Invitation to GeoIT Future Workshop
Dear member of the the Association for
Geoinformatics, GeoIT and Navigation e.V.
15 years ago, in 2005, this society started with the “Bonner Erklärung zur Geoinformatik” (Geoinformatics Bonn declaration). As this press release states, 12 University scholars met and drove this development. Nothing bad with university professors convening and speaking with one voice (!). Still, Geoinformatics and GeoIT have developed rapidly in the mass market since then and it is safe to say that most of these developments are triggered by industry. To this end, smartphones and mobile navigation were the main drivers and the results heavily contribute to the overall “datafication” (Cukier & Mayer-Schoenberger 2013) of the society. Now new technologies are appearing.
We invite all members of our society to participate in an open workshop (open in a sense of open to everybody and open-ended) to briefly discuss some of the major trends and, more importantly, how recent and most likely future trends may change today’s role of Geoinformatics and GeoIT. How should our association react to these changes?
What are the most important innovations for businesses and customers in the 2020s? Navigation is also considered further as a key technology in the upcoming revolution of autonomous driving cars, but we may focus even more on the data and information aspects, societal impacts and the skills and knowledge future engineers and scientists may need. Beyond navigation, what are other major trends and developments at the interplay of IT and GeoIT. How can we position our association to support industry as well as academia in this field? Until recently, maps were the predominant technology for the acquisition and provision of geographical knowledge. That seems to change. But how to describe, structure or name new developments? Some of these questions are of interest to academy and industry alike, e.g. when it comes to standards.
More and more data foster an increasing number of geospatial applications. What core skills and knowledge are necessary in such a future world?
Please join us for a half day workshop on January 27th at our office in Berlin or book a Skype slot “meet the Management Board” for an easy and convenient telecon discussion via info@geoit.org .You may also send us ideas or input beforehand.
Best regards
President Prof. Dr. Roland Wagner
Vice President Prof. Dr. Thomas Blaschke
Treasurer Dr. Richard Süselbeck