There were some incredible maps from this year’s FOSS4G (Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial) map gallery. Here are a few of my favorites:
nychenge.com
Archive for GIS
Maps and the Geospatial Revolution
Ever wondered how to make maps? Now with Coursera, in conjunction with Penn State’s Geography Department, you CAN!! If you haven’t heard of Coursera, it is a Massive Online Open Course or MOOC. This is a free online class from an accredited college that can be taken for fun or for credit with a small fee.
GIS-Pro Days 3 and 4 – Now with more Pictures!
Day 3 of GIS-Pro started with “New Uses of Web-GIS: Crowdsourcing, Sketchup, and Smart Workflow Tools.” The first presentation was Brett Maxfield of CitySourced. Brett’s team was in charge of creating an app that allows citizens to interact with city government. One example was allowing people to report pothole data via smartphones and the city utilizing that data alongside current decision making tools.
The next speaker was Ronald Hall who talked about leveraging GIS data using Google apps. This was very exciting for me as I believe Google tools are an excellent way to bring GIS to the people. When people can play with your data at home on their own computers they become your biggest advocates, a brilliant form of crowd sourcing. I also spent 20 minutes geeking out with Ron about these ideas afterwards.
Next I wandered through the exhibits (more pictures as promised):
The ESRI booth moment before Jack Dangermond ate his lunch there
GIS-Pro Day 2 – Digital Earth and Open Source/Data
Day 2 of GIS-Pro, this was a bit of a short day for me as I had two classes to attend. The day started with the opening Keynote address by Michael F. Goodchild on “Exploring Digital Earth”. This talk was based on a vision proposed by Al Gore in 1996 of a child with the ability to explore an exact digital replica of our earth from global to micro level. This speech was more of a “where we’ve been” and “how far we have to go” state of the digital earth address. He tackled the difference in cultures and the problems that poses as builders of this model. The technical leaps and bounds we’ve made were also addressed but the sheer technical difficulty of creating a 100% accurate model of our planet seems almost unreachable. I found the idea of including all information about a single point into this model both inspiring and overwhelming. I really look forward to seeing where a project such as this take us as a species. When we are forced to look at ourselves in the mirror but none of us see the same thing. Sorry didn’t mean to get all esoteric there but it was kind of inspiring!
Not actually Michael F. Goodchild but you probably can’t tell because of my blurry iPhone
GIS-Pro Day 1 – Open Source Workshop + SpeedNetworking
This week I was able to volunteer at URISA (Urban and Regional Information Systems Association) annual conference GIS-Pro! I was lucky enough to actually get my first pick for volunteering which was a workshop on open source GIS software. This workshop was taught by two incredible people, Sara Yurman and Carl Anderson. It was super inspiring to hear two GIS professionals who have found a way to integrate open source software into every aspect of their GIS process.
Open Source Workshop (Super exciting, huh?….Well it was for me!)
