Category: conference

Categories
conference Conferences

GeoWeb Conference call for papers

I have not attended the GeoWeb Conference for the past few years, but the annual international conference in Vancouver has been a highlight event in the years I was able make it.

The conference represents an interesting middle ground between the very much industry dominated conference of  Where 2.0 and Location Business Summit and academic conferences where the  focus is on published proceedings.

The GeoWeb 2011 Conference covers the broad area of the convergence of information sharing and geographic technology on the Web and the resulting economic, social and technical impact.

For this years conference I have volunteered to sit on the organising committee and  am leading the stream on Business and Consumer applications, which is inviting  submissions for papers/presentations is the following areas.

  • Information access for investors and smarter investment
  • Crowd-sourced data and its impact on commercial services
  • Standards for information interchange and presentation
  • What everyone else can learn from social media
  • Location sharing and Privacy
  • Smart phones as sensors

Other themes at the event include, Smart Grids and Utilities, Air Traffic Management, Urban Infrastructure and Transportation, Public Safety and Security and Environment and Climate Change.

For details visit the Geoweb CFP page.

Written and submitted from home (51.425N, 0.331W)

Categories
AGI conference

Being Digital means being interactive.

Next week I will be joining a panel on the “value” of Location at Being-Digital ’09 at Centre Point in London.  The topic of course is an interesting one, but for me the event format is perhaps more notable.

bd-logo-square-mdBeing-Digital is a “conference without PowerPoint’s”, instead there are round-tables of industry experts discussing hot topics and short demos. The focus is much more on debate and discussion; both via traditional questions from the room and via SMS and Twitter feedback (Hashtag is #bde). 

This level of interaction is important and in not uncommon in broader web conferences especially those accross the pond, but it’s less common in the UK.

Hopefully the reinvigorated AGI GeoCommunity conference with its new Geoweb stream, will bring some of this different approach to the world of GI conferences.

 

Written and submitted from Teddington Swimming pool, using my home 3 UMTS modem.

Categories
conference LBS Thoughts

A different perspective of London

I gave a presentation at the Digital Cities Seminar yesterday and was fascinated by some of the maps Sir Terry Farrell showed as part of his presentation which will be featured in his new book Shaping London.

It is always refreshing to look at how people other than cartographers choose to represent geospatial information, the image below taken from Terry’s presentation show the Thames Gateway, the area of urban redevelopment east of London, and takes its inspiration from Beck’s Underground map.

 

Thames Gateway
Thames Gateway

 

 

Beck’s map (or plan ?) is truly iconic and the map of the Thames gateway uses the Circle Line from it both to provide a geographic anchor for the map and to provide relative scale. I always find it amusing to remind people that one of the most famous maps in the world is the product of a graphic designer based on the principles of laying out electrical circuit diagrams.

 

 

Becks Tube Map
Becks Tube Map

 

 

In my presentation I made the point that we are increasing moving to a time when maps are customised to an individuals needs, and will become task focused delivered on mobile devices and as a result transient. Indeed for many tasks where a map was once needed a location aware application can provide users with the information they need without a map display.

Just step back and think about this one button from the “infamous” National Rail app for the iPhone.

 

Next Train Home
Next Train Home

 

Press it anywhere in the UK, and it will tell you the time of the next train home, and when you would expect to arrive. As a geospatial professional think about all the functionality and data that is hidden behind this simple button, and the analogue sources of information you would need to have access to to provide the answer.

As a Geographer sometimes it hard to accept, but it is still true, that it is often not about the map !!

Written and submitted from the Google Office, London.