The ENTCHEV GIS Blog

Geospatial Pipe

Atanas Entchev — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:44:00 GMT

I recently found this geospatial pipe built by Adam Estrada (@GeoDAWG). Add it to your bookmarks, or RSS feed, or whatever you use to keep up to speed with geospatial happenings.

Introductions

Mike Popoloski — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:57:00 GMT

Greetings fellow spatially oriented colleagues. Before I begin blogging about various subjects related to the G in GIS I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Mike Popoloski and I am currently president of Mapco Mapping & Positioning Company Inc. I am a New York state licensed land surveyor and a certified GPS mapping instructor.

I started my location-based career about (23) years ago quite by accident. About (1) year out of high school I was working as a mechanical drafter/designer at a local military contractor and I had quickly figured out that I was not cut-out for sitting behind a desk every day. While I was trying to figure out what to try next I bumped into my old guidance counselor from high school. He suggested that I apply for an entry-level land surveying position that had recently opened up in the area.

I had no idea what land surveying was but he said I would be outside much of the time. I have always enjoyed outdoor activities so that sounded good to me. I won the job and started on the ground-floor as a rodman. Over the next few years I learned the value of a good pair of boots, clear and accurate field notes, proper clothing, fully charged batteries, and a sharp machete.

Regardless of most weather conditions we spent each day measuring and recording the locations of everything from natural features such as trees, wetlands, and topography to man-made features such as property markers, buildings, roads, fences, utilities, etc. At that time the terms GIS and GPS were not in our vocabulary, or almost anyone else’s for that matter, but the work we were doing established a great foundation for my acceptance and understanding of these technologies that were to come.

Small-town surveyors like us were mainly working in assumed coordinate systems that we created for each job. But there were a few occasions when we had to establish geodetic values for a large project. We would often spend days on these projects running latitude/longitude and/or NAVD-29 elevations from a local National Geodetic Survey benchmark or baseline to our site.

Well in 1990 the company I was working for acquired the new "magic-box". A Global Positioning System receiver that utilized satellite signals to calculate latitude, longitude, and elevation in minutes instead of days. My boss put the box on my desk and I was tasked with testing this new technology to see if it was telling the "truth". As a licensed surveyor he wanted to make sure we really knew what the accuracy of this new technology was before he affixed his name and personal liability to the project.

This was the beginning of my path on GPS testing, measurement analysis, coordinate quality reporting, and GIS data collection. Since then I have evaluated dozens of different devices, located tens of thousands of GIS features, conducted hundreds of classes and seminars, and set hundreds of high accuracy geodetic control points.

It is my hope that I can contribute to this blog by sharing my land surveying perspective as it relates to the "G" in GIS. If anyone has general questions related to these subjects feel free to share them. I expect to make my first post shortly on the topic of GIS data accuracy.

Welcome to new blogger Mike Popoloski

Atanas Entchev — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:11:00 GMT

The ENTCHEV GIS Blog is pleased to welcome Mike Popoloski as a guest blogger. Mike is a GPS expert and a licensed land surveyor, and will offer his unique insight into GIS/GPS interaction, integration and interdependability.

I have known Mike for over ten years. Much of what I know about GPS comes by way of training from his company, Mapco Mapping & Positioning Company in West Milford, New Jersey. Mike is the most knowledgeable person about GPS I have ever met. I am certain this blog’s readers can learn a lot from Mike as well.

Apple’s Steve Jobs: Adobe is lazy. No Flash on the iPad

Atanas Entchev — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:20:00 GMT

First the iPhone and now the iPad shun Flash. Steve Jobs says it’s because Flash is buggy, and the world is moving to HTML5 anyway.

What does this have to do with GIS? If, like me, you believe Jobs is right, then a lot. Flash front ends have been gaining popularity with web GIS developers. Flash (and Microsoft’s Flash counterpart – Silverlight) have thrown many a GIS shop into costly detours. Fancy Flash interfaces have taken countless hours to build, only to subsequently annoy countless users. If Jobs is right, all this may be for naught.

Self-described geonerd Michael Weisman (@mweisman) tweets: "Does Adobe not understand that no Flash is a feature?" Just like a child once cried out: "The king has no clothes!"

[UPDATE 01/31/2010 3:38 PM EST] Michael Weisman's original ire was directed at TheFlashBlog for implying that without Flash support the web would be broken. Michael just sent me a link to a follow-up to the original TheFlashBlog post, showing that all but two of the showcased sites already have H.264/HTML5 versions.

[UPDATE 02/03/2010] Sean Gillies concurs.

Have architects perfected the procurement process?

Atanas Entchev — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:22:00 GMT

Structural architects have gotten closer than GIS architects, for sure.

Regular readers of this blog know that I am an avid proponent of using the construction industry procurement process as a model in GIS procurement. Now a BusinessWeek article on crowdsourcing and how to fix it evokes an architectural analogy as well:

“For large buildings, anywhere from 3 to 12 architects are selected to propose a rough set of plans for the building based on the quality of their previous work. Each one is compensated with a submission payment that helps to cover their costs, with the full fee for the project going to the architect ultimately selected. Why not do the same when engaging other types of creative experts?”

It seems that the construction industry has got it right, through centuries of experience, no doubt. Instead of reinventing the wheel, our young industry should take a page out of our construction brethrens’ playbook.

HT to Peter Bilton for the EW article.

Don’t ask me what I think about your online GIS after you bought it

Atanas Entchev — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:50:00 GMT

I am such a friendly guy. Well-respected, too, apparently. A lot of people know me and value my opinion and expertise. Decision-makers, with budgets.

So it comes as no surprise that every once in a while people ask me GIS-related questions. Such as: “Hey, we just launched our online GIS. What do you think?” Or: “Hey, we just had our tax maps digitized, what should we do with them?”

It is nice to have one’s opinion so highly valued, but it is an honour that I dream not of (to quote Juliet). I would much rather folks call me *before* they go on a GIS services shopping spree. It would then make sense to point out that launching an online GIS that only works in Internet Explorer in 2010 is asinine, no matter how good the deal. No point mentioning this now.

Building a Brand

Atanas Entchev — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:29:00 GMT

I wrote this article five years ago. It was edited by Adena Schutzberg, and appeared in print in Earth Observation Magazine in April January 2005 -- that publication's last print issue. (EOM continued as an online publication until August of 2005). (Web archive copy).

I am republishing this piece on my blog in 2010 because I think all raised issues are still very valid. I find that I am not the only one wondering about the value of the acronyms after their names (I became an AICP in 1993, a GISP in 2007). I will share more of my current thinking in a follow-up to this post.

I work out with a trainer at a local gym. I like James -- he knows his stuff and pushes me hard. The other day I asked James what he thought about professional certification. "It is very important," he said. He added that his national certification from the XYZ fitness authority helps him acquire and keep clients like me. James was obviously unaware that I did not know that he held a certification. I liked him for his work.

As I was looking for an accountant recently, I opened the phone book and found several dozen listings for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs). There were no listings for non-certified accountants. I called the CPA closest to my home.

In both of these examples certification had seemingly nothing to do with my selection of services. But maybe it did. Maybe the gym only hired James because of his certification. Maybe non-certified accountants don't even bother to get listed in the phone book because of all the competition from the CPAs? Or maybe all accountants are already certified?

I am leading, of course, to the subject of GIS professional certification, much debated in our industry. A lot of questions have been running through my mind since the launch of the GIS Certification Program, administered through the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI). Questions like: Would you rather trust your GIS project to a GISP (a Certified GIS Professional) than to an acronym-deprived Ms. Jane Doe? Would you pay extra for the GISP's services? How much more? Why? Also: Whom is certification designed for? Whom does it serve -- the certified professional, the public, or someone else?

Certification and Branding

These days the word "branding" has a highly commercialized connotation. Interestingly, branding was originally implemented to protect the consumer. For that reason, branding enjoys the protection of the law. However, over the years, branding has "evolved" to a state in which it protects mainly the interests of the brand owner. Branding is now a marketing technique.

I submit that professional certification is not much different from branding. Certification implies recognition by one's peers, which branding does not. But the differences end there. The similarities are more profound, the major one being that both systems seem to exist primarily to promote the sales of services to the public, and to promote the brand itself.

The following analogy needs no explanation:

certifier . . . certificate holder . . . public
brand owner . . . brand distributor . . . public
franchisor . . . franchisee . . . public

Certification and Licensing

I am a planner by education, and hold a national certification from the relevant certifying authority. The certification makes me more recognizable to the lay person, thus generally assisting the public in their selection of professionals (or so the theory goes). The certification does not allow me to practice planning in my home state of New Jersey, though. For that I need a license from the state (as does a barber in order to cut my hair and a plumber in order to fix my drain).

An interesting thing is happening within the planning profession in New Jersey right now. Planning professionals, who have qualified for national certification as part of their Professional Planner (PP) licensing process, choose not to pursue the certification. They only pursue the planning license. In marketing terms, it appears that the value of the certifying brand is eroding.

Which brings me to more questions about our own industry: Is the GISCI certification program trying to fill the state licensing void by creating a national GIS certification system? Do we know how close individual states are to implementing their own programs for licensing GIS professionals? Will those programs interplay with the current GISCI program? Will there be direct credit transfers, for example? With the implementation of state GIS licensing, will the GISP brand gain or lose value over time?

To Certify, or Not to Certify?

GISP has a nice ring to it. I think I will pass, though. Until the day the state begins to regulate my services. Then, if I am not retired, I will apply for a license.

Directions magazine publishes my GIS architecture article

Atanas Entchev — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:22:00 GMT

Directions magazine, the premier English language GIS publication, published my GIS architecture article. The article is based on my Design-Build GIS post.

GeoDesign 2010 and Beyond

Atanas Entchev — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:44:00 GMT

As I watch James Fee (@cageyjames) tweet the ESRI 2010 GeoDesign Summit, I realize that “geodesign” is a smart strategic shift from “what is” to “what will be.” Smart, because without such a shift the GIS industry will eventually cannibalize itself, running out of things to map.

The problem with “geodesign” is that it has been known as “architecture” and “urban planning” for quite some time now. I doubt that architects and urban planners will just sit and watch as GIS folks enter and try to take over the design space.

Interesting times.

Follow ENTCHEV on Twitter.

GIS architect job posting in the wild

Atanas Entchev — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:39:00 GMT

[UPDATE 01/08/2010] Brian Timoney (@briantimoney) alerted me to yet another GIS Architect job opening ("Sr" at that!).

Be still my heart. A California organization, MARRS Services (I am not familiar with them) has posted a job opening for a GIS architect on the GIS Jobs Clearinghouse. Could it be that the days of "What is a GIS architect?" are over?

For the hardcore GIS nerd

Atanas Entchev — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:34:00 GMT

If you have ever run ARC/INFO from a command line, you will find this hilarious.

Always listen to your wife

Atanas Entchev — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:42:00 GMT

As James Fee correctly points out, hardly a week goes by without Google dropping a bombshell. The latest few are the new functionality in the Google Maps Data API and the update to the Google Fusion Tables API. As Archie Belaney says in their comment, many basic geoweb sites from ESRI, Autodesk, MapInfo and Intergraph just started looking expensive.

The GIS blogosphere is abuzz about these developments, so I will not rehash them here for you (you should read James’s blog post for the full scoop). Instead, I will tell you how my wife, who knows very little about GIS, saw all this coming, back in 2005.

The year was 2005. I was working at a small startup. We were developing and marketing a web-based GIS application. It was written in Java, it was cross-platform, it had a small footprint, it was fast, and it was light-years ahead of ArcIMS – the dominant web-based GIS app at the time. We were going to take the GIS world by storm. We were going to be millionaires in no time. I was picking out color schemes for my Maserati.

Google was also doing something with mapping at the time, but it wasn’t GIS. It was a lightweight, consumer mapping app. It was called Google Maps. I showed it to my wife just for kicks, as a novelty. The following conversation occurred:

Wife: “Isn’t this what you guys are doing?”
Me: “No! We are doing much more. We are doing web-based GIS!”
Wife: “I think you should move on to something else.”

What did she know? She is an architect.

I left that startup anyway, for a different reason, and founded ENTCHEV GIS Architects in December of 2005. I shifted my focus away from application development and on to high-level design and GIS system integration. We are doing fine, but I still don’t drive a Maserati.

Always listen to your wife.

Celebrating Four Years in Business

Atanas Entchev — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:03:00 GMT

ENTCHEV GIS Architects was born four years ago today – on December 1st, 2005.

The past four years have been interesting – exciting, challenging, full of long hours and hard work. We had to learn a myriad of new things – management, accounting, business development, sales and marketing, human resources. We had to learn how to collect from deadbeat clients. We are still learning every day.

I want to thank everyone whose encouragement and advice helped us get started and make it to this mark. I want to thank all clients, employees, contractors, advisers, business partners, friends, and volunteers for their continued support. Above all, I want to thank my family for their unwavering faith in this enterprise, and in me personally.

The Problem with Design-Build GIS

Atanas Entchev — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:39:00 GMT

Nobody disputes the need for an architect in building construction. Nobody disputes the architect’s fees, either (running between 6.5% and 30% of the total construction cost). This is just how it works. And it does work. Just look around – there are so many beautiful buildings. Even the ugly ones function as intended. Rarely does a building collapse on its own.

Not so in GIS. The GIS landscape is littered with Frankensteins, a wasteland of wasted effort, where bitter early adopters often claim that GIS stands for “Gee, I’m Sorry.”

Why is that? Because of poor, rushed, or entirely skipped system design phase.

To continue with the construction analogy, most GIS contracts are awarded to design-build vendors. In the inevitable drive to cut costs, design inevitably suffers. The system design is often tailored to match the technical capabilities of the vendor. We know what happens next – cost overruns, overspending, poor (if any) fit to owner’s needs and business processes, shelved systems, “Gee, I’m Sorry.”

If only the owners had hired a GIS architect at the very beginning of the process. GIS architects know the industry inside and out, follow technology trends, and know the vendors’ strengths and weaknesses. An independent GIS architect will study the owner’s needs, help develop a program, prepare an RFP, select a vendor, and oversee the system implementation.

If you are planning to spend $1M on a GIS, budget an extra $65,000 (at a minimum) for a GIS architect. You won’t be sorry.

Relying on VGI for your mapping needs is like relying on Twitter for your news

Atanas Entchev — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:12:00 GMT

Yesterday's blog post about Wikipedia losing volunteers and what that possibly might mean for Open Street Map triggered a wave of reaction (a backlash, rather) on this blog, on Paul Ramsey's blog, and on Twitter. Most of it came from OSM advocates who perceived my post as a knock on Open Street Map.

I am not knocking Open Street Map. I wrote: "Collaborative mapping certainly has its place in the GIS ecosystem, but it is often misunderstood, and on occasion misrepresented." The misrepresentation is what I have a problem with.

A crucial issue with all volunteer-based systems is what motivates people to volunteer their efforts (HT Kirk Kuykendall), and also what unmotivates them – i.e., what motivates people to cease to volunteer their efforts. Without a fundamental understanding of these forces, it would be naïve to view such systems as anything more than exotic flowers that inspire, but may not be there tomorrow.

Report: Wikipedia Losing Volunteers. Is Open Street Map Next?

Atanas Entchev — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:57:00 GMT

If you build a system based on volunteerism, what will you do when the volunteers don't want to volunteer any more? Proponents of various community mapping efforts seem certain of the existence of an unlimited supply of volunteer (read 'free') labor. But they should take note of this cnet news article, which shows that a volunteer's passion can be a fleeting thing.

Collaborative mapping and its sibling, Public Participation GIS, are all the rage these days. They appear to be attractive alternatives to commercial or governmental mapping systems. Often built with open source technology using VGI (volunteered geographic information), these systems cost less to build and maintain than their commercial counterparts. They have other advantages as well, such as faster turnaround for data updates.

But the lack of due diligence and quality control in the data collection process casts serious doubts on these systems' usability for anything but the most casual recreational purposes. Factor in the fleeting and unpredictable nature of the volunteer effort needed to keep these systems running, and you have an exotic flower that inspires, but may not be there next time you look for it.

Collaborative mapping certainly has its place in the GIS ecosystem, but it is often misunderstood, and on occasion misrepresented. You get what you pay for. There is no free lunch.

How does an organization a technology platform select?

Atanas Entchev — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:11:00 GMT

Is it "A" – the platform which most closely meets the organization’s goals and objectives, or "B" – the most affordable one? Or is it something else?

Anyone who has ever taken a multiple-choice test knows that the correct answer is usually "C". In our example "C" stands for “the platform for which the decision-maker or influencer have the strongest personal preference”.

I submit that the answer to our question is (20A+35B+45C). In other words, a decision-maker’s subjective preferences trump any individual objective criterion, and are barely outweighed by the sum of all objective criteria.

This is true in fashion as well as in technology. I call this “Entchev’s Law”.

Ariz. Court Rules Records Law Covers 'Metadata'

Atanas Entchev — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:37:00 GMT

The New York Times reports that Arizona's Supreme Court ruled that metadata must be disclosed under Arizona's public records law, in what NYT calls a "groundbreaking ruling." The Arizona case did not involve GIS data and metadata, but I see no reason why this precedent and ruling would not apply to similar GIS data/metadata cases.

If nothing else, this ruling will surely bring more scrutiny to the oft-neglected metadata quality (or mere presence) issue in GIS.

The Walmartization of Technology

Atanas Entchev — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:12:00 GMT

“Why pay for anything if Google will eventually give it away free?” This is the question James Fee asks in his blog post about the just-launched Google Maps Navigation (Beta) for Android 2.0 devices.

Lest an unfortunate misunderstanding occurs, James is using sarcasm. I think.

Unless you have been living under a rock (or you are not a GIS geek), you know that in the last couple of weeks Google launched, in rapid succession, several changes to Google Maps and related services. First, Google dropped their data provider, Tele Atlas, in favor of using Google’s own data source. At the same time Google implemented an online system for reporting map errors. Next, Google added parcel boundaries to some areas. And now – free navigation!

A lot has been written on geo blogs and on Twitter about many pesky geodata (quality and other) issues with the new Google Maps. Interestingly, most folks seem to have no problem with the noticeable degradation in Goggle Maps’ data quality, and seem to be (or at least declare to be) happy to provide free feedback to Google to improve the map data quality.

I wonder if Google researched and factored in in this process the willingness of its users to work for Google for free.

Closes Fee:

“Now there are two great limitations on this product. First it is only on Android which like the Microsoft Zune is irrelevant. Second it is only available in the USA which means that my friends around the world won’t be able to navigate to amusement parks that closed 25 years ago in their neighborhood.”

Touché!

Find Us at The 2009 New Jersey Planning Conference

Atanas Entchev — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:10:00 GMT

ENTCHEV GIS Architects will be exhibiting at the 2009 New Jersey Planning Conference Thursday & Friday, November 5th & 6th, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, New Brunswick, NJ. Stop by our booth to say hi and see what we've been up to.

The conference is sponsored by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association.