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ArcGIS Server 9.2: Part II Business Model

Posted: December 19th, 2006, 11:39pm CET by GIS Matters

The material presented here is now out of date. Up to date information about ArcGIS Server can be found at www.esri.com/arcgisservver

In the first post on ArcGIS Server I discussed the product and technology, focusing on the new capabilities at 9.2; in this post I will address the business model which has also changed quiet considerably.

By way of introduction I will say that we spent many hours discussing how to license the Server and what to charge for it. The first conclusion we drew is that there ‘is no good well established method of charging for Server technology’. We examined models from Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and several other major enterprise technology companies. We looked at licensing by hardware, number of concurrent users, industry metrics such as total population, length of pipe, etc., and even examined the open source model. In the end we plumped for the hardware capacity model – based on sockets and cores (processor power) used to run the software – because it is well understood, easy to measure across industries, and is an outgrowth of the model we have used for several releases.

The second thing we realized is that the Server world has changed almost beyond recognition from ten years ago when we devised the original ArcSDE, ArcIMS and ArcSDE business models. Machines are now at least five times faster that they were then. This means that the price of ESRI servers has fallen fivefold in real terms. Today’s entry level servers are now powerful enough to support large workgroups and small enterprises. There is no need to go to a multi-tier, multi-server hardware solution to meet the needs of a small city, utility department or other user cluster.

In order to make ArcGIS Server more affordable to a larger community of users at 9.2 we provide an extremely low cost of entry for developers. A very affordable EDN subscription will get a developer all the ESRI Server technology for development purposes. Also, we have introduced very low cost workgroup editions to allow small user communities to implement GIS. ArcGIS Server Basic Workgroup is designed for small group data management. It includes a DBMS in the box and is the lowest cost ‘GIS Server’ ever from ESRI. ArcGIS Server Standard Workgroup does everything that Basic does and has additional capabilities that make it comparable to ArcIMS in terms of its functionality (all the new mapping functionality, clients and architectural features mentioned in the previous post) as well as price. ArcGIS Server Advanced Workgroup has the full server functionality (Standard, plus editing, full geoprocessing and Mobile ADF) and it costs the same as ArcGIS Server 9.1 (but is, of course, much more powerful). Each of the three functional workgroup editions, has a twin enterprise server product which has the same functionality except the in-the-box DBMS is replaced with the ability to connect to enterprise DBMS (DB2, Informix, Oracle and SQL Server). The most powerful, ArcGIS Server Advanced Enterprise, is the next generation equivalent of ArcGIS Server bundled with ArcSDE and is the same price as the 9.1 bundle (but scales better and has much more functionality). This new release has capabilities that begin to approach those of ArcGIS desktop (mapping, editing, geoprocessing, data management), but on a per user basis it is much less expensive than desktop seats.

Architecturally and functionally several things have changed at the 9.2 release that have impacted our business model strategy:

Direct connect – we now recommend that GIS to DBMS connections use the SDE direct connect model instead of the ‘application server’ model that was common in earlier releases. This means that the SDE technology is installed on the same server as the SOM/SOC technology, and not the DBMS data server. New hardware and network configurations, together with improvements in the software mean that this will now deliver optimum performance in most cases. For licensing purposes we will no longer count the number of sockets on the DBMS machine, but in direct connect mode SDE will use the same socket licenses as the SOM/SOC machine.

Web Application Tier - this is the layer in the server stack where web applications run. From the earlier post you will recall that ArcGIS Server 9.2 has several new clients which run in this tier, e.g. Web Map, Web Map Editor, and Manager (plus parts of Mobile and ArcGIS Explorer). There is also a full set of .Net, Java and Enterprise Java bean components, plus the client application templates, which developers can use to create their own web tier clients. The web tier never really amounted to much in ArcIMS (just basic connectors) and at ArcGIS Server 9.2 it was by comparison very simple. ArcGIS Server 9.2 on the other hand has some very interesting functionality including: multi-source controls that can fuse ArcGIS Server map cache and SOM/SOC services, ArcIMS and WMS web services; AJAX style pan and zoom; projection on the fly; and graphic drawing (useful in editing), and record set management. The majority of these operations are performed by the web tier software and do not require processing by the SOM/SOC. Because of this additional functionality and the new processing model we feel it is appropriate to license the server web tier application functionality. As in the case of SDE, when the Web ADF and the SOM/SOC are on the same machine only a single license is required, but if the Web ADF is on its own machine (for scalability purposes) then this machine will also need a license. We will allow a single socket license (50% of the two socket license) to be used for additional Web Tier deployments. Remember also that developers can get a Server development license for each SOM/SOC pair and so these remarks only apply to the deployment of the Web ADF run-time applications.

ArcGIS Server Web Tier Applications

Architecture - at the ArcGIS Server 9.2 release we now suggest a much simpler architecture than before. Our best practices recommendation for Server implementations prior to 9.2 was a multi-tier implementation with the Web ADF, SOM/SOC and ArcSDE on different machines. We now recommend putting all components on a single two socket, dual core machine. This will comfortably support a workgroup or small enterprise user community. Only when the system needs to scale up to a larger group of users will you need to add more sockets to the server or more server tiers. Given that most users will now use direct connect to put SDE on the same sockets as the SOM/SOC, and that web application development is covered, only the additional sockets to run separate Web Tier deployments will cost more (and as I said earlier, these can be deployed on an entry level one socket machine).

The basic rule for new clients at 9.2 is ‘everything installed off the 9.2 server media requires a license’ and so we recommend installing and running everything on a single machine where possible. Only add additional sockets on the same machine, or different machines, when you need greater scalability. Given the performance of the current generation of hardware, we are seeing a single machine able to support 15 to more than 150 concurrent users depending on the type of operations being performed.

Existing ESRI users will be able to continue using their existing software on their existing licensed configuration for no additional cost. Customers on maintenance will receive an appropriate edition of ArcGIS Server 9.2 which they can run on the existing licensed hardware configuration for no additional software or maintenance fees.

For more details about migration see: [downloads.esri.com]

ArcGIS Server 9.2: Part I Technology

Posted: November 29th, 2006, 6:08am CET by GIS Matters

The material presented here is now out of date. Up to date information about ArcGIS Server can be found at www.esri.com/arcgisservver

ArcGIS Server 9.2 is now shipping and it represents a major step forward our GIS software. It is a "complete" out of the box server-based GIS for spatial data management, visualization and analysis, and is a key component of the ArcGIS platform. ArcGIS Server is designed for use by small workgroups, as well as very large distributed enterprises that use the web as part of their IT infrastructure. With ArcGIS Server you can publish and interact with many types of GIS data and applications over the web. The 9.2 release marks a major change in our server product configuration, technology, and business model. In tis post I will cover product and technology; the next will dela with business model.

ArcGIS Server 9.2 integrates the existing ArcGIS Server and ArcSDE products into a single integrated server system. Almost all the key capabilities of ArcIMS are also part of the new ArcGIS Server. Looking ahead we believe that ArcGIS Server will become the heart of many enterprise and workgroup GIS implementations.

ArcGIS Server 9.2 expands the capabilities of earlier server products quite considerably. It offers the following new and significantly expanded features:

* New out of the box clients that can be used without customization: a new browser-based web mapping application utilizes AJAX technology to display and interactive with maps; a lightweight desktop 3D viewer – ArcGIS Explorer – works with globe services published by ArcGIS Server; and ArcGIS desktop continues to be a full featured server client. Being successful with ArcGIS Server does not require programming skills because all clients come pre-built.

* New high performance map cache that allows maps with very high quality cartography (all ArcGIS symbology, Maplex labeling, cartographic representations, etc.) to be served quickly to large numbers of users without placing a large load on the server. When used in conjunction with the AJAX technology in the web mapping application this provides a fast and smooth user experience.

* Very easy to install, set up and administer using out of the GUI-based applications (ArcCatalog and Server Manager). You no longer have to be a DBA or advanced web administrator to stand up a GIS server.

* Extensive set of web services for serving up content and capabilities to distributed users over the internet/Intranet: 2D Map Service: 3D Map / Globe Service; Geocoding Service; Network Analysis Service; Geoprocessing Service; Geodata Service; and Mobile Data Service. This is an great collection of robust GIS services that deliver state of the art GIS functionality over the web to users inside or outside an organization.

* Web services can be published using industry standards: SOAP/XML, KML, OGC WMS, WFS-GML and WCS, and CS-W. Standards and interoperability are very a major theme of ArcGIS Server 9.2 and will allow integration with any other open, standards-based GIS or non-GIS enterprise application.

* Web-based editing. A new web services editing capability is provided out of the box that enables browser-based web application clients to edit geographic features in a geodatabases. This includes full access to the multi-user versioning model and all geodatabase validation rules and relationships.

* Set of leading edge developer API’s for building high performance, rich client applications: Web ADF (.Net and Java) for web applications; Mobile ADF based on Microsoft’s smart client technology (.Net) for building mobile and desktop applications; and Enterprise ADF for Java enterprise applications. These are well documented, high level software developer kits for creating specific-purpose applications and for extending the capabilities of the server. Based on the well tried and tested ArcObjects software components these are a very rich resource for developers.

ArcGIS Server adopts an “Author, Publish, Use” paradigm. Geographic services that contain data and functionality (content and capabilities) are authored on the desktop using the out of the box ArcGIS Desktop applications. ArcGIS Server is used to configure and publish these services for use over the web. The services can be consumed both by the applications that ship with the Server (web map, ArcGIS explorer, mobile and custom applications), and ArcGIS desktop clients.

ArcGIS 9.2 Released

Posted: November 8th, 2006, 12:43pm CET by GIS Matters

ArcGIS 9.2 has been released to manufacturing and will ship to all customers worldwide by the end of November. This project has been over 18 months in the making and represents a very significant milestone in the evolution of ArcGIS. Here is my personal view of the some the most significant features (in no particular order).

Quality – 9.2 is the most tested release ever to leave Redlands. We have had a very extensive Alpha, Beta, and Pre-release program with both in house and external unit level and holistic testing. Literally thousands of software issues have been addressed in 9.2.

Server – ArcGIS Server 9.2 will turn out to be a major event in the history of ESRI. This, I believe, will be a very important step in a major shift of GIS from desktop to server architectures. With new out of the box clients, easier administration and a set of functionality that comes close to matching the desktop, Server will be a compelling way to deliver GIS capabilities to users inside and outside organizations.

Desktop – a lot of effort has gone into end user usability and productivity. There are many, many small UI enhancements that collectively make the software much easier to use. There is no getting away from the fact that ArcGIS Desktop is a large and sophisticated application, but we have tried our best to simplify the user experience.

Documentation – in previous releases users have repeatedly asked for higher level documentation that provides a more task-based description of how to use the software. The organization and content of the printed books and on-line help system reflects this new approach. Many people learn GIS by using ArcGIS and so we need to provide the essential foundations in the doc that enable them to be successful.

Product integration – in an attempt to reduce the number of products and to make it easier to deploy ArcGIS we have integrated all the main ESRI server products into a single ArcGIS Server platform. ArcGIS Server 9.2 has six levels based on two types of capacity (workgroup and enterprise) and three types of functionality (Basic [data management], Standard [data management + mapping and publishing], Advanced [data management + mapping and publishing + editing, geoprocessing and mobile].

ArcGIS On-line – a part of 9.2 is not being ‘shipped’ to users but will reside permanently on ESRI servers. This includes the on-line documentation and a set of web services that combine data and functionality. These 2D and 3D services can be used from the desktop, the new ‘geobrowser’ – ArcGIS Explorer – or the new browser-based web mapping application. I think we will see much more of the product on-line in the future.

Spatial analysis and modeling – I covered this in an earlier blog posting, but for completeness I want to remind everyone that we are serious about continuing to advance the analysis and modeling capabilities of our GIS platform. ArcGIS 9.2 supports iteration, randomization and better animation, thus enabling simulation and sensitivity analysis. The geoprocessing capabilities are now exposed in desktop, engine and server.

Mobile GIS – the new ArcGIS Server Mobile ADF (application developer framework) has not yet got the attention that I think it deserves. This is a developer toolkit that can be used to build very fast, lightweight and quite rich clients for Server. The clients can be deployed in a connected or partially connected mode. We have implemented a nice data caching framework that makes it easy to use enterprise databases easily and provides excellent performance.

Enterprise GIS – ESRI is definitely trying to be an enterprise software company. ArcGIS 9.2 has been extended to work well in the enterprise context. We built it using standards-based IT technology etc., we provide a number of enterprise connection points within the software (new geodatabase SQL API on Oracle, SOAP/XML web services interfaces, .Net and Java developer APIs, and many data interoperability options). Another key capability of 9.2 is the ability to execute transactions against geodatabases stored in a DBMS using a short transaction model (non-versioned API). This makes it much easier for external systems to work with geographic information.

Standards and interoperability – although we have always been strong advocates for open systems, at 9.2 we have made a much more conscious effort to support key standards. This includes the internal use of the ISO 191** family (e.g. spatial schemas, simple feature access and coordinate references), and the OGC W*S family of standards for service interoperability (e.g. WMS, WFS, GML and Catalog Interface). Moreover, the data interoperability extension allows users to read and write over 100 GIS formats.

What next? We are now in the planning phase for the next releases of ArcGIS and I invite you to email me at dmaguire@esri.com with any comments about ArcGIS 9.1/9.2 and any suggestions for future releases.

Open Source GIS: 52°North and ESRI

Posted: October 21st, 2006, 12:23am CEST by GIS Matters

On September 21, 2006 in Muenster, Germany, I signed documents on behalf of ESRI, and along with representatives from con terra GmbH Muenster, the Westfaelische Wilhelms Universitaet Muenster, and the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) Enschede, to establish the 52°North Initiative for Geospatial Open Source Software GmbH.

Traditionally, ESRI has been an open systems, closed source software vendor. From the earliest releases of ArcInfo in the early 1980s, ESRI has always tried to provide open access to geographic data and functionality by publishing details of our formats (e.g. shapefiles and geodatabase XML), by supporting all mainstream de facto and de jure GIS data standards (e.g. SDTS, DXF and ISO 19115 metadata), by publishing details of application programming interfaces (e.g. ArcSDE C API, ArcObjects.Net and Java APIs, and ArcGIS Server WSDL) and by supporting web services standards (e.g. SOAP/XML, WMS, and WFS). This was a direct response to requests from our users, but also a realization that such an approach would maximize ESRI market penetration.

It is no secret that community software development and open source licensing have emerged as an alternative software model in recent years. Although there is a lot of hype associated with the open source software model and many overblown claims, it is clear to me that it can work (e.g. Apache and MySQL) and that there is significant interest in community development in the GIS industry. This is the backdrop to our positive decision to join the 52°North Initiative as a founding member of the oversight company.

52°North is an open initiative whose purpose is the development of open source software for Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI). The current focus of development is Sensor Web Enablement, Security and Digital Rights Management. The emphasis will be on research and development in these new areas. Products will be available using two licensing models: GNU General Public License (GPL); and a commercial use license. The initiative is open to anyone who would like to participate.

There are two primary reasons why ESRI joined the group: the opportunity to work at a peer to peer level with smart developers so that we can build useful GIS code that will advance the GIS field; and to explore the community software development and open source licensing model. Frankly, we are unsure about where this adventure will take us, but we are committed to trying it out and seeing where it leads.

More information about the work of the group can be found at http://www.52north.org.

Simulation and Modeling Geoprocessing with ArcGIS 9.2 (Part Two)

Posted: October 14th, 2006, 1:26am CEST by GIS Matters

The first post on Simulation and Modeling Geoprocessing with ArcGIS 9.2 described the geoprocessing framework and the set of tools for processing geographic information. In this part I will look at the new capabilities for simulation modeling.

One of the key goals for geoprocessing at ArcGIS 9.2 was to extend the existing framework beyond the bounds of static cartographic-style, descriptive modeling into the world of dynamic, stochastic, process modeling. Simulation modeling has many applications in GIS including modeling errors (what is the effect of errors in a DEM on the derived stream network?), sensitivity analysis (how sensitive is my housing suitability model to the slope parameter in the terrain input layer?), or what-if scenarios (how will a fire move across a landscape, based on information about land cover, terrain and wind direction?). The following new capabilities have been added to ArcGIS 9.2 to support this type of work:

Branching. Branching has in fact been available for several releases, but I’ll cover it here because it is so useful in dynamic simulation modeling. Branching can be used to control the flow of a model. ArcGIS includes both If-Then-Else logic and precondition tests that output True/False. For example, in a fire model If-Then-Else logic can be used to branch depending on whether an area is Forest or Grassland.

Iteration. Iteration is a general term that describes how many times a model (or part of a model) will run. There are several ways to control iteration including looping (execute a model n times), conditional logic (looping until value=true), and running a model for all values in an input list.

Feedback. This is the ability for a downstream process to influence an upstream process. For example, as a fire burns the amount of fuel will reduce until it is all used up and the fire can no longer burn. The amount of fuel can also control the temperature (and therefore the rate at which the fire can burn). During the first run of a fire model, the amount of fuel is reduced and this can then feedback into the next iteration to control burning subsequent burning.

Random functions/values. Both random functions and values can be incorporated into ArcGIS 9.2 models. For example, the location of a fire can be determined using a random function to generate a raster with a random point. A random value can be generated using one of the nine supported distributions (and a seed value) to simulate sparks jumping from a fire to start another fire.

List/series processing. ArcGIS 9.1 only supported one data layer as input to a tool. ArcGIS 9.2 additionally supports both lists and series of data values as input. Lists force all downstream processes to execute once for each value in the list, whereas series force entire model execution once for each input value.

Result visualization. Iterative models typically generate one output layer for each iteration. To mange and visualization model output two new capabilities have been added to 9.2: geoprocessing layers and animation. A geoprocessing layer allows the symbology for an output to be specified once and then new reused for each subsequent iteration. Each time the model runs the output is written to the same layer, over-writing the previous output. An alternative approach is to write each iteration out to a separate layer. If the output layers of a model are of type raster then the layers can be managed as a raster catalog (a collection of rasters). The animation framework at 9.2 can be used to visualize multiple layers in either 2D or 3D. Animations can be displayed directly onscreen and can be saved as animated movies such AVIs.

Several of these capabilities are shown in the two parts of a fire model. Random variables are used to define wind speed and direction (using weights in a kernel), random values are used to represent fire temperature, feedback connectors (blue lines) provide a control over the number of iterations that vegetation can burn, and branching with random variables determines when sparks jump from a fire to initiate new sub-fires.

In summary, ArcGIS 9.2 has many new capabilities for creating dynamic process models that represent or simulate aspects of real world ecological, environmental, and social systems which focus on geographic patterns and processes.

Simulation and Modeling Geoprocessing with ArcGIS 9.2 (Part One)

Posted: September 20th, 2006, 5:04am CEST by GIS Matters

ArcGIS has had geoprocessing capabilities for many, many years. A new framework and set of tools was introduced to support spatial analysis and modeling at ArcGIS 9.0. In ArcGIS we call it geoprocessing (geographic processing). This term covers everything from automating data compilation and management, to ‘classic’ geographic analysis (overlay processing, proximity analysis, etc.), projection/coordinate transformation, spatial statistics, and domain specific analysis – 3D, surfaces, network, raster, geostatistics, linear referencing, cartography, etc. At 9.2 we have also added capabilities to support simulation modeling.

There are really two parts to ArcGIS geoprocessing: the framework and the tools. ArcGIS has a fully developed framework for performing geographic processing. The fundamental model is based on the simple idea of data transformation.

Data + Tool = Data. Parameters can be used to control the interaction between the data and tools. Data and tools can be strung together to create quite sophisticated models. Here is a relatively simple model for calculating hot spots (clusters) in crime events.

Models can be created using visual programming (drag ‘n drop data and tools on to a canvas, connect them together, specify parameters and run) and scripting (Python, VB, etc.). The geoprocessing framework is available ubiquitously throughout ArcGIS (on the desktop, as server web services, and embedded in a desktop run-time engine).
There are hundreds of tools in the ArcGIS 9.2 release that are grouped into toolboxes. Many of the toolboxes are in the core, and some are added when extensions (3D, Spatial, etc.) are licensed. Any user can develop their own tool (by combining existing tools, or adding new code).

This apparently simple approach to geographic processing belies a very powerful and sophisticated capability for spatial analysis and modeling. When combined with the power of ArcGIS is offers some very interesting options for analysts and modelers.

Data management for very large, multi-user data sets. In the past, spatial analysis and modeling projects have used relatively small data sets (thousand of features, grids with less than 100,000 pixels) because of the difficulty of managing data. ArcGIS’s geodatabase takes care of this and can store all data in a DBMS or file system.

Tools for data conversion, transformation and integration. ArcGIS 9.2 offers a full spectrum of basic utility tools to convert, transform and integrate data (change projection, convert spatial base from, say, polygon to point centroid, edge match separate tiles, etc.) which takes a lot of the hard labor out of geoprocessing.

Mapping and visualization environment. The ArcMap and ArcGlobe 2D/3D mapping and visualization environments support data exploration, scientific visualization and communication of final outputs. New 9.2 scientific charting and graphing functions also help with data understanding and visualization. ArcGIS allows GIS to be inserted into policy frameworks so that it can be effectively consumed.

Scripting and customization. The geoprocessing framework provides support for scripting models using both Python and .Net / Java languages. This gives programmers precise control over model execution and allows for easy extensibility.

Integration with external systems. Recognizing that it is not sensible to model everything, every time inside a GIS, the geoprocessing framework has lots of options for close- and loose-coupling with external systems such as SAS, SPSS, R, and any data source or callable program.

In summary, ArcGIS offers a simple, but very sophisticated geoprocessing framework and set of tools. Prior to 9.2 these tools were really only able to be applied to static map style spatial analysis and modeling. The next post will look how simulation and advanced modeling can be performed with ArcGIS 9.2.

User Conference San Diego

Posted: August 5th, 2006, 8:50pm CEST by GIS Matters

The ESRI User Conference is just starting in San Diego. There are several pre-conference workshops today and tomorrow. On Monday we will present the new news from ESRI.

During the conference I suggest that you check out the following:

ArcGIS Server - massive improvements at 9.2 including ease of use, new functionality (geoprocessing, web editing, data management services, etc.) and more affordable pricing.

Geoprocessing - some exciting new capabilities for modelers. The addition of iteration, feedback, and random functions will support simulation modeling. There are hundreds of new tools for building both static and dynamic models.

Productivity and usability – 9.2 has lots and lots of small enhancements that make it much easy to use, and make everyday tasks much faster.

ArcGIS Explorer for ArcGIS Server – the product has undergone some major improvements in functions and performance. We have also built several base map services – global image, topographic map and streetmap. These look stunning. The key thing about AGX is that you can author and serve your own data from Server, and then use it in AGX or Desktop. You can combine you data with other web services.

Interoperability – we have been working on this a lot in the past year. I think you will notice a significant change in our position on this. Basically, we now feel that the interoperability community and standards have matured enough to be useful in a practical way for GIS users. We have doubled our effort to implement all the key mature standards in our core products and have decided that we need to take responsibility for integrating other GIS products with ArcGIS.

See you next week in San Diego.

GeoWeb 2.0

Posted: June 20th, 2006, 12:46pm CEST by GIS Matters

I recently re-read Tim O’Reilly’s paper ‘What Is Web 2.0 Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software’ ( [www.oreillynet.com] ) and this started me thinking about the implications of Web 2.0 for the geographic community. Some of O’Reilly’s ideas build on those advocated by Tim Berners-Lee, James, Hendler and Ora Lassila in their 2001 article in Scientific American ‘The Semantic Web:
A new form of Web content that is meaningful to computers will unleash a revolution of new possibilities’ [www.scientificamerican.com]

O’Reilly argues that the World Wide Web is becoming more interactive, more integrated and consequently more useful. The table below summarized from O’Reilly (2005) provides some comparisons between Web 1.0 (pre-2005) and Web 2.0.

The geographic web (geoweb) 2.0 is the geographic content and application services of the ‘new’ (2.0) web. It describes the next generation of the way people will publish, find and use geographic information. The table below shows some of the key differences between the 1.0 and 2.0 geowebs.

The geoweb is a system of systems that link GIS clients and servers with service providers. Services can be discovered via geoportals (searchable catalog services such as geodata.gov). Central to the model is well-defined data models, geo-protocol standards and agreements. The business model also has to be figured out if the geoweb is to be sustainable. Will be the advertising model of web 2.0, underwriting by company marketing budgets, tax payer subsidies or some type of subscription fee favored by some national mapping agencies?

The geoweb 2.0 is here and now in many ways (mashups, geoportals, dynamic 2D / 3D clients), but in other ways it is many years away (widespread acceptance of on-demand or hosted GIS data and application services).

Post Developer Summit and Business Partner Conference

Posted: March 26th, 2006, 1:41am CET by GIS Matters

The first ESRI developer summit and the latest in a long line of business partner conferences has now come and gone. After various post conference meetings things are beginning to settle down here and attention is back to getting the 9.2 Beta2 out of the door. There were several conference surprises for me.

Attendance

I think all of us at ESRI were surprised by the number of attendees at the developer summit. When we started to plan this conference we hoped for about 350-400 attendees. The final count listed double this number. This is gratifying because one of the founding principles of the current generation of ArcGIS (i.e. releases beginning with 8.0) was that the software should be developer friendly and completely open and extensible.

Knowledge of participants

We had expected the usual cross section of users/developers, but were very pleased to learn that many attendees were experienced, hard core developers. They wanted to jump straight into detailed architecture, algorithms and code samples. We’ll do more of this in-depth stuff next time.

Immediate marketing

As a blogger for getting on for a year now, and a watcher of new technology, I like to think of myself as up with the latest trends. I was pleased to see the number of bloggers at the conference and a little surprised that a couple of people were blogging over wireless networks during the plenary and other sessions. Also at the conference the nice folks (Jesse and Sue) from Very Spatial interviewed me, Scott and Clint for a podcast ( [www.veryspatial.com] Episode 35, Parts 1-3). They had quiet the set up and it reminded me a bit of going into the recording studio to lay down GridLock songs. My experiences of being reported in the blogosphere the past few months means that in the future I will assume that everything I say can be reported. I am always amazed at what people pick up on.

Impact of IBM and Microsoft keynote talks

We have not tried inviting other technology company executives to speak at ESRI conferences before. Both IBM’s Martin Nally (a Glasgow lad) and Microsoft’s Eddie Amos did a great job. Martin was more academic and big enterprise oriented in his talk. He focused on SOA and the role of GIS in enterprise solutions. The IBM GIS team briefed him well and he had a good grasp of the geo-issues. Eddie Amos was much more upbeat and reminded me a lot of some of the Steve Ballmer sales videos that I have seen. He spoke about developers in a more grass roots way and the democratization of technology through consumer applications. He wasn’t quite so knowledgeable about GIS, but he certainly captured the interested of the attendees. Both were a big success.

Next time I’ll post about the technology hits.

ArcGIS Explorer at AAG

Posted: March 10th, 2006, 5:49pm CET by GIS Matters

Yesterday I participated in a paper session and panel discussion at the Association of American Geographers annual conference in Chicago.

I spoke about the concepts, history and attributes of Geographic Exploration Systems (GES) and also described ArcGIS Explorer as a case study.

GES are a new breed of GIS that focus on the exploitation of geographic information and utilize a services-oriented architecture. They are user-centric, fun and easy to use.

ArcGIS Explorer (AGX) is an example of a GES. It aims to be a ‘GIS for everyone’. With AGX anyone with a modern PC and connection to the web can explore geographic information. First you download the ArcExplorer viewer. When you open it you are automatically connected to ESRI’s web services that have rich basemap data, services for finding places and other resources, and capabilities to explore the globe. AGX comprises a collection of ESRI hosted services, commercial-off-the-shelf products to publish your own services (mainly ArcGIS Server) and has the ability to fuse data from many sources, including 2D ArcIMS and WMS services as well as popular file formats.

The ArcGIS Explorer Ecosystem

AGX has the capability to call many types of web service and integrate them together as ‘geomashups’. This is where things start to get interesting. A number of people at ESRI have created mashups combining ArcWeb Services (geocoding, reverse geocoding, routing, geodemographics reports, drive-time areas, etc.) and custom services. For example, Ismael Chivite has mashed up the AGX basemap (itself consisting of an image service and two DEMs) with two ArcGIS Server custom services – high resolution imagery and buildings, and a local data file containing points of interest.

A geomashup created with ArcGIS Explorer

It is relatively easy to call custom web services created with ESRI and non-ESRI technology. AGX has a developer API and many web services can be incorporated with minimal programming. This includes the ability to integrate any geoprocessing model published using ArcGIS Server. This opens up the hundreds of tools in the ESRI GP toolbox to a new type of user. For a video of how AGX can call a GP model as an ArcGIS Server service see [www.esri.com] .

ESRI Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Posted: February 7th, 2006, 8:05pm CET by GIS Matters

Its 75 degrees F and sunny today in Redlands and there is a beautiful view of the San Bernardino Mountains from my office.

One of the biggest factors holding back GIS is a shortage of staff. This year ESRI will attempt to hire around 400 people at locations throughout the US, with most vacancies here at our headquarters in southern California.

The most critical need is for senior technical and marketing staff that can build and lead teams. These people are experienced and passionate about GIS, understand the big picture and want to take an area of GIS to the next level.

In my groups I am particularly looking to fill the following positions:

Product Managers – people with a balance of hands-on technical and business skills that are able to ‘own’ products and product areas. In particular we need people with skills in imagery, GIS servers, spatial analysis and modeling. If you want to be the go-to person at ESRI for a particular product and don’t mind fighting your corner, you could be a product champion.

Technology evangelists – explaining how things work and the potential applications for products/technologies is still critical to encouraging the uptake of GIS. We are looking for programming skills in .Net and Java and real experience of building desktop or server applications. You must also enjoy interacting and communicating with others. Do you like showing off and helping people learn?

Data Czar – in the future GIS software and data will become inextricably linked as GIS services. We need help building a worldwide GI portfolio. Do you know a frighteningly large amount about geographic data already? Do you want to grow worldwide expertise at ESRI in data resources?

Programmers – as a software company we are always looking for programmers. For ESRI its not just as being able to generate code, it’s a deep knowledge and passion for graphics, geography and spatial thinking. We need all types of programmers that can work on hard core systems architectures, geoprocessing algorithms, user interfaces, test systems, and sample applications.

Technical specialists – there is much more to building a product than programming. In fact we need about twice as many product specialists as programmers to build an ESRI product. Product specialists work on design, documentation, testing, install/platform programming and user education. As a technical specialist you get to know everything about a product.

Business analysts – it’s about time we got some people with an MBA to help us design better business models and to do more analysis on current markets. If you can use Excel and know a thing or two about the GIS business you might be able to contribute.

If any of these are interesting please send your resume to Mona Dhillon, ESRI Human Resources mdhillon@esri.com.

Geographic Mashups

Posted: February 1st, 2006, 2:30am CET by GIS Matters

In recent weeks there has been much written on the web about map mashups. The surge in interest is a boon for GIS and geography in general. Those of us that have been around for a while know that the idea of combining data from multiple sources is not new. Furthermore, merging two or more geoweb services has also been going on for several years.

According to Wikipedia ‘a mashup is a website or web application that seamlessly combines content from more than one source into an integrated experience.’ The term originally derives from mixing music track together, but has since been adopted to cover all manner of web services integration in the fields of genomics, astronomy and our own universe of mapping (see Declan Butler’s interesting Nature article [www.nature.com] ). GIS mashups have been around for as long as web services have been used because the idea of combining data from multiple sources is central to GIS applications. GIS scientists were combining vegetation, soils and slope data layers to get integrated terrain units, and population with health statistics to get rates of disease incidence for geographic areas in the 1960s and 1970s. ESRI has client (ArcGIS Desktop, ArcWeb Explorer and ArcGIS Explorer) and server products (ArcIMS and ArcGIS Server) that can fuse (integrate) data from multiple sources. Typical integration tasks include changing scale, rotation, projection for visualization as well as physically combining data by geometric overlay. ESRI also provides GIS web services (ArcWeb Services) that can be used as one or more elements of a mashup. My colleague Andrea Rosso has an example of an ArcWeb Services mashup on his blog ( [www.rossoworld.com] ).

Understanding many business, environmental and social issues requires data from multiple sources. Using geography as a key is fundamental to integrating disparate data sets. This has been a core feature of GIS for over 40 years. Dynamic multi-service web integration (aka mashup) is the latest in a long line of technical solutions to this problem. Web mashups provide some significant technical advantages over previous approaches primary because they are based on the web platform which offers easy on-line access to data and processing services via openly accessible APIs. Using remote services avoids the need to purchase and host expensive data/software locally. Web mashups allow data to be combined on demand giving users access to the latest data/functionality. They also avoid the responsibility for purchasing and licensing data sets which may not actually be needed for a specific application.

The two major problems with web services are security and accessibility. Exposing data openly over the public web means that it is by definition open to all. Exposing private data, even if services are encrypted, increases the possibility of a security breach. Since web availability is a requirement of access the possibility of denial of service is also increased if a third party is responsible for providing a service over a public network.

Examples

There are many examples of geoweb services integration which we would today call mashups.

The National Map ( [nationalmap.gov] ) is able to combine data from several federal government agencies (USGS, Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA EPA, etc.) in a single application viewer.

Window to My Environment ( [www.epa.gov] ) and Enviromapper from EPA combine data such as toxic sites, air monitors and water monitors from multiple partners on a base map that can include aerial photography from Terra Server ( [www.terraserver.com] ).

Geospatial One-Stop (www.geodata.gov) is a web portal that allows users to search for geographic web services and fuse them in a viewer application.

There are many examples of private companies that have created mashups that display tracking information showing the location of cell phones, vehicles and other location devices on top of ArcWeb Services (examples include Wallace Wireless, Swann Island
Aligo, and Argo Navigation).

Additionally, ESRI has created a hurricane viewer application ( [apps.arcwebservices.com] ) that combines live weather data from a Meteorolgix server with ArcWeb Services

GeoWorld Industry Outlook

Posted: January 29th, 2006, 5:32am CET by GIS Matters

I wrote these a while back for the GeoWorld Industry Outlook. Here are my views on 'geospatial intelligence', 'Geographic Exploration Systems' and 'enterprise GIS' in case you missed them.

Geospatial Intelligence

The term “geospatial intelligence” means different things to different people. In a general sense, we can say that all GISs are geospatial intelligence systems.

The purpose of a GIS is to add value to data (facts about the world) by turning them into information. GIS have many data transformation functions for tasks such as projection, aggregation, network path generation, classification, etc.

“Geospatial intelligence” also is used to describe a raft of approaches that extend and improve the capabilities of GIS and allow us to create higher-level information products. These include enhanced data models, analytical tools/methods and visualization capabilities.

Advancing GIS data models beyond the lowest-common-denominator, “simple-feature” model standardized by OGC and ISO allows us to represent the world in a more intelligent way. Intelligent data models can represent advanced data types such as addresses, 3-D CAD features and survey measurements. They can handle relationships among objects such as topologies and geometric networks.

Intelligent GIS have superior analytical tools for statistical analysis—inductive, data mining approaches (such as pattern recognition and descriptive classification) as well as deductive approaches (such as spatially weighted regression and cluster-significance testing). These provide deeper information understanding and insight. Paradoxically, understanding aspects of the advanced constructs and interpreting aspects of the statistical output from some methods can be daunting for some users.

Perhaps the most common use of “geospatial intelligence” is to describe systems that make it easy to visualize large quantities of geographic data. Such systems allow geospatial analysts to search for patterns and changes in datasets. Are there more/different aircraft at the airport? Can tanks be detected in a forest? Are there trends in regional sales data?

Intelligent GIS allow us to create higher-level information products and, by representing the world in a rich way with user-oriented tools, make GIS technology easier to use.

Geographic Exploration Systems

“Traditional GIS vendors threatened by new easy-to-use, Web-based GIS from IT industry leaders.”

“Web-based 2-D and 3-D mapping solutions are the next generation architectural evolution for GIS.”

These two statements paraphrase the extremes of the considerable amount of written and spoken material that has been produced about a new generation of systems that appeared in the GIS field in 2005.

I’m talking, of course, about Google Maps (Local) and Earth, Yahoo Maps, NASA World Wind, Skyline TerraExplorer, Microsoft Virtual Earth (Windows Live Local) and the soon-to-be-released ESRI ArcExplorer. Technically speaking, these systems have three key elements:

A global database with a raster map and selected vector data
A server able to render views of the Earth/globe
A viewer that can make requests to the server for views that can be rendered quickly and returned via a Web connection

There are many reasons why these systems have generated a lot of interest: they’re free, comparatively easy to use, fast and contain useful information (at least for North America and Europe). In addition, Microsoft and Google are a couple of the hottest names in IT right now.

I have to agree that they solve their chosen tightly-focused problem very well and that they certainly stole a march on other players in the GIS field. Architecturally, this Web-based approach to providing easy, fast access to large quantities of geographic information is a natural evolution of the Web-based GISs that began to emerge in the early 1990s.

The first statement in quotation marks typifies the attention-grabbing approach of some members of the GIS press. A bit of controversy helps to sell magazines, which, in turn, generates advertising revenue. It also has been used by consultants and vendors that have something to gain by replacing the GIS status quo.

The second statement has been presented as a “realist’s perspective” or as a damage-limitation exercise on behalf of the well-established GIS players.

To help you decide, here are a few questions to think about:

Are these really GISs? In part, your answer will depend on how widely you define the term GIS, but also whether you think these new systems have enough of the core capabilities of a GIS (data capture, analysis, printing, etc.).
Can I add my own data?
Will all GIS look like this in a few years?
Can I expect a GIS that does editing, data management, spatial analysis and modeling, and cartography to be this much fun to use, fast and cheap?

Enterprise GIS

It’s been talked about as the ultimate for GIS for many years: running your organization on a GIS. An enterprise GIS is an integrated collection of hardware, software, data, procedures, network and people that’s critical to an enterprise’s mission. It’s also centrally managed, funded and purchased. It will support many users, cost a lot of money and be integrated with other IT systems.

Enterprise GIS are information systems. They share the same core information-system characteristics as other enterprise information systems (enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, supply chain management, etc.). All these systems are built using the same programming languages, use the same open IT standards (TCP/IP, XML, SQL, .Net/Java, etc.), have similar developer interfaces and utilize similar system architectures (client-server and, increasingly, distributed Web services).

Some enterprise GIS focus on geocentric workflows such as building geographic databases, advanced spatial analysis and cartography. These need to be managed by professional IT and GIS staff. Others focus on line-of-business workflows that embed geographic data exploitation capabilities such as mapping, routing and geocoding. These can be managed by IT professionals with some cross training in GIS.

Today there are enterprise GIS reference implementations in fields as diverse as government, petroleum, utilities and business logistics. As the word gets out and confidence grows, many others can be expected to join this list. At this point, GIS will lose its incorrect image as a proprietary, workgroup-only technology solution.

All the Industry Outlooks are on-line at [www.geoplace.com]

ArcGIS Q & A

Posted: December 23rd, 2005, 1:27am CET by GIS Matters

I did this Q & A for a GIS Magazine and thought I would post it in the blogosphere as well.

What are ESRI’s plans for GIS on the desktop?

Desktop GIS continues to be the staple for the majority of the GIS community. It is on the desktop that GIS professionals create and maintain geographic databases, undertake spatial analysis and modeling tasks, make maps and visualize data. Our forthcoming ArcGIS 9.2 release which is just moving into Beta follows the existing architectural and product design patterns, with an emphasis on improving the productivity, usability and quality of the software. At the ArcGIS 9.2 release there will continue to be a consistent technology infrastructure and user interface with four levels of functionality. ArcReader, the entry level, free product, can access and visualize all data types. ArcView extends the desktop into the areas of data visualization, mapping, analysis, simple editing, and application customization. ArcEditor is a superset of ArcView, plus enterprise data editing. ArcInfo is the complete product with additional data maintenance and analysis tools.

ArcGIS Desktop

Do you think that GIS will move more to servers in the future?

Yes. We first observed this trend several years ago and so we set out to build a complete server-based GIS. The first phase of this was released a few years ago as ArcGIS Server 9.0. Prior to ArcGIS Server, GIS servers were essentially Internet map servers with simple data structures, rudimentary map renderers and only specialist highly optimized analysis functions (e.g. geocoding and routing). They had little or no editing and data management capabilities. ArcGIS Server changed this by exposing the full gamut of ArcGIS functionality, the full high quality cartographic engine and enterprise data management tools. It also had an enterprise application development and integration architecture that made it an appealing choice for enterprise system developers. ArcGIS 9.2 builds upon and improves this platform. There is an improved, high performance map rendering capability, the ability to publish globe services (more about this below), a new viewer, and simpler .Net and Java application development environment. It will be interesting to observe the impact that ArcGIS Server 9.2 has on the architectural choices that GIS users make.

Much has been written about enterprise spatial data management, what is your take on it?

At the macro level enterprise spatial data management is evolving along two parallel lines. The DBMS vendors (IBM, Oracle and soon Microsoft) are extending their systems with the intent of ‘spatially-enabling’ enterprises. This means that DBMS have support for storing spatial data (basic ISO/OGC points, lines and polygons) and accessing it using spatial query functions (buffer, overlap, touch, etc.). Some vendors (e.g. Oracle) have released higher level toolkits that developers can use to build mapping and location-based services (geocoding, routing, etc.). The purpose of these efforts is to add basic spatial capabilities to existing enterprise information systems (Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, etc.). These applications are line of business centric.

ESRI is focusing attention more on enterprise GIS. Our goal is to build GIS products using industrial strength information technology and standards that can both scale to meet enterprise needs and integrate with other enterprise systems using commonly accepted enterprise integration technologies and standards. ESRI core development is focusing on geo-centric workflows - such as for building spatial databases, advanced analysis and modeling, mapping and visualization - that are built with IT-standard technologies. Some business partners and end user organizations are using our GIS platform to spatially-enable their line of business applications.

Are there plans to create a whole earth visualization product for use by larger audiences?

For several months we have been working on a geographic earth exploration system that can be used to answer geographic queries about the globe. There are three parts to this system: an ESRI global geographic database service comprising over 50 TB of on-line imagery and vector data; a server product (ArcGIS Server) that any organization can use to build and serve a local or global database; and a very lightweight, free viewer (ArcGIS Explorer) that can be used to access any open service on the web. Out the outset I should say that ESRI’s goal is not to compete in the consumer market with the excellent existing products. Rather, we want to provide the ability for GIS professionals to serve their own data to their own users, perhaps overlaid on top of data from other servers. We also plan to offer a range of more advanced services that we think will raise the bar in terms of user expectations. These services will include advanced cartography, geoprocessing (network analysis, overlay processing, proximity analysis, spatial modeling, etc.). These services will be accessible from existing ArcGIS desktop systems as well as the ArcGIS Explorer client. Our vision is that of extending the existing GIS platform, not creating a new competing platform.

ArcGIS Explorer

What is happening in the mobile GIS area at ESRI?

In November ESRI released the latest version of ArcPad, the mobile mapping and data collection software for hand-held devices. The interest in ArcPad has been enormous in the last few years and this has got even bigger in the last month or so. ArcPad 7 adopts the same basic philosophy as earlier releases – productive GIS software for mobile data collection and mapping using highly portable devices. ArcPad works with the latest hardware and software releases and has new tools to make it easier to work with enterprise data sets in the field (snapping, use of ArcGIS symbology, advanced editing tools, etc.),. A range of new peripheral devices is supported, including cameras and laser range finders, and overall performance is improved.

ArcPad 7.0

Ubiquitous GIS

Posted: November 15th, 2005, 9:03pm CET by GIS Matters

I am currently in Seoul, Korea at the NGIS Policy in Ubiquitous Computing Environment conference. I presented a paper at the conference on ‘The Technologies and Applications of Geographic Computing’.

The term ‘ubiquitous computing’ was coined by Mark Weiser in a 1991 Scientific American article. Ubiquitous computing, also called pervasive computing, is a relatively new field of information technology which examines how computers are embedded in the environment – in cars, in home appliances, as telephone hand sets and even sewn into cloths. Advances in hardware, networks, software and data now make it possible to distribute and embed geographic sensor, analysis and display systems within other applications and hardware architectures. Ubiquitous computing enables both distributed and mobile applications, and offers interesting implications for geographic information users. It has been taken up in several application areas many of which have direct relevance to GIS – distributed systems, mobility, location-based services, sensor-webs / sentient computing, transportation telematics and indoor location technologies.

Ubiquitous geographic computing has now found its way into many geographic application areas from tracking resources such as people and vehicles, recording the location of utility and transportation infrastructure assets, mobile data entry and mapping for inspections, permitting, environmental assessment, as well as personal navigation and even a personal fitness trainer.

Ubiquitous GIS brings together four important technology components: user appliances, wireless networks, server-hosted data and applications, and a location fixing technologies. Although many people tend to focus attention on user appliances (cell phones, PDAs, Tablets, etc.) in my view the server is much the most important element. Mobile GIS applications based on lightweight, low cost mobile devices require strong servers and services.

University of Redlands Job Opportunities

Posted: November 9th, 2005, 12:40am CET by GIS Matters

I have the pleasure of sitting on the University's GIS Advisory Board. The University has embarked on a major recruitment phase and here is the advertisement text they just published. Contact them direct if you are interested.

University of Redlands

The University of Redlands has launched a major, university-wide initiative designed to integrate geographic information systems (GIS) into teaching, research, and administration. Already an innovator in this important field, the University is embarking on a substantial program of recruitment to support its next phase of GIS expansion. As a consequence, the University invites nominations and applications to fill key academic, administrative, and technical positions in the broad area of GIS.

Founded in 1907, the University of Redlands is a private, comprehensive liberal arts institution located sixty miles east of Los Angeles. In collaboration with the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI, whose corporate headquarters are in Redlands), the University recently began planning for a comprehensive initiative to promote education and applied research in GIS throughout the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, and the School of Education. Key aspects of this initiative are the growth and development of the University’s internationally recognized, professional GIS Master of Science Program, as well as an interdisciplinary infusion of geographic information science and technology into traditional curricula and an augmentation of GIS-based research. Each of the positions offers considerable scope for close liaison with ESRI on a range of existing and new projects. For more information see www.redlands.edu/x6322.xml.

Senior GIS Executive. A new executive position reporting directly to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and closely coordinated with the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration. Responsible for championing all aspects of the campus-wide GIS initiative, including curricular development throughout the University, GIS research within the Redlands Institute, and project management.

GIS Program Director, College of Arts and Sciences. Provides academic and administrative leadership for the MS GIS Program, a professional masters program with an applied practical orientation, as well as for GIS curricula throughout the College, including an interdisciplinary GIS undergraduate minor. Hands-on experience using GIS in research or professional projects and a strong academic orientation to GIScience and its relevance across the curriculum.

Technical Manager, Redlands Institute. The Redlands Institute, an applied research division of the University, integrates emerging information technology with science, management, and policy research conducted for grant and contract-funded projects. Responsible for meeting strategic program objectives while leading the design and implementation for multiple applied research projects.

GIS Analyst I or II, Redlands Institute. Lead role in interpreting project-based data and applications, and oversees the design, construction, quality control, and delivery of required databases, products, and services.

GIS, College of Arts and Sciences. A new tenure-track appointment, rank open. Disciplinary foci in Information Systems for GIS, Geodatabase Design and Development, or Programming for GIS particularly desirable, demonstrated excellence in teaching, preferably teaching GIS at the upper- division and graduate university level, including supervision of advanced student projects and masters’ theses, and recent experience with ESRI’s ArcGIS suite of software.

GIS, School of Business. A new tenure-track appointment, rank open. Provides leadership in GIS-based business curricula, both undergraduate and graduate. A completed doctorate in Geography or Information Systems, significant work experience leading GIS teams or projects, evidence of research and teaching achievement or potential, and demonstrated business knowledge at the MBA level or higher.

Decision Sciences with an interest in GIS, School of Business. A tenure-track appointment, rank open. A completed doctorate in Decision Sciences, Statistics, or Operations Research, preferably with a specialty in Logistics or Supply Chain Management, and evidence of research and teaching achievement or potential.

Marketing with an interest in GIS, School of Business. A tenure-track appointment, rank open. A completed doctorate in Marketing, Psychology, or Sociology with a preferred specialty in Perceptual Maps or Site Location Models using GIS, evidence of research and teaching achievement or potential, and demonstrated business knowledge at the MBA level or higher.

1200 East Colton Avenue • PO Box 3080 • Redlands CA 92373-0999 • Tel: (909) 793-2121

TO APPLY: Submit a CV, sample materials to demonstrate the required and preferred expertise, and a letter explaining your interest and qualification for the position, along with the names of three references to the appropriate search: University of Redlands, P.O. Box 3080, Redlands, CA 92373-0999 Some searches require additional materials; please refer to the University’s Human Resources Department at www.redlands.edu/x6322.xml. Review of applications will continue until positions are filled. The University is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Members of underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply.

ArcGIS Explorer - how it works

Posted: October 30th, 2005, 1:42pm CET by GIS Matters

ArcGIS Explorer is a .Net desktop application based on a new lightweight ArcObjects library. The application is downloaded once from the server and installed on the local machine. It's best not to focus too much on the desktop client because the server is the most important part of the system.

Upon start up the client automatically makes a web services connection to a set of ESRI ArcWeb Services globe services. The web services are powered by ArcGIS Server 9.2. A new set of explorer services has been added to the Server core so that anyone (with ArcGIS Server) will be able to create and publish a service. It will also be possible to view ArcIMS and OGC WMS services. As you navigate around the globe, page views are streamed across the web to the desktop application for rendering. All the tasks (mini-applications) are server resident and are called from the client.

Right now we are busy loading data into the server. We plan to provide a set of free base mapping services (imagery, terrain, streets, points of interest) and location services (gazetteer, geocoding, reverse geocoding, computer finder based on IP address, directions, etc.). We will also provide some more detailed and specialized services for a fee. Basically, the plan is that if we have to pay a lot of money for data/services then we will have to pass this on to users.

ArcGIS Explorer – geographic exploration system

Posted: October 28th, 2005, 12:16pm CEST by GIS Matters

At the ESRI European User Conference in Warsaw, Poland this week ESRI unveiled our new geographic exploration system. The design goals of ArcGIS Explorer are to provide an easy to use application to explore global geographic databases. ArcExplorer is part of the ArcGIS family. It is a lightweight desktop viewer (less than 15 MB) that connects to geographic web services. The web services are powered by ArcGIS Server. Initially, the web services will be provided by ESRI using the ArcWeb Services delivery technology and brand. In keeping with our general strategy eventually anyone with ArcGIS Server will be able to create a web service for use by ArcGIS Explorer, or any other ESRI or open client for that matter.

With ArcGIS Explorer you can fuse data from multiple servers (OGC WMS, ArcGIS Server, and ArcIMS) and overlay local vector and raster data sets. The task-based interface allows fast visualization of massive 2D and 3D server-resident global terrain, raster and vector databases. The user interface exposes additional tasks for navigation, routing, geocoding/reverse geocoding.

It will be possible to personalize and customize the application by authoring new tasks that plug into the viewer and the server. We anticipate a Beta release in a few weeks time.

GIS and Hurricane Katrina

Posted: September 12th, 2005, 8:51pm CEST by GIS Matters

There has been quite a lot of press about how GIS is being used in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. ESRI has been supporting many agencies and users in several ways as described on our web site (see [www.esri.com] ).

We have just released an ArcWeb Services viewer ( [arcweb.esri.com] ) whose purpose is to provide first responders, people affected, and the general public with access to geographic information. The browser-based viewer is powered by ArcWeb Services (ESRI’s web-based hosted GIS data, mapping and analysis services). The site lets people locate an address or zoom to areas of interest and view FEMA maps of damaged areas, U.S. Postal Service maps of affected delivery areas, post-disaster satellite imagery, population density, street maps, and a lot more info. The site also can be used to create demographic reports.

The Role of ArcPad

Posted: August 17th, 2005, 12:04am CEST by GIS Matters

James of Spatially Adjusted ( [www.spatiallyadjusted.com] ) queries the purpose of ArcPad (why isn't it all on the server?). ArcPad has several important charcteritsics: it is low cost, easy to use, and works on highly portable hand-held devices with good battery life. It works well with GPS, cameras and several other portbale devices. It is designed to work in environments where there is no wired or wireless network (and there are still many places like this), or where band width is slow (there are many more places like this). It can work with a server (actually the user model assumes that ArcGIS Desktop is used to prepare data, and interface with a shared database), but works well in a disconnected mode. We have also built a wireless conncetion to ArcIMS and ArSDE, but theer has not been much interest to date.

We have ported ArcPad to a Smartphone, but we have not released as a product, mainly due to lack of demand.

ArcPad 7 Beta

Posted: August 8th, 2005, 11:07pm CEST by GIS Matters

ArcPad 7.0 is now in Beta ( [beta.esri.com] ). This release has been a while coming, mainly because it has many new features, several of which required fundamental engineering (symbology, offsets, snapping, changes to Windows Mobile OS, etc.). The key new features include the following:

• Performance – optimization for Windows Mobile 2003 and CE 4.2, support for shapefile indexes, new graphics engine, improved rendering of JPG200 and TIFF
• Ease of Use – new startup screen, redesigned table of contents, improved symbology (much greater compatibility with ArcGIS Desktop)
• Productivity – new editing tools (snapping, offsets, traverse), support for laser range finders and digital cameras
• Enterprise GIS Integration – improved integration with ArcGIS Desktop (updates ArcMap tools / UI)
• Customization – new quick forms for attribute entry , expanded object model, support for JScript

ArcPad is an amazing product considering the hardware and software limitations of the PDA devices, and the price point. It has found a niche as a very valuable filed data entry and mobile mapping solution.

ESRI Globe Program

Posted: July 28th, 2005, 10:18pm CEST by GIS Matters

At the User Conference ESRI announced plans for a geographic exploration system. The system has several key elements:

1. Hosted Globe Services (aka ArcWeb Services) that have rich GIS content. The base services are free for non-commercial use.
2. A jointly developed, ESRI-hosted National Geographic Globe that features topographic maps from the recently released National Geographic Atlas.
3. A server product for building and publishing Globe Services (ArcGIS Server)
4. A family of Globe Explorers (ArcExplorer Desktop, Web and Mobile) that are easy to use.

Some of the key distinguishing features of the ESRI Globe Program are:

o Free, easy to use, fun viewers (ArcExplorer)
o Very fast 2D and 3D visual exploration of massive global data sets over the web
o Free rich GIS content, with additional services for a fee (ArcWeb Globe Services)
o COTS GIS products to create and publish globe services (ArcGIS Server and ArcExplorer)
o Standard GIS data (any existing OGC WMS, ArcIMS, ArcGIS Server and ArcWeb Services) can be overlaid on top of a Globe
o Globe Services can include powerful GIS capabilities
o Very high quality cartography
o Sophisticated geoprocessing (e.g. advanced routing, polygon overlay, proximity analysis)
o Direct use of many GIS formats (military raster and vector data, many open and proprietary GIS data formats)
o Data management services (e.g. data conversion, data download, replication)
o Multiple Globes services can be fused together to combine data from many distributed systems
o ESRI Globe Services are built using IT compliant software components and can be accessed, embedded and extended using industry standard developer tools (.Net, Java, XML, etc.)

The goal is to make it easy to get answer to geographic questions as people explore the globe. Advanced users author and publish globe services that can be accessed over the web by users with minimal training.

Ten years ago PC-based desktop GIS viewers replaced GIS workstations as the dominant platform. In ten years from now we may say the same thing about geographic explorers

Monday at the UC

Posted: July 26th, 2005, 9:27am CEST by GIS Matters

Today was the Plenary in which ESRI presented a state of the union address and outlined the plans for forthcoming releases. Here is my top ten list of things that the audience liked (in no particular order):

ArcExplorer – a new free viewer for accessing geoweb services (2D and 3D maps)
Image Server – a new server that manages and processes images on the fly (see earlier blog entry)
ArcIMS Designer/Viewer – a new viewer for authoring web clients for ArcIMS. Click, click, click and you have a modern personalized viewer.
ArcGIS Desktop Usability – some simple tools that will greatly enhance productivity (user-defined zoom factors / map extents, easier to work with CAD files, direct read of Excel spreadsheets, etc.)
Cartographic editing and finishing – new model for deriving alternative representations of cartographic features, plus new graphic and geoprcessing tools to craete high quality maps
Model Builder looping – for simulation and model iteration
Terrain table that projects data on to a hardware model created by pistons/vacuums under a rubber surface
Fusion of multiple web services (e.g. visualization of flight tracks and weather on a base map)
Collaboration using sketching and messenger-based interaction
Very fast ArcWeb Services Viewer that uses server caching and Flash renderer

For the more technical members of the audience here are five alternatives that didn’t get the applause, but may be more significant in the long run:

Non-versioned editing – edit feature classes using a DBMS short transaction model without the need for versioning
SQL API on Oracle – to match DB2 and Informix there is a standards-based SQL API for the geodatabase
SAP integration - link GIS and enterprise data
Geoprocessing on the Server - execute big models as a web service
Smart client development toolkit for ArcGIS Server - build focused, custom clients for the the desktop and mobile devices

Spatial Analysis and Modeling Presentation

Posted: July 25th, 2005, 1:29am CEST by GIS Matters

On Monday at the ESRI User Conference Plenary I will be presenting a segment on Spatial Analysis and Modeling. The presentation shows some of the new tools in the forthcoming ArcGIS 9.2 release:

Direct read of NetCDF (a widely used file format that can store multi-dimensional data, x,y,z and t (time)
New scientific charting tools that allow much better ESDA (exploratory spatial data analysis)
Animation (charts and maps at the same time)
Modeling looping (e.g. to support simulation and other iterative modeling)
Running models on a server as a web service
Sketching on maps to create input to models

We also developed a demo that integrated the RePast Agent Based Model (ABM) open source toolkit with ArcGIS, but this had to be omitted due to time constraints.

Image ServerOn Monday during the ...

Posted: July 23rd, 2005, 12:15am CEST by GIS Matters

Image Server

On Monday during the Plenary we will introduce a new type of Image Server. It takes a different approach to serving up large (TB) quantities of Images. The data is held in the raw file format (no need to pre-process, or load into a DBMS). The Server builds an index so that the files can be treated as a continuous image map. Services can be authored to process the images on the fly as they are served up to desktop or web clients. For example, you could create a service that radiometrically corrects the images, georeferences them, orthorectifies them, resamples them and then serves them up in a browser or in ArcMap. The neat thing is that this can be done using Landsat 15m data for the entire globe, on the fly, with sub-second response. The same approach works for aerial photography and other image data sets.

This has a number of implications: no long wait while newly acquired images are preprocessed for distribution, image products of many types can be generated on the fly, no need for expensive DBMS licenses, server-side processing can be centrally managed and scaled, and might help to take some of the mystery out of photogrammetry and image processing.

I’ll be presenting a workshop on this at the Conference with Peter Becker:

ESRI Image Server: An Introduction – Offering 1, Hall F
Tuesday 1:30 – 3:00pm

ESRI Image Server: An Introduction - Offering 2, Hall F
Wednesday 8:30am – 10:00am

Say Hello if you are there.