You can read Ron’s response on . . . → Read More: Industry Outlook 2011]]> Each year, the December issue of GeoWorld magazine features its annual Industry Outlook for 2011, where leading experts in the field share their forward thinking thoughts and ideas.  The GeoPlace website publishes the full responses by each respondent.

You can read Ron’s response on the GeoPlace website, as well as reading the complete set of Industry Outlook 2011 responses.

This year, Ron Lake had the following to say for 2011:

The geotechnology industry has come a long way to add the third dimension, but it seems to still have difficulties with the fourth dimension: time. Do you agree with that? If so, why has time been difficult, and what are the prospects of integrating time into geotechnology in the near future?

“Although I would disagree that the integration of 3-D is much more advanced than that of time, the issues with temporal support are more about mainstream implementation than they are about understanding how to do it. Geography Markup Language (GML) introduced a fairly complete and extensible model for encoding various time constructs in Version 3.0 (based on ISO 19108), and this is being used in a number of application schemas, including the AIXM (Aeronautical Information Exchange Model) being used in NextGen (U.S.) and the European SESAR commercial aviation IT systems.

In addition to providing for various means to express time (time instants, time intervals, durations, various types of clocks), GML provides the notion of a dynamic feature, in which specific properties of the feature are time varying. A dynamic feature instance has a history consisting of time slices, each with an associated time interval or time instant, and which contain the values of the time-varying properties for that time slice.

WFS 2.0 and FE 2.0 further support the GML temporal model by providing temporal operators that enable a wide range of temporal and spatio-temporal queries.

Mainstream implementation support for temporality I believe has been constrained by lack of easy-to-use tools to build and maintain temporal-based spatial data and by the lack of good user interfaces that facilitate the management and manipulation of temporal data. The “time slider” in Google Earth stands out because there has been a paucity of innovation in this area.

As a final note, I think that time will become a larger issue as we move (finally) beyond maps as an objective, and integrate more analytical and simulation capabilities into our urban and other geo-models. Here the time dimension is essential. I believe we have the database foundations and the temporal models as noted above, and better integration of numerical models will drive an upsurge in their exploitation in the near future.”
 
As the world’s data volumes enter the zettabyte level (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes) and soon to the yottabyte (1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes), will the amount of geospatial data become too much to possibly use, or will storage and, more important, analysis technology be able to keep up with the data deluge?

“I don’t see the explosion of data volumes as a serious problem from a basic storage and access standpoint, and I believe the basic hardware technologies will indeed keep pace. I think the challenge lies much more in the software domain, especially with respect to the analysis and the “analysis for understanding” of this information. Here I expect a lot of change in several areas.

One area will be information distribution. The second will be in terms of database technology. The third in terms of how analytical technologies are implemented.

We’re building increasingly large and complex models of the world. Distributing these models will remain a requirement. At the same time, although the models are very large, changes to particular parts of the model may be small in relation to the model’s total size. This means that we will require infrastructure for model sharing that’s fine-grained and incremental, moving information to us as we require it. Large-scale, ad hoc copying will not be viable.

The limitations of relational database technology have been exposed in specific problem areas (e.g., large collections of Web pages, Facebook users, etc.), and older and newer database technologies have evolved to meet these challenges (e.g., Cassandra). I believe this will also be the case for large geospatial databases, and that other models (e.g., functional data model) that more readily integrate analytical capabilities will come to the fore.

Finally, I anticipate that the model of “get the data from somewhere and analyze it here,” will give way to more agent-based models, where the processing functionality is sent to the data. I believe we will see a revitalization of these approaches in the near future.

So larger data volumes mean more fine-grained distribution capabilities, combined with new data storage models and agent-based services.”

Mr. Lake’s keynote “Collaboration and Publishing of Urban 3D City Models” will touch upon some . . . → Read More: Ron Lake to deliver Keynote Address at 3D GeoInfo 2010]]> Ron Lake, Chairman and CEO of Galdos Systems, will deliver one of the keynote addresses at the 5th annual 3D GeoInfo Conference in Berlin, Germany.

Mr. Lake’s keynote “Collaboration and Publishing of Urban 3D City Models” will touch upon some of the new work that Galdos has been doing in the area of 3D visualization with the development of the IN3d™ Visualization Engine.

The conference agenda is available on the website.

By Curt Cherewayko

July 27-August 2, 2010 Business in Vancouver

New tools and technologies like Google Earth and the smartphone are allowing consumers . . . → Read More: GeoWeb developing new directions to a better world through map technology]]> Galdos Systems and Safe Software among players in an industry helping businesses make better use of information

By Curt Cherewayko

July 27-August 2, 2010 Business in Vancouver

New tools and technologies like Google Earth and the smartphone are allowing consumers to navigate and visualize the world in ways they’ve never been able to before.

But attendees of the July 26 to 30 GeoWeb conference in Vancouver aren’t consumers – they’re map geeks – and, as such, they believe map accessibility and the technology that supports maps have a long way to go.

Companies, government reps and other organizations that have a stake in advancing mapping technology meet annually in Vancouver at GeoWeb to discuss how to make maps a more ubiquitous and useful part of life.

Attendee companies like Vancouver’s Galdos Systems Inc. and Surrey’s Safe Software Inc. are playing an important role in helping businesses and governments better visualize the information that’s relevant to them.

Galdos founder Ron Lake is an industry veteran known for inventing the geographic markup language (GML) that has become the standard for communicating digital-mapping information.

Lake told BIV that even with proper technology standards in place, governments and businesses are not realizing the full potential of new mapping technologies.

“The management of information and how it’s transmitted is undergoing a revolution,” he said. “It’s a slow revolution, but it’s a revolution.”

Part of the problem is the challenge in linking, for example, all the various relevant players and data points together to get a full picture of a city’s infrastructure.

“The idea of the geoweb is to produce an integrated picture of the whole world,” said Lake, “ideally in real time and at every level of scale from your neighbourhood to the globe.”

Indeed, this year’s theme at GeoWeb is how mapping data can be captured in real time.

While providing an accurate reflection of the world is the ultimate goal of companies like Galdos, it’s picking and winning smaller battles.

In a project with Public Safety Canada, Galdos is developing a system that will let the RCMP’s Vancouver-based E Division, the City of Vancouver and the City of Surrey fire department communicate in real time about the state and location of resources needed in emergencies such as earthquakes.

The system will, for example, let Surrey’s emergency response team tell other emergency providers where and how many burn units are available in the area surrounding an earthquake’s ground zero.

Galdos is also helping the U.S.A.’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) develop a tracking system for its aerospace and airport network that will allow the FAA to monitor natural events like a volcanic ash cloud, as well as man-made situations like a crane misplaced at the end of a runway.

If Galdos can help an industry or a geography build a robust mapping database, then eventually all those separate databases could be linked together to create an entire picture.

For example, emergency personnel and airlines could swap spatial information during the emergency response in a natural disaster.

“What we’ll see before we get to that stage is initiatives for information sharing in particular domains – like air traffic control and city planning,” said Lake.

As far as how mapping can help in city planning, Berlin, Germany, presents the best example.

It has visually modelled 450,000 buildings to create an online database that presents a digital picture of nearly the entire city.

City planners use the information in the database to assess how new buildings might affect sunlight in existing structures or how new buildings will affect underground infrastructure.

“I think it’s partly cultural that people don’t really comprehend how integrated everything is,” said Lake.

Google is using technology developed by Safe Software to gather and arrange spatial data in its Google Earth application.

Surrey is using the same software to gather data that allows the city to predict how an oil or chemical spill will travel through its drainage system.

Other cities are using Safe’s software to turn two-dimensional maps into textured three-dimensional maps.

Certain privacy issues are also at play when it comes to the sporadic adoption of new mapping technologies.

“You want as much open data as possible, but at the same time you have to protect people’s privacy,” said Don Murray, Safe’s president. “That’s the yin and yang of this whole open-data thing – you have to be careful.”

© Copyright (c) Business in Vancouver

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The following was published in the Vancouver Sun on July 26, 2010

“Real-time” use of geographic data is the theme for this year’s annual GeoWeb conference, being held all this week at the Morris J. Wosk Centre . . . → Read More: GeoWeb conference to address social media, including Twitter]]> by Marke Andrews

The following was published in the Vancouver Sun on July 26, 2010

“Real-time” use of geographic data is the theme for this year’s annual GeoWeb conference, being held all this week at the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.

Conference speaker Stephen Piotrowicz, program manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is involved in one of the best examples of such data use, in a project partly occurring off B.C. shores.

The project involves 3,500 information-gathering buoys programmed to sink 610 metres and collect data on temperatures, salinity, density, relaying this information in real time.

Another speaker, Patricia Craighill, will speak about Next Gen, a global project to transform air traffic management throughout the world by making better use of real-time geographic information so airplanes can be routed more effectively. The aim would be to get more planes in the air, move them safely, and — by altering routes — reduce the carbon trail the planes leave.

“GeoWeb is about information sharing about the real world in a whole spectrum of problems, and we need to be able to do that in real time,” said Ron Lake, chairman and CEO of Galdos Systems Inc. and GeoWeb organizer.

Social media are also a big part of the conference, with one session entirely about Twitter.

“A variety of people have wondered how we can use Twitter to update geographic information,” said Lake. “After the Haiti earthquake, Twitter was important in providing information about where things were. I think the next generation of that will see Twitter integrated into a number of geographic information products.”

Like every industry, geographic information providers are wondering how to market their data. It used to be easy to sell this information, but now that Google and Microsoft are embedding mapping into their products for free, companies that rely on retail sales are wondering where they go from here. There will be a panel discussion on this subject, entitled “The Walmartization of Geo Data.”

For information on the conference, go to geoweb.org.

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

Read the article on the Vancouver Sun website: http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/GeoWeb+conference+address+social+media+including+Twitter/3323102/story.html#ixzz0uoX4nMw3

Ron Lake and others respond to the questions: “Do you see any “silver linings” in the geotechnology industry’s economics that make you feel optimistic about the near . . . → Read More: GeoWorld: Industry Outlook 2010]]> Issue Date: December – 2009, Posted On: 1/4/2010
Industry Outlook 2010: Finding the Silver Lining

Ron Lake and others respond to the questions: “Do you see any “silver linings” in the geotechnology industry’s economics that make you feel optimistic about the near future?”

Read Ron’s more detailed response to this and other questions.

Ken Greenberg, an architect and urban designer with his own firm Greenberg Associates, recently spoke at the GeoWeb Conference (video of the presentation . . . → Read More: Interview with Ken Greenberg]]> Exploring the Role of Geospatial Tools for Urban Planning

Written by Matt Ball
Sunday, 09 August 2009

Ken Greenberg, an architect and urban designer with his own firm Greenberg Associates, recently spoke at the GeoWeb Conference (video of the presentation is accessible from the GeoWeb 2009 conference website).

V1 Editor Matt Ball spoke with Greenberg about the role of geospatial tools and methodology in his work, and about the factors of sustainable planning.

Just prior to the GeoWeb 2009 conference, Ron Lake was interviewed by Editor Matt Ball of V1 Magazine to get his thoughts about the . . . → Read More: Interview with Ron Lake about the GeoWeb]]> Exploring the Status and Importance of the GeoWeb

Written by Matt Ball
Saturday, 25 July 2009

Just prior to the GeoWeb 2009 conference, Ron Lake was interviewed by Editor Matt Ball of V1 Magazine to get his thoughts about the current status of the GeoWeb, and priorities for current development efforts.