Press Release
April 25, 2005
Where 2.0, a New O'Reilly Conference, Showcases the Promise of Location-Aware Technologies
Sebastopol, CA--Location-determining technologies like GPS, RFID, WLAN,
cellular networks, and networked sensors are paving the way for a growing
array of capabilities around local search, mapping, mobile social
applications, business analytics, asset tracking, and e-commerce. These
ubiquitous location-aware technologies and services are driving a
renaissance in business strategy and opportunity. To create a forum for
surveying this uncharted technological landscape, O'Reilly Media, Inc. has
launched the Where 2.0. Conference, taking place June 29-30, 2005 at the
Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, California. Early registration has
just opened for the event.
"Geospatial and location technology will cross the chasm in 2005 the way
peer-to-peer did in 2001," predicts conference co-chair Nathan Torkington
of O'Reilly Media, Inc. Torkington and co-chair David Sonnen of iSpatial,
a seasoned veteran of the geospatial industry, are building a program that
allows participants to quickly grasp both the current state of affairs and
the far-reaching effects and implications around these transformational
location-based technologies and services. Specific topics to be explored
at the conference include:
- The killer apps that will drive the mobile platform in 2006
- Available, viable technologies vs. empty vaporware promises
- Problems that location-aware technologies can solve, and the pitfalls to be avoided
- How open source and open data fit into the technology ecosystem
- Best practices and patterns behind effective Where 2.0 apps
- How the various pieces of the location puzzle fit together
- Radar on a chip, signal triangulation, and sensor mesh networks
- The latest from research labs and grassroots hackers
- Localizing the online experience in local search
- Building communities of consumers around the mobile experience
- Balancing technology with privacy
Where 2.0 brings together decision makers and infrastructure players in
the mobile, location-sensing, mapping, and geospatial fields with IT
executives, top-level marketing managers, and investors across a broad
spectrum of industries. Conference participants will learn how vendors,
application developers, and consumer web companies are connecting
customers, products, and enterprises in real time. Notes conference
co-chair Sonnen, "The unique strengths that O'Reilly brings to this event
are their close ties with the developer community and the ability to build
user communities capable of open exchange of ideas and practical
solutions. The geospatial industry really wants and needs both of those
capabilities."
The conference features sessions, on-stage conversations, and panel
discussions with leaders of some of the most important initiatives in the
location space, including:
- David Rumsey, president of Cartography Associates
- John Frank, founder and CTO of MetaCarta
- Udi Manber, CEO of A9.com
- Michael Frumin, Eyebeam R&D Fellow
- Jeremy Kreitler of Yahoo! Maps and City Guides
- Perry Evans, CEO of Aptas
- J. Kim Fennell, Telcontar's president and CEO
- Chris Couper, IBM Distinguished Engineer
- Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media
Where 2.0 also features another first: the Where Fair, a science
fair-style event that gives participants a first-hand look at a few of the
intriguing location-aware technologies lurking just below the radar.
Fair-goers can discuss the ideas behind the demos with the creators, and
learn how these unconventional new technologies can be adapted into
existing business strategies. Where Fair projects are being selected from
research labs, academia, and yet-to-be-discovered entrepreneurs. The Where
Fair complements the conference's exhibit hall, which will showcase
state-of-the-art systems, tools, and services in the location space.
Every consumer, product, and retailer is somewhere. Even in e-commerce,
where conventional wisdom had the transaction occurring in the nowhere
land of Cyberspace, the addition of location has unlocked the door to
innovation. Whether you're incorporating location into your business or
blazing a new geospatial trail, Where 2.0 pinpoints the people and
projects opening this new frontier.
The O'Reilly conference line-up also includes ETech, the O'Reilly Emerging
Technology Conference; the O'Reilly Open Source Convention; Web 2.0,
co-hosted by Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle, and co-produced with
MediaLive International; and the MySQL Users Conference, co-presented with
MySQL AB. O'Reilly conferences bring together forward-thinking business
and technology leaders, shaping ideas and influencing industries around
the globe. For over 25 years, O'Reilly has facilitated the adoption of new
and important technologies by the enterprise, putting emerging
technologies on the map.
Additional Resources:
About O'Reilly
O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.
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