Locatum

So, 4 weeks on from the launch of the geospatial strategy , and having written a light-touch reflection  on the event and the strategy I thought I’d now surface some of the questions and more broadly policy ambitions asked by the (virtual) audience on the Remo virtual platform (that will become more familiar I am sure) that day.   A public service if you like. (c) Remo I’ve taken a somewhat liberal rather than literal view of the questions, hacking them into sub-themes or subject areas.  Of course, there are others but these are some of those that continue the conversation. Geospatial data , in particular open geospatial data, opening up data and maintaining that data was a prominent area of interest and concern.   With the new PSGA and the launch of the OS DataHub on 1 st July the public sector has never had better access to OS data or greater opportunity to derive new insights.  At the same time are cash-strapped local authorities able to co...

Despite our best efforts the kids have grown up with a certain white bread, you know the one, in the orange (or blue) waxed packaging. Yep, (c) Warburtons While supply chains have always been an interest, bread ingredients wasn't shall we say prominent. Warburton's decision to switch suppliers  is a handy exemplar not just for the global nature of trade but for the different regulatory environments and production standards that go with that.  The switch doesn't come until 2022 with the new supplier being US Frontier Agriculture and you would think that they will seek to protect the brand - you get those kids early they stay for life. At this stage it is unclear from where Frontier will source the wheat for the flour as they do have a large UK operation including in Northumberland. Nevertheless this highlights the challenges global supply chains represent to industry (think food processing, for schools, hospitals, canning etc), retail (think bread/bakery buyers across all m...

Or has some wit had it (I spy Bob Barr), another national geospatial strategy. Amid a recent flurry of things geospatial and amid a veritable storm of everything data, evidence and the digital economy, the Geospatial Commission last week launched  Unlocking the Power of Location , the UK's Geospatial Strategy. The questions you're asking are likely, is it any good, is it worthwhile, does it set out a clear vision, is it indeed a strategy, and you may well have drawn your own conclusions.  You should definitely read it. For all the old hacks going "here we go again", it is safe to say that as someone who bleeds geospatial and whose own career has paralleled the rise of digital geography and latterly location intelligence, you can never really get enough of what the former Director of the Geospatial Commission, William Priest, termed this geospatial moment.  And long may it continue. The Zoom launch was always going to be a challenge as strategies are necessa...

Some data points: - there are >30m cars on (or not on at the time of writing) UK roads - a very small %age are EV (c.1%) though new car registrations much higher - a very large %age (55-65%) are fleet vehicles, as in volume purchased - there are >30,000 connectors at >15,000 devices @ >10,000 locations - a tiny %age are ultra-rapid Fleet vehicles move into the private market in benefits too right? As others have pointed out it ain't quite that simple owing to the differing usage and resulting energy demand models in the fleet and private sectors, despite the level of the grey fleet market (though this from 2016). There are less than 10,000 fuel stations in UK with between 4 and 20 pumps and even when you queue you can generally be in and out with a full tank and a hot coffee in under 15 minutes. People rarely run out or blame having to stop for fuel for being late to events, though the coffee stain is another thing - you really should have waited. There is a per...

As Richard Pope attests in his recent blog there is some pretty boring-to-the-ordinary-person aspects to the whole transparency, tracking and contact tracing narrative. To an extent we appear to be becoming desensitised to the who and the how, the centralised/decentralised, the open/proprietary, the technology choices and how inclusive or otherwise they might be, and to the notion of privacy. On this last point language plays a key role. You'd hope this was clear language on the back of a truck in Sri Lanka The Coronavirus (Safeguards) Bill 2020 proposes protections for 'digital interventions'. Though the ambition is understandable and the intent and brevity admirable its reliance on the same language, in relation to privacy, GDPR, anonymisation, digital exclusion, sharing, containment, research and time merits some exploration: Digital exclusion is highest in those communities most at risk notably the poorest and the elderly, sub-sections of whom are at the fo...

As Oasis never said, some might say that R (and/or python) is the language of geospatial, or at least languages for geospatial scripting, applications, data processing, analysis and modelling. But to misquote Chris Tarrant, well Quiz has been on, I don't want to give you that. Instead, in these harrowing times, what is the language that both goes to the very heart of the world of 'geographic information' and effectively engages the widest audience. The AGI bears that name and over 30 years we (am currently Vice Chair myself) have borne witness to the challenge our own nomenclature, our own domain, represents whilst simultaneously proclaiming that "everything happens somewhere". it does, even out there This post is in part rooted in that history and posits that finding a common argot with which to talk about that "somewhere", that location - location data, location analysis, location intelligence and its manifestation, typically in visualisatio...