Andrew Gaiennie

GIS is a powerful tool that is becoming increasingly accessible to untrained users and the general public. This accessibility can be a good thing. But what happens when the data is applied incorrectly?

Laser scanning is reaching the peak of its curve with the release of FARO’s Scenect software. As free software and inexpensive hardware make it increasingly easy for anyone to create point clouds, professionals face both new challenges and new opportunities.

Laser scanning is the current big technology, with large projects demanding tighter schedules and more varied deliverables that only scanning can provide. Scanning, however, isn’t the focus but rather the point clouds that the technology produces.

Have you ever looked at the market and thought you missed an opportunity with the development of GIS? It’s time to look again. The opportunities with GIS are still very much in the beginning stages, and the doors are wide open.

People need good data, giving them navigation, spatial awareness and a database of locations to meet their variety of needs. The sudden loss of this always-on system has been a big hurt for consumers and should be a wake-up call to anyone who needs motivation that the industry is set to boom.

Devices that create 3D volumetric data like point clouds make paper no longer a viable way to consume information created in the field. So what's next? The original Star Wars movie provides some clues.

Automation found in newer generations of survey tools does more than make life easier; it also opens new opportunities. One of these opportunities is working with other professionals who have dedicated their lives to creating and manipulating 3D data for the purpose of entertainment.

Technology does one thing very well: It makes tasks easier. But because tech is moving ahead so quickly, it’s tough not to get left behind. One solution is to visit a business incubator.

Every CAD, GIS and office software program I know of runs on Windows. Other operating systems are major players, but when it comes to spatial data, Windows is still the final word. That’s why the next major update, Windows 8, is going to be such a huge deal.