Technology from 2010 and What’s Next

2010… where did that go?  The year has seen the release of a major version of ArcGIS, and some technology trends maturing to a point that makes them key to an organisation’s strategy in 2011 and beyond.  But first, let’s discuss ArcGIS 10.

Tech Directions….top 5 take aways.

Well this round of Tech Directions has been and gone.

3 weeks, 8 cities and over 1,100 attendees turned out to see what is happening in our industry, the latest trends which are influencing how we as a GIS community work and what our clients and consumers expect… and to see ArcGIS 10 in action.

So after speaking with our presenters, looking at ALL the evaluation forms (a big thank you, we have made some changes already based on your suggestions; i.e. an agenda handout will be provided at the start of the event as well as on the blog) and attending an event myself, here are the top 5 take aways from Tech Directions.

ArcGIS on the iPhone & iPad

At the recent Technology Directions event in Darwin, there was a lot of interest in how the iPhone and iPad can be used with ArcGIS. Here’s a quick overview of the options..

Darwin…thanks for having us, see you again soon

October Tech Directions kicked off in Darwin yesterday and after a full day presenting and then catching a 1.45 am flight back from Australia’s far north the guys were forced to chat with me so I could give you a rundown of the day.

Ok here it goes…

Darwin put on a good showing for our technical specialists with about 45 people turning up in the far north to the first of our tech directions series. From the day these were some of the common questions:

Tell me more about the iphone! Yes we are all (well about 95% of the population, and according to recent research from the Australian Communications and Media Authority which shows there are now more mobile phones than people in Australia. And the 2009 Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index undertaken for AIMIA found that 77% of respondents used their mobile phones for a purpose apart from texting and/or voice.) in love with our phones, but they can serve a higher purpose and you want to know what it is.

Technology Directions – Plenary

At the up and coming Technology Directions, we are going to be looking at 4 key areas of ArcGIS and the new 10 release;

-          What are the technology trends, current and emerging that affect us all

-          What are the patterns of use, when using GIS and Spatial Information

-          How does the ArcGIS 10 system enable you to take advantage of those trends and patterns of use, and

-          What are the things to think about in terms of using ArcGIS 10 in your organisation

UC Tech News 2010

This year the Esri User Conference celebrated its 30th year. As big an achievement as that is, the real celebration for Esri and its community was the release of ArcGIS 10. ArcGIS is described as a system. Not just a single application or one piece of a large puzzle, ArcGIS is a complete system for geographical knowledge management, analysis, planning, awareness, and mobility.

Out of the many things to see at the event, I managed to get along and see where technology is changing the application of GIS. Notably, two areas that stood out for me were in smart devices (like the iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone, Android devices etc) and the cloud.