Hello, and welcome to this Infrastructure-themed GeoSpatial Stream. I’m your host, Todd Danielson, and today’s Lead Sponsor is LizardTech.
Today’s Top Story is livability, a word that gets tossed around a lot, usually along with sustainability. And to help cities become more “livable,” the National Science Foundation’s Sustainability Research Network recently granted $12 million dollars to the University of Minnesota to create a unique network of scientists, industry leaders and policy partners committed to building better cities of the future.
That was today’s Top Story. I’ll be back with more news after this LizardTech interview clip from the 2015 Esri User Conference.
In related news, market-research company Onvia released a new report, “Smart Cities: How Cities are Investing to Enhance Livability,” which highlights areas of infrastructure innovation that contractors and developers should note. Examples of Livable Innovations in transportation include bike sharing, smart parking, bus rapid transit and intelligent traffic signals. Visit the Web site listed for more details.
www.onvia.com/business-resources/white-papers/smart-cities-how-cities-are-investing-to-enhance-livability
In previous infrastructure-themed broadcasts, we discussed the tragic Earthquakes that rocked Nepal earlier this year. As an update, engineers and experts from the Annapurna Conservation Area Project released the first official report on earthquake-related damage in the Annapurna region. After navigating almost 200 kilometers of trekking routes, the experts have given the green light for crucial tourist treks, which are vital to the area’s economy.
In industry headlines, Topcon Positioning Group upgraded its ScanMaster laser-scanner software package, which includes memory overflow improvements to handle larger point clouds commonly collected with its GLS-2000 scanner.
Woolpert and gViz implemented Cityworks asset-management software for ActewAGL Distribution, a joint-utility company in Australia.
And if you’re into video learning like I am, check out the Web site at IMAGINiT Technologies. They’re certainly one of the best sites in the industry in terms of regular and informational video content.
www.imaginit.com
And now for today’s Final Thought. Did you know that the Smart Cities industry is estimated at $8.1 billion dollars today and is expected to grow to $40 billion dooars in five years, with some expecting it to be a $2 trillion dollar industry in 2020? That’s a lot of investment, and it will be spread among a wide variety of projects and developments that vary from traditional construction projects to small, boutique developments geared toward smaller groups. I think it will be like Silicon Valley for infrastructure, with some really big companies doing some really big things, and lots of small companies creating the apps of the Smart City industry.
It should be exciting to watch and be part of, as a Smart City is certainly better than the opposite, and we’re definitely moving in the right direction.
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I’m Todd Danielson, and this … was your GeoSpatial Stream.
