Conference Overview
About the Where 2.0 Conference
Who Should Attend | Conference Program | Endorsements | Program Commitee
Now in its third year, the Where 2.0 Conference is where the grassroots and leading edge developers building location aware technology intersect with the businesses and entrepreneurs seeking out location apps, platforms, and hardware to gain a competitive edge. In the O'Reilly conference tradition, Where 2.0 presents leading trends rather than chasing them.
At Where 2.0, you'll find source mapping tools, open standards for data and location web services, and sensors for obtaining location data. We'll learn how the established geo industry is reacting to the first businesses making money from their grassroots geospatial projects. There's no better place to meet the people behind the mash-ups, the people behind the platforms, and the people looking ahead to the future of geospatial. Join us at Where 2.0 to debate and discuss what's viable now, and what's lurking just below the radar.
Where 2.0 is a two-day, single-track conference featuring a unique combination of high profile keynotes with big players, lightning talks, panel discussions, demos, high order bits, Q&A time and much more. The most innovative and interesting people in this space are featured on stage, and stay around to debate and discuss with other conference-goers off stage. The conference also features ample time for networking, informal events, and the famed Where Fair (think geospatial science fair on steroids).
For an overview of this space, read The State of Where 2.0 (PDF) co-written by program chair Brady Forrest.
Who Should Attend Where 2.0
- GIS industry people looking to learn more about the latest developments in the mash-up world
- CTOs, technology evanglists, and technology scouts within companies looking to learn about viable technology
- CIOs, products managers, and technologists curious about how to incorporate location technology into existing products
- Open source mapping and location tool developers
- Grassroots developers building important mash-ups and systems
- Researchers and academics studying the field and building prototypes
- Artists creating collaborative experiences with a spatial focus
- Activists and community organizers building tools for managing non-profit location groups
- Neographers and traditional geographers working deep in the trenches of geospace
- Venture capitalists looking for the next investment opportunity
In the past, Where 2.0 has brought together representatives from such diverse companies, organizations, and projects as: AAA, AOL, Apple, Autodesk, Cisco Systems, Citysearch, deCarta, eBay, City of Phoenix, Defense Intelligence Agency, ESRI, FedEx Services, Flagr, France Telecom, GeoWankers, GlobeXplorer, Google, Intel, Mapquest, Microsoft, Navteq, National Geographic Society, OnomyLabs, Metaweb Technologies, Norwegian Armed Forces, Open Geospatial Consortium, OpenStreetMap, Openwave, Overstock.com, PennySaverUSA.com, Placebase, PlaceSite, Platial, Poly9, Qualcomm, Siemens, Skyhook Wireless, Stanford Business School, TDC Group, Telcontar, Tele Atlas North America, The Open Planning Project, Toyota InfoTechnology Center USA, UC Berkeley School of Information, UCSB Geography, uLocate Communications, University of California Los Angeles, Urban Scan, Valtus Imagery Services, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Online, Wikitravel, Yahoo, and many more.
Some of Where 2.0's past sponsors and exhibitors include: Autodesk, deCarta, ESRI, GeoTango, GlobeXplorer, Google, Mapquest, MetaCarta, Microsoft, Skyhook Wireless, Skyline, Talent, and Yahoo!
Conference Program
Location technology is booming across the Web and into people's homes. Since Where 2.0 2006, we've seen Microsoft release an amazing computer-generated, 3-D mapping tool complete with realtime traffic and an API, Platial create a distributed mapping platform built on top of Google's mapping platform, Sony release two consumer GPSs, and Open Street Map get its first commercial use. Google has expanded their user-generated, 3D models in Google Earth. Mapquest has continued forward with their open APIs. Yahoo! has launched Flickr maps which now holds over ten million geotagged photos. There are even hints that Apple is getting into the game with references to Google Maps being found in iPhoto and their Google Maps app on the iPhone. In the open source and data worlds, Wikimapia created a Google Earth layer and GeoRSS reached 1.0. In the meantime, Amazon has gotten out of the game by dropping it's innovative street-side maps.
And this is just the beginning--there is so much further for us to go. Phones know where we are, but can't tell us or someone who is browsing the phone's webserver. Photos can only be geotagged with expensive add-ons or by painstakingly adding them to a map. We still don't have the ability to immediately correct that home or business showing up two blocks away from its actual location on most mapping services.
The thrust of the program for the 2007 conference will revolve around these key areas:
- Local Search and Advertising: Local search and advertising is driving this new wave of innovation, but the models aren't set yet. Microsoft has created a 3-D world complete with visual ads using technology from acquisition Massive. Yahoo! is trying tiered pricing. Google is using AdSense, but has not added ads to its expensive-to-run Google Earth. MerchantsCircle is trying to create a new form of Yellow Pages. Yelp has received $10 million in funding as well as good growth, while similar players have stagnant user bases. What are the new trends? What are companies going to do to get a piece of the local advertising market? How will this impact mobile applications?
- Data: Recently, OpenStreetMap got its first commercial use. All of the major players have started adding the ability to mod their sites' maps. Teleatlas is increasing the number of countries being mapped. This year the triumvirate of GeoRSS-Mapufacture-GeoPress were released. Still deep in the geek terrain, these products show there is a desire from users to geotag their data and then employ an open format to use that data elsewhere. Platial has released a more consumer-friendly, distributed system that serves the dual purpose of increasing ad inventory, but more importantly allowing other sites to become the point of data entry. While all of this is happening formats are still being decided. GeoRSS 1.0 was just released, but there is still confusion around the more complicated GML and KML. Who will end up with the best data? Who will own it? Will users be able to take it with them? What effect will GeoDRM have?
- Data Policy: As we saw with Chris Schmidt at Where 2.0 2006 and with deadcellzones.com, there is always more data to be collected -- even if it hasn't been formally released. Who has rights to this data? What about public GIS data? Every country has it own policies and restrictions, how will and should they change as the need for it increases?
- Open Source: This year brought us the largest FOSS4G yet. OSGeo graduated MapBender. GeoBliki was shown. PostGIS is gaining in prominence. The open source GIS stack rivals the proprietary one. What are the new advances in the OS stack? Where are they pushing the GIS software companies?
- Sensorweb: Cheap sensors are becoming ubiquitous and increasingly web-based. Right now they are being used to track traffic, give out speed tickets, detect the weather, and turn on the music in my house. Where are they going and how will they affect our lives?
- Ultralocal: Bluetooth, WiFi... these are the ingredients of ultra-local applications. Utilizing this information companies like Skyhook Wireless, Microsoft, and SixthSense are able to locate you and provide services. It seems like users would want them but they haven't taken off yet. Is the killer app around the corner or is this never going to truly take off?
- Mobile: Location-based services are increasingly being added to mobile phones. What will the next innovations be and where will they come from? Handset manufacturers? Carriers? Or a startup who outflanks both of them?
- Visualization: Google Earth and Sketchup. Frappr. Windows Spaceland. These tools have turned us all into voyeurs and neogeographers. What are the advances in this area?
- Society: Having access to geodata is a new phenomena. The YellowPage directory books go straight from the door step to the recycling bin. Who are the users of Geo Apps? What do the users look like? Who is studying this and what do they have to say?
- Privacy: With greater access to location and sensor data comes greater concern for privacy. If you are online, then someone knows where you are. There has been no public subpoena of user location, but that time will come. How are companies preparing for this? How will society react?
- Environment/NGOs: As demonstrated in the book and movie Inconvenient Truth, maps can be used to convey powerful messages and forecast potential doom. Regardless of your political bent, geodata and software will be needed through out the world by governments and NGOs. MSR India is working on this right now. What are they doing with it right now and what will be needed in the future?
- Wild Cards: There are also some wild cards in the geospace. Virtual worlds are currently fun and being used for experiments. Will they eventually become more than just geodata playgrounds? Does Microsoft's Spaceland count as a virtual world? What rights do property-owners have over how their physical properties are represented virtually? Games. People play games to explore their world, but in doing so they can be exposed to new technology. What are the latest advances in location-based gaming? How is it changing people's perceptions?
Where 2.0 Conference Endorsements
"Where 2.0 was the most interesting and provocative conference I have attended."
–John Frank, Founder and CTO, MetaCarta Inc.
"If you are in the web 2.0 mapping business, and the virtual globe business, I think this is probably one of the best conferences, if not the best, to attend."
–Frank Taylor, Google Earth Blog
"I can't remember a conference I have attended in the past few years where there was just so much to take-in. [The next] Where 2.0...will be a show not to miss."
–Ed Parsons, edparsons.com
"Where 2.0 was a terrific event that showcased cutting-edge technology, geo-spatial tools and advanced thinking about place and participation. It's like a sneak preview of tomorrow's consumer and enterprise applications."
–Greg Sterling, Sterling Market Intelligence
"Where 2.0 Gives the World Meaning"
–Annalee Newitz, Wired News
"Many companies are trying to position themselves as leaders in the geolocation field this week, which makes sense since the sure-to-be-fascinating Where 2.0 conference kicks off next week."
–Rafe Needleman, CNET News.com
"I had a great time at Where 2.0"
–Jesse Rouse, VerySpatial
"[Where 2.0] presentations provided a stimulating combination of cartographic history, bleeding-edge technologies (many of them still under construction), and debate over how businesses can tap into the new excitement over consumer access to geo-referenced data on the Web."
–Technology Review
"The Where 2.0 Conference is an excellent forum for the mapping community to discuss the future of mapping for businesses and consumers."
–Stephen Lawler, Microsoft MapPoint GM
Program Committee
Program Chair
Brady Forrest
Brady Forrest is Chair for O'Reilly's Where 2.0 and Emerging Technology conferences. Additionally, he co-Chairs Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, Berlin and NYC. Brady writes for O'Reilly Radar tracking changes in technology. He previously worked at Microsoft on Live Search (he came to Microsoft when it acquired MongoMusic). Brady lives in Seattle, where he builds cars for Burning Man and runs Ignite. You can track his web travels at Truffle Honey.
Committee Members
Schuyler Erle
Schuyler Erle is a free software developer and activist. He is responsible for NoCatAuth, an early open source wireless captive portal, and geocoder.us, an open source U.S. address geocoder. Erle wrote O'Reilly's Mapping Hacks with Jo Walsh and Rich Gibson, and
Google Map Hacks, also with Rich.
Presently, he works with MetaCarta in Cambridge, MA, USA, developing nitfy geographic projects like OpenLayers, an open source web mapping framework written in pure JavaScript, and Gutenkarte, a service for exploring the geographic dimension of classic works of literature. Erle is proud to be a founding member of the OSGeo Foundation.
Andrew Turner
Andrew Turner is an engineer who develops tools and technology for
geospatial and automation systems. He is the author of the O'Reilly
Shortcut "Introduction to Neogeography" and also contributes to
MacTech Magazine and Linux Journal. Andrew has built airships,
spacecraft, and robotic vehicles.
Andrew now lives in Southeast Michigan, but travels the world as
frequently as possible. He dabbles in photography, scuba diving,
snowboarding, and is an avid curler.
Mike Liebhold
Mike Liebhold is currently a senior researcher for the Institute for the Future, IFTF, initially focusing on the implications and technologies of a geospatial web as a platform for pervasive and contextual computing. Most recently, Liebhold has been investigating the long-term futures of high-performance computing and broadband networks. Previously, Liebhold was a visiting researcher at Intel Labs, working on a pattern language for ubiquitious computing based on semantic web frameworks.
Miten Sampat
Miten Sampat is currently a graduate student affiliated to the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech. As an undergraduate he was a founding member of the CHCI's location based services research through the SeeVT initiative. Miten continues to lead this effort in prototyping interfaces for the geospatial web and exploring different mobile-spatial interaction methods. He also represents VT on its cricket team, and is a avid reader of popular science.