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February 2006 Welcome to The Sensor -- the newsletter of the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS) bringing you the latest developments from Mississippi’s emerging geospatial industry cluster. Please feel free to share this with friends and colleagues. To subscribe, visit www.eigs.olemiss.edu For further information, or to submit story ideas, please contact Lisa Stone - lstone@olemiss.edu |
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Director's Cut
Welcome to the February 2006 edition of
The Sensor. While pulling together the stories for this issue, we
realized that this month would actually be the two year anniversary of
the launch of the EIGS newsletter. When we first made the transition
from the Mississippi Space Commerce Initiative to the Enterprise for
Innovative Geospatial Solutions, one of our top priorities was how to
distribute information and news about Mississippi’s geospatial
community. With so much happening throughout the state in the private
sector, in the educational arena, and by government agencies, it was
critical to have an effective mechanism by which to let people know
about the multitude of activities. And, of course, in the information
age, it was obvious that focusing on an electronic newsletter was the
way to go. |
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A Closer Look at Mississippi's
“What we are seeing here is unprecedented. This industry cluster has been methodically put together piece by piece. When the market forces kick in, this cluster is going to take off faster than others created by chance.” - Carl Schramm, President of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. “The cluster structure in Mississippi is unique, providing one-of-a-kind partnering and interaction opportunities among the members – companies with complimentary products can team to respond to customer needs in new and innovative ways.” - Lisa Stone, Acting Director of EIGS Variety really is the flavor of Mississippi’s geospatial industry cluster. The cluster consists of 1-person operations to companies with 100 employees. There are start-ups and well-established companies. Some companies are headquartered in Mississippi while others are branch operations of larger national corporations. The cluster even has four woman-owned companies.
From an original seven charter members in
1998, the industry cluster now consists of 36 members. With this growth,
the capabilities, services, and products offered by the companies have
really expanded. While there is a wide range of applications and
products, the unifying factor is the use of geospatial data and
technologies to provide new and useful solutions for everyday decision
makers including: farmers, foresters, fishermen, city and county
officials, transportation planners, disaster management organizations,
weather services, emergency first-responders, homeland security experts,
educators, airports, the military, public health officials, and real
estate developers. |
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IMAGE OF THE MONTH
Aerial view of the forest fire in Louisiana's Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge taken January 2. DID YOU KNOW? A Survey and Analysis of the Remote Sensing Market has been completed and the final report has been sent to U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Satellite and Information Service Division. NOAA has accepted the final report and posted it as a PDF for downloading by the public at www.licensing.NOAA.gov. Global Marketing Insights has also made the report available at www.globalinsights.com. The NOAA Satellite and Information Service Division contracted Global Marketing Insights to conduct a research study of the international remote sensing market as it relates to aerial and satellite data technologies. Global Marketing Insights created a series of extensive online surveys covering issues related to eight sectors of the remote sensing market: aerial film, aerial digital, aerial sensors, satellites, commercial end users, value added hardware and software, academic, and government. These surveys were completed by geospatial industry professionals and end users worldwide between February and August 2005. RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT The Mississippi Technology Alliance e-Newsletter is a great way to stay informed about the latest developments in high technology throughout the state. Subscribe by emailing Kim Gallaspy at kgallaspy@technologyalliance.ms. |
UPCOMING EVENTS
February 6-10, 2006
February 8-10, 2006
March 17-18, 2006
March 19-22, 2006
April 25-28, 2006
May 1-5, 2006 LEGISLATIVE CORNER
The 2006 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature convened on January 3, 2006. Lawmakers have been very busy the last few days trying to beat a deadline to have bills through committees. The deadline was 8 p.m. Tuesday. Senate Public Health Committee Chairman, Alan Nunnelee, R-Tupelo said the most important bill in his committee is a Hurricane Katrina-inspired proposal called the Emergency Health Powers Act, a bill aimed at improving emergency communications among hospitals and speeding up licensure for out-of-state physicians who come to the state to help. Once the deadline has passed, all eyes will be on the Senate, where the governor's veto of a controversial tax bill awaits action. Some senators are getting anxious about when the Senate will take up the Finance Committee's recommendation to override Gov. Haley Barbour's veto. The bill would raise the cigarette tax to 75 cents in July then to $1 the next year, while phasing out the grocery sales tax by 2014. This will be a 90-day session with SINE DIE scheduled for Sunday, April 2. |
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SEEN AND HEARD
Skip Wright of Air-O-Space in the studio with Latrise Morris of Talk Radio Station WTNI to discuss the Recovery Expo. Joining Skip for the radio interview were Craig Harvey and Don Peyton of NVision Solutions, Andy Dougherty of 3001, and representing EIGS for the interview were Lisa Stone and Chris Harvey. As a service to the community, Mississippi Media and Eco-Specialty Systems organized the event which featured information and seminars on various recovery topics, including representation from local cities, government agencies, and Chambers of Commerce. The Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions participated as a supporting sponsor as well as an exhibitor. Notable guests included mayors from coastal cities, Attorney General Jim Hood, MDOT Commissioner Wayne Brown, FEMA Director Eric Gentry, and representatives from the Governor's Commission on Recovery. |
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TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Technology Challenged? Let us help. In
just a few hours, you can learn to use a hand-held GPS unit and use the
coordinates in projects, research, or work. FREE!
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Conference Report: Coast Recovery Expo
“The Coast is moving forward and the recovery is gaining momentum” was the message being delivered at the Coast Recovery Expo held Saturday, January 28th in Biloxi, MS. Over 75 exhibitors were at the event including: SBA, FEMA, Gulf Coast Chamber, Hancock Chamber of Commerce, MS Contract Procurement Center, Coast Transit Authority, the sheriff departments from Hancock, Harrison and Jackson Counties, as well as numerous private businesses, contractors, and service organizations.
EIGS employees Marty Inman and
Chris Harvey, along with NOAA/ NCDDC employee Barbara Ambrose,
EIGS members Skip Wright and Robert Galiano (Air-O-Space
International), Larry Cowart (Michael Baker Corporation), Kevin
Bupp (NVision Solutions) and Kevin Schultz (3001, Inc) were on
hand at the EIGS booth to answer questions from the public
related to EIGS and NOAA recovery efforts along the Coast. |
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Conference Report: 2006 MS Business & Technology Expo
The 2006 Mississippi Business & Technology
Expo, the state's largest business-to-business networking event, was held
January 18-19, 2006, at the Trade Mart in Jackson. The 23rd Annual Expo, a
special project of the Mississippi Business Journal, featured nearly 200
exhibits and thousands of attendees. EIGS participated as an exhibitor in
the technology cluster sponsored by EIGS partner, the Mississippi Technology
Alliance.
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Global Perspectives GSweden May Build Spy Satellite Space News Online -- PARIS - The Swedish government is expected to decide in the coming weeks whether to begin work on an optical surveillance satellite for government, military and civilian uses, a decision that would place Sweden at the table of European governments with satellite imagery to exchange. Digital Maps Going Beyond the Roads
By ANICK JESDANUN AP Internet Writer Japan To Introduce Unmanned Spy Planes In Fiscal 2007
Tokyo (AFP) Japan, which has been officially pacifist since World War II, is developing its own spy plane amid criticism that its policymakers are too dependent on US intelligence on foreign military activity. Japan needs at least a decade to produce its own spy planes but wants to put an unspecified number of them into use in the 2007 fiscal year, news reports quoted Nukaga as saying. "It will be imported so it can be introduced as soon as possible," Nukaga said, as quoted by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper's website. Japan will almost certainly buy the planes from the United States, although Nukaga said Tokyo will also send a research mission to Germany and Italy. Satellite Images Used to Detect Crop Insurance Fraud Satellites have been connected with space explorations, monitoring crop conditions around the globe, helping commodities markets price the product and more. Few of us think of satellite images showing up in courtrooms to help prosecutors prove crop insurance fraud. Times have changed. Now the Agriculture Department's Risk Management Agency is using the technology to identify and prosecute farmers involved in crop insurance fraud. Over eight-day intervals, satellite technology is used to monitor when a farmer plants his acreage, irrigation methods, and what crops he decides to grow. If changes or suspicious images are found in a farm's insurance claim, investigators review satellite photos dating back years to determine cropping practices on individual fields. The largest case of insurance fraud was in North Carolina where a tomato farmer and his wife were involved in a crop fraud scheme at the tomato growing farms of Robert and Vicki Warren. Eight people were convicted. In September, Robert Warren was sentenced to 76 months in prison, his wife to 66 months. They were also ordered to forfeit $7.3 million and pay $9.15 million in restitution. Satellite imaging was used during the trial, helping the Agency to nail down the convictions, according to the Associated Press. Find this article at http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/midwest/2006/01/12/64117.htm. Japan Launches Science Satellite
Source: Satellite Today This was the first launch for Japan's H-2A rocket in 2006. |
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The Naval Research Laboratory’s Imagine if all the Internet’s (or any network or Intranet's) sources of geospatial metadata and data responded to you simultaneously. Well, The Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Geospatial Information Database (GIDBTM) Portal System is a unique, fully government-owned system that simultaneously connects more than 1,500 disparate, distributed sources of geospatial data and integrates them on-the-fly to users as if from one source as well as if all from OGC-compliant sources (when most are actually not). This is the most extensive interconnection of disparate, geospatial sources ever and is completely government-owned and openly available for usage with no licensing.
With this system users can choose the thin
client (browser based), the thick client (download and auto install for
additional features), the PDA client or the new Web Services interface.
The Web Services interface allows viewers to interact with the vast
amounts of available geospatial information. You can utilize your choice
of WMS clients (ESRI, Intergraph, etc.) and access the GIDB via the WMS
interface at
http://dmap.nrlssc.navy.mil/ogcwms/index.jsp where, even though most
of the 1,500 sources are non-WMS, they function in that manner through
the GIDB Portal System WMS interface. |
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EIGS In the News
Geospatial Companies Hit Ground
Running in Katrina's Wake Most of the private companies of Mississippi’s geospatial industry cluster are located in South Mississippi and the Stennis Space Center area that was greatly impacted by Hurricane Katrina. But these companies hit the ground running responding with the manpower, expertise and resources necessary to begin addressing critical problems and providing immediate assistance to emergency responders. “In the days following Hurricane Katrina, normal transportation and modes of communication were simply not available,” said Leland Speed, executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority. Mississippi Business Journal, January 9-15, 2006 NVision Solutions staff overcame personal losses to help NVision Solutions employees worked long days and nights to provide maps to help with search and rescue, emergency medical services, and other recovery efforts. Mississippi Business Journal, January 30 - February 5, 2006 NVision Solutions acquires PixSell Inc. NVision Solutions, Inc. announced the acquisition of PixSell, Inc. NVision plans to operate the company as a wholly owned subsidiary, specializing in tracking and real-time data management. The Stennis News, January 24, 2006 DDS developing software to assist with disaster prevention Diamond Data Systems (DDS) went from being a “local” to a “national” company after Hurricane Katrina. Employees are now temporarily spread out throughout the country in Virginia, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. Mississippi Business Journal, January 30 - February 5, 2006 |
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To
sign up to receive The Sensor, visit www.eigs.olemiss.edu |
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