CeBIT Spatial@gov 2012 - Piers Higgs, Director, Gaia Resources

Presented at Spatial@gov Conference, Canberra, 22nd November, 2012

GAIA RESOURCES

Open for Business

Piers Higgs

Gaia Resources

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Some context

• You have to deliver the right solution to your client

• There are no technological issues, it’s about people,

politics and power

• The spatial industry is at a critical stage, other industries are beating us at our own game

• We need every advantage we can get to get back on the board

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Science

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Source

Open

Data

Open

Standard

s

OpenStandards

Open

Standards

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Source

SoftwareSoftware HardwareHardware ColaCola

“open source is a philosophy, or pragmatic methodology that promotes free redistribution and access to an end

product's design and implementation details”

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Source

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Source

• Quantum GIS started in 2002, currently version 1.80

• Desktop GIS packagewith rich functionality

• Gaia Resources has deployed

it as a desktop GIS across

several organisations and developed custom plugins

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Source

• OpenLayers 2.0 was released 6 years ago,

currently 2.1.2

• Well managed,

well documented and supported by a range

of institutions

• Used in many web sites, at Gaia Resources we use it

in our own Biological Data Recording System

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Source

• Biological Data Recording System started 2010

• Initial funding from the Atlas of Living

Australia, then opensourced

• Continue development with commercial contracts

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

What is the Open Data business Proposition?

• It is a threat to existing “sell software” models

• It is a “sell services” opportunity

• Still need to have a business model – especially for management of the open source software

Open Source

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

What is our Open Source experience?

• We use it and we produce it

• Open source participation can be very rewarding

for individuals, and leads to skills that can deliver the first point

• Open source management

isn’t the easiest thing to do…

• What to do with data…?

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Data

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Data

• It’s not a new thing… nor an isolated thing…

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

What is the Open Data business Proposition?

• It is a threat to existing “sell data” models

• It is also potentially a “sell services” opportunity

• Still need to have a business model – especially for maintenance

Open

Data

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

What’s our Open Data experience?

• Use open data, such as from the

Atlas of Living

Australia

• Generate open datafrom various projects,

including our own

• But how do you share

that data?

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Standards

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Geospatial Standards

• We’ve likely all used OGC

standards

at some point without knowing

about it…

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Biodiversity Standards

• You’ve likely never used a TDWG standard…

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

What’s the Open Standards business proposition?

• Saving Money• Saving Time

• Sharing Broadly

• Mobilizing Quickly

• Saving Lives and Assets

• Meeting Mission Needs

• You can do things you couldn’t do before…

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

What’s our Open Standards experience?

BDRS ServerBDRS ServerMobile AppsMobile Apps

ExportingExporting

Web ServicesWeb Services

Bulk Data LoadingBulk Data Loading

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Science…

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Science…

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

What’s our Open Science experience?

• Fast development and deployment in a sprint

format

• Now working on developing low cost, generic

platforms and sensors

• Backing this with server based calibration

• Not possible without open source, open data and

open standards

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Open Source Open

Standard

s

Open

Data

Open Science

OpenStandards

Open

Standards

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Take home these things…

• Open source can deliver a competitive advantage both to solution providers and clients, it’s about

services

• Open data is both a threat to traditional models and an opportunity to move to new services based business models

• Open standards make a lot of things possible that we can’t yet imagine

• Open can make good business sense

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Questions?

• Ask away, or drop me a line…

Piers Higgs

[email protected]

piers_higgs on Skype and Twitter

Mobile +61 411754006

Phone +61 8 92277309