2007 February 2

This issue sponsored by

ESRI

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Editor's Introduction

This week, as the spring "conference season" approaches, I highlight 31 geospatial conferences and trade shows that will take place over the next three months; I also bring you a contribution by John Palatiello, executive director of MAPPS, a national trade association of geospatial firms, about the prospects for funding for geospatial programs under the new Congress. Plus, a particularly large serving of news items from press releases.

Next week, I will report in depth on a lawsuit that MAPPS and other groups have filed against the U.S. federal government seeking to compel the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council to "promulgate regulations that accurately and comprehensively provide for federal procurement of architectural and engineering services, including surveying and mapping, to follow the qualifications-based selection (QBS) process in the Brooks Act" (from a January 12 MAPPS update on the litigation).

— Matteo Luccio

Upcoming Geospatial Conferences

This year's conference season is underway, so here is a listing of 31 conferences that will take place in the next three months. I have extracted the description for each conference from its website.

Read more…

Educating a New Congress, by John Palatiello

This article will appear in the February issue of GIS Monitor's sister publication, Professional Surveyor Magazine. John Palatiello is president of John M. Palatiello & Associates, Inc., a public affairs consulting firm that provides services to the surveying, mapping, geospatial, and engineering communities. He is also executive director of MAPPS, a national trade association of geospatial firms, and administrator of COFPAES, a coalition of architecture, engineering, surveying, and mapping associations and professional societies.

When Alexander Graham Bell said, "When one door closes, another opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us," he was not thinking about the Congress of the United States. But when you look at the recent change from Republican to Democratic control of the House and Senate, not seeing doors opening and closing is shortsighted, if not blind.

The new Congress brings a different set of priorities. The nation has already seen a re-evaluation of the Bush Administration's strategy in Iraq in response to the November election, and a Congress controlled by Democrats in 2007–2008 will move in a direction different than it did when controlled by Republicans. The new Congress will also provide a different set of opportunities for the geospatial profession.

Read more…

News Briefs

Please note: I have culled the following news items from press releases and have not independently verified them.

  1. CONTRACTS & COLLABORATIONS

    1. By providing students with the same Bentley solutions used by infrastructure professionals, the BE Careers Network program increases their chances of joining some of the most preeminent organizations in the world. Read more…

    2. Geosystems France is now an authorized distributor of Leica Geosystems Geospatial Imaging software products. Read more…

    3. Westinghouse Rail Systems Ltd. (WRSL), a manufacturer of advanced integrated signaling and control systems for mainline and mass transit railways, has joined Bentley's Enterprise License Subscription (ELS) program. Read more…

    4. RAND A Technology Corporation, a provider of technology solutions to organizations with engineering design and information technology requirements, has entered into a Letter of Intent to acquire CADVisions, Inc.. Read more…

    5. Digital mapping and GIS software developer Cadcorp has become a Silver Sponsor of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation's (OSGeo) Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL/OGR) project. Read more…

    6. Pasco County, Florida has retained GeoAnalytics Inc., an IT consulting firm that specializes in the planning, design, and implementation of spatial intelligence systems, and their partners Varion Systems (a division of GeoAnalytics), PG Govern, and CompassCom, to deliver a state of the art Development Services System (DSS). Read more…

    7. FiberNext, a fiber optic technology firm located in Bow, New Hampshire, recently selected DeLorme XMap software to create a major spatial inventory of utility poles between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine. Read more…

    8. Salford City Council has selected Cadcorp SIS - Spatial Information System and Cadcorp GeognoSIS.NET software for the Council's new Web-based GIS. Read more…

    9. The City of Shelby has elected to implement Telvent Miner & Miner's ArcFM and Responder as their solution for enterprise GIS and outage management. Read more…

  2. PRODUCTS

    1. The Integrated Land and Water Information System (ILWIS,) is a PC-based GIS and remote sensing software, developed by ITC. Read more…

    2. Leica Geosystems recently presented Leica TruView and Cyclone PUBLISHER at its 2006 HDS Worldwide User Conference in San Ramon, California. Read more…

    3. LiDARXCHANGE, the world's largest consortium of LiDAR sensors and expertise, has been quietly putting together a global LiDAR aggregation program for a couple of years now that is soon to be released to market. Read more…

    4. Nextractor Inc. has announced the release of Tigor 2006 FE. This software is an integrated data product containing all the layers of the U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2006 First Edition files, formatted as ESRI shapefile (ArcGIS compatible). Read more…

    5. East View Cartographic (EVC) has released two new solution offerings: MetaLog: Geospatial Data Management Solution, and MetaLog Store: Geospatial Data E-Commerce Solution. Read more…

    6. Geosoft Incorporated, a provider of Earth data solutions for the geosciences industry, has launched its 2007 software release, which includes release 6.4 of the Oasis montaj Earth mapping system and Target exploration geology software for Windows, and the 2.2 release of Target for ArcGIS subsurface geology software for ESRI's ArcGIS. Read more…

    7. Graphic Technologies, Inc. (GTI) has released Version 7.0 of its flagship software product GTViewer, which includes more than 120 improvements, 94 additional methods, properties, and events to speed application development, and full integration with GT/Field. Read more…

    8. The VRCO software division of Mechdyne Corporation has released Conduit for Google Earth Pro 4.0, a visualization middleware package that enables stereoscopic display of desktop-based imagery and viewing in multi-planar, large-scale immersive, and interactive displays such as the walk-in CAVE and reconfigurable FLEX wall-size display systems available from Fakespace Systems, VRCO's sister company. Read more…

  3. CONFERENCES & TRAINING

    1. The 2007 ESRI Education User Conference (EdUC) will take place June 16-19 in San Diego, California. Curt Sumner, executive director of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (ACSM), will give the keynote address. Read more…

    2. ESRI (UK) has launched a series of new, non-technical, GIS management training courses—the first time that such courses have been offered within the GIS industry. Read more…

    3. The Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) announced that 99 technical sessions in 13 track topics will be the focus of the association's 30th Annual Conference, slated for March 4-7, in San Antonio, Texas. Read more…

  4. PEOPLE

    1. Aaron Ford, GIS technical manager of R.A. Smith & Associates, Inc.—civil engineering, planning, surveying, landscape architecture, GIS, and visualization consultants—recently met the standards and requirements as established by the GIS Certification Institute to become a certified GIS professional (GISP) in the state of Wisconsin. Read more…

    2. GeoDecisions, an information technology company specializing in geospatial solutions, has promoted Susanna Kodlick to manager of GIS and Steven Korzekwa to director of advanced technologies. Read more…

    3. DigitalGlobe, provider of the world's highest-resolution imagery and geospatial information products, has announced that General Howell M. Estes III has been appointed to its board of directors, effective immediately. Read more…

  5. OTHER

    1. Aerial Cartographics of America Inc. (ACA) announced a record 27 percent growth in 2006 due to its expanded MultiVision USA operations. An ACA company, MultiVision USA succeeded in capturing a significant share of the oblique imagery market in 2006. Read more…

    2. In recent conversations with its customers, Graphic Technologies, Inc. (GTI) has learned how valuable carefully designed network tracing applications can be. Read more…

    3. Airborne 1 Corporation has confirmed its strong standing in the industry with 97 percent of all projects being delivered before customer deadlines. Read more…

    4. Avineon, Inc., a provider of IT, geospatial, engineering and program management services, has been selected as one of Washington SmartCEO's Future 50 winners for its continuous employee and revenue growth. Read more…

    5. A new ground receiving station was put into operation in the Samara Space Geoinformation Center, which is being created at the Samara State Aerospace University. Read more…

    6. received two Awards of Excellence at the 2006 National Alliance of Highway Beautification Agencies (NAHBA) annual conference. Read more…

    7. BSC Group is expanding its engineering, planning, and landscape architecture practice to include ecological services, through the addition of five new ecological staff in the firm's Raleigh office. Read more…

    8. Tensing USA, a provider of mobility solutions for utilities, local governments, and other organizations with field personnel, has moved to a new location in Rockville, Maryland. The relocation to new offices was precipitated by a significant growth in business. Read more…

    9. Maney Publishing is taking on the publication of Survey Review from the Commonwealth Association for Surveying and Land Economy (CASLE). Read more…

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