Category Archives: News

IGNITE – Create the M.App of the Future

Posted on by
Reply

Hexagon Geospatial has launched a global competition, IGNITE, to plan and build an innovative Hexagon Smart M.App, a cloud based dynamic information experience that transforms geospatial information into 360° business analytics and meaningful visualizations. The Hexagon Smart M.App provides the understanding that leads to world-changing solutions.

You may submit ideas in any of the six core challenge themes – Finance, Food, Safety, Infrastructure, Health, and Conservation.

IGNITE Challenge Phases:

1. Ideation Phase
2. Execution Phase

Timeline: The last date for registration for the ideation phase is May 1, 2016. Top 20 finalists from the ideation phase will then be selected for the execution phase where they will have approximately 3 months, until August 31, 2016, to build their Hexagon Smart M.App.

Prize Details: The top 3 finalists of the execution phase will be awarded cash prizes of $100K, $50K and $25K for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. The remaining 17 finalists will each receive $5,000 prizes for their submissions.

Visit the IGNITE challenge page to find out more and to register as an innovator, either as an individual or as a team. No entry fee is required.

Mapbox Vector Tiles Supported in OpenGeo Suite

Posted on by
Reply

Boundless, a provider of open source geospatial software and services, recently announced the upcoming version of their OpenGeo Suite will support the output of vector tiles, including the popular open source Mapbox Vector Tiles (.mvt) format. The next version of OpenGeo Suite is expected to be released by the end of January, and will include an updated instance of GeoServer which supports output in vector tile formats.  Click here for more info.

ESRI MOOC: Do-It-Yourself Geo Apps

Posted on by
Reply

ESRI is hosting a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on building your own Geo Apps.  They state:

You don’t have to be a software developer to build valuable geo-enabled apps that make your communities smarter and businesses more successful. This course will show you how to combine location and narrative in one application to better communicate and broadcast your story, create custom web applications that solve problems in your community, and build powerful native applications for iOS and Android devices without touching a piece of code. If you are a developer, you’ll be interested in Esri’s APIs, SDKs, and the buzzing GeoDev community.

The course includes:

  • Hands-on exercises, short video lectures, quizzes, polls, and discussion
  • 4 week course with 7 sections open throughout the course, 1-2 hours of study per section
  • Certificate of completion and awards

You will be exposed to application templates and test drive Web AppBuilder and AppStudio.  The free online course runs from February 3 to March 3, 2016.  Check it out and sign up!

Data Masking and GIS

Posted on by
Reply

Geographic masking is the deliberate alteration of locational data to preserve the privacy or integrity of the data being displayed or analyzed. For example, the locations of the nests of endangered bird species may be publicly posted on a web site, but the availability of this data could create inappropriate visits that could disturb or endanger the birds, and so should be masked.

This GITA sponsored webinar on January 20th will discuss masking in the context of geospatial privacy, a topic of great national concern in the era of social media and Wikileaks.  Most of the methods in current use will be discussed, along with their advantages and disadvantages.  How the methods are implemented and what impact they have on geographic and spatial analysis are explored.

AppStudio for ArcGIS v1.0

Posted on by
Reply

If you are into creating your own apps that run on many platforms, then AppStudio for ArcGIS might be for you.  ESRI has release version 1.0 and some of the highlights are:

  • Easy to publish apps to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
  • Build apps for multiple platforms with one code base
  • Gives developers tools to build powerful custom apps
  • Share your apps with the public or within your organization
  • Basic and Standard license options

For more info and to try AppStudio, see their blog post here.

ArcGIS 10.4 Prerelease

Posted on by
Reply

ESRI has announced that ArcGIS 10.4 prerelease software for Desktop, Server, and Engine is now available for you to download, install, and test.  They do stress it is for testing purposes only, so I would not use it in production.

Some highlights are vector tile layers, Portal for ArcGIS Map Viewer includes analysis tools, and improved enterprise readiness with ArcGIS Server and Portal.  Also, ArcGIS Pro 1.2 is currently in beta.  For more info about the release, see their blog post here.

UPDATE 2/22/2016: The ArcGIS 10.4 release is now available.

Register Your Drones!

Posted on by
Reply

If you are planning on giving that wonderful flying machine to someone for Christmas, make sure they know that there is a string attached.  The owner – whether it’s a new purchase or a drone that’s been flying for years – will have to register a name, a physical address and an email address with the FAA.  Existing owners will have to register by February 19, 2016, and new flyers will have to register before their first flight.

You are required to register a drone if it weighs more than 9 ounces.  Registration opens December 21 and is free through January 20 (the credit card transaction will confirm the owner’s identity and the fee will be refunded).  After that, the FAA will charge $5 for registration.  You must be at least 13 years old to register, or someone older must register for you.  The registration is good for 3 years.

Oh, and the registration rule excludes “paper airplanes that are not linked to a system”, so a paper airplane that weighs more than 9 ounces does not need to be registered unless it has a motor and remote attached!

And the FAA plans on enforcing their rule.  “Failure to register an aircraft can result in civil penalties up to $27,500,” the rule states. “Criminal penalties for failure to register can include fines of up to $250,000”.

Merry Christmas kids!

santadrone