November 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 

Director's Cut

One question that I get asked a lot from people who don’t quite understand what I do or the field that I work in (including my family and friends!) is, “What is Geospatial Technology?” I have found that one of the best ways to answer this question is to answer a slightly different question, “Who uses Geospatial Technology?” I find that if I can explain how the technology is being used by a particular user, there seems to be an “AHA” moment of understanding much more so than if I start to talk about remote sensing, satellites, imagery, GIS, polygons, etc.

To gain a better understanding about geospatial technology, it is also helpful to have a grasp on how wide ranging the applications of the technology are, i.e. how many different businesses and organizations are reaping the benefits. We recently polled some of the EIGS member companies to see who is being served by geospatial technology in Mississippi and the region – it is quite an impressive list including a wide variety of customers at the local, state, and regional level. You will even notice work being done in national and international markets. I thought sharing the list below would be an eye-opener for many of our newsletter subscribers.

These companies represent a good number of industry areas including utilities; local government; military; banking; real estate; homeland security; and transportation.
In the end, it’s really not so difficult to explain geospatial technology when I talk about it in the context of "Everyday Solutions for Everyday Business."

IMAGE OF THE MONTH

Image of part of The Great Wall of China about 400 miles west of Beijing shown at left. At right are different aspects of the outlined area. Image taken from the Space Shuttle Endeavor, courtesy NASA Visible Earth.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Great Wall of China is NOT the only man-made object visible from space. There is a longstanding myth that the Great Wall of China is the only manmade object visible from space. It and several variations on the theme are great fodder for water cooler arguments. In reality, many human constructs can be seen from Earth orbit. Shuttle astronauts can see highways, airports, dams and even large vehicles from an Earth orbit that is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) high.

SEEN AND HEARD

"The prognosis for IAEGS (Institute for Advanced Education in Geospatial Science) is an excellent one. While online learning may never replace the need for traditional university-based educational curricula, this program is moving as quickly and creatively as the geospatial industry itself to fill gaps and offer individually tailored education programs that will make it a model for future education endeavors."

From an article titled, “The University of Mississippi Expanding the Reach of Geospatial Education” published in The Register: Charting New Trends in GIS and Remote Sensing, October 2006.

Read the full story

UPCOMING EVENTS

November 13-14, 2006
Memphis 6th Annual GIS Conference
Memphis, TN

December 3 – 6, 2006
IIBT’s Emergency Preparedness Response & Recovery Conference
New Orleans, LA

December 5-6, 2006
Seventh Annual Conference on High Technology
Jackson, MS

CONFERENCE SPOTLIGHT

The Seventh Annual Conference on High Technology will be held on December 5th & 6th, 2006 at the Mississippi TelCom Center in Jackson. The ALL NEW Conference on High Technology kicks off with registration and a continental breakfast at 7:30 followed by a general session and two back-to-back breakout education/training sessions on five tracks – Companies, Capital, Communities, Clusters and Communications. The luncheon and keynote address by Guy Kawasaki will be held from noon until 1:15 p.m. with afternoon boot camps to follow on topics including manufacturing, community economic development and entrepreneurship and investing. The conference will conclude at 3:30 p.m. More information

LEGISLATIVE CORNER

The state Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review, commonly referred to as PEER, has recently made a recommendation to give the Governor broad emergency powers in case another disaster strikes Mississippi. Max Arinder, executive director of PEER said his agency's new report takes a look at the state's response to Hurricane Katrina and how the state might respond to future disasters, including bird flu and bioterrorism. "Did we have the right things in place?" he asked. "Do we need to make some changes?" PEER believes there's room for improvement, Arinder said. "We're in pretty good shape, but we could be doing better."

The 2007 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature convenes at 12:00 Noon on Tuesday, January 2, 2007. This session will be a 90 day session with SINE DIE scheduled for Sunday, April 1st.

Don't know what your future holds?

You're standing on the answer!

This ad was recently featured in Next Magazine, a publication which serves as a guide for high school juniors and seniors that outlines postsecondary-education and career opportunities. EIGS participated in the publication to raise awareness of careers in the geospatial industry. Check it out
 

Global Perspectives

Annual total production value of China's geographic information industry expected to exceed 10 billion USD by 2010
GIS Development - USA
...Statistics from overseas authoritative institutions show that since 2000, the annual growth rate of the geographic information industry has exceeded 25 percent. More information

Satellite pictures help farmers back their claims for higher compensation
Maharashtra, India, October 10, 2006
Roughly 140 kilometre from Mumbai, the capital city of Indian state of Maharashtra, farmers are turning to technology to fight for their rights. More information

Canada shreds plan to scrap paper maps
Canada, 12 October 2006
The Canada Map Office has found its way out of the scrap heap. The previous Liberal government decided to close the map office, which provides regional dealers with large-scale topographical maps that show details about terrain and elevation. More information

Indian school installs GPS in its buses
Mumbai, India, 20 October 2006
A school bus operator — sitting in front of a computer, monitoring the fleet of buses and pin-pointing the movement of each and every bus in real time as children are dropped home — is now no more a scene from a sci-fi movie for the citizens of Mumbai city. More information
 

TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

Intro to ArcGIS I - Version 9.1 and Intro to ArcGIS II - Version 9.1 classes are currently available from MARIS' Technical Center's ESRI Authorized Training Center.  More details, including descriptions, fees, and dates and locations can be found by downloading the course sign-up information:

• Intro to ArcGIS I - Version 9.1 (.doc format)

• Intro to ArcGIS II - Verison 9.1 (.doc format)

GIS Day 2006 will be held on Nov. 15, 2006. GIS Day is a grassroots event that formalizes the practice of geographic information systems (GIS) users and vendors of opening their doors to schools, businesses, and the general public to showcase real-world applications of this important technology. The event is principally sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the Association of American Geographers, University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, the United States Geological Survey, The Library of Congress, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett–Packard, and ESRI.

GIS Day is part of the National Geographic Society's exciting new initiative, Geography Action, which is a year-long initiative encompassing key educational achievements such as GIS Day and Geography Awareness Week. Each year this initiative will have a different focus. The 2006-2007 program theme kicks off a five-year, around-the-world curriculum series with Africa in 3-D. In addition to events such as GIS Day and Geography Awareness Week, there will also be many worldwide activities supporting geography action, with their goal being to engage people in learning and caring about geography.

Events taking place in Mississippi include:

MS Department of Information Technology Services
November 15, 2006; 9:00-Noon CST
Conference for State Government Executives and staff to hear presentations on the Mississippi Geospatial Clearinghouse and the MS Digital Earth Model

Mississippi State University
November 15, 2006; 9am-12 Noon CST
Demonstrations targeting invited high school students who are interested in careers in math and science. Learn More

For more information on National GIS Day, visit http://www.gisday.com.

"Partners for Stennis" Holds Two-State Economic Summit
At NASA-Michoud Assembly Facility

On October 12, 2006, Partners for Stennis embarked on a visit to the NASA- Michoud Facility located in New Orleans. Chris Harvey, EIGS Assistant Director, attended as a member of Partners for Stennis, a non-profit advocacy group comprised of volunteer representatives from Mississippi and Louisiana from chambers of commerce, economic development foundations, businesses, educational institutions, local governments, community groups, and individual citizens who desire to help the John C. Stennis Space Center Officials. The mission of the group is to act as a regional catalyst to develop and promote the Stennis Region (Hancock, Harrison, Pearl River Counties, Mississippi & St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana) for the enhancement of education, quality of life and economic opportunities.

Officials from Michoud welcomed the group and briefed them on the future of Michoud and the impact on the Stennis Region. The briefing was conducted by Patrick Scheuermann, NASA-Michoud Chief Operating Officer.

In 1961, NASA took over the 832-acre Michoud Assembly Facility located in New Orleans for design and assembly of large space vehicles. The first space project at the Michoud facility was the design and development of the first stage of the powerful Saturn booster, destined to place man on the moon. Construction of the Saturn S1B and S1C boosters continued at the Michoud facility until the early 1970s, when the Apollo program wound down and work began on the Space Shuttle, the next generation launch vehicle. Currently the Michoud Facility now manufactures the Space Shuttle External Tank.
NASA’s goal is “to bring the moon into Earth’s economic sphere,” said Keynote Speaker Thomas Cremins, Associate Administrator for Strategic Integration and Management and head of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The NASA facilities are important to these efforts because they can build large rockets and test them in the same area. New work for NASA is good news for both Stennis and Michoud. Stennis is NASA’s primary center for propulsion testing and with millions of dollars tagged to go to the Michoud facility the future seems bright for both facilities.
Despite the close proximity and shared interest of the two facilities, several of the Partners for Stennis group had never visited the Michoud Facility; however, with millions of federal dollars tagged for the Michoud Facility, interest was there for a closer look. The group capped off the days event with a tour of the facility.

For more information about Partners for Stennis, please visit www.partnersforstennis.org.

Conference Report

The Mississippi Forestry Association 2006 Annual Meeting was held October 25-27, 2006, in Jackson, Mississippi. The Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions was a Bronze Sponsor with Marty Inman, Assistant Director of Commercial Operations discussing forestry and remote sensing with visitors at the EIGS booth. The keynote speaker at the President’s Banquet was Dr. Mark Keenum, Chief of Staff of the Office of Senator Thad Cochran.

The meeting was attended by several different forestry related disciplines, including forest managers and consultants, land banks, seed and seedling vendors, aerial chemical distributors, forestry suppliers and insurance agents, along with our county and State foresters. Many stopped by the booth out of curiosity; others were familiar how they could benefit using geospatial technology. For more information about forestry applications of geospatial technology, be sure to visit the webpage of EIGS member company, Forest One (http://www.forestone.com/forestryandtimos.cfm).

Geospatial Seminar Highlights Research Activities
at the University of Mississippi

On October 27, 2006, The University of Mississippi hosted the IHL Geospatial Council Seminar Series in Oxford, MS. The event featured an update on the software site license program and training opportunities as well as several project presentations. Dr. Greg Easson, Associate Professor of Geology and Geological Engineering, provided an overview of a research project studying how remote sensing can be used to better predict and address levee failures. Additionally, graduate student Justin Janaskie talked about a partnership project among The University of Mississippi Geoinformatics Center and World Vision that helped the country of El Salvador with plans to develop a Geographic Information System database. The project gathered information in El Salvador, including GIS data, and funneled it through an Internet mapping site at UM, then made it available to World Vision for use in creating maps illustrating present conditions as well as possible scenarios following a disaster.

In August 2006, the IHL Council initiated the Geospatial Traveling Seminar Series, which takes place at various universities and community colleges around the state. The overarching goal of the series is to raise the awareness about the geospatial field with other faculty and instructors, undergraduate and graduate students, high school and middle school faculty and students, as well as the private and government sector. The seminars are open to the public and include presentations about the use of geospatial technology at the host institution as well as an open forum for discussion for all attendees.

View the presentations from the Traveling Seminar Series

Partner News

Congratulations to GTAP!
Reported under "Honors and Achievements" in The Sun Herald -- Biloxi, MS

Coast Electric GIS Technician Jay Santinelli was awarded a certificate for completing the Geospatial Technology Apprenticeship Program. Santinelli is one of the first graduates of the program and one of the first in the GIS field nationwide to hold the certification of Geospatial Specialist.

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