Esri Australia’s annual user conference, Ozri 2012, ran in Sydney last week, providing more than 60 different sessions and presentations, and attracting over 500 attendees from across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the United States.
Some of the highlights included Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Associate Professor Robyn Clark, who led a seven-year, national study into cardiac health. Associate Professor Clark’s presentation showed that looking at the problem from a geographic perspective helped identify significant gaps in access to cardiac care.
“We looked at the distance to cardiac treatment centres in all of Australia’s 20,000 population centres,” Associate Professor Clark said.
“By mapping the huge amounts of statistical data we collected with GIS technology, we were able to identify critical patterns and relationships that would not have been so apparent in tabular form.
“More specifically, we were able to identify locations and groups of people with limited access to cardiac services.
“For example, we found that only 40 per cent of indigenous people reside within an hour of appropriate cardiac medical facilities and cardiac rehabilitation services, while 12 per cent of indigenous Australians live three or more hours from any kind of hospital.”
Also in attendance was police expert Mike King, who was part of the investigative team that captured US serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades, a truck-driving murderer who was eventually convicted of four murders and suspected of committing up to 300 others.
Now a law enforcement expert with Esri, Mr King said GIS technology was instrumental in identifying the killer.
“Rhoades’ anonymity and constant movement made him extremely difficult to link to his crimes,” Mr King said. “His victims were found hundreds of miles apart – sometimes dumped on the other side of the country from where he first picked them up.
“We used advanced GIS technology to map his driving patterns and pit stops, as well as the locations of the victim’s bodies and information from missing persons reports.
“We determined Rhoades’ whereabouts at the time of murders, and how far he was capable of travelling in a given period of time, to ascertain which crimes he was a suspect in.
“This methodology has been helpful in countless other cold cases and murders being solved in the United States and throughout the rest of the world.”
Of course, there were also a host of interesting products on show in the exhibition hall, as well as the announcements of some new products, including CitySourced, a mobile civic engagement tool, and earthmine, a 3D imagery product.
City Sourced is a new mobile application that uses location-based crowd sourcing technology to allow users to send photos, video or audio clips directly to authorities and service providers.
earthmine is a technology that transform static data into 3D imagery, allowing users to shape and experience a dynamic virtual world.
Both technologies are available through MapData Services, Australia’s leading digital mapping and data specialist.
MapData Services also launched its Greyscale Foundation Map, which includes all the standard features of the full-colour MDS Foundation Map – but is delivered in 50 shades of grey.
MapData Services’ Data Manager Edwin Haverkamp said the new greyscale base map provided businesses with more options for data visualisation.
“The MDS Foundation map is the nation’s most authoritative, up-to-date base map – and making it available in greyscale provides Australian businesses with more options than ever before when developing their own digital maps,” said Mr Haverkamp.
“Greyscale maps draw attention to your business data and thematic content by providing a neutral background with minimal colours.”
Mr Haverkamp said the greyscale map can be used as a basis for any type of online or desktop mapping – including store locators, a mobile app or geo-demographic analysis.
Stay tuned to SpatialSource for details on Ozri 2013 as they become available.
