2007 March 22

This issue sponsored by

Professional Surveyor Magazine

If, for some reason, you cannot read this document, please visit:
http://www.gismonitor.com/news/newsletter/archive/archives.php?issue=20070322

Editor's Introduction

This week I bring you news of two big recent acquisitions and report on how an employee of a small Texas municipality built a GIS for the town's residents, leaders, and staff from scratch. Plus, more details on an upcoming conference and a full load of press releases.

Please note: For the past two weeks in a row, I forgot to remove "TEST!!!" from the subject line before sending out GIS Monitor to the whole list. Both times I then immediately removed "TEST!!!" and sent the issue out again, fearing that most of the first batch had ended up in recipients' trash bins or spam filters. I will make sure it does not happen again. MY APOLOGIES!!!

Also, I just noticed that in our archives the link to the March 15 issue actually pointed to the March 8 issue. I fixed that. When you see errors, large or small, please point them out, by clicking on my name, below. Thanks!

—Matteo Luccio

Pitney Bowes Buys MapInfo, GeoEye Buys M.J. Harden Associates

Last Thursday, Pitney Bowes announced its agreement to acquire MapInfo for approximately $408 million to strengthen its growth in the location intelligence market and GeoEye announced its acquisition of digital aerial imagery provider M.J. Harden Associates. Here are excerpts from the respective press releases:

Read more…

Building a GIS for a Small Town

When she was hired four years ago as GIS Administrator for the City of Highland Village, Texas—a municipality with 14,000 residents in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex—Marikka Williams' only tools were a masters degree in applied geography, a couple of years of experience working with GIS, her intelligence, and her initiative. She had no support from more experienced GIS analysts because she was the only one on staff with GIS training and no plan to follow because it had not yet been created. So she started from scratch—by installing GIS software on her computer and then beginning to gather data. Two weeks ago, at the 30th Annual Conference of the Geographic Information & Technology Association (GITA), Williams described the process she followed to set up what is now a complex and growing GIS serving Highland Village's residents, city council, and staff.

Williams is responsible for maintaining a GIS, performing geospatial analysis, developing applications to facilitate geographic information delivery, and providing GIS services to all the departments in the city. She created a variety of databases; representative, analytical, and digital interactive maps; and exhibits for asset management, infrastructure maintenance, emergency management, recreational event coordination, economic development, and community outreach.


Marikka Williams (click on the image to enlarge it)

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NSGIC 2007 Midyear Conference

NSGIC's 2007 Midyear Conference will take place next week, March 25 to 29, in Annapolis, Maryland. A few weeks ago I wrote that "The program for this conference consists mostly of meetings."

Although, I'm told, "it is true that NSGIC has a reputation for its packed meeting agendas that last well into the evening and beyond," the organization sent me a more substantive description of its conference:

Read more…

News Briefs

Please note: I have not verified the content of these press releases.

  1. CONTRACTS & COLLABORATIONS

    1. DMTI Spatial Fuels High Precision Marketing Programs at Terasen Gas

    2. ESRI to Support IBM DB2 9 for z/OS on System z

    3. CARIS Selected for UKHO Hydrographic Database Solution Contract

    4. Sirius Computer Solutions and Network Appliance Help Leading Mapping Company Chart New Storage Strategy: Pinnacle Mapping Technologies Addresses Client Requirements for Comprehensive Digital Records

    5. Skyhook Wireless Powers First Wi-Fi-Based Location Finder Plugin For AOL's AIM Users

    6. North West Finalizes Western Canadian LiDAR DEM Program

    7. Networks In Motion's Location-Based Service Software Tools Now Available to Sprint Developers

    8. Canadian Differential GPS Service Secures Funding

    PRODUCTS

    1. WeatherBug Launches First GIS-Based Data Feed Incorporating Real Time Weather Information for Enterprise and Government Customers

    2. Delorme Unveils Versatile New GPS With Dual Bluetooth And USB Connectivity For Both Pdas And Laptop PCs

    3. Pharos Delivers Windows Mobile Powered GPS Phone 600 Series to North American Market

  2. CONFERENCES & TRAINING

    1. GITA 2007—Despite Growth in Several Categories, GITA Working to Identify, Address Decline in Overall Annual Conference Attendance

    2. URISA Exemplary Systems in Government (ESIG) Award

    3. GIS Workshops Focus on Mapping and Analysis of Communities in Maryland, D.C., Virginia

    4. Sixth Citation Program in Applied Geostatistics Now Accepting Students

  3. PEOPLE

    1. Maptek North America Restructures for Growth

  4. OTHER

    1. NAVTEQ Local Field Team Established To Accelerate Mapping Of Russian Federation

    2. ScanEx R&D Center Demonstrated Real-Time Imagery Technique at GeoForm + 2007

    3. LandNet Corp. Receives Second Patent for Online Mapping and Real Estate Archiving Tools

    4. Predicting Coastal Vulnerability

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Contact

Please send comments and suggestions to:

Matteo Luccio, Editor
GIS Monitor

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