thoughts on spatial tools and practices
This week, I attended the first-ever Esri DC DevSummit which followed the Federal GIS Conference (please switch it back to “FedUC”). This event, intended and a smaller, Federally-focused, companion to the annual Palm Springs DevSummit, came together quickly but was very well-attended with about 300 attendees.
The 2014 installment of the Esri Federal GIS Conference (formerly known as the Federal User Conference) happens next week. I have attended the event off and on since its inception. While I originally was drawn by the presence of a large geo-related event in my local area, that gap has been filled by numerous, smaller events from various sources in the past few years. The FedUC has traditionally had something of an identity crisis, with the content often feeling a bit diffuse and somewhat rushed over its quick, two-day schedule.
There was a time only a few years ago when, if you lived in the DC/MD/VA area, planning your geo-conference schedule for the year went something like this: Register for the ESRI FedUC and then start booking plane tickets for everything else. That is no longer the case with more events occurring in the area. Here’s a round-up of a few events that are on my 2012 schedule so far:
ESRI Federal GIS Conference (formerly known as the Federal User Conference): 22 – 24 February. This is probably one of the longest-running and largest events in the area. This year features another DevGeo session, focusing on developing applications with the various ESRI tools. Last year was the first time it was done at a FedUC and the room was packed all day. This conference is obviously an ESRI show but the last few years have included unofficial, after-hours gatherings of people working with a wide range of geospatial tools. Even if you are not an ESRI user, there may be something going on in the vicinity that would be worthwhile.
It is time again for my annual plug for the ESRI Federal User Conference (FedUC). Last year, I blogged as much as could. It’s no secret that I thought last year’s FedUC was the best they had done. It was the first one where I felt that there was more content than I could get to. It was a good mix of technology and real-world user implementations. Additionally, I had a lot of side meetings so it has become a good place to get some business done.
For those of you keeping track at home, the reference to OpenLayers in Jack Dangermond’s FedUC plenary talk comes at approximately 47:53.
I didn’t go to the FedUC today. I haven’t been staying in the city but have rather been commuting in each day. The weather is rather nasty so I decided to forego the rousing sendoff. I can handle snow and I can handle rain but I want nothing to do with ice. Boat drinks! Boys … Read more
Most of the usual suspects were there today but there was very little that was new or exciting. The system integrator community was well represented as well as several relevant government agencies such as USGS, NGA, BLM, etc. There was a good cross-section of government support, including land managment, environment and others. In other words, … Read more
I want to focus a little more on some of the demos and also how ESRI is positioning the ArcGIS platform to support the “GeoWeb” implementation pattern. Jack identified four “implementation patterns” that defin typical GIS architectures. The first three are pretty standard: single user desktop, multi-user server, and “federated” (an ESB-type implementation). The last one is what he called the “GeoWeb”. That was depicted as a set of services (data, analysis and otherwise) that can be used by various types of clients included, desktop, web, globes, mobile and pretty much anything else. This is perhaps most effectively visualized as a “mashup” type of situation. This seems to intersect nicely with the realm of “neogeography” in concept.
This is my first time posting from my Moto Q so forgive any typos. I just sat through the FedUC opening talk by Jack. There was a lot of talk about 9.3, as would be expected. There was also a lot of talk about positioning AGS support the GeoWeb, including a compelling demo of an … Read more
At the risk of sounding like an ESRI shill… The FedUC starts on Wednesday and this year it seems to have a different feel to it. It feels like it’s definitely picked up some momentum over previous years. The sessions seem to be a little meatier and the atmosphere feels more purposeful and businesslike now. … Read more