spatial networks | location leverage

Geography is irrelevant. In today’s interconnected, globalized economy and communications culture, geography no longer matters. Both ends of an internet connection may physically terminate at two computers thousands of kilometers apart, across oceans and continents, but there is no real difference in the location of those two points. They are essentially coincident, both in the abstract and in the real-time nature of connectivity. Geography is irrelevant in so many ways, due in part because of the technological advancements in communications, geospatial technology, consumer behavior and education, content and choice.

 Hopefully you’re not inadvertently the subject of any of the local news. But what if you were asked to participate in reporting it - would you do it? Would you trust your neighbors to do the same - would you even care if they did? What if you could visit a local news station’s website and see what real people in your community were talking about, on a map, with pictures of the event or accident, road conditions, tornado, hurricane, blizzard, or even click on a video that someone submitted of that really awesome touchdown at the Lakeland High School football game last Friday night? (Go Dreadnaughts!) If you could submit a quick picture of a gnarly accident on I-4, or something ominous at the Circle K, or even if a local restaurant served up something savory (or not so much!), so that other people in the area could check it out and see what you saw in near real time (maybe help them avoid something catastrophic, or gross)… would you do it?

Along with several other SNI-ites, I recently gave a presentation at the 2009 GITA Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference . Mine was entitled “The Geo-Semantic Web, Looking Beyond the Buzzwords”. A topic that has been on my mind for some months. I was rather hoping that I would be able to post a link to the recorded session video, however, they are not yet available, and apparently GITA is charging for them. Not quite sure how I feel about that, but perhaps that’s a topic for another time.

In any case, I thought I would finally take the time to summarize some of my thoughts and opinions on the matter, and why I think the notion of the semantic web, in general, is important, as well as what we might stand to gain by adding a little dash of geo into it.

Read past the jump for all the fun.

 It was a pleasant surprise to read the title of previous post ("Renewed Excitement") and realize that it came from the erstwhile ‘fishbowl’ (home of our intrepid interns). Anyone in the office could have been newly re-energized of late. We have a lot of good things going on. Not the least of which is a commitment to solve real problems for real people. I can’t say that I’m opposed. It’s really hard, though… really hard. But ultimately, when customers are being served, it’s worth knowing what it feels like to have your brain replaced by italian ice. Everyone is someone’s customer - who feels that way about you? Are you being served?

I just got a chance to look at TrekServ and I think it’s a great program. It looks very user friendly and like it will be used by a lot of people once it’s ready to hit the market.

After reading the last blog post I realized there are many different dialects of Mandarin which is the Chinese language, but they are all written the exact same way so adding it to Geodexy and TrekServ may not be such a hard task…

I’m also switching to straight green tea with no sugar instead of coffee. It works for me at home and I’m thinking it will keep me more energetic later in the day :P

 I recently submitted an abstract about this topic to the Mobile Asia Congress. Yes, I know, I’m actually TRYING to ensnare myself in another inescapably horrifying round of public speaking - in Hong Kong!? I think my next move may be skydiving into shark-infested waters… Anyway, I officially acknowledge that I’m much better with the written word (toot), but I also know that "practice makes perfect" is a universally accepted theory. But this time, at least the concept is not foreign (nor polarizing -> BONUS!). It’s simply about reducing paper waste. (RIP, Woody!) That’s the simply "Green" part anyway. The "enterprise management" part is much more complex, and IMHO, exciting. Therein, we have escaped the paper trap of collecting, storing, and managing (as if) data - KNOWLEDGE!! - in a folder made of ‘manilla’, whatever that is. Folders made of informed, organized, accessible Database goodness - NOW we’re cookin’ with grease!

Free soda, wide screen computers, the freedom to work on anything and yet having a direction to go is just…awesome. Spatial networks is a haven for people who love technology, creativity, and having fun! We look forward to to working with everyone here. Spatial Networks and Geodexy have much hidden potential yet to be realized by the world.

“My first day here has been better than everyday at my last three jobs.” - Shane

“Looking forward to the Nerf Gun fights!” - Mary

The Spatial Networks product team catches CEO in the act of dishing on Geodexy.

More Geodexy videos at: http://www.youtube.com/user/geodexy

National Case Study

In the Spring 2009 issue of ArcNews, Daniel C. Edelson (Vice President for Education, National Geographic Society) wrote a shocking yet inspiring article on geographic literacy in the United States+. It was featured in the inaugural column of the “Geo Learning” series. In this article, he stated that, “It’s no secret that Americans know next to nothing about geography.” I figured he was probably right, but how bad could it possibly be considering the diversity of this nation (I would like to note here that optimism can be a dangerous adversary if abused).

The latest National Geographic/Roper Poll (2006) conveys the incredible deficiency of 18-24-year-old Americans in the subject of geography. The survey found that half the participants could not locate New York on a map of the United States, and nearly 6 in 10 could not locate Ohio. One-third of the young adults in the survey gave the wrong answer when asked to name the continent where the Amazon rain forest is located. And, after being at war with Iraq for three years, 63 percent of young Americans could not identify Iraq on a map of the Middle East.”

Shocking as they are, these statistics are real and exemplify the severity of the situation at hand. National Geographic’s justifiable response to the survey prompted the implementation of the “Geographic Literacy in the U.S. by 2025” campaign as well as the “Geo Learning” column which urges GIS professionals to play an important role in the campaign in order to increase the rate of geographic literacy in the United States. Thusly, here I stand, PDA and GPS in hand, ready to be put to work.

Local Case Study

After ranting and raving throughout the office condemning the public school system, I decided that it would be healthier and more productive (not to mention quieter) to blog about the issue instead. I was beginning to write the manifesto to end all manifestos when I decided that I would do one better and conduct a survey of my own using local, young adults as my guinea pigs¹. Ten questions were selected from the National Geographic/Roper Poll (2006), in hopes of saving time, and presented to young students at St. Petersburg College (SPC) Clearwater Campus. I was optimist (yet again) going into the project. I theorized that by surveying young adults seeking higher education, the results yielded would be higher overall, in comparison to those of the national survey were the level of education was not a qualifying factor.

Though I interrogated students during their finals week (as if they weren’t under enough pressure), the partakers gladly contributed to the cause and encouraged their friends and classmates to do the same. Though many of the test takers expressed concern due to the lack of geographic literacy in their mental arsenal, they (and I) had a great time. Generally, the individual results of the questionnaire led to discussions on political, physical, cultural, historical and world geography, proving the naturally intriguing and inclusive disposition framework of geography (if handled properly). All in all, the goals of the project were met. The summary revealed that the SPC students scored higher on the selected questions than the young adults that participated in the national survey in 2006. This may again be due to the fact that the SPC students are just that, students. Their inquisitive nature makes them more apt and likely to voluntarily initiate geographical thought than someone who may not have attended an institution of higher learning.

If the goals of the National Geographic campaign are met, this will no longer be the status quo. Giving every U.S. citizen to the opportunity to think analytically and individually, beyond the facts that are spoon fed to them by the media and other potentially bias sources of information. American adults must learn how to think for themselves and becoming geographically literate is one of the major first steps that must be taken. I hope that, like the participants at SPC, these findings (in both the national and local surveys) ignite a fire deep in your bowels that sparks you to learn as much as you can about the world around you. We only have one planet; we owe it to her to be as familiar with her as humanly achievable in order to be the best caregivers and stewards possible.

Kick-starting spatial methodology is simply a matter of will. Tip: next time you here a news report (e.g. H1-N1 influenza) instead of saying, “Hmmm that was interesting. Now I’m in the mood for some meat candy,” take it one step further and look up some of the places mentioned. Think about the relationships between those places and Mexico (i.e. the source). Whether those relationships are physical, economic, political or cultural, they are factors to be considered. Hypothesize about the occurrences of probable and confirmed cases of H1-N1 in an area. Why do some places seem to be more affected than others? Is climate a factor? Click on the link below to find out more ways to improve your geographic literacy.

 A reseller of a competitor’s mobile data collection platform said this to me once about his own product. I appreciate his honesty, and at the same time it’s been haunting me for months. People are paid to go out and collect data, that is once and forever completely useless to anyone. (How’s that for serving up a heaping dose of morale?) [Incidentally, in a not-uncharacteristic stroll down Anthropomorphism Lane, I have this visual of a little tree - sometimes wearing a "College" t-shirt - being fed into the mill like so many turkeys at a Sarah Palin interview, and coming out on the other side as stuffing for some manilla folder in a storage shed, never to be looked at again… It’s sad, what the little tree’s life is reduced to, it makes me want to run into the parking lot and hug the ones that are carefully landscaped into the pavement jungle - but then I think how good they have it, with job security and all, and it’s not the same… More coffee, please.] Just think about decades worth of data about your business, critical assets, even human resources, just sitting in a box somewhere - impervious to pattern review, cost analysis, or any other useful bit of aggregation. If it makes you crazy, you are probably more sane than you realize!