| You've just finished congratulating your | | | | doesn't move much, so at first glance it |
| marketing team. After six months of | | | | seems quite unplausible you'll need GIS |
| concentrated effort you can now actually find | | | | Locational Data within your source code. On |
| your own company web site within the search | | | | the contrary. One aspect your web site |
| engines. Everyone is busy handshaking and | | | | represents is your business's physical |
| back patting when a voice from the back of | | | | location(s) and if people are going to try to |
| the room rises above the din. "Yeah this is | | | | find your services and products, shouldn't |
| great! Can't wait until we can find ourselves | | | | you at the very least, tell them where it is |
| on wireless devices."All conversation comes | | | | and how to get there?Let's look at it from |
| to an abrupt halt. Eyes widen. Everyone turns | | | | the other end of the spectrum. The end user |
| to the fresh-faced intern standing in the | | | | approach. Let's say you're vacationing in a |
| corner with a can of V8 juice in one hand and | | | | new city for the first time. Once you get |
| a PALM device in the other. You, being the | | | | settled into your Hotel room, what's the |
| Department Manager, barely managing to | | | | first thing you want to find? Restaurants? |
| control your voice not to mention your | | | | Bank machines? Stores? So you pull out your |
| temper, ask the now nearly frozen with panic | | | | hand-held, wireless, device, log onto the web |
| intern, "What do you mean find ourselves on | | | | and search for "Italian Food in San |
| wireless? We just spent thousands on our web | | | | Francisco." Five Hundred results come back so |
| site visibility campaign!" "Well... Explains | | | | you click the new "location" feature on your |
| the sheepish intern, "There is no GPS or GIS | | | | hand-held (which knows exactly where you are) |
| locational data within our source code. | | | | and ten Italian restaurants, who were smart |
| Without it, most wireless appliances won't be | | | | enough to code their web sites with GIS data, |
| able to access our site."Guess what? The | | | | light up on the screen. Guess which |
| intern is absolutely correct. Anyone | | | | restaurants didn't get selected? The other |
| interested in selling goods and services via | | | | four hundred and ninety. Starting to get the |
| the Internet will soon be required to have | | | | picture?How does this affect you and your web |
| some form Geographic Location data coded into | | | | site marketing? GIS Latitude and Longitude |
| your web pages. There are approximately 200 | | | | co-ordinates will soon be a must have on |
| satellites currently orbiting the Earth. | | | | every web site operators and web developer's |
| (even Nasa won't confirm the exact number) | | | | list and an absolute necessity for anyone |
| Some are in geosynchronous or geostationary | | | | wishing to trade good and services via the |
| orbit 27,000 miles above your head. The | | | | Internet. This data may relate to the |
| Global Positioning System (GPS) is the name | | | | physical location of the web site or where |
| given to the mechanism of providing satellite | | | | the site is being served from (if applicable) |
| ephemerides ("orbits") data to the general | | | | or where the actual business represented by |
| public, under the auspices of the | | | | the site is physically located. There may be |
| International Earth Rotation Service | | | | multiple web site locations and coding |
| Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF). Sounds | | | | involved, if for example, you have a |
| like Star Wars doesn't it? It's pretty close. | | | | franchise with multiple locations, each |
| The NAVSTAR GPS system is a satellite-based | | | | location will probably need a page of it's |
| radio-navigation system developed and | | | | own with the correct corresponding location |
| operated by the U.S. Department of Defense | | | | data.If you run a home-based business, I |
| (DOD).The NAVSTAR system permits land, sea, | | | | doubt if the co-ordinates to your living room |
| and airborne users to determine their | | | | are going to be necessary, but you should |
| three-dimensional position, velocity, 24 | | | | provide the latitude and longitude of the |
| hours a day, in all weather, anywhere in the | | | | closest city or town. Large corporations such |
| world, with amazing precision. devices, WAP, | | | | as banks may want to code the exact location |
| Cellular, SATphones and a whole host of newly | | | | of every automated teller machine across the |
| emerging appliances and indeed, new software | | | | country.Industry standards and the methods of |
| applications, will all utilize some form of | | | | serving out this data are still in the |
| GPS or more likely GIS data retrieval. GIS | | | | development phases but it's a safe bet to |
| stand for Geographic Information System and | | | | assume there are plenty of people working on |
| relies on exact Latitude and Longitude | | | | the solutions right now and given the speed |
| coordinates for location purposes.Several car | | | | of technology, implementation will probably |
| manufacturers currently utilize GPS for | | | | be much sooner than later. Give yourself an |
| on-board driver assistance and the Marine and | | | | edge. Find out where in the world your web |
| Trucking Industries have been using it for | | | | site is...before your web site is nowhere to |
| years. Obviously your web site is a stable | | | | be found. |
| beast. It sits on a server somewhere and | | | | |