The Importance of Being Spatial

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The Importance of Being Spatial

• Roger Longhorn
• Editor, GEOconnexion International
• roger_at_geoconnexion.com

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What is Spatial?
Seagoon Eccles, what are you doing
there?! Eccles Everyone has to be somewhere.
Im here! The Goons, circa 1955
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Knowing where we are on earth has always been of
interest

Globally Regionally - Locally
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You cant see it its Mine!
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Information Overload can spatial help?
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Scalability, Availability, Utility
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Scalability, Availability, Utility
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Scalability, Availability, Utility
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Scalability, Availability, Utility
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Scalability, Availability, Utility
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Spatial Analysis of the simple variety
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Spatial Analysis Preventing Incidents
Australian fire services are considering using
aerial imagery (and maps) to advise homeowners on
protective actions they can take to mitigate
against their homes going up in flames in the
next Australian bushfire.
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New Technology to update the picture
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New Technology to update the picture
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Current Technology Mix
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What are the key messages? Everything is spatial
objects, features, people, events Location is
an important way of looking at our surroundings,
our society, economy and even culture. Location
is a valuable way of organising and presenting
information especially so for rapid
response. If location is to be useful, we must
be able to record it, use it (interoperably),
share it and integrate spatial information from
multiple sources in multiple ways.
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We all have to be somewhere! Knowing where
that somewhere is, letting others know were we
are, and knowing what is around us, is getting
easier year by year, thanks to new
technology. The real issue seems to be one of
managing the evolution of that technology,
especially in regard to convergence,
interoperability, standardisation, and myriad
other issues that we have not had time to look at
in this presentation. Thank you for your
attention! roger_at_geoconnexion.com