Day: November 2, 2010

Participants from 67 Countries Converge at 12th GSDI Conference

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

The Global Spatial Data Infrastructure – GSDI 12 World Conference took place in Singapore from 19 to 22 October 2010. The partners organizing this conference included the GSDI Association, the Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia & the Pacific (PCGIAP) and the Singapore Land Authority (SLA).

“Governments at all levels in all countries depend on information about location and place,” noted Abbas Rajabifard, President of the GSDI Association, “and the rapid advance of technology makes such information much easier to collect, use, and distribute. This creates opportunities and challenges for all countries. Technical innovation creates a need for policy innovation and for collaboration among government, the private sector and academia. GSDI World Conferences provide a unique forum for representatives of all these sectors to network and learn about the technical, societal, legal and policy issues concerning spatial data infrastructures.”

The theme for GSDI 12 was “Realizing Spatially Enabled Societies.” The conference organizers set out to encourage collaboration to help create an enabling environment that enhances outcomes in societies, economies and the global environment. A peer-reviewed book on this topic was launched during the conference. It focuses on research, emerging trends and critical assessment and it showcases examples of spatial enablement serving societal needs. More than 100 countries are actively developing spatial data infrastructures, and with over 650 attendees, GSDI 12 proved to be a very successful event.

Participants shared knowledge, attended workshops, traded experiences and listened to experts speak on a wide range of topics including technology, standards, and spatial law and policy. Jack Dangermond, President and Founder of Esri, received the Global Citizen Award of the GSDI Association (http://gsdi.org/globalcitizenaward) and gave the opening keynote address. The UN Permanent Committee on GIS Infrastructure for Asia and the Pacific (PCGIAP) held its 16th regional meeting and the International Geospatial Society, the new arm of the GSDI Association for individual members, held its inaugural meeting.

GSDI 12 Conference proceedings are available at http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi12/prog_details.html and photos from the event may be found at http://gsdi12.multiply.com/

The full list of sponsors and exhibitors may be found at http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi12/sponsors.html and all collaborators are listed at http://www.gsdi.org/gsdi12.

The GSDI 13 Conference will take place in Quebec City Canada in May 2012.

For information regarding organizational or individual membership in the GSDI Association see http://www.gsdi.org/joinGSDI.

[Source: gsdi.org]

Doctoral Research Assistant Position: Context-aware Simulation of Movement

/ Matt Artz

CASIMO: Context-Aware SImulation of trajectories of Moving Objects

The GIS Division at the Department of Geography, University of Zurich invites applications for a Doctoral Research Assistant position to work on the research grant CASIMO within the framework of the European COST Action IC0903 «Knowledge Discovery from Moving Objects».

The position will start on 1st January 2010, or as soon as possible thereafter, and is for three years. Salary is commensurate with the pay scale of the Swiss National Science Foundation. The successful applicant will be based in Zurich and supervised by Prof. Robert Weibel.

CASIMO aims to develop generic, customizable trajectory generators that allow for the simulation of individual trajectories embedded in an application-dependent geographical context, and that are intended to be used in comparative evaluation of methods for mining of trajectory data.

Information about our research group can be found at http://www.geo.uzh.ch/gis. Background about COST Action IC0903 is available at http://www.move-cost.info. A clear set of research goals are identified in the full project proposal, but the successful candidate will be expected to develop and refine these further.

Applicants are required to have successfully completed a Masters level degree in a relevant area such as GIScience, geomatics, computer science, maths, physics, or computational geo¬graphy. Familiarity with a relevant application domain (e.g. animal ecology or transportation research) and solid programming experience will be an advantage, or must be acquired during the project. You will have a good standard of written and spoken English; knowledge of German, while not required, would be an advantage.

Send curriculum vitae, a motivation statement, transcripts, and contact details for two referees (including e-mail addresses) in a single PDF document toRobert.Weibel@geo.uzh.ch, who will also be happy to answer informal inquiries. Review of applications will begin on 15 November 2010 and will continue until the position is filled.

Analyzing the Dynamics of Homicide Patterns in Chicago: ESDA and Spatial Panel Approaches

/ Matt Artz / 1 Comment

Applied Geography, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 20 September 2010

Xinyue Ye, Ling Wu

“This paper studies the relationship between homicide rate and socioeconomic factors at community area level in Chicago from 1960 to 1995. Most of prior studies of social disorganization theory are based on cross-sectional spatial regression or longitudinal studies. This research integrates space and time in testing social disorganization theory. First, exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) is used to examine dynamic spatial patterns of these indicators. This investigation justifies the estimation of homicide rates across community areas through panel-data models that extend to include spatial lag and spatial error autocorrelation.

“Research highlights

  • This research conducts an empirical study of both the spatial and temporal aspects of homicide patterns at the community area level.
  • Spatial panel regression is considered a solution to examine the space–time relationship between crime and neighborhood characteristics.
  • Historically formed neighborhoods are desirable units of analysis in social disorganization research.”

More information

Similarities between Competitors and the Implications for Location Strategies

/ Matt Artz

International Journal of Applied Geospatial Research, Vol. 1, Issue 4, 2010

Lawrence Joseph

“Although Burger King and McDonald’s are widely recognized as direct competitors, there may be enough differences in customer profiles between the two chains to recommend or justify divergent location strategies. In this regard, the authors use ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression to test whether site and trade-area criteria can explain individual store sales and if such criteria are consistent for both chains. This research shows that there are situations where locational factors may have directionally different effects on store sales of the two chains. While Burger King generally experienced higher sales in denser urban areas with higher proportions of minorities, McDonald’s experienced higher sales in suburban areas adjacent to freeways.”