Transcript Proposal to Create SIGSpatial

Back Up 8.1
Proposal to Create
Special Interest Group on Spatial Information
(SIGSpatial)
Jamie Callan
Vice Chair for SIG Development
[email protected]
Organizing Committee and
Formation Committee
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Walid G. Aref, Purdue U.
Omar Boucelma, U. Aix-Marseille
Rolf De By, ITS, Enschede
Isabel Cruz, U. Illinois, Chicago
A. Stewart Fotheringham, NU Ireland
Ralf Hartmut Guting, U. Hagen
Erik Hoel, ESRI
Ibrahim Kamel, U. Sharjah
Robert Laurini, INSA of Lyon
Ki Joune Li, Pusan National U.
Chang-Tien Lu, Virginia Tech U.
Duane Marble, Ohio State U
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Mohamed Mokbel, U. Minnesota
Silvia Nittel, U. Maine
Dieter Pfoser, CTI
Philippe Rigaux, CNAM
Hanan Samet, U. Maryland
Markus Schneider, U. Florida
Cyrus Shahabi, USC
Shashi Shekhar, U. Minnesota
Kentaro Toyama, MSR India
Agnes Voisard, Fraunhofer ISST
and FU Berlin
• Ouri Wolfson, U. Illinois, Chicago
SIGSpatial Prehistory
• The Workshop/Symposium on Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
was affiliated with the CIKM conference for 14 years (1993 – 2006)
– Recent acceptance rates: 33% in 2004, 37% in 2005, 31% in 2006
• In 2007 it spun off as an independent conference
– Allowed to use the ACM brand, under a 1-year agreement
– 187 attended, 29% acceptance, 37 papers, 29 posters, sponsors, profitable
• Planning for the 2008 conference is well underway
– Location, organizers, and PC Chairs are all known
– $65K in funds in the bank, another $25K+ promised
SIGSpatial Scope
(A Partial Listing)
Acquisition and use of spatial data across a variety of disciplines
• Spatial information acquisition
– Aerial imaging, digitization, geocoding, GPS, positional accuracy, …
• Modeling of spatial data
• Data structures and algorithms
– Computational geometry, geoprocessing, map production algorithms, …
• Analysis, query, and integration
• HCI and visualization
• Systems and architectures
• Applications
– Cartography, environmental monitoring, location-based services, …
• Spatial information and society
Is SIGSpatial Viable?
• An organized research community with a 15-year history exists
– It includes senior, reputable people (see the Organizing Committee)
– It has a successful and profitable conference
– It contributes to the ACM Digital Library
– It has a surplus
– There is a larger / broader community for it to work with
– 40% of conference attendees were from outside academia
• GIS / spatial data probably isn’t a transient topic
– Location-awareness is a growing phenomenon
• E.g., Google Maps/Earth, Microsoft Virtual Earth/Live Local
– Sensor and other data is increasingly available, and not going away
• Several other SIGs have overlapping interests
– But it is not a core topic for any SIG
– This SIG might attract people who are on the fringe of other SIGs
Proposed Initial Activities
• Sponsor the annual SIGSpatial conference
– Essentially a rebranded GIS Symposium
• Sponsor affiliated workshops
– Mobile computing, spatiotemporal data mining, …
• Co-sponsor related conferences and workshops
– TBD
• Work towards ACM Transaction on Spatial Information
– Requires approval of Publications Board
• Archive of related PhD dissertations
• Promote student development
– PhD workshop, job bank, …
Proposal
The SGB grants SIG status to SIGSpatial, effective July 1, 2008, contingent
upon approval by the SGB Executive Committee of all of the following
materials:
1. A set of SIGSpatial bylaws,
2. A SIGSpatial budget for the ACM fiscal year starting July 1, 2008, and
3. A statement of SIGSpatial member benefits.
These materials must be submitted and approved by March 31, 2008.
The SGB also authorizes the SGB Executive committee to:
1. Approve the SIGSpatial bylaws, budget, and member benefits on behalf
of the SGB,
2. Appoint the first set of SIGSpatial officers, and
3. Set the initial SIGSpatial membership fees.