GIS - Geography in Action; that’s the theme. On the product side the emphasis was simplification and stability. There is a lot to cover from the conference, so I’ll start with an overview of day one. 

 

 

San Diego - clear sunny days, not too hot. You want to be outside but need to be in. The sprawling convention center is ready on Monday - primed like a pump to handle the throngs of ESRI enthusiasts about to descend on the place. 

 

The event rings of a sort of Mecca for GIS practitioners (no religious disrespect intended). They come from near and far - 14,000 from more than 120 countries. (Only the Olympics have more international representation?)  And they venture from afar to see and hear what the company, its partners, and its customers are up to. And to meet people of like interests. Four days, hundreds of sessions, a huge exhibit hall, a never-ending map gallery, special interest group meetings, and numerous social events.

 

The plenary - the main event, the kickoff. Colorful kites adorn the front stage while three huge screens occupy the waiting audience with questions - geography questions. (Tough questions, too!) Meanwhile, gentle eclectic music with an international feel plays. 

 

Jack begins by welcoming the masses and he asks us to stop for a moment and meet another person. I turn around and meet a guy who’s at his 11th ESRI UC. When I tell him it’s my first, he says, “It’s all about Jack. That’s all you need to know.” I laugh. And it turns out that does not seem at all true - after the opening day, Jack stepped into the background and let his employees, partners, and customers take over. They had more than enough to share and do without worrying about Jack, it seemed.

 

Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, said that GIS is changing how we abstract our world, how we reason about the world, how we organize and communicate. He referred to the vision of explorer and scientist Alexander von Humboldt as the foundation of Interior’s vision. Kempthorne also suggested that in the future GIS will be more pervasive because of all human action related to place. But he stressed the importance of reaching users outside the room - those not now using GIS. Reaching them is the only way to make GIS part of the infrastructure. 

 

Various product announcements followed including ArcGIS 9.3, Business Analyst, and ArcLogistics. 9.3 is the core product, while Business Analyst is for the commercial businesses (site selection, market analysis, etc.). ArcLogistics is for optimizing routes for applications such as fleet management, increasingly important with rising fuel costs.

 

Jack also announced a partnership with Microsoft Virtual Earth to feed its data to ArcGIS. Export to KML and Adobe PDF were highlighted, with the PDF support including measuring distances, feature/attribute information, and pointer labels.

 

9.3 includes enhanced analytics including 3-D support and geographically weighted regression (to understand and predict complex spatial phenomena).

 

After lunch, Scott Morehouse, Director of R&D, made an appearance via video to about 1/2 of the number of people there before lunch. (Must have been the irresistible weather outside. Or maybe the quest to find a can of soda that cost less than $2.50) Anyway, Scott said some things I found a bit questionable - that there is a backlash against pure Web solutions and the world might return to thick clients. Quite the contrarian view, as most research shows a steady move away from thick clients.

 

The rest of the day involved some product future teases plus a great presentation by a 6th grade graduate from Missouri showing historical demographics in her city, the changes over time, and their geographies. She created the maps in a project through the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Dr. Peter Raven, the president of the gardens, then keynoted with a comprehensive and emotional presentation about the sustainability of the earth and our role in consumption and conservation.

 

 

Dr. Raven raised the warning flags and challenged us to act to change the course. Quite a task, but one he claims starts with each person. 

 

There was a lot to absorb from day one. The wide range of  applications for GIS. The move to simplify the product, which is of course essential for expanding use outside GIS professionals. Improved data sharing. Plus the pressing need to reduce our consumption.

 

As I walked outside to enjoy what was left of that beautiful San Diego day, it struck me how far GIS has evolved, yet how much more remains to be done. The tools are there; will people rise to the occasion and meet the challenges our growing yet shrinking world presents?

 

The day reinforced my bias that the obstacles we face in business, government, and the rest of society are not usually technological. They are about what people DO with the technology and how they apply technology to make money, save money, and make better decisions. GIS will become more central to society, but its more than a question of data feeds and user interfaces. It requires people to better understand geography and the importance of place in what goes on around them.