GIS Geeft Energie

Getting energy from the annual ESRI Nederland GIS conference in Rotterdam.  Highlights for me:  1) Nice demo by Dutch-speaking American guy (who was that guy?) from Swiss firm  Procedural of an ArcGIS 3D application, including shadows cast by new construction in Rotterdam, with analysis of how much sunlight would be lost ( video ).  There was a droll suggestion that letters could be sent to people who would be living in the shadows… right!  2) Fascinating demo by Dirk Aalbers, at HORUS, Surround Vision, of little cars driving around making movies and capturing information using image recognition.  Infrared videos could also classify buildings according to heat loss.  3)  Presentation by Jack Verouden, Chief Surveyor at Shell.  Shell is looking at alternative energy sources, including worldwide studies of biomass potential.  Go for it, Shell!  4) Excellent presentation by Jan Willem VanEck, director of strategy at ESRI in the Netherlands, about GIS and Social Media. He showed a wonderful application developed together with his son, which allows you to map your LinkedIn connections (no longer available).  Now I am truly inspired!

Update 3/9/2018: : Mapmyconnections seems to be gone, but Jan Willem van Eck is still going strong.