Location and Mapping

Location is now fundamental to the dynamics of the web, and there are powerful tools from Google Maps to Wifi Location Based Services available today.

This talk takes a tour over the recent development of the 'where' of the web across techniques and both open and closed technologies.

Google Maps forms a core which many are familiar with but maps and location on the web really go far beyond, from base data to 3D 'spinny globes' such as Microsoft Live Local.

We will cover the major APIs (Google, Yahoo and Microsoft) as well as some lesser known but powerful players such as MultiMap and Map24 and how you can use them with simple tools such as Mapstraction, an API to provide common abstraction over various map providers. When on the move, there are a variety of ways to locate yourself including GPS, wifi location and from cell towers and we will go over the tools available to use those.

Aggregating and sharing geodata is an expanding and powerful area including tools such as mapufacture and data formats like GeoRSS (extensions to the common RSS formats) and KML. Geodata itself makes a lot of this machinery tick and has it's own section. Who owns data? What can you do with it? Where can you get it?

We'll cover these topics and cover projects such as OpenStreetMap which aim to free up data and make it more usable to all with clearer licensing. We'll take you through the community aspects of many projects and why it pays to build community by using a few simple techniques and tools. Finally, where's it all going? We'll look at the immediate future of location online and place a few bets on the coming developments.

Speakers :
-- Steve Coast
-- Nick Black