GIS Development Weekly December 31, 2007

As is fashionable today to look back and 'admire' the year that has been, we too in GIS Development decided to join the band wagon. It was fun sifting through over 1500 headlines to decide the most relevant, impacting and worth mentioning happenings in the geospatial domain.

This year has seen some major takeovers of significance - Mapinfo by PB, ER Mapper and IONIC by LGGI, Orion by ROLTA...and the most significant by the quantum of media space and mention, the Navteq by NOKIA takeover.

In the satellite launch race, the steady progress by the GLONASS program is commendable. Last December they had thirteen and this week they have nineteen - in time to meet the 2008 deadline of a twenty four satellite constellation - and mind you with no restrictions over its civilian use. This appears to have forced the US to declare that all the new GPS satellites will be designed without the capability of SA. The ESA's baby - Galileo is still in labour - what with the U K's HC asking for justifications on the expense and free Pepsi over paid Coke analogies being used...In sync with the global 'GPS' initiatives, TOPCON delivered a 72 channel GR-3 before most of us were still to admire the U-Blox 50 channel wonder.

The first p2p software from Carboncloud - ((Echo))Myplace was an harbinger for others. Off course, like every year, we had a host of updates, versions and patches released for the all too popular GIS softwares - I was amazed at the rate at which press releases were delivered to our postbox every week - so we finally decided to ignore the less significant 'evolutions'. The results of the surveys that we have been conducting have been encouraging - a significant number of you readers felt that there is space for new comers in GIS software development and that the present ready-made packaging could do with less 'irrelevant' modules and off course at a lower cost. I sincerely hope that the new comers as well as the supporting pillars of the GIS software industry hear this plea...

Among the volumes of books published in our domain - the most significant appears to be - 'ROI workbook' from GITA (no, it is not about 'How to become a geospatial millionaire...) and I have to mention the 'Google Earth for Dummies'- Have you gifted any yet?

About legal wrangles and fang bare - the MAPPS lawsuit will not be forgotten - more so, it actually gave us a legal definition of who is a 'Geospatialist'. On the evil side, the Chinese test missile obliterating a US satellite is a rather black spot - no cliche' intended and the knee jerk by the US was the announcement of its 'New Space Policy'.

Though not directly 'Geo' - spatial - the lunar missions by Japan and China this year will significantly add to our understanding of Selene and the spin offs from these missions and others planned by India, will hopefully be the kind of useful products and gadgets that have percolated into our life after the manned missions to our Moon in late 60'.

I wish all our readers a prosperous and peaceful new year.

Dr. Hrishikesh Samant
hrishikesh@gisdevelopment.net