ESRI is the leader in GIS systems. Their stuff takes geographic data and manipulates it. First, it creates electronic maps to look at (and zoom in on, put various layers onto, etc.). But, that’s just one thing that a GIS system can do with geographic data. I covered ESRI for the issue of Esther’s Release 1.0 I wrote a couple of months ago, and I was very impressed not only with their technology but with their public mindedness. I’m also convinced that GIS is going to be big news over the next 2 years.

Geography and GIS provide a framework for language and knowledge, Jack says. GIS is an enterprise system that organizes workflows. Geography is essential to colalboration.

He shows a very cool animation, flying in to Honolulu from space, and then distinguishing it from a virtual reality app by toggling on shading that shows cell phone coverage. Then he flies into Greece and then to Everest. Too cool. [What a way to explore the world! It’s the atlas I want!]

GIS is a formal information system, he says. It’s a generic platform. Whole bunches of apps are being built using it. GIS is evolving from a digital abstraction to a becoming a “nervous system” for our globe. [I like “The Semantic Earth,” the title of my Release 1.0 article. Yes, I’m patting my own back.]

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