The Harlow Report-GIS
2024 Edition
ISSN 0742-468XSince 1978
On-line Since 2000
GIS News Snippets
For the week of
November 18, 2024
Remember When?
A “Harlow Report” From Nov 20, 2023
New Ways AI Is Making Maps More Immersive
by Miriam Daniel VP, Google Maps Experiences
Immersive View for routes is coming to Maps, and there's new ways for developers to use Maps' immersive experiences.
From understanding a neighborhood at a glance to experiencing a place virtually like you're really there, Maps has reimagined the way people navigate and explore. With advancements in AI, we're introducing a whole new way to understand your route before you head out. Plus, developers can now tap into the magic of Maps' immersive experiences.
Preview your journey with Immersive View for routes
Over the past year, we've been reinventing Maps, making it more visual with features like search with Live View and Immersive View for places. Now with Immersive View for routes, you can visualize every segment of a route before you go — whether you're driving, walking or cycling.
Immersive View uses computer vision and AI to fuse billions of Street View and aerial images together to create a rich, digital model of the world. With this technology, you can see all the information you need about your route at once. When you get directions, you'll see a multidimensional experience that lets you preview bike lanes, sidewalks, intersections and parking along your journey. With the time slider, you'll see air quality information and how the route looks as the weather changes throughout the day, so you can be prepared with a jacket or sunscreen. And no matter what mode you take, AI and historical driving trends simulate how many cars might be on the road at a given time — because a route during a quiet afternoon can look very different during rush hour.
Read full story at Google Maps Blog…
Now back to 2024
35 Years of Harnessing the Power of Geospatial Data for Decision Making
by Francesco Fiondella
CIESIN's mission is to make complex environmental, social and economic data easy to access and use so that people can make better decisions about pressing issues like climate change, disaster response and sustainable development.
The Climate School's Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is celebrating its 35th year since its founding as an independent nonprofit in 1989, and its 25th year housed at Columbia University. These anniversaries come with another milestone: a new name. As of today, CIESIN will now stand for the Center for Integrated Earth System Information.
CIESIN's mission is to make complex environmental, social and economic data easy to access and use so that people can make better decisions about pressing issues like climate change, disaster response and sustainable development.
… Since its inception, CIESIN has transformed the way the world thinks about using geospatial and other data-science approaches to pressing interdisciplinary issues such as climate change, pandemics, conflict, disaster risk mitigation and sustainable development.
Read full story at Columbia Climate School…
Announcing New APIs for Amazon Location Service Routes, Places, and Maps
by Sébastien Stormacq
Amazon Location unveils 17 new APIs with enhanced route optimization, toll cost calculations, GPS trace snapping, proximity search, predictive suggestions, and static/dynamic map rendering – streamlining developer experiences across a wide range of location-based applications.
Amazon Location Service released 17 new and enhanced APIs that expand and improve capabilities for the Routes, Places, and Maps functionalities, creating a more cohesive and streamlined experience for developers. By introducing enhanced features and offering simplified migration, these updates make Amazon Location Service more accessible and useful for a wide range of applications.
You now can access advanced route optimization, toll cost calculations, GPS traces snapping, and a variety of map styles with static and dynamic rendering options, and perform proximity-based search and predictive suggestions, with rich, detailed information on points of interest.
Read full story at AWS Amazon…
Ten Ways GIS Extends the Value of Indoor Maps and NG911
by Brooks Shannon, Esri Blog
Learn ten ways that GIS enhances the effectiveness of indoor maps and Next Generation 911 (NG911) by improving emergency communications, enabling accurate location verification, and providing detailed situational awareness for emergency responders during incidents in complex indoor environments.
Emergencies can happen anywhere. But, as any first responder knows, an emergency inside of a building comes with its own special set of unknowns—especially if the building is large and complex, or the emergency requires tactical response. Keeping people safe in the places where they work and visit is critical. …
Most state and local governments have a geographic information system (GIS) and use it in a multitude of ways. It is foundational enterprise technology that helps people make better decisions through real-time visualization, advanced analytics, and the collection and sharing of location data.
When it comes to indoor maps … there are compelling reasons why these maps should be built and delivered in the same way as the GIS used by public safety telecommunicators, first responders, school resource officers, and the decision-makers that support them. GIS-based indoor maps can also support and extend other systems, such as NG911, broadening the reach of the investment made in creating and updating these maps.
Read full story at Esri…
Top 5 Geolocation APIs for App Developers in 2024
by 1 Digital Team
Discover the top geolocation APIs for app developers in 2024, comparing features, cost, and scalability. Find the best fit for your app's needs
The mobile-driven landscape of 2024 has made apps that deliver real-time, location-aware experiences indispensable. For app developers, choosing the right geolocation API is crucial for building effective, engaging, and scalable location-based features.
This guide will review the top five geolocation APIs available in 2024, offering insights into each API's features, scalability, and cost. This comparison is designed to help developers determine which API best aligns with their project needs, budget, and technical requirements.
Read full story at FongersLakes1…
Volcano Watch — The Art and Science of Geologic Mapping
by Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Geologic mapping has been one of the most fundamental mandates of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since its establishment in 1879. Congress created the USGS to 'classify the public lands and examine the geological structure, mineral resources, and products within and outside the national domain.'
The famous western US explorer John Wesley Powell (also the second director of the USGS) convinced Congress into authorizing the “preparation of the geological map of the United States.” The first geologic maps were uniform in size and contained all available information on topography and geology, with accompanying text describing mapped geology. But sometimes too much information on a map can make it difficult to read and interpret. Modern maps tend to be more versatile; displaying geologic deposits (also commonly referred to as map units) and features of special interest for a project or investigation.
Modern geologic mapping efforts have centered more around investigations that are deemed of critical importance, such as those vital to energy (oil and gas) and economic (minerals and ore deposits) resources, surface and groundwater resources, urban development and land use. The last one is of particular importance as the Earth is a dynamic place and understanding the locations and ages of past volcanic (lava flows and tephras) and tectonic (faults and fractures) features gives us a blueprint for where and when future activity may occur.
Geologic maps are not an exact depiction of the Earth's surface. Instead, geologic maps display a generalization of interested units and features in correspondence with the scale of a map. If mapping is done at a small scale, which would be zoomed out to show a large area, then smaller geologic units and features might not be able to be accurately displayed. In the end, everything depends on the scale being used and what the geologic mapper is trying to portray.
Read full story at USGS…
Industry News
In Government
San Francisco Hackathon Seeks to Use AI for Public Good
by Joaquin Palomino, San Francisco Chronicle
More than 100 people crowded into the third floor of a downtown San Francisco office building Saturday morning to seek ways to leverage the power of artificial intelligence to tackle daunting social problems.
The beginning of the two-day Hack for Social Impact attracted computer engineers, data scientists and other professionals to develop tools that Bay Area nonprofits and international organizations can use to address a range of problems, such as navigating complex building codes that can drive up the cost of developing local affordable housing, tracking tenant rights violations on the Peninsula, and analyzing the effects of land degradation and drought globally.
…
“We have seen a technology boom in generative AI over the past few years, but not every organization has gotten to benefit from it,” said Cher Hu, the founder of Hack for Soc“al Impact and one of the planners of the event, which concluded Sunday. “That's why w're organizing this movement to activate top engineers and AI talent in Silicon Valley to innovate public interests.”
Verizon, AT&T Tell Courts: FCC Can't Punish Us for Selling User Location Data
by Jon Brodkin
Carriers claim location data isn't protected, say they have right to jury trial.
The article discusses Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile's fight against fines for selling user location data. The carriers claim that location data isn''t protected and that they have the right to a jury trial. They also argue that the FCC can't punish them for selling user location data. The FCC has proposed fines of 80.1 million for T-Mobile, 57.3 million for AT&T:46.
Read full story at arsTechnica…
What Small Cities and Counties Need to Know About Cyber Insurance
by Walt Powell
Every jurisdiction needs cyber insurance. The question is, how do you acquire it?
Listen (06:33)
Despite improving their resilience to ransomware, state and local governments face greater risk this year than in years prior, as the fallout from a successful attack has never been costlier.
This is especially troubling for small and rural cities and counties, which have faced a ransomware rampage over the past couple of years. And yet, it's not just ransomware; cyberattacks, in general, that target state and local governments increased in 2023.
Read full story at StateTech…
In Technology
Microsoft Delays Recall Rollout to December
by Matthew Finnegan
The controversial “explorable timeline” feature for new Windows PCs was initially due for a preview launch in June.
Microsoft has delayed the rollout of its Windows Recall feature. The controversial feature — which takes regular screenshots of a user's desktop screen — is now slated to launch in preview in December
Microsoft unveiled Recall in May, and initially intended to release it to Windows Insiders in June. Those plans were put on hold as Microsoft addressed data security and privacy concerns raised by experts about Recall, with a new release date set for October.
Microsoft said it had again postponed Recall's release as it continues working on the feature.
Read full story at Computerworld…
Study: Growth of AI Adoption Slows Among U.S. Workers
by Ina Fried
The percentage of workers in the U.S. who say they are using AI at work has remained largely flat over the last three months, according to a new study commissioned by Slack.
Why it matters: If AI's rapid adoption curve slows or flattens, a lot of very rosy assumptions about the technology — and very high market valuations tied to them — could change.
Driving the news: Slack said its most recent survey found 33% of U.S. workers say they are using AI at work, an increase of just a single percentage point. That represents a significant flattening of the rapid growth noted in prior surveys.
––Global adoption of AI use at work, meanwhile, rose from 32% to 36%.
Between the lines: Slack also found that globally, nearly half of workers (48%) said they were uncomfortable telling their managers they use AI at work.Among the top reasons cited were a fear of being seen as lazy, cheating or incompetent
Read full story at Axios…
TVA Approves Elon Musk's Controversial Data Center Plan for More Power
by Sean Wolfe
The xAI facility powers X's AI chatbot, 'Grok,' and recently began operations.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors has approved a controversial plan to supply 150 megawatts (MW) of power to a South Memphis data center run by xAI, a company founded by Elon Musk.
The plans to bring the data center to Memphis pitted the the local utility, Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) against its regulator, the city council earlier this summer. …
Initially, the company planned to use 150 MW of electricity, but recently Musk has said he plans to double the facility's computing power by the end of 2024, and it has been reported that the facility's energy use will also double, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center.
Read full story at PowerGrid International…
In Utilities
DOE Announces Additional $2 Billion To Protect The Grid Against Growing Threats of Extreme Weather, Expand Transmission
by Department of Energy
Thirty-eight projects across 42 states will upgrade more than 950 miles of transmission, increase grid capacity for growing electricity demand, and deliver jobs as part of the Investing in America Agenda.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced nearly $2 billion for 38 projects to protect the U.S. power grid against growing threats of extreme weather, lower costs for communities, and increase grid capacity to meet load growth arising from an increase in manufacturing, data centers, and electrification.
The selected projects announced through the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program and supporting the Biden-Harris Administration's Justice40 Initiative will deploy new, innovative transmission and distribution infrastructure and technology upgrades to enable over 7.5 GW of grid capacity, fasten interconnection for new clean energy projects, support nearly 6,000 jobs, and catalyze over $4.2 billion in total public and private investment to bring reliable, affordable, clean energy to Americans.
Read full story at TDWorld…
Georgia Power Awarded $160 Million From Department of Energy to Enhance Georgia's Power Grid
by Grice Connect
Georgia Power has been awarded over $160 million in funding from the Department of Energy's Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program to enhance grid flexibility and resilience across Georgia, ensuring reliable, affordable, and clean energy for its 2.7 million customers.
As Georgia continues to grow, the company is ensuring that customers have access to clean, safe, reliable, and affordable power, and actively pursued the funding available under the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) Program established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help reduce the costs of necessary investments for the benefit of customers.
Investments under the GRIP Program are intended to enhance grid flexibility, improve the resilience of the power system against extreme weather and ensure American communities have access to affordable, reliable electricity when and where they need it.
Read full story at Grice Connect…
Utilities' Hidden Clean Energy Tax Is at the Heart of Our Energy Challenges
by Ari Peskoe
Ending utility self-funding is central to FERC's efforts to change utilities' incentives and push them to tackle more ambitious high-voltage projects.
Investor-owned utilities are profitable companies. Already valued at a trillion dollars, utilities pursue growth to boost shareholders's gains and impress potential investors. But rather than chasing profits through competition, like other businesses, utilities focus on changing the rules to thwart competition and create monopolies.
Utilities are currently arguing, before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and two federal courts, that they have a legal right to raise entry fees on new power plants. This would amount to a tax on new entrants into wholesale power markets that would enrich utility shareholders at the expense of the public.
Read full story at Utility Dive…