Thursday 29 August 2013

#Maptember, it’s nearly here!

It’s going to be a slightly shorter entry this week as we are all busy with the final preparations for GeoCommmunity ’13. I just wanted to give a quick update on #Maptember and the preparations for GeoCommuntiy.

#Maptember kicks off next week with State of the Map and the British Cartographic Society’s Mapping Symposium (well technically it starts on Sunday but I imagine most of us will be taking a well deserved rest). However the geo events have jumped the gun and started already with the Royal Geographical Societies annual conference currently taking place just below the AGI office.

Of course following hot on the heels of these events is GeoCommunity ’13 starting on the 16th of September and its all hands on deck with the AGI team and the volunteers. Even at this late stage we still have sponsors registering with HERE joining last week and several more to be announced in the next few days.

The final touches are being put to the floor plan and I am currently taking a break from finalising the event guide to write this. More importantly (well for the minute anyway, the floor plan will be pretty important on the day) we have also begun announcing the names and topics of our speakers on twitter so keep an eye on @GeoCommunity and @agi_news for all the latest updates. Please tweet us your thoughts and don’t forget to get involved with #Maptember.

Anyway I really must get back to the event guide, it’s going to the printers tomorrow and the speakers’ profiles are not going to arrange themselves!

Thanks,

Chris

Tuesday 27 August 2013

GI and Everyday Life

With #Maptember approaching I thought it would be nice to take a break from the nitty gritty of the AGI and take a top down look at Geographic Information and what it means to those who aren't hardened geo geeks (sorry geo professionals). This has been partly inspired by a friend interrogating me about my new job, they got the marketing bit easily enough but combining ‘geographic’ and ‘information’ seemed to be quite a considerable mental leap.

Digital Mapping
By far and away the most obvious impact GI has had on our everyday lives has been the massive expansion in easily accessible digital mapping. This is also the easiest one to explain to your bemused friend, "like Google maps, oh wait you've got an iPhone" followed by a cheap crack about how you are amazed they didn't end up in Basingstoke instead of Brixton.

Interestingly the consumer outrage about the (quite amusing) teething problems suffered by Apple’s map application serves to illustrate how quick and easy access to accurate cartographical information has become the expected norm. The accuracy problems suffered my Apple maps and the much publicised disappearance of the Isle of Jura from Google maps (http://bbc.in/1dLBXMa) has also highlighted the complexity of producing and curating the vast datasets behind these applications.

The limitations of these free web and mobile based mapping applications are clear to many even beyond the GI community. (I ditch Google maps for my trusty OS paper version as soon as I step onto a footpath) However they have brought GI and mapping into the public domain and highlighted what to me at least seems a preference for accessibility (and absence of cost) over functionality and completeness.

But it’s so much more...
With the rise of smart phones and other GPS enabled devices we are all now generating a vast amount of geographic information. In fact a large chunk of activity on social media is now tagged with geographic information. We ‘check in’ to locations on facebook, map our runs and cycle rides and tag our photos with geolocation data. All this is generating demographic data (among others) overlaid onto spatial information. Already this information is used by marketers to target us with adverts (annoying) and location based deals (I got a free beer through this the other day so I’ll let it slide) and Google are incorporating location tagged photos into their maps to provide extra information. I'm sure in the future increasingly interesting things will be done with this wealth of crowd sourced GI data; it is a considerable resource to tap into.

Behind the scenes
Of course everything I've talked about so far is just scratching the surface, the ‘front end’ ways in which we consume and create GI. The reality is that ‘space’ is hugely important to our society, impacting on everything from how much your house is worth to your car insurance premiums and which hospital you go to. Behind the scenes GI is increasingly a factor in every aspect of life from the obvious such as mapping flood risk or crime statistics to those less obvious to the public like the auditing and management of infrastructure assets such as the National Grid. At a really fundamental level GI is heavily utilised in the management of natural resources such as forests and oil and gas. It is interesting to note that GI has become so integrated into how our society runs that people don’t  realise how prevalent or crucial it is.


As always I would be interested to hear from our members (and other GI professionals) about how the data and products they work with impact wider society.

Thursday 22 August 2013

AGI, organisational values and the changing industry

Today’s post is going to be a bit of a break from the recent announcements and practical organisational information, instead I am going to attempt to look at the AGI and how we are changing with the industry. Hopefully this will provide a bit of context to everything else I have been talking about on here.

Change!
The GI industry in the UK has changed massively in recent years with the profile of both producers and consumers of GI information broadening. Also alongside virtually every other sector of the UK and indeed global economy the GI industry has faced significant challenges during the financial crisis. As a result the industry looks very different to how it did five or six years ago and consequently so does the AGI.
Some of the major changes in the industry include the rise of open source, the resultant massive increase in the number of GI providers, increasing public sector take up of GI and the diversification of GI users.

The rise of open source has been significant over the last few years and whilst it in no way replaces traditional paid for GI services and data (in my humble opinion they provide different solutions to different problems) it has increased both the number of users and consumers of GI. Increased awareness of the benefits of using GI in a coherent and joined up way lead to the creation of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) which has also lead to a significant increase in GI users. The result of all this is that what can be considered GI is becoming increasingly broad (particularly with the growth of BIM) with many more SMEs both producing and embracing GI and more users falling outside ‘traditional’ GIS professionals. With the widening demographic of the industry there has obviously been a widening of the AGI’s potential membership

Coping with it
The mission statement of the AGI reads ‘The Mission of the AGI is to maximise the use of geographic information (GI) for the benefit of the citizen, good governance and commerce.’ Whilst this is still true today the way we go about this has changed somewhat. As part of our mission to maximise the use of GI the AGI was heavily involved in advocacy work largely aimed at encouraging local and central government to recognise the need for GI. However as noted above with measure like the PSMA it is clear that government bodies have recognised the need for GI and therefore such advocacy work is no longer as relevant as it was. We do of course still engage with government and represent the industry particularly through our support of the INSPIRE initiative and through the work of the Standards SIG.

However in light of the changing face of GI we are also working to undertake other activities largely focused around creating a true community from the disparate elements of GI. These activities are focused around the SIG, the showcase events and membership changes at the AGI.

The SIGs role is that they provide a focus for each of the separate GI communities (BIM, Environment, Technology etc) which in turn makes it much easier or these communities to interact with each other and the AGI. The highly successful showcase events are helping to make the GI community more accessible to companies and individuals who may not perhaps have the resources to attend multi day conferences or spend significant time outside of their local area. Finally the reduced cost and ease of payment for individual members is designed to make the AGI more accessible to a greater range of GI users. For example an individual may be the sole GIS user in their organisation making a weaker business case for the organisation to join but they have the alternative of joining as an individual.
The benefits
As the industry continues to change and the AGI with it we believe that by broadening the membership of the AGI from the traditional GI core (whilst still continuing to serve their needs of course) will only strengthen the organisation. The bigger and broader the community the more different points of view, ideas and solutions there are not to mention the increased opportunity for networking and creating commercial relationships.

Thanks,

Chris

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Social Media and getting involved with Maptember

Apologies for the gap in blog posts, I have been on holiday. As was pointed out the comment on the last blog entry there are of course other smaller but still very helpful ways to get involved with the AGI. Whilst it is true that we need volunteers and council members to function every day actions like tweeting to/about the AGI, taking part in a discussion on LinkedIN or speaking to a colleague or friend in the industry are all extremely important.

Very conveniently we have the perfect opportunity for our members to get involved on social media (of course we encourage you to get involved anyway this is just a good excuse to talk about it). Anyway that opportunity is ‘Maptember’ the month formerly known as September.

What is Maptember?
September sees a considerable pile up of events in the Geo Information and Spatial arena with our very own GeoCommunity taking place alongside State of the Map, FOSS4G and a number of other smaller conferences and events. Obviously such a concentration of events at one time has the potential to saturate the community but also provides an opportunity to give momentum and focus attention within the GI community, something which the AGI of course supports.
In honour of the geo heavy nature of the month the FOSS4G organising committee have come up with the idea of renaming it Maptember.

Apart from being a solid pun what does this mean?
This has two major practical applications the first of which is the creation of the http://www.maptember.org/ website listing all the events included. It is not entirely apparent if all of the smaller events are aware they are included in ‘Maptember’ but this is clearly a great opportunity for delegates to find other relevant conferences they are interested in.

Secondly, and this is where we would call on our membership to get involved is the creation of the #maptember. This hashtag allows people tweeting about the various conferences to make their content easily searchable and gives the semblance of community t
o the various contributors. We would encourage all of our members who are tweeting about GeoComm ’13 to included #maptember in their tweets. As the only permanent UK fixture of the big Maptember conferences (FOSS and SotM will be overseas next year) it seems only right that the AGI takes a prominent place in all the twitter traffic, somewhere where our members can really help.

Oh and there are T-Shirts...
That’s right you can purchase your very own Maptember T-Shirt at GeoCom ’13. The proceeds from these go to the excellent charity Map Action (who by happy coincidence are our supported charity for the conference). If I didn’t already have an AGI shirt to wear I would be very tempted to get one of these...

Thanks,

Chris

Thursday 8 August 2013

Getting involved with the AGI, why and how

As alluded to in my previous post part of our membership initiative is to encourage greater involvement of our members in the AGI. We are after all, a membership organisation and the participation of our members is key to the success of the AGI. In terms of membership it is definitely the case of the more you put in the more you get out with a whole range of opportunities and benefits for active members.

Getting Involved (in making crowns...)
There are a range of different ways for members to get involved with the AGI from volunteering at AGI events or standing for executive positions on special interest or regional groups or standing for the AGI council itself. This is alongside participating in the working groups we run to ensure the smooth running of different aspects of the AGI such as marketing or the GeoCommunity conference.

Why:
There are many reasons to get more involved with the AGI; networking, becoming a more active part of the UK geographic information community, having a voice in the industry and alternative professional development.

Volunteering to be a part of an AGI group or to help at an AGI event provides unique opportunities to network with like minded people in the UK GI community. As well as the social and altruistic benefits of this kind of networking it also provides members the opportunity to form business relationships and share expertise and best practice.

Becoming involved in the regional or special interest groups is an excellent way to increase your voice within the UK GI industry especially if you run for executive positions within these groups. The various AGI groups have helped to inform policy and are often asked to participate in standards and other public consultations. As a member of these groups you will have a much greater weight than as an individual and as an active member you have the chance to shape the groups policy and priorities.

Working as part of an AGI group also offers the chance for alternative professional development outside of your normal career. For example if you are a GIS analyst in a non management role volunteering to help organise the GeoCommunity conference could leave you with additional experience that you would no encounter in your normal role. This is an excellent opportunity to develop your skills and build your CV, putting you in a strong position in the job market.

How:
I have realised recently that there is some confusion as to how to go about getting involved with the AGI so I thought I would clear this up. This page contains a list of all the different AGI groups with links through to the group pages which contain contact details of the group chairs. One option is to email the chairs directly expressing your interest in joining the group.

Alternatively members can email me (chris.rhodes@agi.org.uk) with details of where you might be interested in getting involved and I will point you in the right direction!

And Finally:
I completely recommend that our members get involved as much as possible; you will see the most value from your membership by being more than just a passive part of the AGI. As an organisation we exist to support our members, their concerns and their hopes for the GI industry and it is only through the continued support of our members that we are able to do this.

Thanks,

Chris

Tuesday 6 August 2013

New prices, direct debit and the future for individual membership:

August marks some exciting changes to the individual membership package. By exciting changes we don’t mean an excuse to put prices up either, quite the opposite in fact!

The AGI recognise the importance of our individual members to the vibrancy and success of the organisation. Therefore we have launched and initiative to increase our current membership. Part of this initiative is making the membership fee more manageable and easy to pay. As a result we have both reduced cost and introduced direct debit payment with the option to pay monthly.


Reduced Costs

We have reduced annual costs to £60+VAT for those who wish to pay annually or £5.50+VAT a month for those who wish to pay monthly by direct debit. For full details of individual membership and to download the direct debit form click here.

The reduced cost makes an individual AGI membership better value than ever providing benefits such as reduced rates for AGI conferences and events (including the new showcase programme) and the opportunity to participate in the CPD scheme. Importantly it also provides chance to become more involved with the AGI including joining regional and special interest groups and the opportunity to stand for council and executive position.


Greater Engagement

The reduction in cost is only part of our drive to increase the value of AGI membership. Another key part is improving the engagement of our members both with the various regional and special interest groups and with the core AGI. This is partly being done through increased promotion of the groups and their activities and an improved presence on social media. However at the end of the day it is up to members to join in, become involved in relevant groups and volunteer with the organisation.

The more members become involved in the AGI the more benefit they will see from it. As well as a chance to become engaged with the wider GI community, network and share knowledge and skills (and socialise, Geobeers pioneers let’s not forget) becoming an active member of the AGI can have another very tangible benefit.

Put simply it can offer an alternative path of career progression and professional development. If you run for council or executive positions on one of the regional or special interest groups you will have the opportunity to further develop your skills outside of your day to day job. Being a member of the GeoCom working group for example and helping to organise the conference that is at the heart of the GI calendar can add something extra to your CV and there is no doubt that expanding your professional development beyond your role is going to help you in the employment market.


Direct Debit

This is the functional but important bit: As of August 1st members and prospective members can now pay by direct debit (the form can be downloaded here and should be returned to the address on the form). Members who chose to pay by direct debit also have the option of paying monthly, helping to spread the cost of membership across the year. This option is not available through other payment methods.

Thanks,

Chris

Thursday 1 August 2013

July summary: Blogs, Geocom and Sunshine

As the sunny month of July draws to a close and the temperature in the AGI offices reaches something approaching melting point I thought a quick recap of developments at the AGI over the past month would be appropriate.

The blog (and its one month anniversary)
That’s right I am hubristically going to talk about the blog first, partly because it is my pet project and partly because I am amazed that I have managed to keep my promise of posting every Tuesday and Thursday... Anyway it seems that people are actually reading the blog (thank you web analytics) so I will continue writing it. Feedback has been received along with some offers of guest posts, not being one to ask for feedback and then ignore it I am going to slightly change the focus of the blog from next month. I still plan to feature SIGs and regional groups as already discussed but I will also aim to shed some light on the workings of the AGI such as policy changes and will try to offer useful advice around the industry (guest posts very welcome on this point).

Social Media – Steadily Growing
With a renewed focus on social media I am happy to announce that we have passed the (small) milestone of 200 followers on the @agi_news twitter feed. I will be considerably more excited when we hit 1000 followers so if you have not done so yet please follow us. We now have regular content including updates on the AGI and general GI news from around the internet.

The LinkedIn has also seen resurgence in activity with the main AGI and Suppliers SIG groups being particularly active. If you are a SIG remember I strongly recommend joining the respective LinkedIn group as there will remain the main forum for online debate at least until the new AGI website is ready to launch.

GeoCom ’13 – Early Bird Extended
The most important news coming out of the feverish GeoCom preparations this week is that the early bird offer has been extended until Wednesday 7th August. This is due to an unfortunate technical problem with our booking engine. However you get an extra week to snap up the significant discounts offered by the early bird packages which hopefully makes up for any inconvenience caused!

The Annual Awards – Nominations open
Nominations have opened for the Annual AGI awards, one of the key ways in which we promote the use of and innovation within GI. The awards also provide an opportunity for our members to be recognised for their efforts and achievements over the year. Nominations close on the 27th September and you can even nominate yourself/your organisation if you think you have a worthwhile project. For more details and information on how to nominate someone follow this link: http://www.agi.org.uk/agi-news/2013/7/31/agi-annual-awards-opening-nominations.html.

Thanks,

Chris