V1 Newsletter-Vol. 2, Issue 35

Resources

Written by Vector1Media Monday, 01 September 2008 18:00

Volume 2 / Issue 35/ September 2, 2008

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PERSPECTIVES

Will digital city models become one über model or separate models for specific domains?

Photo of Jeff Thurston "I think digital city models are continuing to evolve and will include a collection of models. Although some of the elements of these models may be similar, particularly foundation elements, model performance will vary for many unique reasons. The concept of a one-world model looks attractive, but reality for most cities varies widely. Technical performance is an integral component for digital city models but it would be incorrect to disconnect people, culture and history from digital city models."

Jeff Thurston, Editor, EMEA and Russia, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Photo of Matt Ball "There are many ways to look at this question. When considering an über model, there’s the issue of organization, and the need to determine whether the digital city will reside within an interoperable framework or as a central collective repository. Another way to look at this is to assess the different requirements of specific domains to determine if there’s a compelling need for separate modeling environments for different professions or workflows. The issue of ownership and governance of the model also comes into play, particularly in light of security-related issues, which will demand a level of centralized control. "

Matt Ball, Editor, Americas/Asia-Pacific, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

FEATURES

Ethanol Buzz Fuels Planning by Colonial Pipeline

Amid the clamor of national debate over how best to reduce reliance on oil, the call to replace petroleum with ethanol made enough noise to attract government and industry attention. A federal mandate, passed in December 2007, requires that the United States produce 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol by 2015. In response, a major U.S. pipeline company, Colonial, began its study of the feasibility of introducing alternative fuels such as ethanol to pipeline shipments.

An INSPIRE Agenda for Lisbon

Motivation speaker Daniel Burrus spoke at the Intergraph Conference a few years ago. He said: “Time is the currency of the 90s.” If that was the case then it is certainly the case now. So how do you make time? The answer is simple. It comes from an old quality mantra: ‘do it right the first time’. With INSPIRE we have an opportunity to do it right.

INTERVIEWS

GIS Provides Tools for Optimism

Peter Raven, noted botanist, environmentalist and president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, gave the keynote speech at this year’s ESRI International User Conference. Raven’s talk centered on the need for biodiversity and species preservation, and he praised the GIS toolset for contributing greatly in these causes. V1 Editor Matt Ball spoke with Raven following his talk on subjects ranging from population pressures, to species extinction, to the role of GIS to speed our understanding of nature.

Intergraph’s Focus on Solutions

Intergraph has been developing industry-specific solutions on top of its core geospatial platform for some time now, and the benefits of that focus are translating into strong company performance. V1 Magazine editor Matt Ball sat down with Mark Doherty, Executive Director, Technology Architecture and Strategy, for Intergraph’s Security, Government & Infrastructure (SG&I) division, at the Intergraph User’s Conference in Las Vegas to discuss the solutions approach and the plans for the underlying platform.

HEADLINE NEWS

CALENDAR

Underground Spaces 2008, September 8 - 10, 2008, The New Forest, UK

NSGIC 2008 Annual Conference , Sept. 7-11, Keystone, Colo.

GIS in the Rockies , September 10 - 12, Loveland, Colorado

European Forest Institute Conference Week , September 15 - 20, Orvieto, Italy

RS Techniques for Mediterranean Emergency , September 22 - 24, Zadar, Croatia

Caris2008 , September 22-26, Bath, UK

AGI GeoCommunity '08, September 25-26, Stratford-Upon-Avon, UK

Estuarine and Coastal Sciences , Sep 29 - Oct 4, Bahía Blanca, Argentina

BOOKSTORE

GIS for Web Developers (2007)

By Scott Davis

With this book, you'll explore popular websites like maps.google.com, see the technologies they use, and learn how to create your own. Written with the usual Pragmatic Bookshelf humor and real-world experience, GIS for Web Developers makes geographic programming concepts accessible to the common developer.

Geographic Visualization (2008)

By Martin Dodge, Mary McDerby, Martin Turner

This text is a ‘state-of-the-art’ review of the latest developments in the subject. It examines how new concepts, methods and tools can be creatively applied to solve problems relevant to a wide range of topics.