’s plenty of time to let Android mature and settle (or even some other operating system to emerge), which it needs to do in order to not drive software developers insane. Android ships in many flavors today, from version 2.3 to the new Google Nexus 7 tablet running version 4.1. Since Android is an open operating system, you can have so many variations and nuances that it will be nearly impossible for app software to run flawlessly across so many different hardware devices and operating system versions.

    On the flip side, Apple (iOS) has a highly-controlled app registration process, so other than varying screen sizes, apps will largely run across the iOS hardware platforms. The highly controlled environment seems to work well in ensuring smooth running apps. I’m told that Apple does this to ensure the “best user experience.” However, in some areas, notably Bluetooth connectivity, the proprietary nature of Apple rears its head in a not-so-flexible way. For example, for those of you waiting for the day you can use Bluetooth to connect your high-precision GPS, camera, or laser rangefinder to the iPad or iPhone, don’t hold your breath. If it wasn’t specifically made to Bluetooth to iOS, it’s not going to work. For example, following is a Bluetooth GPS receiver (XGPS150) that works with iPads/iPhones as well as other non-Apple Bluetooth hosts. Note the “Mode” toggle switch where the user must select between Apple and non-Apple products.

    Dual XGPS150 (Source: Dual)
    Dual XGPS150 (Source: Dual)

    The Dual XGPS150 is your typical consumer-grade GPS receiver. It has value for pilots, auto nav, and other apps where the users need to place the GPS antenna in a different location than the iPad/iPhone. However, none of the professional-grade Bluetooth GPS receiver manufacturers have designed “Apple Bluetooth” into their systems, so there’s no way to connect your iPad/iPhone to a high-precision GPS/GNSS receiver via Bluetooth, unless you jailbreak the Apple Bluetooth stack.

    With iOS devices “out” for the forseeable future, that leaves the battle between Android and Windows Mobile devices for the most flexible and powerful GIS data collection devices.

    Google’s New Nexus 7 Tablet Computer

    Just two days after Mobile GIS webinar, Google introduced its Nexus 7 tablet computer.

    Google Nexus 7
    Google Nexus 7

    Even though Google says it’s not meant to target the Apple iPad, it may be better suited for geospatial apps than the iPad. One of the apps it was built for is gaming, so it’s got a pretty strong processor, a 1.3GHz quad-core CPU backed by 1 GB of RAM. Given that, dealing with raster imagery efficiently may not be an issue, although storage might. The Nexus 7 comes in 8-GB and 16-GB versions, with no memory expansion slot. That’s a lot of storage, but we like our SD cards.

    Of course, the “7” in the Nexus 7 name matches the display size, 7 inches, with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution, which is higher-res than the first two iPads. The Nexus 7 weighs in at 12 ounces, which is ligher than a Kindle Fire and half the weight of an iPad (although the iPad has a larger 9.7″ display). It reportedly works fine in direct sunlight, which is a must for geospatial users.

    It’s 4300-mAh Li-Ion battery will run it 9+ hours and I’d probably buy the $20 protective case for it since it’s not built for outdoor use any more than a notebook computer is. Ruggedness is always the rub with using consumer electronics devices outdoors, and the Nexus 7 is no different.

    By the way, the Nexus 7 is actually an ASUS Transformer Prime tablet that Google has rebranded. This is a good thing because the hardware bugs have likely been flushed out. Gizmodo rated the ASUS unit its favorite Android-based tablet.

    The Nexus 7 is one step closer to bringing consumer tablet computer technology to professional geospatial users. Although it has a built-in GPS receiver and 1.2-megapixel cameras, we need better geospatial tools. If various Bluetooth geospatial devices like high-precision GPS receivers, cameras, laser rangefinders, etc. can be interfaced to the Nexus 7, it’s a better match for geospatial apps than the iPad.

    Running Android’s latest 4.1 operating system, it’s going to suffer from a lack of geospatial apps, for now. But maybe this is the sort of hardware that developers need to see to get them excited.

    Did I mention the price?

    $200 bucks. If you want to splurge, $250 for the 16-GB model.

    This is getting interesting, very interesting.

    Thanks, and see you next time.

    Follow me on Twitter here.

  • Open Source GIS: Part II

    I received a bit of email from my article last week on open source GIS. There are two letters from readers I’d like to share with you because I think they clearly represent two different perspectives of the open source GIS discussion.

    I’d love to hear from more folks about their open source GIS apps. Please send me a quick email.

    The first letter points out an important fact about open source GIS that I didn’t touch on last week. His point is that with open source GIS, anyone can modify the software source code to add or change features of the software.

    Dear Eric,

    I’ve been following your writings for a few years now, and I’m delighted to see you bring up open source geospatial software in your column!

    Last year, I finished an online MGIS degree from Penn State, using open source GIS and web mapping tools with local township staff for my “capstone project.” Here in Michigan, townships are the local units of government that are below counties in the hierarchy of governments. There are over 1200 of them in the state.

    Open source tools, I think, represent an “enabling” technology and movement, especially for impoverished township governments like those I worked with in northern Michigan. There, some of the staff may actually be trained in using commercial GIS tools (from previous employment or from schools), but their small, rural townships may not be able to afford licenses for them. In other townships, staff have enthusiasm for, but not training in, GIS tools, and are willing to spend the time to learn and use them if their townships can provide them with such tools. (Here again, up here in rural northwest lower Michigan, townships typically can’t.) The townships up here typically have populations in the low thousands.

    For this segment of potential users, open source desktop GIS tools such as QGIS and uDig turned out to be just what was needed. For a couple of townships, I just had to show them how to download and install these tools, and then they were off on their own! After they created paper maps and such for their use (planning commission work, recreational planning, and so on), I made online interactive versions for their websites using open source tools. Such open source web mapping tools included Open Layers, Geoserver, and even Google Maps API, even though Google Maps API is not, strictly speaking, open source. In other townships, I initially had to sit down and coach them in the use of QGIS and uDig, but they soon caught on and started producing their own mapping products. Granted, the maps were fairly simple maps, but perfectly adequate to communicate to their constituents whatever needed to be communicated. Without open source GIS products, none of this would have been possible, especially in today’s economic climate.

    If you take a close look at QGIS, for example, you’ll see that the current release version (1.7.4) and the development version (1.9.x) contain highly sophisticated tools that rival those from commercial packages. In fact, for the vast majority of potential users (such as those I worked with), what are in the current versions are more than enough for their needs. Through the efforts of the worldwide communities of enthusiastic, part-time developers who program in their own time, these open source geospatial products of great sophistication are made available to those who need them most!

    Again, thank you for hi-lighting open source geospatial products in your column!

    Howard Yamaguchi

    P.S.  Eric, in your column you dwelled on the “free as in free beer” aspect of open source, where anybody can download the software and use it, gratis. The other aspect of open source that you could have mentioned is the part where, in addition to  downloading the product, we can also download the source code and tinker with it. We are then free to use the tinkered code for our own use, even to profit from it by deploying and using such modified versions for our clients. Open source licenses typically require us to eventually upload the modified source code to the developer community so that they can, if they so choose, incorporate it into the release versions of the product. That’s the “free as in free speech” part, the part that really distinguishes open source software from the world of commercial software. (But you probably knew all this!)  Cheers!

    Following is a letter from a gentleman who says the cost-savings potential with open source GIS isn’t worth it for the organization he works in.

    Eric—

    Thanks for your always insightful columns. You asked for feedback from users who are using open source GIS apps, but might I offer the following counterpoint? The electric utility company I work for doesn’t use open source GIS and has no plans to use it, regardless of how reliable or low-priced it becomes. “Why?” you ask. “Is it because we’re herd-bound and lacking vision?  Are we so tied to our big-box traditions that we can’t see the coming GIS software wave?”

    No, the reason is simply that the cost of neither software nor hardware is significant in comparison to the value of GIS data integration. When our system operators remotely close a switch, the distribution SCADA system’s electrical-connectivity data (which it receives from our GIS) darn well better correctly identify the facilities it just energized. So a GIS that’s highly integrated into our distribution-SCADA, accounting, work-management, outage-management and meter-data-management systems is a bargain at any price; but a stand-alone GIS app (even one with really great data-collection capabilities) is effectively worthless to us, regardless of how cheap it is.

    This system integration is not something our management cares to do in-house (though I’m always making the argument that we can and should do more in-house), nor is it something we can entrust to volunteer hackers (regardless of how altruistic they are). There will always be a market for high-dollar GIS platforms that frictionlessly exchange real-time data with mission-critical systems.

    It seems (to me anyway) that the only role open source apps might play is in areas that don’t involve interfaces with other mission-critical systems — e.g., in presenting our GIS data alongside other datasets, or perhaps in data collection/validation.

    Thanks again, for your always interesting insights,

    Bob

    Thanks to Howard and Bob for their perspectives.

    How about open source geo data such as openstreetmap.org?

    If you recall, one of the trends identified by the experts that the United Nations polled was that “There is unlikely to be a market for datasets like those currently sold to power navigation and location-based services solutions in five years, as they will have been superseded by crowdsourced datasets from OpenStreetMaps or other comparable initiatives.”

    Do you think that Bob’s rationale also applies to open source data? I’m sure that’s what Navteq/Nokia and Teletlas/TomTom would argue.

    Personally, I think that the U.N. prediction of five years is pretty aggressive. Navteq and TeleAtlas have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into collecting and validating their datasets. They get paid to be accountable for the quality of their product. The challenge for OpenStreetMap to take over the GPS Personal Navigation and other LBS markets is that the quality bar has already been set. If OpenStreetMap data quality doesn’t match or come close, the user experience will be disappointing and OpenStreetMap’s reputation will take a hit.

    Don’t take this wrong, though. Open source GIS data sources like OpenStreetMap, OpenSeaMap, etc. have a bright future. As I’ve written before, and as the U.N. correctly identifies, the proliferation of high-precision GNSS receivers, along with other sensors, will make high-precision data collection inexpensive and commonplace. Super-detailed, feature-rich, open source data is in our future.

    Thanks, and see you next week.
    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • Open Source GIS

    Some years ago, I predicted that the price of GIS data-collection hardware would eventually decline to the point that software would be the most expensive part of a GIS data-collection system. Well, I’m beginning to rethink that statement. Here’s why.

    There’s a solid push towards the open source concept in GIS. Since 2006, there’s been an annual conference called FOSS4G (Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial) hosted by OSGeo, the Open Source Geospatial Foundation. According to the OSGeo website,

    The Open Source Geospatial Foundation, or OSGeo, is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to support the collaborative development of open source geospatial software, and promote its widespread use. The foundation provides financial, organizational and legal support to the broader open source geospatial community. It also serves as an independent legal entity to which community members can contribute code, funding and other resources, secure in the knowledge that their contributions will be maintained for public benefit. OSGeo also serves as an outreach and advocacy organization for the open source geospatial community, and provides a common forum and shared infrastructure for improving cross-project collaboration.

    The foundation’s projects are all freely available and useable under an OSI-certified open source license.

    The OSGeo Mission Statement:

    To support the collaborative development of open source geospatial software, and promote its widespread use.

    OSGeo Goals:

    The following more detailed goals support the overall mission:

    • To provide resources for foundation projects — e.g., infrastructure, funding, legal.
    • To promote freely available geodata — free software is useless without data.
    • To promote the use of open source software in the geospatial industry (not just foundation software) — e.g., PR, training, outreach.
    • To encourage the implementation of open standards and standards-based interoperability in foundation projects.
    • To ensure a high degree of quality in foundation projects in order to build and preserve the foundation “brand”.
    • To make foundation and related software more accessible to end users — e.g., binary “stack” builds, cross package documentation.
    • To provide support for the use of OSGeo software in education via curriculum development, outreach, and support.
    • To encourage communication and cooperation between OSGeo communities on different language (eg. Java/C/Python) and operating system (eg. Win32, Unix, MacOS) platforms.
    • To support use and contribution to foundation projects from the worldwide community through internationalization of software and community outreach.
    • To operate an annual OSGeo Conference, possibly in cooperation with related efforts (e.g., EOGEO).
    • To award the Sol Katz award for service to the OSGeo community.

    Clearly, from the mission statement and goals, this effort is all about the geospatial user community, and you should stay tuned into this effort.

    Some of the current OSGeo projects include desktop GIS applications like gvSIG, Quantum GIS, and GRASS GIS.

    gvSIG Desktop App.
    gvSIG Desktop App.

    There is also a gvSIG Mobile app I mentioned in last week’s Geospatial Solutions Weekly column. It was developed using Java and runs on the Windows Mobile platform. With both gvSIG desktop and mobile, you can have an entire GIS data collection and desktop software suite free of charge. Of course, free comes with a price. There’s no accountability, no priority tech support, no one to call when you can’t figure out why things aren’t working, etc. You’re on your own, sort of. There’s an online community of users who interact and support each other. Also, like open source operating system LINUX, there are companies that will provide commercial support for open source GIS apps.

    gvSIG originated in Spain, and although it is available in more than 20 languages, it hasn’t gained much momentum in the U.S. yet. I think it’s an important enough subject that I’ve added it as a session topic to the Field Technology Conference this September. We will have at least one technical presentation on the subject and I will address open source GIS in my keynote presentation. If we’re lucky, we’ll also have a hands-on open source GIS area so conference attendees can see open source GIS apps being used in action.

    If you recall two weeks ago in my Geospatial Solutions Weekly article, I presented the United Nations Five to Ten Year Vision on Geospatial Information Management. Some of the key geospatial trends the U.N. identified related to open source are:

    • Free and open source software will continue to grow as viable alternatives both in terms of software, and potentially in analysis and processing.
    • Free and open access to data will become the norm and geospatial information will increasingly be seen as an essential public good.
    • Within five years the level of detail on transport systems within OpenStreetMap will exceed virtually all other data sources and will be respected and used by major organisations and governments across the globe.
    • National Mapping Agencies are likely to find it difficult to justify the costs of traditional data maintenance mechanisms as their products are used in increasingly niche areas.
    • Crowdsourced content will decrease cost, improve accuracy and increase availability of rich geospatial information.
    • There will be increased combining of imagery with crowdsourced data to create datasets that could not have been created affordably on their own.
    • Crowdsourced data will push National Mapping Agencies towards niche markets.
    • Progress will be made on bridging the gap between authoritative data and crowdsourced data, moving towards true collaboration.
    • Crowdsourced sensoring will emerge.
    • There is unlikely to be a market for datasets like those currently sold to power navigation and location-based services solutions in 5 years, as they will have been superseded by crowdsourced datasets from OpenStreetMaps or other comparable initiatives.

    It’s going to be very interesting to watch how quickly open source GIS apps and data (e.g., OpenStreetMap) are adopted. Part of the challenge is market awareness of open source GIS apps and data. Being open source (free), there aren’t big (or any) marketing budgets to promote the open source GIS concepts and products. Another challenge is if one chooses to implement open source GIS apps, there’s limited amount of technical support available to implement and maintain the apps unless there’s a reasonable level of commercial technical support available. However, as the adoption of open source GIS increases, it’s reasonable to assume the quality and quantity of user community technical support will grow.

    If any of my readers use open source GIS apps and would like to share, I’d love to hear about your experiences. Click here to send me a quick email.

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • Thoughts on Mobile Devices, UAVs, and Cheap Data-Collection Software

    On the coattails of last week’s Geospatial Solutions newsletter outlining the United Nations’ five- to ten-year vision on geospatial information management, and my column on the mobile device operating system war, here are some more thoughts on those subjects.

    As the cost of GIS data collection devices (handheld, tablet) has plummeted in the past two years and smartphones have proliferated, the quest for inexpensive GIS data-collection software has intensified. It makes sense. When people were used to paying thousands of dollars for a GIS data-collection device, another US$800-$1,000 for GIS data collection software seemed reasonable. It might have added 15-25% to the total price of the system. With today’s inexpensive devices, sometimes data collection software ends up costing more than the device itself, thus pushing the demand for cheaper software. On top of that, as I discussed a couple of weeks ago, we are in the middle of a mobile device operating system war. Whereas it used to be a no-brainer that Windows Mobile (or some derivative of it) was going to be the dominant operating system and supported by software developers, that’s not the case any longer. Windows Embedded is going to be around, but it’s clearly not the dominant mobile device operating system it once was.

    Interestingly enough, GIS data collection software for iOS and Andoird have followed the iOS and Android price trends. The mobile devices running iOS and Android are inexpensive, sometimes free. You don’t see any iOS or Android GIS data collection software packages costing thousands of dollars. On the other hand, many Windows Mobile-based geospatial softwares cost upwards of US$2,000. Of course, you can make the argument that the Windows Mobile-based softwares are mature and feature rich. That’s true, as most of the iOS and Android-based softwares have a fraction of the capability, but I’d venture to say that most users don’t need many of the features they are paying for. I also agree with one of the trends outlined in the UN document in that I think open source might be where things are headed.

    • Free and open source software will continue to grow as viable alternatives both in terms of software, and potentially in analysis and processing.

    Ironically, open source GIS data collection software has been around for years. However, you probably don’t know about it because no organization is actively marketing it (if there’s no revenue, there’s no marketing budget). Software like gvSIG Mobile is a reasonably powerful GIS data collection product. A little quirky? Perhaps. But, if your budget is depleted and your requirements exceed the capabilities of the typical free or inexpensive software in the iTunes or Google Market, you might tolerate the quirkiness.

    gvSIG Mobile Open Source GIS Data Collection Software.
    gvSIG Mobile Open Source GIS Data Collection Software.

    The UN also predicts that geospatial data will trend toward open source.

    • Within five years the level of detail on transport systems within OpenStreetMap will exceed virtually all other data sources and will be respected and used by major organizations and governments across the globe.
    • Community-based mapping will continue to grow.
    • There is unlikely to be a market for datasets like those currently sold to power navigation and location-based services solutions in five years, as they will have been superseded by crowdsourced datasets from OpenStreetMaps or other comparable initiatives.|
    While I agree that the trend towards open source data is gaining traction, five years is a really aggressive timeline for phasing out the likes of TeleAtlas (owned by TomTom) and Navteq (owned by Nokia). These are the two major map database suppliers for virtually all GPS navigation devices used in vehicles around the world. I think there will be, for the forseeable future, a quanitifiable and valued difference between open source data and commercial geospatial data. Commercial users will pay for perceived quality and accountability, especially if the price differential is minimal. Consumer GPS users (vehicle navigation) might be a different story. A $30 difference in retail price can sway a consumer from one brand to another.
    More on UAVs for Mapping
    One of the first trends in the UN listed are:
    • There will be an increased demand for applications to be used with high-resolution imagery.
    • The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as a tool for rapid geospatial data collection will increase.

    Trimble’s acquisition of Gatewing just last month supports this trend as well as the Obama administration’s accelerating the use of civilian UAVs back in February of this year via the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012.

    Cost-effective mapping UAVs are starting to emerge. In just this past week, Event 38 announced a small mapping UAV for under US$1,000.

    Low-cost E382 Mapping UAV from Event 38.
    Low-cost E382 Mapping UAV from Event 38.
    Augmented Reality

    As does the UN vision, I think augmented reality has a bright future for both commercial users and consumers.

    • Augmented reality applications will be pervasive, with the ability to view a whole range of data overlays on top of the real world.

    For professional geospatial users, the situational awareness possibilities are tremendous. Imagine the backhoe operator being able to “see” the underground infrastructure in order to avoid it. Imagine the park superintendent being able to “see” all of the underground irrigation and drainage lines by simply positioning a tablet computer towards the area of interest.

     

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • United Nations Five to Ten Year Vision on Geospatial Information Management

    This is an interesting look at the five and ten year vision of geospatial information management from the United Nations, a collection and summary of industry expert opinions. According to its website, “the UN initiative on Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM) aims at playing a leading role in setting the agenda for the development of global geospatial information and to promote its use to address key global challenges. It provides a forum to liaise and coordinate among Member States, and between Member States and international organizations.”

    UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management
    Future trends in geospatial information management: the five to ten year vision
    Background
    At the inaugural meeting of the Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (GGIM), held in Korea in October 2011, it was decided that there was a need to document the thoughts of leaders in the geospatial world as to the future development of this world over the next 5 years and then looking further out, to thoughts as to its development over the next 10 years. In particular, the Committee was interested in how these developments will contribute to the local, national and global strategic agendas of economic growth, social cohesion and wellbeing, environmental sustainability, disaster management, public safety and good governance. A number of experts and visionaries across a wide range of aspects of the geospatial community – from data collection experts, academics and major users of geospatial information, through to leading figures from the private sector and the Volunteer Geographic Information (VGI) movement – have been invited to contribute their views on the emerging trends in the geospatial world. Responses have now been received from individuals across the broad spectrum of the geospatial community.
    This paper briefly summarises the main themes and trends identified in these responses. It is designed to inform further discussion to take place alongside the Geospatial World Forum in Amsterdam in April 2012. Output from that session will then be used to develop further iterations of the document to be presented to the Committee for review at its second formal meeting in New York in August (13-15th August 2012). Final editing will take place based on the content of the discussions at this meeting and a final paper will be presented at the Second High-Level Forum on GGIM in Qatar in 2013.
    Executive Summary
    The use of geospatial information is increasing rapidly. There is a growing recognition amongst both Governments and the private sector that an understanding of location and place is a vital component of effective decision making. Citizens with no recognised expertise in geospatial information and who are unlikely to even be familiar with the term are also increasingly using and interacting with geospatial information, indeed in many cases they are contributing to its collection.
    As with all technology-driven sectors, the future is difficult to predict. However, this paper takes the views of a recognised group of experts from a wide range of fields related to the geospatial world and attempts to offer some vision of how this is likely to develop over the next 5-10 years.
    This paper will look at a number of aspects of the geospatial world in order to attempt to provide a tangible vision of where this community, providers, practitioners, and users, are heading. Based on contributions received, these trends have been broken down into broad themes covering major aspects of the geospatial world, as follows: data creation, maintenance and management; uses of geospatial data; trends in technology; legal and policy developments; skills requirements and training mechanisms; the future role of National Mapping Agencies; and the role of the private sector and volunteer geographic information.
    Future direction of data creation, maintenance and management
    Contributors noted the exponential growth in capture methods – the volume of data that will flow in, the increased potential of “traditional” positioning and capture methods such as the use of Satellites, but also the introduction of new (to geospatial information) methods such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Social Media. The responses considered the challenges of bringing these datasets together into manageable environments, particularly as the capture, processing and distribution of this data becomes more “real-time”.
    Uses of geospatial data
    The experts’ view is that geographic information will become ubiquitous in almost every aspect of government and of citizens’ lives. In its most positive aspects, crisis response will be greatly enhanced through the wide availability of more accurate, timely and accessible data – satellite flight paths can be changed, UAVs launched, and crowdsourced data ingested in real-time. This data will not only assist immediate response but facilitate better planning and long-term recovery. The data will also facilitate better governance by providing citizens with richer information and will support economic growth through enhanced resource planning, and therefore improved decision-making. However, this does come with risks as the pervasive availability of information, especially where citizens act as passive and even unwitting data providers, does increase the potential for misuse by both state and private organisations. Hence there is a need for vigilance and appropriate ethical standards, and accountability in this area.
    Trends in technology (including future of delivery mechanisms for geospatial data)
    Responses received from contributors have emphasised that technological evolution will continue to accelerate, with a key trend being the way that previously niche geospatial information technologies will become mainstream, whilst at the same time mainstream technologies such as the Cloud and Software as a Service are absorbed into geospatial information. Data will be increasingly interconnected through the web via capabilities such as Linked Data and this will challenge current standards methods. Contributors highlighted that technology will enable rapid distribution and absorption of information, and also accelerate responses to that data to the extent that location devices will be pervasive – everything and everyone will be locatable. Alongside this, respondents noted the emerging trend towards the provision of 3D and even 4D geospatial information. Responses emphasised these major technological developments and considered how this potential can be exploited to
    meet global goals.

    Legal and policy developments

    There were a myriad of legal and policy issues highlighted by contributors that are likely to impact the geospatial world over the coming five to ten years. The trends identified include issues related to the increasing demand for free and open access to geospatial data; the privacy challenges related to the growing number of devices that act as geospatial sensors; the potential gap between legal and policy developments in the geospatial world, and developments in the legal and policy frameworks of interrelated issues such as privacy, national security, liability and intellectual property; the potential legal status of national spatial data infrastructures; and other governance roles expected to be required in relation to geospatial information.
    Skills requirements and training mechanisms
    Understanding what the skills requirements and necessary training will be in the next five to ten years will be an important component of ensuring the value of geospatial information is maximised. Responses discussed the likely changes that will take place as interaction, analysis and use of geospatial information continues its shift from the domain of a relatively small group of experts to the wider populace. Respondents also gave consideration to the likely impact of the transformations and intersections between geospatial information in what may be viewed as its traditional form and geospatial information as data, particularly in light of the expected proliferation of this data over the coming five to ten years.
    The future role of the National Mapping Agencies
    Contributions have highlighted that, as in the last five to ten years and the decades prior, the role of National Mapping Agencies will inevitably continue to evolve over the next five to ten years. Responses suggested that Governments are likely to continue to play a major role in securing and guaranteeing the quality of the fundamental geospatial information base, and in overseeing the principles and arrangements required to ensure authoritative frameworks are maintained. Contributors also highlighted the challenges and opportunities that will develop as a result of the increasing availability of crowdsourced data and the involvement of the private sector in the geospatial world, particularly in ‘competitive’ geographies. Consideration was given to how these trends will impact the role of National Mapping Agencies, and how these different data providers can complement each other.

    The role of the private sector and voluntary sector

    In addition to considering how the private and public sectors can work together to benefit the citizen, respondents explored a wide range of trends in the private sector and within the volunteer geographic community and discussed how these will evolve, Ten years ago few would have predicted that Google would be a large provider of location information to the citizen, or that most citizens would be buying location services and devices. Respondents noted that we have also seen the private sector begin to challenge the National Mapping Agencies in data collection and maintenance, especially for cross-border solutions, where the national remit of traditional providers is a barrier to users. Contributions also discussed the other extreme, where citizen and voluntary groups have seized the opportunity of new technology to develop initiatives such as Open Street Map and Map Action to complement and even challenge traditional data providers.
    Annex A: Future trends
    Key emerging trends identified as a result of the input received include:
    • The growing number of sensors in everyday devices, which collect and provide geospatial information, will increase and alter the dynamic of data collection. This will also increase the role of geospatial data creation and collection by citizens, both active and passive.
    • New data will be created on top of accurate geospatial data using real-time user information available through social media and other web uses.
    • There will be an increased demand for applications to be used with high-resolution imagery.
    • The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) as a tool for rapid geospatial data collection will increase.
    • 3D and even 4D geospatial information, incorporating time as the fourth dimension, will increase.
    • Developments in technology mean that collaboration on data collection and management will increase, with different aspects carried out in different parts of the globe.
    • The emergence of new independent Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) will require a concomitant system for unification.
    • Demand for geospatial data will increase, particularly in developing countries, as they look to develop different sectors of their economies.
    • Education and broader capacity building will play a vital role in this field, ensuring that both the skills required to make best use of spatial information are available and that key decision-makers are aware of the value of this information.
    • Citizens’ familiarity with information that has a spatial aspect to it, particularly through the use of Location Based Services, will continue to increase.
    • People will change and adapt as they become more familiar with technology and handling of data streams, and will become increasingly adept at recognising trends (spatial, temporal and causal) within the vast quantities of data that will likely be available.
    • Analysis and reasoning based on data may start to form part of Spatial Data Infrastructures, as the concepts of infrastructure as a service, IaaS, platform as a service, PaaS, and software as a service, SaaS, evolve further on to model as a service, MaaS.
    • The provision of data as Linked Data, similar to the www where documents are linked together, will increase and will be widely implemented within the next 5 years, replacing current exchange standards (e.g. GML).
    • There will be a dramatic push to give access to both imagery and applications to end‐users anytime, anywhere.
    • The cloud will become increasingly important as a delivery mechanism for geospatial data. It will also have a significant impact on current business models.
    • Technology will move faster than legal and governance structures.
    • Low-cost low tech sensors will proliferate.
    • Gaming may inspire new developments as opposed to traditional geospatial information.
    • The link between geospatial information and social media, plus other actor networks, will become more and more important.
    • Real-time information will enable more dynamic modelling and response to disasters.
    • Metadata and other ways of dealing with the increasing amounts of data that will be available will be increasingly important.
    • Free and open source software will continue to grow as viable alternatives both in terms of software, and potentially in analysis and processing.
    • Earth observations systems will be increasingly improved and make the satellite imagery of any place at any time available.
    • Geospatial computation will increasingly be non-human consumable in nature, with an increase in the number of fully-automated decision systems.
    • Businesses and Governments will increasingly invest in tools and resources to manage Big Data. The technologies required for this will enable greater use of raw data feeds from sensors and other sources of data.
    • Global demand for Location-Based Services will continue to rise and should lead to geospatial information achieving ubiquity.
    • The widespread use and creation of geospatial data will lead to the establishment of a geospatial infrastructure. Society will increasingly rely on this infrastructure, much as it has become dependent on other, more traditional forms of infrastructure, such as electrical grids or highway networks.
    • Within five years GNSS modernisation will have a significant effect on all classes of positioning – from high end, geodetic quality applications such as orbit determination of low earth orbiting satellites and warning systems for earthquakes and tsunamis, down to consumer grade devices in phones and PDAs. Positioning will be more accurate, with lower latency and greater integrity. Integration with other sensor sets (typically low cost MEMS devices and compasses) will also have developed significantly. Positioning devices will work reliably in far more places than they currently do, and because of this, applications enabled by the technology will spiral upwards in terms of volume and sophistication.
    • In ten years time it is likely that all smart phones (or whatever replaces them) will be able to film 360 degree 3D video at incredibly high resolution by today’s standards, and wirelessly stream it in real time. Such devices would likely be carried or worn by workers in situations where it would be useful for their colleagues (back at the office or in the field) to be able to see what they are seeing – for example police officers, firefighters, utility workers, etc. They would also be mounted in many vehicles, at street intersections, etc. This network of devices will provide data that can be merged in real time to give an immersive video view of the world.
    • Augmented reality applications will be pervasive, with the ability to view a whole range of data overlays on top of the real world.
    • We will see significantly more diversity in the geospatial market than we have had over the past couple of decades. We are likely to see much more influence from video games, in terms of dynamic graphics and 3D visualization. This will be another driver for a new generation of software to replace today’s incumbents.
    • There will be a need for geospatial use governance in order to discern the real world from the virtual/modelled world in a 3D geospatial environment.
    • Free and open access to data will become the norm and geospatial information will increasingly be seen as an essential public good.
    • Funding models to ensure full data coverage even in non-profitable areas will continue to be a challenge.
    • Privacy will continue to be a major battleground.
    • Rapid growth will lead to confusion and lack of clarity over data ownership, distribution rights, liabilities and other aspects.
    • Protection of data from processes like data ‘scraping’ will be an issue.
    • Legislation will increasingly recognise digital signatures as digital cadastre/deeds will become the norm.
    • In five years, legal and policy communities in most parts of the world will be getting to grips with the power of geospatial technology and some of the unique aspects of geospatial data. However, in many areas of the world a consistent and transparent legal and policy framework will not have developed with regards to such matters as privacy, national security, liability and intellectual property. This will cause a number of issues.
    • In ten years, there will be a clear dividing line between winning and losing nations, dependent upon whether the appropriate legal and policy frameworks have been developed that enable a location-enabled society to flourish.
    • Some governments will use geospatial technology as a means to monitor or restrict the movements and personal interactions of their citizens. Individuals in these countries may be unwilling to use LBS or applications that require location for fear of this information being shared with authorities.
    • Supervision and regulation of geospatial information according to law will prevail, with governments paying increasing attention to the authoritativeness and accuracy of geospatial information.
    • National geospatial data infrastructures will be planned, developed and maintained as statutory infrastructures.
    • The deployment of sensors and the broader use of geospatial data within society will force public policy and law to move into a direction to protect the interests and rights of the people.
    • Location awareness should form a core component of the Internet of Things.
    • Capacity development and educational programmes will need to be tailored to individual country needs.
    • Spatial literacy will not be about learning GIS in schools but will be more centred on increasing spatial awareness and an understanding of the value of understanding place as context.
    • Staff at National Mapping Agencies will have to be rationalized and retrained to acquire multidisciplinary skills.
    • As well as playing a major role in securing and guaranteeing the quality of base geospatial information, governments/National Mapping Agencies will take on an additional role as geospatial information manager, and playing a guiding role in guaranteeing the quality and reliability of software used in creating user specific geospatial realities.
    • Government’s roles may increasingly be one of compensating for market failure as opposed to providing the complete geospatial framework.
    • The role of National Mapping Agencies as an authoritative supplier of high quality data and of arbitrator of other geospatial data sources will continue to be crucial.
    • National Mapping Agencies set up with large numbers of staff within individual specialist units will change.
    • Monopolies held by National Mapping Agencies in some areas of specialised spatial data will be eroded completely.
    • More activities carried out by National Mapping Agencies will be outsourced and crowdsourced.
    • Crowdsourced data will push National Mapping Agencies towards niche markets.
    • Government should provide leadership and establish/oversee frameworks.
    • National Mapping Agencies will be required to find new business models to provide simplified licenses and meet the demands for more free data from mapping agencies.
    • The integration of crowdsourced data with government data will increase over the next 5 to 10 years.
    • Crowdsourced content will decrease cost, improve accuracy and increase availability of rich geospatial information.
    • There will be increased combining of imagery with crowdsourced data to create datasets that could not have been created affordably on their own.
    • There will be no more than ten global providers of geospatial information services in the world.
    • Progress will be made on bridging the gap between authoritative data and crowdsourced data, moving towards true collaboration.
    • There will be an accelerated take-up of Volunteer Geographic Information over the next five years.
    • In all geographies without market failure, the private sector will wish to compete with traditional players.
    • Crowdsourced sensoring will emerge.
    • Within five years the level of detail on transport systems within OpenStreetMap will exceed virtually all other data sources and will be respected and used by major organisations and governments across the globe.
    • Community-based mapping will continue to grow.
    • There is unlikely to be a market for datasets like those currently sold to power navigation and location-based services solutions in 5 years, as they will have been superseded by crowdsourced datasets from OpenStreetMaps or other comparable initiatives.
    • National Mapping Agencies are likely to find it difficult to justify the costs of traditional data maintenance mechanisms as their products are used in increasingly niche areas.

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • Mobile Device Operating System Wars: Android vs. iOS vs. Windows Mobile

    Following up on my” Mobile Devices Galore” column a couple of weeks ago, one predominant question I hear reverberating across all industries with geospatial apps on mobile devices is “what is the mobile device operating system of the future?”

    After years of relatively benign evolution, the mobile device market (smart phone, tablet, handheld) is changing really quickly, and it’s really making geospatial users think hard about which device and operating system to deploy.

    I think it’s safe to say that if there were enough apps available for the Android platform, Android would clearly be the geospatial operating system of choice. There are a myriad of smart phones and cheap tablet computers running Android that consumers are eating up and geospatial users are salivating over. Unlike Apple with their iOS, Google will license Android to almost anyone so hardware manufacturers like Samsung are flocking to Android. One would think this might be déjà vu for Apple a la Microsoft Windows.

    However, the fact is that there’s not much in the way of geospatial apps for Android, yet.

    Almost all geospatial apps in existence today are built for Windows Mobile, but most people I’ve spoken to aren’t convinced that Microsoft is committed to Windows Mobile. The follow on to Windows Mobile 6.5 called Windows Embedded Handheld. You might think that Windows Phone 7 is the follow-on to Windows Mobile 6.5, but the problem is that apps have to be re-written for Windows Phone 7 while the software development environment for Windows Embedded Handheld is the same/similar as/to Windows Mobile 6.5. Following is a video explaining Microsoft’s mobile device strategy for Windows:

    Almost all geospatial apps in existence today are built for Windows Mobile, but most people I’ve spoken to aren’t convinced that Microsoft is committed to Windows Mobile. The follow on to Windows Mobile 6.5 called Windows Embedded Handheld. You might think that Windows Phone 7 is the follow-on to Windows Mobile 6.5, but the problem is that apps have to be re-written for Windows Phone 7 while the software development environment for Windows Embedded Handheld is the same/similar as/to Windows Mobile 6.5. Following is a video explaining Microsoft’s mobile device strategy for Windows:

    Dual Boot?

    We have a problem. We need mobile devices to support Windows Mobile, for now, due to the wide number of apps available for that operating system. However, we aren’t sure of Microsoft’s committment to Windows Mobile in the future and it seems Android has a tremendous amount of momentum, How many IT people have you seen with dual boot Windows/Linux? It makes me think about a dual boot mobile device…Windows Mobile and Android. But, that could get ugly pretty quickly since average consumer is not going to be interested in this. Without the benefit of consumer acceptance of what we use for a mobile device, we are back to where we started, stuck with a few niche suppliers that produce high-priced mobile devices specifically for the geospatial industries.

    I can dream about dual boot, but I doubt it will happen.

    Which Mobile Device Operating systems will survive and flourish?

    Earlier this month, technology research firm Gartner, Inc. issued a report detailing the results of their research on tablet computer operating systems. While it’s not completely indicative of smart phone and handheld operating systems, I think it’s a very good indicator of where things are headed.

    Following is a table summarizing the results of their research by operating system.

    Worldwide Sales of Media Tablets to End Users by OS (Thousands of Units):
    OS 2011 2012 2013 2016
    iOS 39,998 72,988 99,553 169,652
    Android 17,292 37,878 61,684 137,657
    Microsoft 0 4,863 14,547 43,648
    QNX (RIM) 807 2,643 6,036 17,836
    Other OS 1,919 510 637 464
    Total 60,017 118,883 182,457 369,258

    If you’d like to read a detailed article about their results and report, click here.

    Is Apple’s iOS really going to continue to dominate?

    I wish I would have bought Apple stock a few years ago. Apple is a serious cash machine, earning more profit than even ExxonMobile, thus becoming the most profitable company in the world.

    However, with their closed system, it smacks of the Mac vs. Windows battle of 20+ years ago of which Apple clearly lost. Can a closed operating system like iOS maintain its dominance? I doubt it, I really doubt it. Apple has been on a great run, but even from the table above, one can clearly see that Android is projected to grow faster.

    While I’m reasonably sure iOS isn’t going to be a long-term dominator, I’m not so sure about Android vs. Windows Embedded. As we saw with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer going from zero to hero in a short period of time, Microsoft has the ability to focus a tremendous amount of resources to tackle a market if they choose. They could do it with Windows Embedded, if they choose.

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • Mobile Devices Galore

    Few, if any, technology products reach a worldwide audience hotter than mobile devices. I’m talking about smartphones, tablets, handhelds, and even notebooks to some extent. When’s the last time you bought a desktop computer?

    As I mentioned in my March 23 Geospatial Solutions column, at the GIS in Action conference I asked a Google presenter if he thought the mobile phone is going to be the primary mobile device people will carry. He said, “No, it’s going to be the tablet computer.”

    The competition certainly seems to be between the smartphone and the tablet, or maybe a hybrid version of the two. From a geospatial user perspective, we’ve been showered these past few months with tablet device offerings.

    1. Kindle Fire. The most significant tablet computer introduced since the iPad two years ago. Its low price has opened up the tablet market to a new level of adopters. Kindle Fire is the poster child for the many, many Android-based tablets on the market from Sony, Samsung, Motorola, LG, ASUS, etc.

    Salient features: Wi-Fi, Android operating system, web browsing, less than US$200. It’s all about the low price.

    Oops: Doesn’t run the latest Google Android operating system.

    Geospatial apps: ArcGIS for Kindle Fire

    Adoption: 5+ million sold since its introduction last fall.

    Kindle-Fire-2012

    2. Apple iPad. This product started the new revolution in tablet computing. Apple’s proprietary style may hurt it as competition from Google Android devices heats up.

    Salient Features: The defacto standard for tablet computing. Apps, apps, apps, and more apps. Shares the same operating system as the iPhone and iTouch.

    Oops: One trick pony. There is only one iPad. Google will license Android to almost anyone. Closed Bluetooth so you can’t interface to external instruments (GPS, laser rangefinders, etc.).

    Geospatial apps: ArcGIS for iOS, iCMTGIS, iGIS, GeoJot, GISPro

    Adoption: 75+ million sold since its introduction two years ago. The latest iPad sold 3 million units in the first three days it was available.

    Apple-iPad-2012

    3. Windows-based tablets. Acer Iconia Tab Series, Samsung Series 7. Windows-based tablet computers at near iPad prices.

    Salient Features: Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. GIS software compatibility.

    Oops: Battery life, expensive.

    Geospatial apps: Take your pick. Virtually any GIS app designed for Windows XP/7 will run on these tablets.

    Adoption: Weak. Although Microsoft has been promoting tablet computers for 10+ years, they are getting beat up in the tablet market, at least with the general public. The Windows operating system still has a lot of value with professional users due to software/workflow compatibility. Be on the lookout for Windows 8 and Microsoft Office apps (optimized for low power, etc.) as Microsoft tries to leverage the power of Windows and match the appeal of the Ipad.

    Look for more coverage on smartphones and handhelds soon.

    Thanks, and see you next week.

    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • How To Justify a Local Government GIS

    A couple of years ago, I wrote a piece titled, “The Struggles of a City GIS Manager.” With government budgets being cut 15+%, one of the activities that always seems to be included in the discussion is GIS. When the GIS is up and running, has the GIS manager worked his/her way out of a job? I thought I’d revisit the subject and mention a recent report released on the return on investment (ROI) of King County’s (Washington) GIS after 20 years in service.

    At a recent municipal public meeting on transportation I attended, the issue of pavement management was being discussed in detail along with a report from a company hired to rate the condition of road system within the municipality. The Pavement Condition Index (PCI) was reported for each municipal road segment in tabular format. As you can imagine, with ~100 miles of road in the municipality, the tabular list was overwhelming…page after page after page of text. How does one interpret and make decisions based on data that’s difficult to interpret? Of course, I asked whether the data was available in a “GIS format” so that the citizens could more easily visualize the condition of each road segment. The answer was yes, but this was not included in the service contract. Then the conversation turned to using the in-house GIS department (one full-time + part-time) to integrate the tabular data into the municipality’s street data. Someone asked, “Can they do that?” The answer was yes, technically they can, but they are busy working on other projects.

    I think one of the reasons that municipal GIS departments seem to always be in the budget-cut discussion is because elected officials, and probably municipal executive management, don’t understand how valuable it can be. The PCI study was a great example. When the city ordered the PCI assessment, it declined the $2,000-3,000 option to have the data delivered in GIS-ready format. However, once a city councilor scanned the gobs of PCI data in the report and understood how difficult it would to interpret the data for the city council, city staff, and the public, the councilor stated, “Our food budget is more than that.” In other words, a no brainer decision to spend the $3,000.

    Municipal GIS managers, as much as they may not want to, need to be promoting their services within city government. How about a GIS Day event within city government where GIS departments can showcase their capabilities to the various city departments? Unfortunately, it can’t be a one-time event. This is a continuing education process. People who aren’t knee-deep into GIS have a lot of information being thrown at them every day. There’s no way to consume it all and we shouldn’t expect them to. Therefore, it’s all about consistent reinforcement of the concepts and capabilities of the GIS department so when the engineering or public works department is considering infrastructure work, GIS is somewhere in their train of thought.

    On another note, King County (Seattle, WA) commissioned a consulting firm to analyze the benefits of the use of GIS in King County. According to the report, King County set up its GIS in 1992. The analysis was performed for the period 1992-2010.

    Conclusions drawn from the analysis were quite impressive:

    “Even by our most conservative estimate (in which we discount past cash flows at 3%, assume a diminished value for outputs in excess of 1992 levels, and interpolate past benefits using a B/C ratio that decreases by 10% per year), King County’s GIS program is estimated to have earned $776,361,408 in net benefits from 1992 to 2010.”
    That’s $776 million, folks.
    You can read the executive summary of the report here.
    You can read the full report here.
    If you’re involved in local government GIS, it’s worth your time to read it.
    Thanks, and see you next week.
    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • The Geospatial Promised Land: Indoor Positioning

    At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain a few weeks ago, a company called Loctronix introduced meter-level indoor positioning technology. “In 50 meters, turn left to find Macy’s Department store” is not very far in our future. This technology and others one step closer to making accurate indoor navigation possible so you can navigate from store-to-store inside a shopping mall or even navigate to particular items within a particular store.

    sirf-fusion_26102011jpg

    It’s all about sensor fusion. CSR’s SiRFstar V/SiRFusion technology uses data from all available satellite navigation systems from the U.S., Europe, Russia, China and Japan, as well as WiFi, cellular systems, accelerometers, gyros, and compasses. Loctronix calls their technology Doppler Aided Inertial Navigation (DAIN) and Spectral Compression Positioning (SCP) which allows them to obtain one meter positioning outdoors, indoors, and even underground without relying on external servers with the following features:

    • Client-based, sensor fusion software platform producing real-time position, speed, direction of motion, and heading information.
    • Optional integrated GPS/GNSS signal and navigation processing – using Loctronix’ SCP hybrid technology.
    • Fully integrated map-matching functionality with support for third-party map data.
    • Optional WiFi RSSI location and access point profiling.
    • Third-party LBS API support.
    • Multiple implementation options supporting existing smartphones and next-generation wireless devices.

    Think about what would happen if indoor positioning is actually implemented per the above, able to deliver one meter accuracy. Less than ten years ago, the automobile Personal Navigation Device (PND) market was in its infancy. GPS positioning was clearly able to deliver the accuracy required for point-to-point street navigation. What makes the PND valuable is the outdoor map database. These are the highly detailed digital maps from Navteq/Nokia and TeleAtlas/TomTom that are inside 90% of the PNDs in the world. Drawing from this experience, it’s obvious that indoor mapping databases are going to be huge, not only the location of stores, but the location of items on the shelves within stores. A friend of mine works for a large national retail chain in the U.S. He said they’ve tried aisle-to-aisle navigation technology before, and it failed. It was too difficult for the shopper to use. What that tells me is that the demand is there, in a big way.

    The PND market in the 1990s was messing around too, trying to arrive at a technology and price point for mass adoption. Indoor navigation is on the same path, only this time it won’t be Navteq/Nokia and TeleAtlas/TomTom leading the pack.

    Thanks, and see you next week.
    Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GPSGIS_Eric

  • A $45 Tablet Computer?

    At the GIS In Action 2012 conference last week, I asked a Google presenter if he thought the mobile phone is going to be the primary mobile device people will carry. He said, “No, it’s going to be the tablet computer.”

    Certainly the Apple iPad, since its introduction in April 2010, has sparked the tablet computer business. Google’s Android operating system has done its share of stimulating the tablet business, and just in the last few months, the fantastic success of the Kindle Fire (based on the Android operating system) has given Apple something to think about. I bought my wife a Kindle Fire for Christmas a few months ago. For the most part, it has replaced her notebook computer for the majority of her computing activities.

    It’s not that the Kindle has amazing functionality and zippy computer power. The beauty of the Kindle Fire is that it’s inexpensive ($199), and has the basic features that make it very useful; web browsing, email, and ebook reading. The previous ebook readers by Kindle lacked web browsing and email functionality, so they were limited to being pure ebook readers. You can bet that the Kindle Fire has Apple thinking twice charging $600 for an iPad.

    Continuing the subject of low-priced tablet computers, the I-slate, developed by the Institute for Sustainable and Applied Infodynamics (ISAID), a joint venture of Houston’s Rice University and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, is being developed for the educational environment and has a targeted price of $45. Yes, $45 U.S. dollars.

    Check out the following story:

    India’s Mahabubnager District, Indian non-profit Villages for Development and Learning Foundation (ViDAL), Rice University and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore announced that the district plans to adopt 50,000 of the low-cost electronic I-slate tablet computer into middle and high school classrooms over the next three years.

    i-slate-revolution-in-mohammad-hussain-pally-04

    According to the announcement, the I-slate, a low-cost learning tool designed for classrooms with no electricity and too few teachers, is under joint development by the I-slate Consortium, which includes hardware and software experts at Rice and NTU, social outreach partners from ViDAL, and a Los Angeles-based design team.

    The district of Mahabubnagar in the Indian state Andhra Pradesh has about 500,000 students in government schools. Consortium leaders and Mahabubnagar officials said they hope to supply I-slates to at least 10 percent of the students over the next three years.

    “The I-slate project is about empowering local communities with education and knowledge,” said Rajeswari Pingali, ViDAL founding chairwoman. “Based on two years of lab-to-school testing rounds, today we have a fully functional I-slate which will be adapted by the district education department for expanding the footprint of technology and bringing learning opportunities backed by the latest in modern communication technology for the benefit of rural communities.”

    According to the announcement, about 30 fourth-generation I-slates were delivered this month to a class of 10- to 13-year-olds at the Mohamed Hussainpalli Village School, which is located in Mahabubnagar District, about 70 miles from Hyderabad. The new I-slates are the first to feature a new “sense-optimized” user interface designed to improve educational outcomes in rural India.

    “Sense optimization is a systematic way of improving the user experience by taking advantage of our knowledge of how the human brain processes the information so we can invest the minimum amount of resources for the effectiveness level we’re trying to reach,” said I-slate creator Krishna Palem, a professor at both Rice and NTU. “The I-slate is not a tablet computer. It is a device designed for a single purpose — education in a low-resource environment.”

    Mahabubnagar is primarily rural and has a population of around 4 million. District officials plan to use the I-slate in middle and high school classrooms. With sufficient volume, the unit cost for the I-slate will be around $45 (56 Singapore dollars), Palem said.

    Palem, Rice’s Ken and Audrey Kennedy Professor of Computing, initially conceived the I-slate in 2008. He thought power consumption would be the biggest hurdle, because many rural schools in India lack electricity, and a solar-powered I-slate would need to run on no more than three watts of power. However, as soon as students in Mohamed Hussainpalli Village began testing early prototypes, it became obvious that usability and effectiveness would also be a challenge.

    The I-slate’s Los Angeles-based design team, which includes Marc Mertens, CEO of the Seso Media Group, and project leader Henrik Andersson, volunteered their time to work with ViDAL, NTU specialists in human-computer interaction and Rice student interns. The designers evaluated feedback from children at Mohamed Hussainpalli Village School and spent thousands of hours scrutinizing the placement and flow of features and the way children interacted with the I-slate both visually and by touch.

    It was reported that the designers incorporated elements from video games and social networking to draw students in and hold their interest. For example, a colorful cartoon creature in the corner of the I-slate screen watches the student and changes expression based upon the child’s actions. The more the student studies and the better her grades, the happier the creature appears. (EDITOR’S NOTE: to see the user interface in action, watch the video linked at the end of this release.)

    The I-slate is a joint project of the Rice-NTU Institute for Sustainable and Applied Infodynamics (ISAID). Palem, who directs ISAID, is a Nanyang Visiting Professor at NTU.

    “It is very exciting to see the early work on the I-slate expand to a larger user base,” said ISAID affiliate Vincent Mooney, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Georgia Tech, who worked on the I-slate as a visiting faculty member at NTU.

    According to the announcement, the hardware and graphic content for the I-slate are being developed in tandem because they will ultimately use a revolutionary low-power computer chip — another of Palem’s inventions. The new chip, which could be ready for use in the I-slate by 2013, will cut power requirements in half and allow the device to run on solar power from small panels similar to those used on handheld calculators.

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