More SXSW Notes

Now sitting in a panel on geospatial data on the Web. Slightly less interesting in that we seem to be celebrating what has been done (particularly with Google Earth). Well yeah - but where is the talk about where this is all going? Frankly, what about the possibilities for mobile applications of location and use of geospatial data? Ok — some good stuff from Dan Dubno of “Blowing Things Up” (great name for a company). He’s talking about using personal agents to use spatial data and external data to negotiate with vendors as you walk down the street to get you the best price on, say, a cup of coffee. Interesting twist on the age-old “mobile marketing” standby of getting a Starbucks coupon as you walk down the street: turning around to the use of agents that use location and proximity data on the user’s behalf. This meshes with my view of how digital identity (of which location is a facet), privacy and security will evolve along Web 2.0 lines. Clearly, this is an important use case for the burgeoning effort on the Ubiquitous Web within W3C.