The GEOINT 2012 Symposium has kicked off this week and we are excited to be here. It’s our 9th year attending and USGIF always puts on a fantastic industry conference.
In conjunction with showcasing our current products and services we are previewing a pilot program called Change Indicator. Stop by our booth 1401 to get a live demo, ask for Jennifer Johnson, and find out how you can participate in this exciting opportunity. For those of you not at the conference here are the details:
Description
Change Indicator is a customized solution for identifying the location and nature of changes occurring every day around the globe. Change intensity maps provide a signal or cue for changes allowing customers to manage map updates, account for urban growth, assess accurate taxes and monitor areas critical to national security. Change Indicator is a bundle of configurable change layers in multiple formats that can be easily integrated in a workflow. Change intensity maps, historical and current image products, shapefiles, KML reports, and HTML reports can all be bundled to provide the most up-to-date information about our changing world.
What does this mean?
It means users will get up-to-date information on changes and will cue them in order to keep maps current. It will also provide information about where the greatest changes have occurred. Custom analysis is also available, which allows the user to select meaningful change categories such as construction or deforestation or conversion of agricultural lands to urban land and eliminates seasonal/impermanent changes that are a distraction (i.e. parked cars.)
Below are a few snapshots.
In the first figure, we demonstrate the Change Indicator results in the Google Earth environment.
In the second figure, we show a quick overview of tiles (yellow pins) that have changes in a large area of interest in Kokura, Japan. This provides a cue for users to update their maps in those areas.
Who Benefits?
For government or enterprise mapping organizations that are responsible for keeping maps up-to-date, Change Indicator allows for the prioritization of map updates by the areas that have changed the most.
For local government organizations, Change Indicator eliminates losses due to outdated records by providing recent developments to Tax Assessors.
For defense organizations monitoring changes to facilities or areas posing security risks, Change Indicator provides a fast and easy way to prioritize image analysis allowing for timely response.
To create this pilot program we’ve partnered with Terra 4D Systems – Terra 4D Systems utilizes a patented change detection system called GeoCDX that enables the rapid processing and exploitation of multi-sensor, multi-resolution high resolution satellite imagery. Our partnership leverages the 2.5 billion sq km of DigitalGlobe archive along with 2.5 million sq km collection capacity of DigitalGlobe constellation, to identify changes of interest to the end user and provides the output in user friendly formats.
It was a busy and exciting week for DigitalGlobe in San Diego at the Esri International User Conference. The week was filled with speaking engagements, panels and speakers, demonstrations, and a new imagery deal between DigitalGlobe and Esri.
For us, the conference-related events kicked off with our own Jack Hild speaking at the National Mapping Executive Forum on Saturday and then participating on the Future of Imagery panel on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Esri’s founder Jack Dangermond delivered the morning plenary session, in which he shared his GIS vision as well as announced new Esri products and services. Among the announcements was our new multi-year agreement with Esri, in which Esri licensed the rights for DigitalGlobe’s Global Basemap imagery layer to be integrated into ArcGIS Online. The agreement allows ArcGIS Online users access to an additional 100 million square kilometers of high-quality imagery that spans multiple resolutions.
Our booth featured a full spectrum of product offerings allowing visitors to see how DigitalGlobe’s high-resolution imagery products and services assisted partners’ projects. Specifically, our demonstrations highlighted:
FirstLook: Intterra made FirstLook available in their Situation Analyst (SA) decision support software and highlighted their fire portal project.
Advanced Elevation Series (AES): IDEA created and accessed 3D data in a cloud environment using DigitalGlobe’s content and ArcGIS server products.
Diplomatic Facility Support Package: CACI used this to support the evacuation of citizens by providing current information to identify intermediate staging bases and other areas used for safe haven operations.
Global Basemap: The SI Organization demonstrated ArcGIS Online implementation for the State of Virginia, showcasing Global Basemap online services and information maps derived from WorldView-2 multispectral imagery.
DigitalGlobe imagery: Tomnod crowdsourced insights from world events, such as the recent conflicts in Damascus, Syria.
We also enjoyed meeting and interacting with everyone in the exhibit hall, in panels, and the various socials. Of the events, we especially enjoyed Esri‘s Imagery Social celebrating the 40th anniversary of the USGS Landsat Project.
Thanks to Esri for hosting another great Esri International User Conference and we look forward to seeing everyone again next year.
On Monday, June 4, DigitalGlobe was recognized as a Laureate at the Computerworld Honors Laureate Ceremony and Awards Gala, which I was honored to attend in Washington, D.C.
For 24 years, the Computerworld Honors Program has recognized organizations that use Information Technology to promote and advance public welfare, benefit society and change the world for the better. This year, there were 500 entrants from 35 countries across the 10 categories (Collaboration, Digital Access, Economic Development, Emerging Technology, Environment, Health, Human Services, Innovation, Safety and Security and Training/Education). We are honored to be in the great company of the 2012 Laureates.
The awards for innovation recognized organizations for the design and development of new technologies and/or the application of an existing technology in a new and unique way to advance overall human health, security or well-being. Our case study exemplifying the innovation award was in partnership with Hitachi in providing aid following the tsunami in Japan. It was, in particular, the ability to use the imagery and how it enabled in-country organizations to deliver aid and medical care and attempt to rescue those trapped in collapsed buildings.
We are proud to have been presented the Computerworld Laureate award and to be in the company amongst many globally who share our belief in technology’s ability to save lives and see a better world. In fact, I was excited that the 21st Century Achievement Innovation award recipient, Novartis International – SMS for Life – Fighting Malaria in Africa, shares our understanding that geospatially oriented information is part of our future on many fronts.
It was also interesting to hear the keynote address by Chief Information Officer at Executive Office of the President, Brook Colangelo. Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, provided an interested keynote as well.
We were thrilled to be included in this honor and I enjoyed hearing about the other laureates and am excited to hear how future laureates continue to use technology to benefit society and change the world for the better.
Scott Hicar, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, DigitalGlobe
