A bit tardy blogpost, which I had ‘in concept’ for a while but could not find the time to finish it. A few weeks ago I gave a short presentation at the Open Source GIS Conference and the title of this blogpost was on one of my slides. My talk was about innovation, open innovation, the role of users; then on to value, value chains, value systems, and how they are effected by open data; I argued that active (user/developer) communities are key and ended with a few applications, which are based on open data.
I also argued that working with open data is hard, as it extends the boundaries of organizations. Value chains are growing into multi-dimensional chains, and open ecosystems. My hope is that, thanks to open data, new value chains will arise and new value will surface (I do not mind the copy/past value chains, they are just not that interesting to me).
During lunch I did have a few interesting conversations about lead users/developers in the open community and how they tend to join the existing players (ie. Google/Microsoft/Esri) and about the maturity of the various GIS products (not an exclusive OS topic, but it somehow always makes it to the agenda; as do projection systems!). What was new to me: my presentation was videotaped (and I had to give permission for that). Some of the references I made during the presentation may now seem out of context. (cannot find the link to the video for now…)
I am really sorry I missed out on the Dutch day of this event. The announcement promised a “debate on ‘open vs closed source’”, which I could not discover in the programme itself. Innovation and business cases would have been interesting topics as well, maybe next time! Mega kudos (again) to the local organizers. I know that putting an event like this together is a lot of work and it sometimes does not work out the way things were planned (e.g FOSS4G 2012 has been cancelled, although the website is still up and running; Nottingham to the rescue!).
NB: do note: the GeoIQ folks have joined the Esri family! This looks like a –smart- move. Looking forward to meet up with them at the Esri International User Conference in San Diego!
It is that time of the year again, which I genuinely look forward to: being part of the international Esri User Conference, where spatial thinking is ubiquitous.
It is not the first time I am attending, but it still is a surprise what I will discover during that week in San Diego. It might be due to some of following paradoxes I observe:
Far away versus close by
It is quite a trip from -anywhere in- Europe to the south western tip of the US, an area with a great climate and beautiful landscapes. As far away as it is, it is also close by: I meet many Europeans there, even while in San Diego. I would argue that the International Esri User Conference is one of the greater European GIS events as well.
Big crowd versus small meetup
The crowd can grow fairly large at times, e.g. on the Monday during the plenary, and it has been compared to a GIS rock concert in the twittersphere. That crowd might be a bit overwhelming, but there are many smaller meetups during the week as well. They tend to be more ‘on target’ of what you might be looking for.
Planned versus serendip
Some meetings are best planned ahead and I have a full schedule. But then again, I do leave enough room for serendipity, if that word is appropriate at all at an event like this. Running into people unexpectedly and being able to spend time with them is really rewarding.
And do drink enough water in that climate!
Sweater versus sun tan lotion
As the weather is usually beyond great in San Diego, the difference with my home country is rather big. So I advise people to bring or buy a cap – check out the Spatial Outlet if you will – and bring – and use- sun tan lotion. But do bring a sweater as well. Most meetings are indoors and we are not really used to air conditioning in the Low Lands. Getting a cold while in sunny California sounds paradoxal, but is not uncommon.
Just to be clear, these paradoxes are not there to be solved. They bring that extra tension that make the week even more interesting! Looking forward to meet up or run into you … at the Esri Education GIS Conference, the Map Gallery, the Lightning Talks (in listening mode then…), the Special Achievement Awards… or the Thursday Night Party!
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Een lonkend perspectief, zeker zo voor de grote vakantietijd: samen op reis gaan. In dit geval is het de titel van een interview, waarin er wat wordt teruggemijmerd over het ontstaan van In Perspectief. Wel erg gemakkelijk om een uurtje tegen een collega aan te praten, die vervolgens dat gepraat omzet in vloeiend taalgebruik. Maar leuk om terug te lezen!
Puntje van kritiek: die foto van mij mag een tikje kleiner. Met zo’n foto erbij lijkt Samen op reis gaan een solo activiteit. Een redelijke kijk-mij-nou blogpost (ze bestaan), zal hem maar niet doorsturen….