Vijay Gandhi, UM ID # 3489143
CSCi 8701, G04
Geospatial Industry – Key Readings
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Definition:
Geospatial has to do with any features and phenomenon related to Earth. Industry refers to a group of
organizations working towards a common purpose. Geospatial industry may be considered to be a group
of organizations working on geospatial data and applications.
Organizations may include companies, educational institutions, conferences, consortiums,
Key Readings:
1) Wikipedia:
Wikipedia does not have a direct entry to geospatial. On searching for geospatial, it points to geomatics.
Geomatics deals with the discipline of managing and using geographic information. This Wikipedia
entry does not have any summary about Geomatics either. However, it was useful to pick up some
keywords (e.g. geomatics, GIS, geodesy, etc.) to search for.
2) Internet:
A report - http://www.daratech.com/press/releases/2006/060801.html
This site has a report on the growth of Geospatial industry (companies).
Another report - http://www.doleta.gov/OA/geospatial.cfm
A report from the US Department of Labor
3) Blogs:
Blogs have become a popular way to share information on the internet. Blogs are a key source to keep
track of latest happenings. There are blogs available on the web affiliated to an organization or an
individual.
Google provides a service to search all blogs: http://blogsearch.google.com/. Some of the blogs I found
related to Geospatial industry are the following:
Individual/Groups:
http://www.gisblog.net/
http://www.planetgs.com/
http://my.opera.com/gisuser/blog/
Organizational:
ESRI - http://blogs.esri.com/roller/
NSGIC - http://www.nsgic.org/blog/
Google - http://www.gearthblog.com/
Microsoft - http://virtualearth.spaces.live.com/
Vijay Gandhi, UM ID # 3489143
CSCi 8701, G04
Geospatial Industry – Key Readings
_______________________________________________________________________________
4) Books/Reports :
NRC Report on Geospatial Future - http://newton.nap.edu/catalog/10661.html#toc
Although not exactly related to the Geospatial industry, this report provides a report on the future of
Geospatial. It might give a brief idea about what can be expected of the industry in the times to come.
5) News Websites:
SlashGeo - http://slashgeo.org/
Slashgeo is a website similar to SlashDot. It provides a portal for latest news related to anything spatial.
6) Magazines:
Directions Magazine - http://www.directionsmag.com/
This provides news on GIS industry.
GeoWorld - http://www.geoplace.com/MagServices/default.asp
This is a monthly magazine aimed at readers from the Geospatial Industry.
SpatialIndia - http://www.spatialindia.com/
This is a monthly magazine about the Geospatial Industry in India.
7) Government Agencies:
Geospatial applications normally operate on data collected on wide geographic areas. Some of the
example applications include agriculture management, studying environmental effects, land
management, etc. Because of the wide geographic areas involved, it is of interest to the Government.
Hence, there are government resources for geospatial applications.
Geodata - http://gos2.geodata.gov
US government web site that provides information related to US geography.
Vijay Gandhi, UM ID # 3489143
CSCi 8701, G04
Geospatial Industry – Key Readings
_______________________________________________________________________________
8) Companies:
There are many companies that work on making software products for Geospatial industry. Key
companies include ESRI, Intergraph, Bentley, Oracle, Microsoft, and Google. It is a good idea to look
into their website to get an insight into the software/computer science requirements of the geospatial
industry.
ESRI – http://www.esri.com/
Intergraph – http://www.intergraph.com/gdca/default.asp
Bentley – http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Markets/Geospatial/Products/Geospatial+Products.htm
Oracle – http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/spatial/
Microsoft – http://research.microsoft.com
Google – http://earth.google.com/products.html
9) Open Source :
Open Source Geospatial Foundation - https://www.osgeo.org/
This non-profit organization is aimed at supporting the open source development of geospatial
technologies.
10) Consortiums:
Open Geospatial Consortium - http://www.opengeospatial.org
OGIS is a consortium of over 300 organizations with a mission to serve as a forum for a wide variety of
users to improve geospatial applications.
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency - http://www.nga.mil
NGA is a US government security agency that provides geospatial intelligence.