 The annual Association for Geographic Information (AGI - UK) Conference will take place during September 2008. V1 Magazine interviewed Conference Chairman, Steven Feldman prior to the event to gain an understanding about this year's event and what the GI community can expect from the event.
V1 Magazine: As Chair of the AGI
Conference event, how did you come up with the theme 'Shaping a
Changing World' for this year's conference?
Feldman: The conference
organising committee came together to come up with the theme. We
ended up talking about a number of themes before converging on
similar concepts relating to 'change' in the areas of environment,
business and social issues. Business models are changing today in our
industry, we find ourselves experiencing change from environmental
factors (ie. Floods in the UK) and the changes relating to how
spatial information is being collected by professionals and
non-professionals are all causing us to look at and consider change.
We chose a pro-active theme for the conference to reflect our belief
that we can influence the forces of change in the world around us and
our businesses through the work we do.
V1 Magazine: How has the AGI
Conference changed from previous events?
Feldman: Previously we operated
differently and ran a conventional trade exhibition alongside the
conference. Our conference attendance had been declining and was a
little over 300 at the 2006 event event. Last year we decided to take
a different approach and we combined a residential 2 day conference
with a much more intimate exhibition and sponsorship program that
better met the needs of our sponsors. Our attendance last year
increased to 500 and this year we anticipate between 500-600
delegates and visitors attending the event.
V1 Magazine: What other factors
contributed to the rise in attendance?
Feldman: Previous
events were primarily held in the London area which made them quite
expensive to attend and quite expensive for to rent exhibition space.
By moving to Stratford-Upon-Avon we have reduced lodging costs for
many of those attending while also offering a better package to our
sponsors.
V1 Magazine: Why would anyone want
to attend and what makes it different from other events?
Feldman: There used to be a time
when attendance was oriented to the fact that the technologies were
new. At that time people attended for one or maybe two reasons mostly
– to develop new markets and or attract new customer's. While that
worked for about 10 years; today we find that the average person
attending is well aware of the technology and the industry has
matured. Although developing new business opportunities remains a key
focus for sponsors, to attract this target audience the program has
to be interesting to a well informed audience of delegates as well as
providing a learning experience. To achieve this we have changed our
approach this year to include a wider community of interests
including neogeographers and academics in the program.
V1 Magazine: Hmmm ... so now we can
expect to hear some high level talks that are difficult to
understand?
Feldman: You realise I am
smiling as I hear you describe this. But the answer is no. What we
are hoping to do this year is to create an environment that builds on
the sense of 'GeoCommunity' such that academics, business and
government people can share thoughts, debate and interact together.
You can expect to hear some interesting academic topics of
relevant subject matter to many in our industry, all debated in
easy-to-understand terms so they can be understood and responded to.
Our program this year involves about 15% of papers from an academic
background and we will see what the delegates say about it
afterwards. But I think it will be a good step for involving this
group UK wide into the dialogue and the exchanges should be lively.
V1 Magazine: Last year there were
some interesting debates about neogeography and traditional GI
people. What was the response to that last year and can we expect
something like it this year?
Feldman: The response last year
was very positive with many people commenting on the debates and
different viewpoints. It was the first time that the discussion was
openly broached and we did not know what would happen. However, the
discussion was civilised and both groups came away with a better
appreciation for the other side.
This year we plan on having
similar discussions. It is important that both the traditionalist
viewpoints and neogeographers learn to work together and exchange
ideas. None of us have reached the happy middle ground yet, but we
need to work at the misunderstandings about each other. For example,
service oriented architectures are creating a situation where anyone
can use spatial information and GI, but someone must create these
applications in the first instance. Alternatively, one does not have
to be a professional to create data today – so how do we include
these people into our data gathering efforts?
V1 Magazine: How does the concept of
GeoCommunity meet the mission of AGI?
Feldman: If the AGI Conference
can bring different people together from across the UK into one place
to debate, share and exchange ideas then we are fulfilling our
mission. We ought to be willing to discuss issues and share our
knowledge and experiences. Since we have business, government and
educators involved together this year, it is a good opportunity to
look at issues and ideas in a more robust and wider context.
As
well, a number of people indicated last year that the key benefit for
them was in being able to network at the event. They very much
appreciated the opportunity to discuss viewpoints and ideas beyond
the presentation stage in more informal discussions and meetings. All
of these exchanges support the goals of the AGI mission to
collaborate, share and build a GeoCommunity.
V1 Magazine: Data quality is a big
issue, particularly when it comes to neogeography. Do you plan on
discussing this issue?
Feldman: This is a major issue
that everyone seems to be talking about. A wider discussion on data
quality is needed and we need to consider how different types of data
can be used for different purposes. Many of the data in mash-ups may
not require specialised, highly accurate data whilst some public
services certainly will require more formally gathered and maintained
data. There is at least one paper that will touch on this topic at
the conference and hopefully we will start a good dialogue.
V1 Magazine: Can we expect to see
some folks from Ireland attending? How about other parts of Europe?
Feldman: I expect that we will
have a good turn out from Ireland. This has always been the case.
Since we are an English speaking conference, I think the likelihood
of people attending from other parts of Europe is lower, although a
few may choose to attend.
More Information: AGI 2008 Conference
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