OC CIO Roundtable Minutes 10-9-08

1993-2008
Southern California/Orange County CIO Breakfast Round Table
September 11, 2008 meeting

Present: Jim Pick, Paul Gray, John Pringle, Carmella Cassetta, Andy Stameson, Tak Fujii, Jim Sutter, Andy King, Jennifer Curlee, Sean Brown, Dave Phillips

Paul Gray introduced our guest speaker, Professor James Pick, University of Redlands, as our subject matter expert and author of several books on the topic. We also welcomed Andy Stameson, ex-CIO at FileNet, to his first meeting.

The minutes of this and prior breakfasts are available online at the Peer Consulting Group’s website, www.peergroup.net, with links to the host’s presentation material, when available. Please provide us with the “url” of your presentation materials.

Topic: GIS – Its time has come for business

Jim Pick, University of Redlands, defined Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a database of attributes, spatial information, and a linkage between the two. Jacqueline Tyrwhitt began using overlays for land use planning in 1950. Ian McHarg carried it much further and published “Design with Nature” in 1969. Also in the late 60’s, ESRI (HQ in Redlands) developed a software package, Arcinfo, and GIS was born. Military R & D eventually developed satellite systems for Global Positioning Systems (GPS). GIS moved into the business environment in the early 1990’s. Jim showed several examples, including a routing and scheduling application for a business fleet (see his presentation slides for other examples). The family of spatial technologies also includes RFID, sensors, handheld devices (such as PDAs), and LIDAR (light detection and ranging) for laser 3-D profiles. There are legal and ethical issues with using spatial technologies – including privacy and eligibility. GIS has moved towards web and mobile platforms, and almost everyone is familiar with Google Earth and Yahoo maps. Jim gave many other examples. GIS is starting to be integrated with ERP systems, especially with Oracle ERP, and in the energy (oil) value chain. It is also being used as a strategic business weapon (e.g. at Rand McNally) and it needs to be aligned with the IT strategy. Jim described at some length the use of GIS at Norwich Union. It is coming to the point where most companies should evaluate GIS and its potential. The management issues include cost vs. benefit (ROI). Should the GIS group be part of IT? In-house or outsourced? When should it be integrated into the ERP systems (not yet a smooth process)? Jim’s slides contain much more information and I recommend that you take the time to review them. They are at http://www.slideshare.net/occio .

We asked members to tell us what they are doing with GIS.

Paul Gray, Claremont, complimented Jim for a very comprehensive presentation. Paul’s knowledge is limited but he has reviewed favorably several of Jim’s books. Claremont is starting to get interested and have a few education projects – young Ph.Ds are good as missionaries. So far, it seems that people have problems viewing things spatially.

John Pringle, ex-RCMT, said that he is somewhat familiar with GPS tracking on boats as a component of marine technology. He has been thinking about the privacy implications when you start to link GPS/GIS to social networks.

Carmella Cassetta, Corinthian Colleges, can see how this has implications for the transportation industry, tracking trucks and delivery status. She is less certain about its use in student related activities. One issue is what is the ideal background for people who want to go into GIS? Is it a background in IT, or government, or geography? ESRI alumni may be the ideal!

Andy Stameson, ex FileNet, said that they had started to look into these technologies at FileNet. They were trying to link Salesforce.com with GIS to get a better feeling for the ideal territories for sales and service.

Tak Fujii, Olson Company, said that since they are in housing development downtown, they have used GIS for years for mapping purposes. Now that Google Earth is readily available and very useful, they have started to use it in place of more expensive tools. They overlay demographic data and infrastructure data over the physical picture. Google is putting pressure on ESRI.

Jim Sutter, Peer Consulting Group, recalled that Rockwell had an early contract to build the first constellation of GPS satellites. He remembers meeting Jim Pick years ago and taking him on a tour of Rockwell Semiconductor (which became Conexant). Gallo Winery is a big user of GIS in the vineyard to track application of fertilizers, etc., and in marketing to track selling demographics. Adding an RFID tag to each case is costly (50c)

Andy King, Exemplis Corp., expressed two thoughts – this was a very informative presentation, especially as he has been thinking about how to introduce it to his executives for personal navigation aspects, and to find where books are available. The second was to his Boy Scouts troop in place/addition to the map and compass exercise.

Sean Brown, RJTCompuquest, also had two thoughts. He is working with a small company, which is thinking about going public, and they want to track drill bits, combining positioning and soil characteristics. GIS is also a plus for any CIO to present innovative ideas to his/her management where it might add value.

This was a very good presentation by Jim Pick, supported by a good handout and list of references.

See you on November 13, 2008 – 7:00 a.m. in the RJTCompuquest conference room at:
940 South Coast Dr., Suite 260, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
It’s opposite the Carl Strauss Brewery on South Coast Dr. If you are driving N on the 405, take the SOUTH COAST DR EXIT, and turn RIGHT on South Coast Dr. If you are driving S on the 405, take the FAIRVIEW EXIT, make a LEFT over the freeway and turn RIGHT on South Coast Dr. Turn LEFT on Greenbrook, and immediately right into the parking lot of 940. Proceed to the 2nd floor to Suite 260.