Digital and Societal Transformation ideas-expertise-proces

I started redently coordination of a research project called European Location Framework, within the frame of KULeuven university partner. It is the extended research effort by the European national mapping agencies to push into the market authorative and accurate mapping information. As it is an extension of INSPIRE and will push for re-use fo this data, it can only be good for more innnovative applications coming into the market. Find out what's happened during the first year of the ELF project

This is the Guacamole test used by Philips to promote indoor navigatin using LEDs, another technology used next to iBeacons. Seems that more mobile phones are capable of using this LED technoogy. It is apparently linking with the light sensor used in the camera and 'hacking' this feature enables this type of apps apparently. Tests by GE : Test by Philips : Philips using LED for indoor store navigation and communication with the smartphone

"Put location to work for you" via @IFTTT :

There is a lot of hype about drones, UAVs. Recently Michael MAes , BeUAS provided an overview of the market situation in Belgium in this sector. What is interesting are the wide variety of UAV applications: geographic applications, ground inspectionis, photography, farming, building industry, police and firebrigade, mining, ...  Link (Dutch) Presentation link

1Spatial plc, the spatial big data company which manages some of the world’s largest spatial data, is one of the UK’s fastest growing and dynamic small to medium sized businesses (SMEs), according to the London Stock Exchange’s landmark research report ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’. http://t.co/CfZSSzOCqk #spatialbigdata

This recent visit to Intergeo has opened my eye to the fast hardware evolution in the UAVs. The presentation below summarizes some of these trends - Connected APPS The success of current mobile app ecosystems is due largely to the opening of the marketplace by Apple and Google to third party developers; these take the risk of innovation away from the platform - However, there are signs from the market that a consolidation phase is likely to take place and that it becomes difficult for an app developer to get attention. (Tapptic study: user only regularly uses 6 apps on his smartphone) - Connected devices and cars - The market of wearable devices linked to a communication device is an upcoming market. Uptake of smart watches (5 million to yes old in 2014 according to Canalys) or visualisation tools like Google glass are set to take off in 2014. The ecosystem of these wearable devices brings in new players that go directly especially in the product solution space - The M2M (machine...

Rise of the iBeacons - Micro Location & Proximity Revolution iBeacon offers tremendous possibilities to retailers who might use the technology to power mobile payment solutions, coupon solutions and also targeted advertising. (source) to be followed...

to be checked Foursquare, the check-in and local search app maker, has rolled out ads for local businesses info

Extract from VRWI future study for Flanders on GEO that I like: Space, territory and landscape (political, social, urban, natural etc.) as the overlap between physical space and virtual space is increasingly discussed and virtual landscapes of communication are redefining our sense of space and time. The human habitat and its landscapes are being redefined in dramatic ways, and new physical and symbolic geographies are needed to explore it. Hence, social science and humanities research has a major role to play.

GEO state of play 2013/ Intergeo / Agoria APP Alliance from Tanguy De Lestré

Here a link to a nice resume on open streetmap and redent meeting in Belgium by  enthusiasts of open source  (French) http://linxtek-informatique.eu/blog/conference-la-cartographie-participative-le-projet-openstreetmap/

The WAZE gps driver application is the perfect example of a 2.0 Geography. Interestingly it is on the radar to be sold by Facebook or Google or another with very high figures;  Seems that location location location is still the key? And now seems that the deal is confirmed http://allthingsd.com/20130609/this-time-its-real-google-waze-deal-on-the-way/?mod=atd_homepage_carousel I like the following paragraph  bvecause it indicaztes the power of the crowdsourcing model: In the grand scheme of mapping software, Waze isn’t a behemoth: The startup boasts 47 million registered users, 32 percent of them active. What’s impressive is how accurate its maps and traffic information are in areas where it has critical mass, because they are constantly updated by users who are running the app as they drive .

The Google I/O conference this week was stunning regarding the mapping service; with real enhancements and personalisations. Chipchick resume goes as follows: "Google Maps is already pretty hard to top, given Google’s enormous edge in data. The new version of maps has a stronger focus on personalization – each account will have its own unique map. As you visit and review places around where you live, Google will add them as landmarks to your map, then use those landmarks to recommend new places. Also, instead of throwing up a limited number of pins after a query, Google will show all results on the map, marked with smaller red circles. Clicking on a location will display an information card about that location. Clicking on that location will light up new locations on the map that are somehow related, and you can go on exploring from there. Directions from those locations will be automatically provided, using your location or whatever you have marked as home as the starting p...

Seems like mobile and outdoor sports are an ideal combination to provide GEO applications.  And as Belgium is full of great and creative companies, the applicaitonsare also quite vast Bike to the moon with g-flux: http://g-flux.com/ Routeyou.com  in Ghent has been building a large portfolio of apps, sometimes together with partner network.  This includes : - Raceyou - Orbit Cycling Liège company STAR also has stakes in companies like GEOlives.  It also has it own products like SityTrail BE available on the app stores Any other suggestions?

With nearly 250 datasets released by different geo-authorities (thank you!) the appsforgeo.be co-creation hackaton was already a success. Three teams battled during the day to make a useful application from this. Just before the presentation, geo data-owners from Federal and three regions reflected upon a benchmark made by Solvay students on Geo-datasets in neighboring countries. Other actors from the Open Data scene ,like Finland OKFN chapter, Data.be, OKFN,… participated in a lively discussion on what is allowed with data, absence of licenses even if datas are released,… The jury and audience listened to following presentations: Team Geosolutions- Geofreedback map (automatic error correction tool on combined map data) Team Nostalgeeks – Nostalgeo (Web/mobile app to map existing data and old data like postcards and maps) Team Nextl@b – Daily Workers Mirgration Analysis (Georeferening statistical datasets for analysis) Access to AppsforFlanders- AppsforEurope went to Nextl@...

HERE Maps for iOS is now available on the App Store: go get it! https:// itunes.apple.com/us/app/here-ma ps/id577430143 …

I take over the complete sorry mail from Apple;  it seems that a turn by turn crowdsourced navigation is not easy to build from the ground up. To our customers, At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better. We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up. There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for near...

I was running tonight and my iphone endomondo track put me on top of the Schuman EU Building; not completely accurate and typical of urban canyons phenomenon. This reminded me that accuracy of GPS signals is can be very relative.  The systems can even be seriously hampered when solar storms occur.  On the website gps.gov a lot of info can be found related to the fact that in 2013 period solar storms will be at their peak period The advice of the US government even mentions "GPS users should keep this in mind and always have a secondary means of navigation or timing."  So time to buy a paper map? Not really, but the land based correction mechanisms (RTK part of GNSS) will become more important for landing airplanes correctly etc...In Belgium the full 3 networks ( Flepos  in Flemish area, Walcors in Walloon area, GPSBru in Brussels)  Seems that more and more commercial applications are turning to these geodetic solutions: will network configurations be ab...

From this article, It seems that Google is building the maps tile by tile How Google Builds Its Maps—and What It Means for the Future of Everything

Accurate indoor positioning opens up plenty of possibilities for new mobile services. For a consumer this could mean, for example, receiving directions to the right products and personalized product promotions in nearby shops; using real-time navigation inside a building; finding the precise location of assets and people; and even increasing security in emergency situations. For facility owners and local service providers this could enable, for example, increased local customer identification; enhanced product placement; and better customer satisfaction by deploying resources when and where needed. Link