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A bill to provide for transparency in the expenditure of funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), including the use of geospatial technologies for visualization of the spending, has passed the U.S. House of Representatives and earned the praise of MAPPS, the national association of private geospatial firms.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1242 on December 2 by a vote of 421-0. The bill amends the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 by providing for additional monitoring and accountability of TARP. It calls for the Secretary of the Treasury to ensure the official TARP accountability database “provides geospatial analysis capabilities.”
MAPPS applauded the leadership of U.S. Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Peter King (R-NY), the sponsors of the House legislation. “MAPPS commends Representatives Maloney and King for their leadership and foresight in including a provision employing geospatial technologies for oversight and inspection purposes to enable increased accountability and additional monitoring,” said John Palatiello, MAPPS Executive Director.
first published week of: 10/09/2023
The COVID-19 pandemic and political advertising caused the Census Bureau to increase its paid media investment and adapt with targeted appeals to nonresponders.
The US Census Bureau faced unimaginable challenges with its 2020 population count, given the public health measures brought on by the pandemic. The typical household visits were curtailed for a time until infection spikes settled and accommodations were made.
“In the middle of this, we had to decide whether our enumerators should wear masks” said Nancy Bates, senior researcher for Survey Methodology at the US Census Bureau. “We conducted a survey asking, ‘If an enumerator comes to your door wearing a mask, would you be more likely to respond, less likely, or wouldn’t it make a difference?’ We found that when combined, the majority said they would prefer a mask or it wouldn’t make a difference.”
This is indicative of the analytical approach the Census Bureau takes to assess every task, set standards, and fine-tune processes to increase efficiency. For the first time this year, digital submissions were allowed via the internet and the Census Bureau used location intelligence and lifestyle segmentation data to guide its outreach.
first published week of: 08/21/2023
A global survey from Marigold (formerly CM Group) finds 67 percent of U.S. consumers think ads based on location data are “creepy” with only 31 percent comfortable sharing their location in real-time.
Ads based on location data overall were found to be the most “creepy” among the marketing practices explored, just ahead of ads related to something they talked about near a smart device (63 percent) and retargeting ads derived from third-party cookie tracking (61 percent).
Consumers have become accustomed to using location-based technologies when driving their cars using Google Maps or searching for nearby restaurants or stores with their GPS-enabled mobile phones. The technology also powers in-store navigation via apps from Home Depot, Lowe’s and Walmart.
Uber and Lyft last fall rolled out location- and time-targeted ads across car rooftops.
However, the promise of sending coupons to shoppers in aisles in real time as they pass by in-store displays or sending two-for-one happy hour appetizer alerts to drivers as they approach a restaurant haven’t lived up to the hype.
Read full story at Retail Wire…
first published week of: 10/23/2023
According to Reuters, Amazon.com Inc reportedly agreed on Monday to buy mapping startup UpNext, the latest sign of increased competition between the world’s largest Internet retailer and tech rivals such as Google Inc (GOOG.O) and Apple Inc (AAPL.O).
GigaOM reported that UpNext Founders Raj Advani, Vik Advani, Robin Har and Danny Moon will move from New York to Seattle, where Amazon is based, to lead the e-commerce company's mapping efforts.
The technology news service did not report a purchase price, but said UpNext backers, including Chris Sacca's Lowercase Capital, will get a five-fold return on their investment, made about 16 months ago.
An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment and UpNext's Moon did not respond to a phone message left seeking comment on Monday afternoon.
Maps have become an area of intense competition among some of the largest technology companies in recent months. Apple is replacing Google Maps, a pre-loaded app so far on the iPhone and iPad, with its own in-house map service, delivering a blow to Google, which gets about half its map traffic from Apple devices.
Amazon may be buying UpNext to help its push into mobile devices, including a possible smartphone, Aaron Kessler, an Internet analyst at Raymond James, said on Monday.
first published week of: 10/16/2023
TerraGo Technologies announced today that MAP2PDF for GeoTIFF is now available, allowing TerraGo customers to create GeoPDF® files directly from GeoTIFF files. These GeoPDF files are then viewable with the free Adobe® Reader® and include enhanced mapping functionality via the free GeoPDF toolbar. GeoTIFF is a standard image file format used by GIS professionals to store and publish high resolution maps and imagery. GeoTIFF is based on the standard TIFF file and allows for embedded georeferencing information. It is commonly used as an interchange format for aerial photography and scanned maps. MAP2PDF for GeoTIFF allows users to convert GeoTIFF files to the more functional and flexible GeoPDF format.
GeoPDF is the TerraGo Technologies adaptation of the Adobe PDF format that lets users view maps, measure distances and areas, query attributes, display coordinates and create redlines and notes with Adobe Reader that can be incorporated back into GIS databases via .shp files.
first published week of: 12/11/2023
Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG), a leading provider of profes- and software for local government, announced that the City of Fort Walton Beach, Florida has retained GTG to provide Geographic Information Systems Engineering and Consulting Services. GTG will be performing a needs assessment based on an evaluation of existing conditions and GIS needs. In addition to the GIS needs assessment, GTG also will complete a five-year GIS strategic plan that will document all phases of implementation.
Mr. Curtis Hinton, owner of Geographic Technologies Group, said, “GTG is excited to work with the City of Fort Walton Beach. Their staff have a genuine enthusiasm and vision for how GIS will improve their operations and streamline public service. The City is in a growth pattern and the staff realize that new ways of doing business are a must. Additionally, with the specter of the annual hurricane threat City staff understand they must have the best tools for disaster preparedness, response, and recovery at their disposal. The strategic plan will give staff a step-by-step roadmap of how to implement GIS in a cost effective and logical manner.”
first published week of: 11/20/2023