Categories
Thoughts

First Direct – it’s all gone wrong !!

FirstdirectDo you bank with first direct online? First Direct one of the first phone and online banks in the UK, last week upgraded the security on their internet banking site – and made a complete mess of the job. So currently I and many others are locked out of our accounts, and even worse.. my beloved safari browser is no longer supported.

Time to back out of the changes perhaps First Direct ?

Written and submitted from home, using my home 802.11 network.

Categories
GIS

DNF to feature at the next BCS Geospatial SG meeting

The next evening meeting of the BCS Geospatial SG meeting is on the Digital National Framework.

DNF
The meeting on Tuesday 27th March feature presentations from Keith Murray and Les Rackham who are “THE” experts on the Digital National Framework, a potential foundation to a future UK SDI. Key to the Success of DNF will be widespread adoption of its framework geography approach.. so awareness building event like this are key..
See you there.

Written and submitted from home, using my home 802.11 network.

Categories
GIS neogeography where 2.0

Where 2.0 comes to Europe – Geoware2007

Life is really busy at the moment, but I am finally in a position to put down a few thoughts about this weeks Geoware in Arhus.

I was very impressed by the organisation and quality of speakers, credit is due to Anders, Peter and the rest of the team at the innovation lab for putting the event together.

Nicholas Nova who gave a very interesting talk on mobile gaming gives a good review of the event on his blog. This is the closet I have seen to the “must visit” Where 2.0 in Europe.

To me one of the most interesting debates was around business models for these new mobile services, and the fact that for the most part quite traditional business models based on advertising or commission payments underlie these new services.

Nokia for example who demonstrated the N95 smartphone ( Forget the iPhone, this is the phone for geo-geeks) which ships with a free mapping and navigation package for Europe, with POI data sponsored by Restaurants, Hotels, Car hire companies etc. Nokia receive a commission from any transaction, such as booking a hotel which comes from their mobile service – a business model as old as publishing !
I wonder if we will see a similar event in the UK , and if so who would organise it? I know from trying to run the innovation process at the OS how difficult a task it is to get UK companies to think along these lines… and of course the other obvious challenges to GI based startups regarding availability of data are well known.

Written and submitted from home, using my home 802.11 network.