Where 2.0 conference

location based services


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. Where 2.0 will feature:

Pushpin Apps - The first batch of mash-ups to turn into start-ups are the sites that let you build your own collections of places which you can then view on a Google Map. We’ll have a panel of these new pushpin apps that revolve around friends, social connections, and events, leaving room for commerce when it arises but mainly wanting their product to become part of your life.

User Data – The GIS data business has long revolved around collecting authoritative ground-truth data. The pushpin apps are gathering intangible emotional associations of place ("where I was first kissed" or "best steakhouse in New York City") that will be at the center of fascinating, robust applications that tint your sense of place with the emotional coloring of thousands of previous visitors. Grassroots projects are looking to gather the basic street map data for major cities. We'll be looking at the future of the data industry as it finds a new equilibrium with the value of user-generated data.

Standards - With diversity of platforms inevitably comes the need for standards. Both GeoRSS and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) will be at Where 2.0 to discuss the importance of GeoRSS, WFS, WMS standards as the numbers of platforms grow.

Desktop Applications - We'll see how advanced features are working their way from the GIS world to the consumer world through Google Earth and other desktop tools.

Open Source Applications - The desktop apps open the door to open source. We'll have open source projects like GDAL, GRASS, and UDIG on stage demonstrating how they are raising the bar for commercial offerings. AutoDesk open sourced its major enterprise map product and is working with the open source community to birth the Open Source Geospatial Foundation to encourage the use and development of open source geospatial tools. Interesting things will happen as the grassroots projects work together to challenge the establishment.

Location Sensing – Global Positioning Systems have long been the standard for determining location, and it'll continue to be the benchmark. But GPS has some significant obstacles, not just the specialized hardware required, but the most notable being that it doesn't work indoors. Plazes, Skyhook and others, will present how they are turning to WIFI.

Privacy and Security – With the widespread adoption of geospatial technology, there are lots of issues surrounding privacy. How trackable are you? Is this information subpoenable? Can the government packet-sniff your location from your toolbar's interactions with the Skyhook servers? We’ll have Lauren Gelman from Stanford talking to the topic, and we'll be asking the pushpin companies about their privacy strategies.
Where 2.0 Warm-Up: Google Geo Developer Day

The day before Where 2.0 kicks off (Monday, June 12), Google will be hosting a Geo Developer Day exclusively for a limited number of Where 2.0 attendees at the Googleplex (Google headquarters). They’ll be providing the transportation, the food and the opportunity to chat up the Google Geo development team. Having problems with the Google Maps toolset? Frustrated by the lack of a geocoder? KML keeping you up at night? This is your big chance to personally meet the people responsible for your most vexing development problems. They’ll feed you well, hopefully teach you a trick or two, and definitely give you a behind the scenes peek at where Google is headed. This special event is for registered Where 2.0 conference attendees only and space is limited – only 100 seats are available.

Please note: this event is now at capacity, however Google is considering expanding the size. Please sign-up to be put on the standby list. Google will let you know by June 1st if you can be accommodated.

Join us at Where 2.0, happening June 13-14 at the Fairmont Hotel San Jose. Register Now