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IMIA Report                                                                               

Industry News, Profiles and Future Events                 

January 2017

Esri India Launches GIS Academia Council
NOIDA: Geographic Information System (GIS) Software & Solutions provider Esri India has launched GIS Academia Council of India. The council will serve as a platform for GIS knowledge sharing aimed at encouraging GIS adoption and promoting teaching excellence in spatial data management and analysis in higher education across India.
Universities like IIT Delhi, JNU, SP Pune University, Symbiosis institute of Geoinformatics, UPES, CEPT, BITS Pilani, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bombay, IIEST, PEC, Manipal University-Jaipur, Sarsuna college and MG Kashi Vidyapeeth have become the members of the council.

Commenting on the council, Agendra Kumar, President, Esri India said, "GIS Academia Council of India will drive the adoption of GIS in the country through the universities and colleges. With access to the latest Esri technology and the new innovations in the GIS domain, the council members will be able to strengthen the GIS community in India."

Prof A K Gosain, IIT Delhi, commented, "Key to success of Geospatial industry is to promote sustained interaction between the academia and the industry so as to develop and popularize geospatial solutions to address real-life problems."

Dr T P Singh Professor and Director, Symbiosis Institute of Geo-informatics said, "Capacity Building is a core of Geospatial Technology Development. I trust that GIS Academia council will able to provide innovative and scalable model to include the Geospatial technology at the school level in the education system and percolate down into the bottom level of the governance."

Esri India has been supporting the academia through training the resources and equipping them with the GIS know-how. Esri has a global focus on education and as part of the council the members will be able to interact with global academicians associated with Esri.
Atlas V Rocket Launches US Missile-Warning Satellite
An Atlas V rocket carrying the U.S. Air Force's SBIRS Geo-3 missile warning satellite streaks
into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Jan. 20, 2017 
in this spectacular long-exposure view. Credit: United Launch Alliance.

Perched on top of the rocket was the 10,000-lb. (4,536 kilograms) Space Based Infrared System Geosynchronous Earth Orbit satellite, or SBIRS Geo-3, built by Lockheed Martin Corp. in Sunnyvale, Calif. The satellite is part of a network that provides U.S. military and intelligence communities and their allies with fast, accurate warning of enemy missile launches.

The constellation supplements, and will eventually replace, legacy Defense Support Program satellites that were put into orbit from 1970 to 2007.

"Geo Flight 3 will provide faster and more accurate missile warning to the warfighter, detect dimmer events and shorter missile burns than the ... DSP satellites," Dennis Bythewood, director of the Remote Sensing Systems Directorate at the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, said in a statement. To read more...
Adding Home and Work Addresses to Google Maps [How-To]
Google Maps provides users the ability to add addresses and save them. Having your home and work addresses on Google Maps makes it easy to get commute estimates, traffic alerts, weather updates and even see pictures and information about places nearby. To read more...
Library of Congress Publishes Nevada Panoramic
 
An aerial drawing of Virginia City during the Nevada Territory.

Ever wonder how researchers mapped aerial views of cities centuries ago before drones and Google conquered?  It was all done by sketch artists - better known as cartographers.

The Library of Congress teamed up with the Digital Public Library of America and uploaded a collection of nationwide maps on its website, with thousands dating back to the late 1800s.
Cartographers were hired for their keen eyes. For Nevada, there are three maps available from a bird's eye perspective: Virginia City and Reno, and Virginia City in 1861, before Nevada became a state.
 
Many of the views depict commercial buildings and residences from 1861, 1875 and 1907. Along with the panoramic views, sketches of individual businesses, such as banks and offices, are included in the collection.
 
These maps were especially popular among U.S. and Canadian cities and towns during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. According to the Library of Congress, the maps were not drawn to scale but presented perspectives of street patterns, buildings and major landscapes. A majority of the maps added to the website under U.S. and Canada are documented by John R. Hebert and Patric E. Dempsy.
 
They collected 1,726 panoramic maps of cities from both regions and assigned five men to depict the areas. They are more than 55 percent of the panoramic maps in the Library of Congress.  Although these maps weren't reliable for navigating, they present a view of early America at angles we haven't seen before.
 
Now, Carson City needs one. Either it doesn't have one or it's lost out there, somewhere. To get a closer look at the shown panoramic views, visit:  www.loc.gov/collections/panoramic-maps/
 
HazardHub Announces New API for Hazard Risk Data
HazardHub, a supplier of geospatial risk data, announced the release of their geospatial API. For the first time, geographic risk data is available via a real-time API for inclusion to client's internal systems.
Bob Frady, CEO of HazardHub says, "For too long, hazard risk data has been trapped inside of GIS systems. Clients have been forced to import and integrate shape files, then create internal GIS systems to deliver real-time versions of that same data. While shape files are great, we decided to eliminate this artificial barrier to geospatial hazard data by delivering a robust, REST-based API that can carry all of our hazard data to exactly the spot where it's needed."

Frady adds, "We started HazardHub with one simple idea - that anyone in the US could look up any property and know the risks around that property via an intuitive and easy to understand Property Report Card. That way, owners can take positive steps to prevent what can be devastating losses from disasters. We've accomplished that goal with our consumer site - http://www.freehomerisk.com. Now - with the API - we're making that same great data available for developers to easily consume."

All the HazardHub geospatial hazard data is available via API, including hazard risks from air (wind, hail, tornado, lightning), water (flood, coastal storm surge), earth (earthquake, brownfield, superfund) and fire (wildfire and fire protection.) In addition, the API will be the primary method of supporting our revolutionary SurgeScoreTM and FloodScoreTM products, which rely on sophisticated data modeling unavailable with shape files.

To celebrate the release of the API, HazardHub is allowing qualified organizations one month of free access to the API. To put the work of the HazardHub API to work for your organization, please contact support(at)hazardhub(dot)com to get started.
A Tactile Atlas Helps the Blind 'See' Maps
A new atlas of Switzerland conquers the challenges of making maps
designed to be read with the fingertips.
This close-up of a page from a new tactile atlas of Switzerland shows the Uri canton, near the center of the country. 
Photograph / illustration by Anna Vetter, Esri Suisse.

Some maps are meant to be felt, not seen.

The photograph above shows a page from an atlas commissioned by a Swiss psychologist for a friend who loves geography and maps but is unable to use traditional atlases because he is completely blind. The new atlas is printed with special ink that expands when heated to create tiny bumps and ridges on the page.

Making a tactile map like this isn't easy, says Anna Vetter, a cartographer who works in Zürich for the mapping software company Esri and led the team that created the new atlas. "It was quite challenging for me because you really have to think in a different way," Vetter says.

For example, Vetter used hatched lines to indicate railroad tracks, as you can see in the image below. At first she put the hatch marks closer together, but the blind man they were made for couldn't distinguish the railways from the solid lines indicating rivers and boundaries. "I thought it looked pretty good, but it was totally useless for feeling," Vetter says. To read more...
Apple's next iPhone Rumored to Have Facial Recognition
Powered by a New 'Laser Sensor'
Apple's next iPhone could include some "form of facial / gesture recognition," according to a research note distributed to clients by Cowen and Company on Wednesday. The note includes several new details about Apple's upcoming iPhone, which is expected to launch in September.
 
"Other features appear to include some form of facial/gesture recognition supported by a new laser sensor and an infrared sensor mounted near the front-facing camera and, as expected, should also finally include wireless charging," Cowen and Company analyst Timothy Arcuri wrote.

A new kind of depth sensor has not yet been seriously rumored for the upcoming iPhone, but it makes sense. Apple bought Primesense, an infrared sensor company in 2012, and a new kind of sensor would be critical for Apple to add augmented reality features to upcoming versions of the iPhone. To read more...
Esri is partnering with GISinc to analyze customer behavior to help
retailers increase sales.  
Esri will integrate its spatial analytics platform with GISinc's indoor mapping capabilities to analyze data collected by sensor-enabled overhead smart lighting systems and from opt-in mobile data from customer phones.

The solution will enable retailers to track behaviors, using information including customer locations inside the store and items selected for purchase. The store can then tap into such data to improve customer assistance and position merchandise in the places most likely to attract purchases.

"Analyzing customer choices and mapping go hand in hand," said Sonny Beech, Internet of Things (IoT) business development manager at GISinc. "Why a person bought something where they did is an example of spatial data. Using ArcGIS analytics, we can enable retailers to make more strategic decisions about where to place merchandise and in-store marketing materials." To read more...
Explore Museums in a New Way with Tango
Museums can be great teachers. From art and science to culture and natural history, they educate and inspire us. Still, display signs and audio guides can only convey so much. What if you could explore museums in a different way?

With Tango's location and augmented reality (AR) capabilities, you'll soon be able to experience museums around the world in a whole new way-starting with the Detroit Institute of Arts. In partnership with GuidiGO, the Detroit Institute of Arts has built Lumin, a mobile tour that uses Tango capabilities to add AR interactivity and information to further enrich your visit. When you visit the Detroit Institute of Arts, just head to the front desk and ask for the Tango enabled Lenovo Phab 2 Pro phone to explore a variety of works.  To read more...
Find Users of Open GIS Data from Around the World Thanks to the Center for Open Data Enterprise

The Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE) has a mission to maximize the value of open government data as a public resource.  As the developer of a public database of open data sources, the CODE connects users with government agencies and organizations based around the world that use open data.

The center believes that open data can support economic growth and social good around the world, and that this valuable resource needs to be managed and developed to reach its maximum potential. They aim to achieve this by working with data users alongside government, private, and non-profit organizations, enabling input and feedback to be used to develop smarter open data strategies. To read more...

Geospatial Analytics Market Worth 73.91 Billion USD by 2021
 
PUNE, India, Jan 18, 2017 (PR Newswire Europe via COMTEX) -- PUNE, India, January 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/-According to a new market research report "Geospatial Analytics Marketby Type (Surface Analytics, Network Analytics & Geovisualization), Technology (Remote Sensing, GPS & GIS), Application (Surveying, Medicine & Public Safety and Others), Vertical and Region - Global Forecast to 2021," published by MarketsandMarkets, the
market projected to grow from USD 30.71 Billion in 2016 to USD 73.91 Billion by 2021, at a CAGR of 19.2% from 2016 to 2021. 
To read more...


The Quality of the Nation's Groundwater: Progress on a National Survey

The U.S. Geological Survey is near the midpoint of a complex undertaking to survey the quality of the nation's largest drinking-water resource. From 2012 - 2023, the USGS is assessing groundwater throughout the country through extensive sampling. The latest results from five regional aquifers have become available today.

About half of the nation's population relies on groundwater for drinking water. As the nation's population grows, the need for high-quality drinking-water supplies becomes even more urgent. To read more...

How Software Maps Can Drive Software Innovation and Transformation  
Maps allow us to use both the visual and analytical sides of our brains simultaneously. Our brains are connected to instantly understand context and make use of what we see. Maps free up our minds to intuitively explore beyond any point we've gone before.

Today most value creation is driven by software, and financial services companies across all sectors need to be world class software companies. The demand for software developers is outpacing the supply by a tremendous degree and the race for talent has only just begun.

IT leaders globally recognize access to talent as the single biggest issue standing in the way of achieving their objectives, according to Gartner 2016 CIO Agenda Report.

Innovation is the key theme at all Banks, Insurers and Asset Managers today, and next to access to talent, continuous learning and improvement is the driver towards success. To read more and see two inspiring videos...

Making Sense of The World, One Map at a Time

1942 world map by Maurice Gomberg showing how the world might
look like following World War II.

If you're in London at some point before 1 March 2017, you need to head over to the British Library and check out Maps and the 20th Century: Drawing the Line. (and if not you should buy the book instead). It is quite simply the best map exhibit I've ever seen. The exhibition is divided into 5 sections. To read more...
Why California's Ancient Sequoia 'Tunnel Tree' Toppled
The drive-through giant was part of a group of trees
estimated to be over 1,000 years old.
Until Sunday, visitors to Calaveras Big Trees State Park could walk through the tunnel
in the Pioneer Cabin Tree. Tom Purcell/Flickr hide caption toggle caption Tom Purcell / Flickr.

January 8, 2017-- A powerful winter storm in California has brought down an ancient tree, carved into a living tunnel more than a century ago.

The "Pioneer Cabin Tree," a sequoia in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, saw horses and cars pass through it over the years. More recently, only hikers were allowed to walk through the massive tree.

Over the weekend, a powerful winter storm slammed into California and Nevada, prompting flooding and mudslides in some regions. The Associated Press reports it might be the biggest storm to hit the region in more than a decade.

On Sunday, a volunteer at the state park reported that Pioneer Cabin had not survived. "The storm was just too much for it," the Calaveras Big Tree Association wrote on Facebook.

It's unclear exactly how old the tree was, but The Los Angeles Times reports that the trees in the state park are estimated to be more than 1,000 years old. Sequoias can live for more than 3,000 years. To read more...

Mixing Cartography and Landscape Drawing


Artist Matthew Rangel hikes cross-country and through the mountains, exploring and drawing along the way. He then mixes his drawings with maps and photos from history for unique results and perspective.

My location drawings of large expanses throughout my journey serve to reinforce our land-based visual codes by the activity of transcribing the land through yet another system of careful measurements. This practice deepens my personal connection with the land, lending a sense of embodied awareness of its natural and/or unnatural characteristics. I allow the process of discovery from gathering extensive research to play out in the final compositions, where maps I have gathered are combined with my location drawings to set the stage to depict personal encounters and experiences that re-present the land through a framework that speaks of the constructs humans place on the land which, in turn, inform our experience. http://flowingdata.com/2017/01/18/mixing-cartography-and-landscape-drawing/.

2016 Warmest Year on Record Globally, NASA and NOAA Data Show
Third record-breaking year in a row for average surface temperatures.
The planet's long-term warming trend is seen in this chart of every year's annual
temperature cycle from 1880 to the present, compared to the average temperature
from 1880 to 2015. Record warm years are listed in the column on the right.
Credit: NASA / Joshua Stevens, Earth Observatory.

Earth's 2016 surface temperatures were the warmest since modern recordkeeping began in 1880, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Globally-averaged temperatures in 2016 were 1.78 degrees Fahrenheit (0.99 degrees Celsius) warmer than the mid-20th century mean. This makes 2016 the third year in a row to set a new record for global average surface temperatures.

The 2016 temperatures continue a long-term warming trend, according to analyses by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York. NOAA scientists concur with the finding that 2016 was the warmest year on record based on separate, independent analyses of the data.

Because weather station locations and measurement practices change over time, there are uncertainties in the interpretation of specific year-to-year global mean temperature differences. However, even taking this into account, NASA estimates 2016 was the warmest year with greater than 95 percent certainty.

"2016 is remarkably the third record year in a row in this series," said GISS Director Gavin Schmidt. "We don't expect record years every year, but the ongoing long-term warming trend is clear."

The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.

Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with 16 of the 17 warmest years on record occurring since 2001. Not only was 2016 the warmest year on record, but eight of the 12 months that make up the year -- from January through September, with the exception of June -- were the warmest on record for those respective months. October, November, and December of 2016 were the second warmest of those months on record -- in all three cases, behind records set in 2015. To read more...

Geospatial Professionals Receive 2016 MAPPS President's Awards for Service

MAPPS, the national association for private sector geospatial firms, today announced it has recognized twelve individuals for their significant contributions to the association and the geospatial profession for 2016. To read more...

About MAPPS
Formed in 1982, MAPPS is the only national association exclusively comprised of private firms in the remote sensing, spatial data and geographic information systems field in the United States. The MAPPS membership spans the entire spectrum of the geospatial community, including Member Firms engaged in satellite and airborne remote sensing, surveying, photogrammetry, aerial photography, LIDAR, hydrography, bathymetry, charting, aerial and satellite image processing, GPS, and GIS data collection and conversion services.

MAPPS also includes Associate Member Firms, which are companies that provide hardware, software, products and services to the geospatial profession in the United States and other firms from around the world. Independent Consultant Members are sole proprietors engaged in consulting in or to the geospatial profession, or provides a consulting service of interest to the geospatial profession. 
 



 




Amsterdam-based geo-mapping company TomTom has brought its real-time GPS navigation service to Colombia. The firm was an early leader in race to provide live directions for drivers in Europe and the United States, along with updates on traffic and roadwork.

Although it has been superseded in the minds of many consumers by the ubiquity of Google Maps, among other similar solutions, the company maintains that it is differentiated by the high quality of its real-time info about congestion.
"Traffic congestion remains a major problem for many countries around the world - particularly in larger metropolitan areas," said Ralf-Peter Schäfer, head of Traffic and travel information at TomTom. "Argentina and Colombia are no different, and now we can offer data to enable informed routing decisions taking into account the dynamically changing situation on the road."

In addition to now offering real-time service in Colombia, TomTom, which supplies mapping data to the online service MapQuest, also entered the market in Argentina last week. Along with Brazil and Chile, the company's live offering is now present in four South American countries.

Worldwide, the company says it has a reach of 54 nations and 500 million devices. "This increased volume of source data will pave the way for further geo-expansion opportunities in 2017 and beyond," said the Dutch firm in a statement.
Cloud  Cap
 

From 25 miles west of Japan's Mount Fuji, parked in a car on scenic Inokashira Forest Road. Your Shot photographer Takashi caught a glimpse of Fuji's "treasure trove of mysterious-shaped clouds" including this cap perched atop the volcano's 12,388-foot peak, which formed just before sunrise. "The shadows of them in the backlight were the most powerful masterpieces," Takashi reflects.
 

IMIA Americas New Member
Bennett Moe, Vice President
AND North America
6228 Dawn Day Drive
Columbia, MD 21045 USA
Tel:  410.290.7065
bennett.moe@and.com

AND provides worldwide digital maps and location-based services.  AND focuses on adding location intelligence to improve business processes through the AND LBS Platform.

 2017 Calendar of Events
IMIA Americas Planning Meeting / Board Meeting
February 9 - 11, 2017
Flamingo Hotel
Las Vegas, NV USA
 
UC Esri User Conference
Early Bird Registration Now Open
July 10 - 14, 2017 | San Diego, CA
 

 
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