Hello, and welcome to GeoSpatial Stream. I’m your host, Todd Danielson, and today’s Lead Sponsor is Exelis Visual Information Solutions.
Today’s Top Story is 2015, as this is our first episode of the New Year. I’ll look back at 2014 later in this broadcast, but I’m starting with eyes forward and examining the Top 10 Predictions for 2015, as seen in this annual article found on the Sensors & Systems Web site.
Author Matt Ball starts with a prediction about a long-overdue increase in infrastructure spending, particularly in the United States. New geospatial technologies will play a key role.
At Number Two is Wearable Tech. While Google Glass may not be where the company hoped, we should see new and improved devices in the near future. Number 3 is Mapping for Automation, which includes machine control in construction and mining as well as agriculture. Cars may not drive themselves yet, but heavy machinery can and will.
At Number Four is Discovery, where the author proposes increased seafloor mapping as well as global navigation systems that are truly global. It’s a big world out there, and we need better ways to track the larger picture. Number Five is Government Investment, noting that NASA’s budget was boosted by more than $500 million dollars. And Number Six is App Mentality. Forget large software packages. Small and nimble software is taking over, if it hasn’t already.
Number Seven is Security, which is always a safe bet. More international instability means more security spending on imagery and other monitoring and defense technology. At Eight is Earth Observation. New satellites large and small, both in size and budget, have been taking off at amazing rates, and that will increase, especially with microsatellites and in Asia. Number Nine is Models or Maps, meaning that modeling and mapping spaces are converging to the point where there’s little difference. And finally, Number Ten is Subscriptions, as leading software vendors are moving toward a subscription model rather than selling licenses.
This was just the list headlines, so check out all the details and insight in the full article at the Sensors & Systems Web site. You can also find predictions for the last eight years, and see the author’s track record for getting them right.
www.sensorsandsystems.com
That was today’s Top Story. I’ll be back with more news after this brief message.
2014 ended with another tragic airline crash in Asia, as Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 was lost en route to Singapore. Wreckage of the plane, which included 155 passengers and seven crew members, was found days later in the Karimata Strait. Esri created a Story Map for the tragedy, showing how a map interface can truly add to the information and provide context in ways otherwise not possible. It includes information about the passengers, where it was lost, the search and rescue effort, and where to find more information.
In industry headlines, Cadcorp released Web Map Layers 8.0, which was redesigned to feature a simpler and responsive user interface, provide more functionality and create a tighter binding to the data it serves.
The Board of Directors of the Space Foundation elected Lt. Col. Shelli Brunswick, U.S. Air Force, (Ret.), as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for Space Foundation operations, processes and facilities.
And Elsevier will integrate more than 100,000 maps from Wiley’s leading journals into its Geofacets platform, including fundamental geologic, petroleum geoscience, geophysical and specialized maps.
And now for today’s Final Thought. I had an amazing 2014, and I hope you can say the same. Professionally, I created a video news concept in partnership with an emerging media company, and that company has more than doubled in size in the last year. I learned more new skills in one year than I have in the previous 10, and I’ve broadened my capabilities from novice video producer and publisher to creating some work I never thought possible when I started.
I traveled all over the country, including to Las Vegas so many times that I’m glad I don’t gamble … much. And I met and became friends with such a wonderful group of people that I can’t wait to meet them again at the next meeting, probably in Las Vegas.
So here’s to 2014! A great year is in the books, but I’m looking forward to 2015 even more.
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I’m Todd Danielson, and this … was your GeoSpatial Stream.
