The misuse of technology is not a new topic (guns don't kill people, people with guns do) and I am certainly not the first person to consider this in the context of geospatial/GIS. With all the great conference sessions on geospatial technologies and how to exploit them, this "non-GIS" geo-community could stand to review what we are doing, not just how we are doing it. One review from the recent SXSW (South by Southwest) conference described geo-fencing as the 'next generation of geolocation'; as if geo-fencing were some cutting-edge technique. In the days of old-school GIS, your friendly analyst and his arsenal of oh-so-very-special software was the gatekeeper to geospatial data analysis. Those shackles are now off. What might people produce without an understanding of GIS concepts such as analysis across geographic scales, choosing appropriate data classification methods or even the implications of (gasp!) geo-fencing? The current job market demands geospatial software developers, yet university GIS programs are slow to produce them. Is the GIS Professional no longer needed or will they find a new place as geo-data scientists in the emerging field of Big Data Analysis?

1. Just Because You Can
Doesn’t Mean You Should
Paul Wickman, VP / CTO
twitter.com/flatrockgeo
paul@flatrockgeo.com

2. Just Because You Can
Doesn’t Mean You Should
Paul Wickman, VP / CTO
twitter.com/flatrockgeo
paul@flatrockgeo.com
Because where matters

3. Fl at Ro ck G e o grap h i c s
guide businesses and organizations toward
better and more intuitive decision-making
t h ro u g h t h e p o we r o f ge o grap h i c t h i n ki n g.
• Web Application Development
• MapFeeder Subscription Ser vices
• Geospatial Analytics and Data Mining
• Litigation Suppor t

4. 1) let’s do bad stuff really well
2) we don’t need no stinkin’ “GIS”!
3) everything old is new again (again)

5. 2) let’s doing bad stuff really well

6. “With great power comes great responsibility”
- Uncle Ben
Google Fusion Tables
Tutorial - Where 2011
Guns don’t kill people....

7. size does matter...
Population
Total
No Area

8. size does matter...
Population
Total
No Area

9. size does matter...
Population
Total
No Area

10. size does matter...
Population
Density
Area
Normalized

11. size does matter...
Population
Density
Area
Normalized

12. size does matter...
Population
Density
Area
Normalized

13. size does matter...
Population
Density
Area
Normalized

14. Population Density - Classification
Natural Breaks Quantile

15. symbology choices

16. symbology choices
• Choropleths

17. symbology choices
• Choropleths
• Dot density

18. symbology choices
• Choropleths
• Dot density
• Graduated Symbols

19. symbology choices
• Choropleths
• Dot density
• Graduated Symbols
• Proportional Symbols

20. symbology choices
• Choropleths
• Dot density
• Graduated Symbols
• Proportional Symbols
• Heat maps

21. symbology choices
• Dot density and scale

22. map scale

23. map scale

24. map scale

25. map scale
• ~60 feet from next zone.

26. map scale
• ~60 feet from next zone.
• Source map is 1:1,000,000

27. map scale
• ~60 feet from next zone.
• Source map is 1:1,000,000
• Horiz acc 1:24,000 +/- 90 feet

28. map scale
• ~60 feet from next zone.
• Source map is 1:1,000,000
• Horiz acc 1:24,000 +/- 90 feet
• Take a weighted average

29. • Analysis across scales
• Modifiable Areal Unit Problem
• Changes in census boundaries
• What exactly is a zip code?
• Heat map color/sampling choices
• Good geocoding (local vs general src)

30. • Effect of projections, datum transformations
• Appropriate data classification methods
• Geo-fencing with shitty data
• Hispanic is not a race

31. 2) we don’t need no stinking “GIS”!

32. GIS has always been an overloaded term

33. GIS has always been an overloaded term
... and it has always meant ‘esri’

34. GIS has always been an overloaded term
... and it has always meant ‘esri’
• GIS Analyst

35. GIS has always been an overloaded term
... and it has always meant ‘esri’
• GIS Analyst
• GIS Technician

36. GIS has always been an overloaded term
... and it has always meant ‘esri’
• GIS Analyst
• GIS Technician
• GIS Specialist

37. GIS has always been an overloaded term
... and it has always meant ‘esri’
• GIS Analyst • GIS Programmer
• GIS Technician
• GIS Specialist
• GIS Data Specialist

38. GIS has always been an overloaded term
... and it has always meant ‘esri’
• GIS Analyst • GIS Programmer
• GIS Technician • GIS Mapping Assistant
• GIS Specialist
• GIS Data Specialist

39. GIS has always been an overloaded term
... and it has always meant ‘esri’
• GIS Analyst • GIS Programmer
• GIS Technician • GIS Mapping Assistant
• GIS Specialist • GIS Mapping Technician
• GIS Data Specialist

40. GIS has always been an overloaded term
... and it has always meant ‘esri’
• GIS Analyst • GIS Programmer
• GIS Technician • GIS Mapping Assistant
• GIS Specialist • GIS Mapping Technician
• GIS Data Specialist • GIS Application Specialist

41. GISP
The “Certified GIS Professional”

42. What is happening now is fantastic
First-generation "push-pin" mapping, these skills weren't needed.
1) here is a map
2) here are pins on a map
3) here are other pins near you

43. • Many "GIS Professionals" are missing the boat
• Brian Timoney paraphrased, “Dear Universities: Please stop sending us GIS
Technicians”
• Current market demands geospatial software developers, “higher ed” slow
to produce them.
• There is not an employment problem there is an education problem
•Spatial is Indeed Special…but GIS Software Skills will Soon be Obsolete
• Geo-data Scientist as a career path?

44. 3) everything old is new again (again)

45. - Think about what you’re doing

47. •Understand what kind of data you're putting on the map - Noah
Illinsky

48. •Understand what kind of data you're putting on the map - Noah
Illinsky
•All of the default settings in MS Excel are wrong - Noah Illinsky

49. •Understand what kind of data you're putting on the map - Noah
Illinsky
•All of the default settings in MS Excel are wrong - Noah Illinsky
•Knowing Microsoft Word will not make you a poet - Some Blogger

50. •Understand what kind of data you're putting on the map - Noah
Illinsky
•All of the default settings in MS Excel are wrong - Noah Illinsky
•Knowing Microsoft Word will not make you a poet - Some Blogger
•GIS is the worst thing to happen to cartography, i.e. analysts are not
designers

51. Links and Such
http://www.justinholman.com/2012/03/20/spatial-is-indeed-special/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/business/computer-science-for-non-majors-takes-many-forms.html?_r=1
Paul Wickman, VP / CTO
twitter.com/flatrockgeo
paul@flatrockgeo.com

52. Links and Such
http://www.justinholman.com/2012/03/20/spatial-is-indeed-special/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/business/computer-science-for-non-majors-takes-many-forms.html?_r=1
Paul Wickman, VP / CTO
twitter.com/flatrockgeo
paul@flatrockgeo.com Because where matters

53. Great Quotes
Madmen, etc.