MS Public Sector Team Blog

Simpl really… transactions in healthcare

2008-08-28T19:33:06Z

I’m losing sight of the purpose of this blog, I’m not sure if it is a public voice or just somewhere I can keep tabs on activities and stories that interest me. Here is a story that appeared in New Zealand’s ComputerWorld that talks about SIMPL, or as we know it inside Microsoft the “Health Connection [...]...(read more)

Unified Communications in Healthcare

2008-08-28T19:15:44Z

As some of you might have guessed, I’ve been learning a little about the role that Microsoft is playing in the healhcare world over the last few weeks. Linked here is a paper that we sponsored with IDC, it talks about the role of Unified Communications in today’s healthcare environment. The stereotypical image of the clinician carrying multiple [...]...(read more)

Virtual Earth for the Environment

2008-08-28T18:34:08Z

I am surprised that the Microsoft Environmental team still talks to me. They launched a really cool Microsoft Environment site back in May and I have been remiss in sharing that with my Virtual Earth for Public Sector readers. The site shares how Microsoft and its partners use innovative technologies and responsible business practices to address environmental challenges worldwide. And if I am writing about it, you know that Virtual Earth is well-represented. The site can be found here . Look for...(read more)

IE8 Beta 2, available now

2008-08-28T13:23:11Z

No doubt you have been following the many discussions in the press recently about some of the new features coming in IE8, over the last two weeks much of that chatter has been about the InPrivate functionality that is being added in the upcoming release. CNet News had the following to say; Known as InPrivate, Microsoft is [...]...(read more)

The role of ICT in the future of Healthcare

2008-08-27T03:14:30Z

My colleague Bill Crounse has posted a video up on the MSR site that looks at some of the ideas that our Health Solutions Group are thinking about as future challenges and opportunities for IT in healthcare. You’ll find it posted here; In this special two-part video edition of House Calls for Healthcare Professionals, Bill Crounse, MD, [...]...(read more)

Virtual Earth UltraCam ortho-imagery can now be licensed for offline use!

2008-08-26T03:15:49Z

I am often asked by public sector customers about the ability to consume Virtual Earth imagery outside of Virtual Earth. This was recently made possible within ESRI ArcGIS tools and is now made possible completely offline through two new resellers, i-cubed and MapMart.com. The following are points from an announcement that was distributed late last week. Why is the Virtual Earth team licensing imagery for offline use? Our high-resolution UltraCam ortho-imagery is prized for GIS, urban planning, engineering...(read more)

Microsoft Virtual Earth & Photosynth: Coming Together

2008-08-25T18:35:49Z

Here's a technology I really haven't discussed much on the Virtual Earth for Public Sector blog (shame on me). Until now, Photosynth was a Live Labs research project that you could just get a glimpse of through a technology preview web site. But the Photosynth team was recently moved into the Virtual Earth team and has released an official Photosynth site that allows you to not only view Photosynth collections hosted there, but to add your own. Time to bring it to the attention of Public Sector customers,...(read more)

Durusau’s post IS29500 process comments

2008-08-24T11:31:20Z

Patrick Durusau has posted a couple of his now characteristic PDFs since the end of the IS29500 appeals process. It is worth taking a moment to read both of them; http://www.durusau.net/publications/listening.pdf OOXML has been approved by a super-majority of those eligible to vote, appeals have been denied and yet the cry: “You’re Not LISTENING TO ME!” goes on. [...]...(read more)

Make your own synth

2008-08-24T09:11:43Z

I mentioned PhotoSynth last October when we released a Synth of the space shuttle that has been put together in collaboration with NASA. It seems that one Wednesday of last week Photosynth 1.0 was released, so now you can make Synths from your own photos. Check out the release note on the team blog here; We’re pleased [...]...(read more)

Technology Standards in a Connected World

2008-08-24T01:07:03Z

The text below is an article that I recently wrote in partnership with Steve Mutkoski, a colleague from our regional office here in Singapore. We had a few goals that we were trying to meet while we wrote this. The first was to think through some of the important lessons that we learned during the time [...]...(read more)

photosynth launches

2008-08-21T13:47:00Z

It's good to see that Photosynth is finally bolting out of the stable door. I've been playing around with this for some time internally at Microsoft and I know there are a lot of folks around looking forward to playing with it. I'm also aiming to wrap it into my own research work into how new creative technology tools like this and Silverlight can let us explore and communicate a sense of time and place in new, much more immersive ways. There's a nice British flavour to the launch too, with the London...(read more)

Webinar: Deep Dive into Enterprise Location Intelligence

2008-08-19T18:13:56Z

Mark your calendars for August 26th when Microsoft Virtual Earth partner IDV Solutions is conducting a webinar hosted by Directions Media . The webinar focuses on how to deliver the experience that typical end users in an organization expect when interacting with enterprise applications, and how the GIS community can use IDV Solutions' Visual Fusion and Microsoft's SharePoint to meet those expectations when scaling GIS efforts out to a non-specialist audience. Learn how to maximize the GIS data analysis...(read more)

ISO and IEC members give go ahead on ISO/IEC DIS 29500

2008-08-15T14:29:43Z

The text below was posted today on ISO’s site; 2008-08-15 The two ISO and IEC technical boards have given the go-ahead to publish ISO/IEC DIS 29500, Information technology – Office Open XML formats, as an ISO/IEC International Standard after appeals by four national standards bodies against the approval of the document failed to garner sufficient support. None of the [...]...(read more)

Open XML confirmed as ISO standard

2008-08-15T13:00:00Z

I see ISO has issued a press release confirming Open XML as an ISO standard: The two ISO and IEC technical boards have given the go-ahead to publish I SO/IEC DIS 29500, Information technology Office Open XML formats , as an ISO/IEC International Standard after appeals by four national standards bodies against the approval of the document failed to garner sufficient support. Their full press release is online here . Users now have what they have long asked for: independent ownership and maintenance...(read more)

Reagan was a genius

2008-08-14T01:29:15Z

The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. - Ronald Reagan President Reagan had many talents, one of which was the innate ability to take very complex issues and sum them [...]...(read more)