{"id":112,"date":"2011-05-18T14:54:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-18T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/geoplanit.co.uk\/?p=112"},"modified":"2011-06-30T14:06:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T14:06:00","slug":"esri-uk-conference-day-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geoplanit.co.uk\/?p=112","title":{"rendered":"ESRI UK Conference – Day 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

UPDATED: Various errors (spelling, grammar etc..) have been changed since the original was posted<\/span><\/b><\/span>

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Julie Pearce <\/b>presented an interesting piece on GIS use at the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency<\/a> (it trips off the tongue doesn\u2019t it?).   It is good to see how people are overcoming inconsistent and disparate data sets from a variety of sources\/agencies.   The over-riding impression I got was that although complicated in implementation the concept is very simple.   I too wasn’t surprised by the level of farmer involvement and enthusiasm for the technology.<\/a>  After all farmers are businessmen and women first and foremost!   They want, like all of us, systems that are simple, easy-to-use and cost effective.   I would have thought the main ‘fly-in-ointment’ here is a lack of provision of true<\/b> (not just silly 1meg) rural broadband<\/b>.   Another agency that should be lobbying government to properly fund a national fibre optic broadband<\/i> network <\/i>(forget urban vs rural it is a national issue!)?<\/p>\n

Rowan Douglas<\/b> from Willis Research Network<\/a> tried to convince us that the insurance industry wasn\u2019t evil!  After listening to him I\u2019m almost <\/i>inclined to agree.   It\u2019s all about managing risk and then how society as a whole and through the wonders of insurance companies pays for things, when nature or other events interrupt our lives.   When it\u2019s put like that you realise at the same time, that he\u2019s correct and that somehow it doesn\u2019t quite tie in with why our insurance companies put up our premiums without explanation.   Is their industry in need of an image makeover, I wonder?  Probably.<\/p>\n

However his presentation did include a lot about analysis, modelling and trying to predict the impacts of disasters on people and the economy.   Some great stuff going on which I\u2019m sure adds to the sum of human knowledge about how to cope better with \u2018events\u2019.<\/p>\n

After that there was some really good thinking going on in the Army with a presentation from Major Andrew Williams <\/b>of the Joint Aeronautical and Geospatial Organisation <\/a>(JAGO).   Joined up thinking and connecting people to easy-to-use and interpret systems.  So all tiers of the Army and partners can be working from the same page.   Again it is a simple idea but difficult to implement in detail.  Portable and ruggedized servers for in the field use, using limited bandwidths.   I wondered if is there something the rural broadband campaigners can learn from here?<\/p>\n

The ESRI UK<\/a><\/b> people did what they do best with working presentations on the Crown Estate, GIS for a Low Carbon Economy (I\u2019ll come back to this on day 2)<\/a> and ArcGIS.com with the RSPB and map sharing.    Good demos I especially enjoyed the Low Carbon one as I can see this type of analysis being ever more important.<\/p>\n

The Capability Track<\/b> after lunch was a bit blurry for me as this was when I had my 10 minute presentation.  I would like to have gone to the technology track as well and learned about ArcGIS 10.1.   But listening to my fellow presenters I learned a lot and was most impressed with their presentations.  Anyway here is what I remembered please leave comments if you have anything to add or point out where I have missed something or got it wrong:<\/p>\n

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