Is FTP access the best we can do?

March 10, 2009 13 Comments

I can almost predict that every conversation about data sharing will have one person stand up and declare, “Just give me FTP access and I’ll be fine”.  I used to think that way and while I probably still would like file based access to datasets, I just can’t see FTP being a viable data transfer method anymore.  Just it makes it easy to grab a data dump, but there isn’t anything that allows users to know if the data has been updated (other than I suppose checking the metadata).  So many times I see people using old data because they have no idea data has been updated.  Personally I don’t like the idea that I’m offering up spatial data web services for data I don’t control and most others should be worried as well.  Users want to grab data from the source, not some middle man who probably knows less about the data than the creator.

There has been a huge jump into SDI since the pork bandwagon started up in Washington and I’ll be honest…  I haven’t paid much attention.  One thing I am sure of is I don’t want to see something introduced that has two choices, WxS and FTP.  Data needs to be both discoverable and usable and I’m not sure WxS and FTP get us there.  WxS no matter what defenders might say is not discoverable and FTP is not secure and has no method of tracking changes.

AtomPub to me looks like the best method of publishing and sharing datasets.  There is a huge risk here of inventing something new when a superb solution already exists.  Workflows change quickly and WxS/FTP can’t adjust sprightly enough.  Read “How to GET a Cup of Coffee” and think about how easier this could all be.

Gatekeepers want to limit you to FTP/WxS so that you cant change the world...

Gatekeepers want to limit you to FTP/WxS so that you can't change the world.

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Implications of Arc2Earth Cloud Services

July 31, 2008 2 Comments

Brian Flood has blogged about his latest project, Arc2Earth Cloud Services.  A2ECS (what is one more acronym among friends?) is yet another service that will be competing for our GIS dollar.  We’ve seen the WeoGeo/Safe announcement, ESRI is thinking about hosted services and now Brian brings his cutting edge A2E services forward.  Competition will only drive costs down and Brian Timony’s hope that companies will compete for his work is probably upon us.  We can assume what ESRI’s hosted services will look like given our history with their products, the WeoGeo/Safe details are still forthcoming, but Brian Flood gets into detail about what his product is offering and how.

A2ECS will provide an online space to allow users host their maps and layers online and provide RESTful access for queries, editing and spatial analysis.  Nothing very complicated in that, nice simple URLs to work with.  I also think using AtomPub to synchronize data back and forth is very proactive.  Despite what some would have to believe, FTP access is just a complete PITA and I’m happy to see APP front and center.  Once others start offering such feeds you’ll be able to better leverage the promise of GeoWeb (as opposed to W*S and FTP access).

As for the A2ECS processing Brian states that he “will provide the 20% of functionality that is used 80% of the time.”  The worry I have had for many years is when companies promise to duplicate ArcInfo or similar products online.  If I have a need for complex analytical processing, I’ll probably already have access to that tool, but if I want just answer questions spatially A2ECS is probably the better tool.

Now Brian isn’t close to releasing this tool so the the details about how this will actually work are still left open.  Eventually a marketplace will develop that will allow users to take data, pay for it (if needed), process it and then resell it (if needed) and making sure everyone in the chain gets “their cut”.  A perfect example of this is our buddy Mr Minton and his EVS-Islands.  He wanted to sell a product he created using the DigitalGlobe imagery, but DigitalGlobe was unable to honor his request.  The idea that he could use worldwide imagery and create a derivative product AND sell it AS WELL AS allowing for the image provider to be paid for the use of their product is one that needs to be addressed now.  I suppose that is what WeoGeo is trying to accomplish, but companies need to offer up their data so that people can take the data and process it and then sell it making sure everyone makes money on the deal.  We are just beginning to see the start of something here.

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