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Business opportunities based on Open Source GIS Development. Cameron Shorter, Senior Software Engineer, ADI Limited. 20 February 2006. Overview. Market trends Business model Example projects Recommendations. Trends: Web 2.0.
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Business opportunities based on Open Source GIS Development Cameron Shorter, Senior Software Engineer, ADI Limited. 20 February 2006
Overview • Market trends • Business model • Example projects • Recommendations Electronics & Aerospace
Trends: Web 2.0 • http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html?page=1 Electronics & Aerospace
Trends: Interoperability • Open Geospatial Consortium promotes GIS standards. • http://opengeospatial.org • Governments are pushing for standard interfaces to their GIS data. • eContentplus programme is a € 149million, 4 year European project to “promote take up of leading-edge technical solutions to improve accessibility and usability of digital material.” • http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/econtentplus/index_en.htm Electronics & Aerospace
Trends: Interoperability - JP2064 Electronics & Aerospace
Trends: Mobile Computing • Carrier service requires 5 nine’s (99.999%) uptime. • Hundreds of mobile platforms to program for. • Telcos provide “walled garden” to content for their products. • GPS users are building their own non-proprietary maps. • http://openstreetmaps.org • Example: “track your kid” and “track your pet”. http://findme.mapquest.com/ Electronics & Aerospace
Trends: Free basemaps • Google, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Yahoo Maps. • http://maps.google.comhttp://mappoint.msn.comhttp://maps.yahoo.com • Mash-up applications. • Enables niche applications. • Governments opening up map their map data. • Free in the US • Expensive in the UK • Moving toward free in Australia Electronics & Aerospace
Open Source: Dispelling Open Source Myths • Main attraction is the price. • The savings are not real. • Where is the support? • What about legal issues? • Isn’t for mission critical applications. • Not ready for the desktop. • Bug fixes and security. Electronics & Aerospace
Open Source: Security Electronics & Aerospace
Trends: Move to Open Source • Governments are moving toward Open Source. • “Software products are a liability, not an asset”. • “Spend 10% on effort, get 100% solution”, Jody Garnet, Refractions. Electronics & Aerospace
Products: GIS Players Electronics & Aerospace
Products: Open Source GIS • PostGIS reported to be 20x faster than Oracle Spatial but doesn’t have certified engineering support and doesn’t support replication. • Mapserver is reported to be faster than ArcIMS. • uDig comparable with ArcView. Electronics & Aerospace
Business: ADI strengths • Solution design. • Systems test, integration (equals quality). • Support. • Local presence throughout Australia. Electronics & Aerospace
Business: Proposed Business Model • Sell services not software. • Solution architects using Open Source components. • Extend existing software. • Qualify Open Source products. • Support. • Be “Hacker Deodorant”. Electronics & Aerospace
Business: Development Methodology • Work with Open Source community adding functionality to code base. • Integrate on a controlled branch of software with or without OS developers. • Feed fixes back to the Open Source community. • OS GIS Software developers are usually very experienced with commercial Software Development Lifecycles. • Observe “hacker etiquette”. Electronics & Aerospace
Business: Spike Source • Integration • Configuration • Testing • Maintenance • Support • http://www.spikesource.com Electronics & Aerospace
Business: Refractions / Vivid Solutions • Extend and deploy Open Source GIS products. • Funded by Canadian government and private contracts. • http://refractions.net/http://vividsolutions.com Electronics & Aerospace
Application: Tacsat-1 . • TacSat-1 is Experimenting with Net-Centric Principles • Providing Direct Access to Spacecraft Payload Tasking and to the Data • Thoughts on Net-Centric Operations • Many Users are Needed to Realize Exponential Network Effects: Implies Importance of Tier 2 & 3 Users • Self Organizing Requires Knowledge and Changes to Current Tactics, Techniques and Procedures. • Truly Thin Client (“No Client”) Greatly Expands the User Base Electronics & Aerospace
Application: Socialchange Online • http://webmap.socialchange.net.au Electronics & Aerospace
Application: Bicycle Mapbuilder • http://bikemap.openearth.com.au Electronics & Aerospace
Conferences • Geoinformatics, 12-15 Sept, Lausanne, Switzerland http://www.foss4g2006.org/ • Where 2.0, 13-14 June, San Jose. http://conferences.oreillynet.com/where2006/ • GeoWeb, 24-28 July, Vancouver. http://geoweb.org/ Electronics & Aerospace
Recommendations • Bid for GIS projects using Open Source GIS as part of the solution. • Join the Open Geospatial Consortium and commit to Standards based solutions. • Network with existing players. • Attend key conferences. • Join key Open Source projects as required. Electronics & Aerospace