Monday, January 23, 2012

Dimensions and Directions of Live Geography


In early February, Prof Josef Strobl will speak at the India Geospatial Forum Plenary Panel on Dimensions and Directions of Geospatial Technology. Any comments on the position outlined below? Please email josef.strobl[at]sbg.ac.at ...


Within the many developments and innovations defining today’s emerging next generation of geospatial technologies, the perspective on real-time enabled applications is one of the most promising trends widening the scope of applied Geography and GIScience.

Real-time, or ‘live’ applications first and foremost depend on online connectivity among distributed components in geospatial architectures, with a particular focus on mobile clients and sensors. Three use case scenarios shall illustrate the power and potential of live GIS:
  1. People as Sensors: the idea of volunteered geographic information has evolved from static database entries towards live citizen feedback, and spun off the phenomenon of huge amounts of involuntary geographic information derived from cell phone tracking. Being able to monitor crowds and to receive instantaneous feedback from citizens introduces a fundamental change in managing mobility, security and resources. 
  2. Augmented Reality: mobile devices in vehicles, for field work and in particular in smart phones use current location, direction and movement for merging a real-time view with spatial database content like roads, underground infrastructure, parcel boundaries or architectural designs. Dynamic changes from the database (e.g., navigating to a new destination, different state of a utility element) are represented in the display and allow immediate adjustment of user actions. 
  3. Sensor Webs: ubiquitous sensors, whether mobile or in-situ, increasingly serve as the ‘sensory skin’ covering our environments, infrastructures and the entire planet. Readings of meteorological, environmental and technical status variables as well as movement and change indicators are relayed back, facilitating appropriate reactions by stakeholders and public agencies. 
Many applications built on a live flow of data and live geoprocessing quite naturally are cloud-based, including generic as well as purpose-built clients. This not only enables dynamic, real-time visualization, but more importantly facilitates significantly shortened feedback loops for control and management. While obviously e.g. emergency scenarios are priority use cases for live geospatial concepts, numerous other application domains will benefit from real-time enabled architectures.

Much of the true power of GIS is in live GIS, making us 'aLive Geographers'!


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Announcement: COGeo 2012 in Salzburg


2012, the COGeo event will be integrated into the PANGEO Austria 2012 (September 15-20, 2012) conference.

Session 18: State-of-the-art in geoscience 3D modeling – systems and applications,
Robert Marschallinger & Fritz Zobl

Geoscience data are intrinsically volume-related and a choice of software exists for the handling of static and dynamic, process-related solid models. This session welcomes innovative approaches to multi-dimensional analysis, modeling, simulation and visualization in the geosciences.

Deadline for Abstracts (= deadline for presentations and posters): 30. 06. 2012
Abstracts: max. 200 words / 1500 characters
Submission are welcome in English and German!

The annual COGeo conference takes place in Salzburg and is mainly organised by the Institute for Geographic Information Science. Programme Chairs and Organization: Robert Marschallinger and Fritz Zobl (ÖAW-GIScience).
>> www.cogeo.at
>> PANGEO Austria 2012

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

GI_Forum 2012 - Final Call for Papers

GI_Forum 2012
Geovisualisation, Society & Learning
July 3 - 6, 2012 | Salzburg, Austria

Audience. The interdisciplinary GI_Forum focuses on an international audience, communicating in English, and sharing an interest in translating theory, methods and techniques into a broad range of GI application domains. Young researchers are especially invited to contribute and discuss their research; together with established scientists they will find a vibrant community from academia, business, and education to analyse progress and to explore new research directions.

Themes & Application Fields. GI_Forum 2012 offers full-fledged, intertwined tracks on GIScience & Technology and Learning with GI with a focus on geovisualization, society and learning, and their inter-relationships.
Keynotes by Sara Fabrikant, Muki Hakley, Alan MacEachran and Georg Gartner support the 2012 GI Forum special focus.
We welcome theoretical, technical and empirical work. Topics within the special focus include, but are not limited to:
  • Advanced visualization and cartography
  • Visual analytics
  • Spatial information & society
  • Critical GIS / cartography
  • Education for Spatial Citizenship
  • Spatial thinking in education
  • Spatial Data Infrastructures for education

The GI_Forum further solicits contributions on emerging topics and research outcomes related to GIScience and GI-based education. Geospatial data acquisition, advanced spatial analysis and knowledge extraction, distributed and mobile services, SDI, global change & vulnerability, dynamic modelling and simulation, learning environments for secondary / postsecondary education, and research into learning outcomes, comprise by no means an exhaustive list of conference topics.

Submission: Types & Deadlines. GI_Forum 2012 gives authors choices about the type of submission they want to make in order to accommodate a variety of interdisciplinary contributions. Submissions must be in English language according to the formatting guidelines published at the conference website.

February 1, 2012: deadline for submission of full papers / extended abstracts
March 16, 2012: notification of acceptance
April 20, 2012: final paper versions
June 6, 2012: late deadline for submission of extended abstracts for poster presentation

We will accept online submissions only, starting from December, 1st 2011 at > www.gi-forum.org.

We are looking forward to your contribution!

Josef Strobl | Conference Chair
Adrijana Car | Programme Chair
Thomas Jekel | Programme Chair

> office@gi-forum.org