Reading list and Conferences gathering!!

Hello!

I'm Brady Forrest, the Chair for O"Reilly's Where 2.0 Conference.嚒adly, Nat will not be returning as the Where 2.0 Chair and I will be running the conference solo. 

We are beginning the process of getting ready for Where 2.0 (or 2.2 ;-). The site should come up, and the dates announced, next week. 

I've gotten to know a lot of you over the past months and look forward to interacting with more of you at the conference and hearing your thoughts about what should be included. To kick that collaboration off I am sending you all a copy of the CFP (Call for Participation) that will be posted next week (probably Monday). I would love to hear your feedback and engage in conversation about what I am asking to be sent in as possible session topics. One more thing, just because it is not listed on the CFP, does not mean that it won't be included 

As it will be posted on Monday I'll need to get the feedback today or this weekend. 

thanks a lot!

brady

Location technology is booming across the Web and into people's homes. Since Where 2.0 2006, we've seen Microsoft release an amazing computer-generated, 3-D mapping tool complete with realtime traffic and an API, Platial create a distributed mapping platform built on top of Google's mapping platform, Sony release two consumer GPSs, and Open Street Map cinch a commercial deal. Google has added time phases to Google Earth and expanded Google Transit. Yahoo! has launched Flickr maps which now holds over four million geotagged photos. There are even hints that Apple is getting into the game with references to Google Maps being found in iPhoto. In the open source and data worlds, Wikimapia created a Google Earth layer and GeoRSS reached 1.0. In the meantime, Amazon has gotten out of the game by dropping it's innovative street-side maps.

And this is just the beginning--there is so much further for us to go. Phones know where we are, but can't tell us or someone who is browsing the phone's webserver. Photos can only be geotagged with expensive add-ons or by painstakingly adding them to a map. We still don't have the ability to correct that home or business showing up two blocks away from its actual location on most mapping services.

O'Reilly Media invites technologists and strategists, CTOs CIOs, technology evanglists and scouts, researchers, programmers, geographers, researchers and academics, artists and activitists, business developers, and entrepreneurs to lead conference session and tutorials at ETech, the 2007 O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference. Where 2.0 will be held May 29-30, 2007 at the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California, U.S.

Some of the Topics on the Radar for Where 2.0 this year are:

Local Search and Advertising: Local search and advertising is driving this new wave of innovation, but the models aren't set yet. Microsoft has created a 3-D world complete with visual ads using technology from acquisition Massive. Yahoo! is trying tiered pricing. Google is using AdSense, but has not added ads to its expensive-to-run Google Earth. MerchantsCircle is trying to create a new form of Yellow Pages. Yelp has received 10 million in funding as well as good growth, while similar players have stagnant user bases. What are the new trends? What are companies going to do to get a piece of the local advertising market? How will this impact mobile applications?

Data: Recently, Open Street map got it's first commercial deal. All of the major players have started adding the ability to mod their site's maps. This year the triumvirate of GeoRSS-Mapufacture-GeoPress were released. Still deep in the geek terrain these products show there is a desire from users to geotag there data and then use an open format to use that data elsewhere. Platial has released a more consumer-friendly, distributed system that serves the dual purpose of increasing ad inventory, but more importantly allowing other sites to become the point of data entry. While all of this is happening formats are still being decided. GeoRSS 1.0 was just released, but there is still confusion around the more complicated GML and KML. Who will end up with the best data? Who will own it? Will users be able to take it with them? What effect will GeoDRM have?

Data Policy: As we saw with Chris Schmidt at Where 2.0 2006 and on the web with deadcellzones.com, there is always more data to be collected -- even  if it hasn't been formally released. Who has rights to this data? What about pubic GIS data? Every country has it own policies and restrictions, how will and should they change as the need for it increases?

Open Source: This year brought us the largest FOSS4G yet. OSGeo graduated MapBender. GeoBliki was shown. PostGIS is gaining in prominence. The open source GIS stack rivals the proprietary one. What are the new advances in the OS stack? Where are they pushing the GIS software companies?

Sensorweb: Cheap sensors are become ubiquitous and increasingly web-based. Right now they are being used to track traffic, give out speed tickets, detect the weather, and turn on the music in my house. Where are they going and how will they affect our lives?

Ultralocal: Bluetooth, WiFi... these are the ingredients of ultra-local applications. Utilizing this information companies like Skyhook Wireless, Microsoft, and SixthSense are able to locate you and provide services. It seems like users would want them but they haven't taken off yet. Is the killer app around the corner or is this never going to truly take off?

Visualization: Google Earth and Sketchup. Frappr. Windows Spaceland. These tools have turned us all into voyeurs and neogeographers. What are the advances in this area? 

Society: Having access to geodata is a new phenomena. The YellowPage directory books go straight from the door step to the recycling bin. Who are the users of Geo Apps? What do there uses look like? Who is studying this and what do they have to say?

Privacy: With greater access to location and sensor data comes greater concern for privacy. If you are online, then someone knows where you are. There has been no public subpoena of user location, but that time will come. How are companies preparing for this? How will society react?

Environment/NGOs: As demonstrated in the book and movie Inconvenient Truth, maps can be used to convey powerful messages and forecast potential doom. Regardless of your political bent, geodata and software will be needed through out the world by governments and NGOs. MSR India is working on this right now. What are they doing with it right now and what will be needed in the future?

Wild Cards: There are also some wild cards in the geospace. Virtual worlds are currently fun and being used for experiments. Will they eventually become more than just geodata playgrounds? Games. People play games to explore their world, but in doing so they can be exposed to new technology. What are the latest advances in location-based gaming? How is it changing people's perceptions?

These are just some of the technologies and transformations we've noticed and represent just the starting point for the program. While we'd like you to tap into the theme as your inspiration in writing your proposal, feel free to wander. What are you working on that will change the world, or at least the world you're in? What project is bringing you pleasure, or teasing your brain? Surprise and delight us; shake us out of our assumptions. We're angling for shorter talks with longer breaks so you'll have more time for one-on-one interactions.



 
Brady Forrest
O'Reilly Radar Team
c: 206.355.1091
e: brady@oreilly.com
w: http://radar.oreilly.com