Where2.0 2011 – Recap

This year’s Where2.0 can be simply summarized in four words: less hype – more business, which in my opinion is a very welcome development. As we pointed out in a pre-Where2.0 post, yesterday’s experimental technologies have matured into market-proven businesses, and as location data proliferates every aspect of everyday life, more and more interesting opportunities emerge.

One common thread audible throughout the entire conference was that everyone is a sensor – smart phones convert information consumers into information creators, contributing everything from the live traffic data (Waze), street view imagery (Bing), crisis response systems (Ushahidi) and live retail data (NextJump and Groupon).

The sheer wealth of data generated on a daily basis creates a demand for a new breed of data collection and analysis tools – analyze real-time data where and when you need it. This is the vision that GeoIQ was founded upon and it was great to see it affirmed.

The topic of location data mining and analysis was thoroughly explored. GeoIQ’s Andrew Turner spoke about the value of collaborative analysis, Charlie Kim shared interesting findings from NextJump’s retail application and Peter Skomoroch gave an excellent overview of geo analytics. To summarize, location data analysis is more than a trendy topic, it is something that every modern business has to leverage and understand.

If you’ve missed Where2.0, I highly recommend you check out Where2.0 YouTube channel and the conference website for videos and presentations.