October 24, 2011 — A major step forwards or will it damage the industry; should we be supporting Open Source as a way forward for LIDAR technologies?  It could open doors to many – or will it result in the closure of a number of industry players and be too high a price to pay?  Or consider Point Cloud Services; are these a way to dramatically improve services for customers or is this just evolving technology?

After much feedback from the LIDAR community, the organisers of the European LiDAR Mapping Forum (ELMF) have selected these two burning issues to be debated in a newly introduced plenary panel debate session, taking place on the opening day of the European LiDAR Mapping Forum, which runs from 29-30th November 2011 in Salzburg, Austria.  Experts from all sectors of the LIDAR industry will put forward their opinions for debate with delegates.

The debate has come at a significant time for the industry; when there is a growing trend in the way data is becoming available to a much larger user community through open source and cloud services.  This is presenting a whole new set of challenges not only to the existing industry players in terms of ensuring commercial viability of mapping projects, but these also flag up the need to educate a congregation of new users in the benefits and limitations, understanding and management of the LIDAR data they use.  The debate should help highlight these complex issues within the community.

The European LiDAR Mapping Forum Conference Chairman, Alastair MacDonald, commented, “These are crucial issues for the LIDAR community.  At one level we have to understand the growing demand for LIDAR data with a widening group of users, and the benefits of open source data.  At another level there are questions about the computational resources required to efficiently manage the huge volumes of spatial data, which is where cloud services may be of benefit.  But cloud services also pose the question of who would manage and control the data.  Ultimately these issues will impact on the business models of many organisations and it is important that we raise this to the top of the agenda, for the community to debate and progress.” 

Running alongside the European LiDAR Mapping Forum conference will be an exhibition of more than 50 of the world’s leading companies in the LIDAR industry market.  Exhibitors include the LIDAR and complementary sensor manufacturers, survey and mapping companies, data processing, GIS and management specialists and the latest mobile mapping vehicles.  In addition, there will be a full series of learning workshops and demonstrations aimed at providing an understanding of the basic principles and fundamental benefits of LIDAR, which should appeal to newcomers to LIDAR.

As a taster for the ELMF11 debate, the organisers are setting up an online debate via the ELMF Group on LinkedIn.  To join the debate online, please visit: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2972280 or to take part in the debate at ELMF on November 29th, please register online at: http://www.lidarmap.org/ELMF

About European LiDAR Mapping Forum (ELMF): The ELMF is the premier event in Europe focused on applying the technology of LIDAR and laser scanning to deliver outside mapping and imaging solutions in a timely and cost-effective manner across a variety of markets.  The core component of ELMF is the conference which introduces the latest concepts from commercial or academic research, leading edge innovations in technologies, improved operating practices, reports on actual project experiences and discusses new applications and markets being driven by the rapid improvements in LIDAR technology.  Over two days the conference will focus on the use of LIDAR to support transport, urban modelling, coastal zone mapping, asset management and GIS applications.  An international exhibition runs alongside the conference with exhibitors involved in airborne, bathymetric and terrestrial LIDAR and/or mobile mapping systems, including system and component manufacturers, operators and service companies.



Contact:

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Menza Communications,
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Intelligent Exhibitions Ltd
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