As the ebb and flow of 2021 meanders to a close, we wanted to take the opportunity to reflect on the year’s highlights here at GEO Jobe. It has been a busy year of growth for us with product update releases, new hires, conferences, custom development, Enterprise & GIS services, and UAV services.
The ABCs of GIS
With Backup My Org launching at the end of 2020, we started the year off by announcing the availability of the ABCs of GIS for purchase in the ArcGIS Marketplace. The ABCs of GIS represent our most valuable and effective combination of solutions for ArcGIS Administrators. Over 8000 organizations worldwide have taken advantage of these applications to improve their workflows and increase productivity. Our ABC’s of GIS solution includes:
- A – Admin Tools for ArcGIS (Pro & Enterprise Versions) – Perform streamlined operations in bulk across your organization’s items, users, and groups.
- B – Backup My Org – Backup and Restore solution which also includes migrating for ArcGIS items, users, and groups.
- C – Clean My Org – A robust on-demand and scheduled scanner to identify, report, and address problematic issues and clutter within your ArcGIS organization.
We also saw several updates released this year for all three of our administrative solutions, introducing new functionality and bug fixes. Below are the updates released this year for each product.
- Admin Tools: Update 1.7, Update 1.7.1, and Update 1.7.2
- Backup My Org: Update 1.1, Update 1.1.1, and Update 1.2
- Clean My Org: Update 1.4 and Update 1.4.1
User feedback plays a key role in focusing efforts on new updates and bug fixes. Have an idea for new functionality you would like to see? Have a question about a workflow or process? Reach out to us through chat support on our website or at connect@geo-jobe.com.
Mississippi Coding Academy
In July, we were proud to announce a relationship with the Mississippi Coding Academy. This investment on behalf of GEO Jobe symbolizes the beginning of a mutually beneficial relationship to not only GEO Jobe, but the future of graduating students from the Mississippi Coding Academy.
Through our partnership with the Mississippi Coding Academy, we want to equip students with the skills they need to begin successful development careers in the state of Mississippi. We are excited to see the Mississippi Code Academy and its students succeed with an organization full of talented individuals. We commit to community development and will continue to explore new approaches to aid others in the industry with their needs.
For more information about sponsoring, partnering with, or attending the MS Coding Academy, please visit their website or contact Patrick Mame directly at patrickmame@usm.edu.
Conferences
Attending conferences and creating connections with the wider GIS community is always a highlight of our year, and this year was no exception. With this year’s DevSummit and UC being virtual attendance, we had the opportunity to connect with users who aren’t always able to make it in person. Additionally, our staff had a chance to pop into sessions of interest throughout the week between the usual hustle and bustle; though any sessions we missed were easily viewed via posted recordings afterwards. Looking for recordings from either of those conferences? Check out the Esri Events YouTube channel or the Esri Academy, as most of the sessions have been posted to one or the other.
While the virtual conferences options have been great, we were delighted to be able to attend a few conferences this fall and connect with our local GIS communities as well as the wider Esri community. This fall, we had the opportunity to attend in person the 2021 American Planning Association Mississippi-Alabama Joint Chapter Fall Conference (APA Conference), the Mississippi Geospatial Conference (MGC), and the Esri’s Infrastructure Management and GIS Conference (IMGIS). Here are some highlights from each event:
- APA Conference: Our CEO, David Hansen, gave an exciting presentation on advancements in mapping technologies – web mapping, artificial intelligence, machine learning, drones, and the road ahead. GEO Jobe also hosted a booth, which was well received by the conference attendees. We enjoyed meeting everyone and the many interesting discussions.
- MGC: We were delighted to continue our tradition of helping sponsor this annual conference that brings together the geospatial community in Mississippi. During this conference we hosted a booth and saw presentations by Eric Goforth on custom application development, Reed David on UAV, and Pete George on deep learning.
- IMGIS: This conference featured users from all infrastructure sectors that utilize, or are looking to utilize, the power of GIS in their operations. We hosted a booth at this conference which provided valuable opportunities to connect and engage with the infrastructure-focused GIS community.
Looking to 2022, we can’t wait to connect with you all at upcoming conferences, whether virtual or in-person. First up is the Federal GIS conference in February with registration open for in-person attendance. Next is DevSummit in March, registration is open with in-person and virtual attendance options. What conferences are you looking forward to next year? What conferences should be on everyone’s must-attend list?
Exploring New Technologies
New technologies in the GIS realm are exciting to see and are rolling out faster than ever. 2021 was no exception. This year saw the introduction of several new technologies and provided the opportunity for us to explore some 2020 releases in more detail. Here are a few of the ones that stood out to us:
- Map Viewer: In April, we saw the new Map Viewer released in general availability in ArcGIS Online and later incorporated into ArcGIS Enterprise 10.9.1. The new Map Viewer provides a ton of new functionality along with new ways to visualize data and build compelling web maps. In particular, we recommend checking out our articles on the Map Viewer’s ability to use group layers for increased organization and seamless integration with Experience Builder.
- Kubernetes & ArcGIS Enterprise: ArcGIS Enterprise on Kubernetes launched in May as part of the 10.9 release providing a new cloud-native architecture for users to take advantage of. Kubernetes is an open-source platform for container orchestration that has been re-architected to work as containerized applications providing tooling and automation for deploying, managing, and helping to scale applications. Want to learn more about Kubernetes? Check-out our article on Kubernetes from earlier this year to demystify this new technology!
- Electric Distribution Data Management for ArcGIS Online: If you work in the utility sector, specifically electricity, you have likely heard of the ArcGIS Utility Network and may have been interested in an implementation but wanted an option for use in ArcGIS Online. This is where the Electric Distribution Data Management (EDDM) for ArcGIS Online comes into play by providing pre-configured feature and hosted view layers, maps, apps, and groups, so there is very little to be done once your data is added. Check-out our article to learn more about the EDDM solution!
- ArcGIS Velocity: Back in February we saw the release of ArcGIS Velocity, a platform that combines capabilities of the GeoEvent Server and GeoAnalytics Server into one software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. it gives you the ability to ingest and process real-time data and perform big data analytics that creates output feature layers for visualization in web maps and applications. We have had the opportunity to work with it throughout the year as part of our work with mappy, you can read more about that work and what ArcGIS Velocity can do here or check out the video below from the 2021 DevSummit.
This year saw plenty of other new technologies throughout the GIS world. What are some of the favorites you’ve adopted and are still using? What are you looking forward to exploring further in 2022? Let us know on Twitter!
Closing on 2021, Onward to 2022
As 2021 comes to a close, we look forward to taking time to collectively reflect on the year and start 2022 on the right foot. What does the future hold? With continued growth for GEO Jobe and the geospatial industry, we look forward to exploring what lies ahead together.
