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From
the Publisher It seems that, lately, all our correspondence comes from the same person... Anonymous. The first letter I recently received was written in response to my May 2002 editorial titled, "GeoTechnologies: From Sea of Dreams to Uncle Remus’ ‘Tar Baby’" which, by the way, can be found online atwww.eomonline.com/Common/currentissues/May02/editorial.htm. The author is a successful mapping industry veteran who asked me to maintain his anonymity, as he hopes to continue doing business in this industry. The second letter is from someone who is also intimately involved in the mapping business. He raised an issue I first discussed in "Evolution of the Earth Information Industry," in the May 2001 issue of EOM. That article can be found online at www.eomonline.com/Common/currentissues/May01/editorial.htm. The issue of the health and security of the U.S. mapping industry, as well as general issues of mapping and security, are emerging to play critical roles in this post-September 11 world. "Dear Roland, What will be the outcome of all of this nonsense? It’s simple. The companies at the grass roots [level] that own their customer relationships will survive and prosper. The very few big fish that understand how to play in a commercial arena will also do OK, but only after they have dumped millions into learning how the game is played. The industry will continue to go global, which is a good thing. It’s inevitable. Those who recognize this will also prosper. The commercial satellite industry is inherently a bad business. The irony is in the fact that, in order to make any commercial impact, these companies must have multiple satellites in orbit; however, I have yet to see a business model that will financially support the cost of the first launch to begin with. Low-cost airborne digital sensors, possibly in unmanned aircraft, will win the economic game over satellites every time. You see, Roland, the reason that the Tar Baby looks
so attractive is that it is much easier to throw money accumulated
from the boom times of the ‘90s at an industry in transition than
it is to strategically study its history: its
past, present and future opportunities. Undertaking this course is far
more complex. Besides, the simple realities
of providing good professional services and products for a reasonable
return on investment is not a very sexy story
these days." "Dear Editor, Companies in this industry who are proud of the "made in America" philosophy cannot possibly compete with the labor cost that those shipping work overseas are able to charge, unless they are forced to follow their lead of others to stay afloat, [thereby] putting Americans out of work! What are American jobs worth to us? And what concerns should we have when shipping work out of this country? We should be concerned that the data, some of which contains critical infrastructure, could potentially be available to Third World and/or unstable countries. Couldn’t the same maps that let us plan for emergencies [also] help a terrorist plan the most effective attack on American soil? A primary concern for government employees [when] selecting a vendor to complete their mapping project should be in keeping the work within the United States. One would think that there would be a law prohibiting such data from being shipped to countries that are unstable, but there is no such law to date. At least for now, countries and cities alike will have to make their own decisions as to whether or not they want their critical infrastructure data mapped in [foreign] countries. American tax dollars are funding these projects, and companies winning these jobs are often laying off taxpaying, American citizens! Not to mention that by shipping production overseas, U.S. mapping firms are losing research and development opportunities that improve processes and make our final product better and more affordable. It is a tight market in the photogrammetric mapping industry, and fair competition is welcome. However, [by] shipping work overseas to cut costs is not going to improve the quality of mapping in the United States. Unfortunately, every firm has the ability to follow the recent trend if they choose to go down that road! Please join together, believe in America’s mapping
work, and support America’s mapping employees!" EOM will continue to provide a communications vehicle for the Geospatial industry to air its issues, whether on or off the record, because the free exchange of ideas is fundamental to the principles of freedom of speech. Whether popular or not, these principles are critical to the development of an open and vibrant industry. Until next time... Cheers! |