GeoCue is a next generation production management system developed by GeoCue Corp.

GeoCue is designed as an extensible framework for large volume, multiple production seat data production shops. GeoCue will support technology growth through tools supplied by GeoCue Corp, other production tool companies or by incorporation of your own in-house tools. The major areas we are addressing with GeoCue include: Combining disparate input data into a managed project data set Providing Quick Look tools for data coverage and quality Managing production data in a multi-user environment Providing an integration framework for commercial and custom tools Providing workflow management tools for production operators and managers Providing visualization tools for project-wide status monitoring Automatically collecting detailed step by step production history Providing product generation tools Providing web tools for keeping the delivery customer in the loop

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

GeoCue Corporation is a privately held company based in Huntsville, Alabama. Most of its technical staff were previously members of the technical staff of Z/I Imaging Corporation, a joint venture company owned by Intergraph of Huntsville, Alabama and Carl Zeiss of Oberkochen, Germany. When Intergraph acquired Z/I Imaging in 2002, the core development group elected to form a new company since they preferred the environment engendered by a small, entrepreneurial startup. The technical staff of GeoCue Corporation have deep expertise not only in engineering software development but in the technical aspects of geospatial imaging and precision positioning. Our team has produced a wide variety of commercial mapping and photogrammetry hardware and software products over the past 25 years. In late 2009, GeoCue Corporation acquired QCoherent Software LLC of Colorado Springs, Colorado. QCoherent is a software development company dedicated to building tools for LIDAR data distribution and exploitation, particularly in the ArcGIS environment. Their premiere tools, LP360 for exploitation and LIDAR Server for data distribution, are used by companies and agencies throughout the world.

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

Our Geospatial Process Business Unit is focused on building GeoCue, our core software technology for geospatial workflow management. In addition to the core technology, we have created a variety of specific workflow solutions for vertical application areas such as digital image acquisition and LIDAR data production. We offer integration and consulting services for designing and deploying customer workflow solutions. Finally, we offer solutions through third parties where GeoCue software is used to provide workflow management and cloud computing to specific applications. An example is the Intergraph DMC Post-Processing System workflow.

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

GeoCue maintains its LIDAR focus as a vertical business unit. As such, we offer a comprehensive suite of software and services oriented around Terrasolid as the primary editing and batch processing tool and QCoherent tools for LIDAR QC , lightweight editing operations and LIDAR data distribution. We offer complete services including: Consulting services for new LIDAR business development Terrasolid software sales/ installation, training and maintenance support for North America Hardware systems acceptance support Comprehensive workflow training Consulting services for workflow enhancement

GeoCue has engaged with many major geospatial production companies and agencies in the United States. We have now begun expanding into the international market. We have provided companies and agencies: Out-of-the-box workflow tools and training for standard flows such as LIDAR and Ortho production Customized GeoCue solutions for proprietary workflows Consulting services for best practices production Consulting services for workflow optimization and conversion

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

Our intent is to provide the framework into which the user can plug tools for managing large production projects. Our initial release focuses primarily on production management tools. The production process is managed by parceling data into manageable working segments that can be parceled out to production operators for processing. We do not place any restrictions on what the processing steps are we simply manage the segments of data as they flow through the system. GeoCue is designed from the ground up to support heterogeneous collections of processing products from multiple vendors. In addition, we will supply a programmers Software Development Kit (SDK) that will allow users to easily add custom tools to the system.

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

The typical production workflow comprises a number of different tools from different vendors, forming best-of-breed solutions. The problem with this approach is that these tools typically have low to no level of integration. The result is a very disconnected workflow with the knowledge of how to make the overall system work carried around in the heads of a few production experts. Production management, particularly status reporting, is a very manual process. Operators use file directory disciplines to prevent data collisions and organize work. Home grown tools and procedures are used to interface the output of step A with the input of step B. Production operators are relied upon to update paper tracking charts or make entries into Excel or Access tracking systems. These systems are very inefficient and error prone. The true production status is never known, operators make errors and work on one anothers files, if someone calls in sick, that area of production stops and so forth. Using tools from disparate vendors is necessary since no one vendor offers an optimal solution. Thus the appropriate solution a framework technology to integrate these disparate tools.

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

The fundamental problems with workstation-centric processes is that there is no cohesive central management of the process. Thus while it is obviously possible to do production this way, it is inefficient and error prone.

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GeoCue is a framework system that integrates disparate software from multiple vendors into an integrated workflow environment. This approach allows you to preserve your investments in existing software and training while bringing order to a chaotic workflow environment. The general scheme of GeoCue is to wrap standard software applications in a GeoCue interface. This interface is used to drive the software application from GeoCues graphical user interface and to monitor the status of the application. This GeoCue control wrapper allows us to manage the data that are fed to the application, control access, log who, what, where, when and report errors in a standard way. The overall result is that your existing workflows are encapsulated in a process control system that allows you to focus on production activities rather than data/people/application management problems. In a nutshell, GeoCue moves workstation-centric production to a managed Enterprise system while preserving your investments in your current workflows.

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Moving to an Enterprise solution is the best approach to bring your production processes under control. However, an approach of retooling your company with a new set of enterprise production tools is a cost prohibitive solution. Thus our approach with GeoCue is to surround your existing tools and training with an Enterprise wrapper, thus preserving your infrastructure investments.

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Our experience has shown that most companies approach the management of projects via these standard roles Production Worker these are the technicians who are doing the individual work processes such as editing a tile of LIDAR data or quality checking an ortho. Production Manager these are the supervisors and subject matter experts who guide specific areas of an overall project. Examples include the LIDAR and Ortho discipline area managers Project Manager These are the folks who interact with the customer and serve to pull together the entire project. They typically coordinate the activities of the Production Managers with respect to the projects for which they are responsible. They generally have Profit and Loss (P&L) responsibility for the project. Executive Managers These managers need visibility into all of the projects that are being processed by the company (or agency)

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Production user interact with GeoCue via a thick client interface. These clients communicate with the GeoCue Server via .NET remoting (binary or SOAP). The Client view provides: Project View This is the primary interface to a project. The user can visualize production entities (e.g. survey points, images, DEM boundaries and so forth) as a graphical element. Object Layers Production and reference entities in the Project View are segregated by layers, much as in a GIS. This segregation is used to support either heterogeneous coordinate systems, logic data separation or both. Files, Properties Entity metadata can be stored in the GeoCue Database. Elements of these metadata can be exposed for viewing by a user. Clicking on an entity populates these fields. GeoCue can track multiple external files per entity with file metadata also displayed in the Property Pane Actions Checklists can be associated with entities. Steps in the list can be manual (just a reminder to do something) or application linked. Linked steps either directly execute programs or indirectly via the Command Dispatch System. History Each time a checklist action is performed, that action is recorded in the production tracking database Object Viewer An optional plug-in viewer can be specified to display views of a selected object.

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Through the optional package, Project Administrator, production managers can obtain very detailed information regarding the status of individual project objects (e.g. individual orthos, LIDAR tiles, control points or whatever is being managed). GeoCue provides a facility to automatically assign earned value management (EVM) data to processing objects. Examples include Budgeted Effort, Planned Start Date and so forth. GeoCue automatically updates EVM values such as Estimate to Complete and Variance as the project progresses. Project Administrator can also be used to assign tasks to individual production technicians. Via one of the GeoCue Symbology views, technicians are guided through the tasks to which they have been assigned.

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Project Managers need insight at the aggregated level. Rather than knowing the status of individual objects (such as the classification status of an individual LIDAR tile), the Project Manager needs information about project phases. GeoCue Project Dashboard (an optional web-based management component) provides automated roll-ups of the Earned Value Management statistics that are automatically collected during processing within GeoCue. This means that the Project Manager can view a summary of the status of the edit state of thousands of objects, automatically (e.g. what is the ETC for the 5,000 ortho tiles for the QC step?). GeoCue tracks person time independently from machine time.

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In addition to detailed Phase EVM data, GeoCue Project Dashboard provides a graphical Key Performance Indicators (KPI) view of multiple projects. Using Project Dashboard, executive management can very quickly pinpoint areas of trouble and take corrective action. Since Dashboard is web based, executives can monitor project status from any location.

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GeoCue contains the essential elements that address the major facets of geospatial production, independent of a particular set of software.

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GeoCue contains a programmable State Engine that allows a user to launch an executable program (or integrated DLL) against GeoCue managed data by simply selecting the desired data into the Working Set (which manages multiuse locking), selecting the desired checklist processing step (the State) and pressing an action button (State Transition). Checklists, steps, entities and so forth are easily defined and modified via Environment Builder, an included interactive workflow element creation tool

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Full history tracking of every action on every entity is maintained automatically by the GeoCue system. Using the optional Project Manager CuePac, you can develop very detailed production status and processing history reports. These reports can be directly exported to Excel for more detailed analysis or charting.

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GeoCue (Departmental Server version) includes an integral Command Dispatch System. This system provides services for: Scheduling a task for remote execution (e.g. run a task at a later time on a local or remote machine) Distributed Processing spread the processing of n entities across m machines Cluster Mode processing rather than sending tasks to specific machines, send them instead to a processing Cluster as defined by a GeoCue System Administrator. This is very powerful in that it allows the IT group to dynamically define clusters without impacting how users perceive the system Graphically display progress The GeoCue Client Map Views can symbolically indicate the status of entities that are in dispatch processing queues. This collection of services form an Intranet Cloud Computing facility.

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The GeoCue CuePacs include a number of production-related tools. Our initial focus is to ensure that we include all of the tools that are necessary to integrate your current production process into a managed environment. Thus our focus in our initial releases is not to change the way you process data (filter, editors, product generators) but to provide a framework into which you can integrate these tools. This philosophy will allow you to move toward a more managed and controlled production environment without the need to retrain operators. While a production manager will need to be trained in setting up GeoCue and managing projects, a production operator can learn the GeoCue environment in a few hours. As time goes on, we will continue to release tools for GeoCue to enhance all aspects of elevation processing, primarily based on your feedback.

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Environment Builder was released in Version 2.0 of GeoCue. We have replaced the rather onerous previously required process of editing database tables with a fully interactive tool for creating new environments and maintaining/modifying existing ones. Any user can now add new checklist steps or modify checklists for a production flow in minutes, directly from their GeoCue Client seat. Of course, Environment Builder allows advanced operations as well such as: Creating new entities Creating new layers Creating entity metadata Creating or modifying commands Creating customized menu systems Modifying graphical symbology

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GeoCue Corporation offers not only the GeoCue Core technology (those components that customers need to integrate their own workflows) but also a collection of database definitions and tools to realize out-of-the-box production flows. These CuePacs allow you to become immediately productive with workflows such as TerraScan-based LIDAR processing and Leica Geosystemsbased ortho production. As time goes on, we will add additional CuePacs to address other standard production processes.

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GeoCue is unique in that it is the first tool set that has be specifically designed as a Project Management tool for use with general production tools whether from GeoCue Corp. (NIIRS10), another software vendor or of your own design. GeoCue is a general environment that can be tailored to meet your specific needs. While we deliver GeoCue with several pre-defined production environments, it was specifically designed to allow you to develop your own workflow definitions and encode them as your own environments. Once designed (and we can provide consulting services to assist you in this task if desired), your own environments are indistinguishable from those supplied by GeoCue Corp. (NIIRS10). GeoCue is a general purpose process manager that you can employ to manage nearly any conceivable spatially organized process. This means that all of the production processes within your shop can be controlled under one uniform system. The overall goal of GeoCue is to bring order and control to your production processes. Through this control you will achieve higher levels of quality, more effective use of your personnel and ultimately, a higher profit margin per job.

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CuePacs customize GeoCue, our core geospatial process management framework, to realize specific workflows (Environments). The LIDAR 1 CuePac as delivered, is oriented around a Terrasolid LIDAR production flow with QCoherent as the QC tool. However, GeoCue is a flexible system that allows end-users to customize the workflow. Thus integrating editors other than TerraScan or QCoherent is straightforward. GeoCue provides the core functions of: Extensive project layout tools for corridors, tiling structures, buffer zone construction and so forth. GeoCue also includes a large collection of tools for generating output product definitions and assigning delivery names such as Easting, Northing conventions. Distributed Data Management Multiuser access and control, including security levels Automatic production tracking history (who, when, where, what, how long) Helper functions (Coordinate systems, data import, export, ) The LIDAR 1 CuePac tailors the general capabilities of GeoCue to implement a structured LIDAR processing environment.

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

LIDAR data typically have very good relative accuracy (especially within a lift) and reasonable absolute accuracy. These characteristics offer the opportunity to correct LIDAR data to a set of control features for improvements in horizontal accuracy. We have developed a system to do this adjustment and offer it as a CuePac addon to our LIDAR processing system. If you are working engineering scale projects where controlled horizontal accuracy is paramount, consider the FMAS CuePac.

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

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GeoCue offers a set of solutions for extending the management capabilities of GeoCue to Contractor multiple subcontractor production scenarios. If you contemplate involving multiple subcontractors in your production flows, please contact us for detailed information on the Distributed Project Management System.

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

GeoCue has provided bootstrap deployments for a number of North American customers. The bootstrap program is intended for companies who have no prior experience in processing LIDAR data. For companies who are also acquiring hardware systems as part of their initial program for entering the LIDAR business arena, we can also offer services in systems acceptance consulting. It is critically important that you ensure that your LIDAR hardware is performing at specification prior to engaging in your first LIDAR customer projects.

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

GeoCue with the LIDAR 1 CuePac has become the standard for serious LIDAR production. The leading LIDAR production companies have adopted our software for day-to-day production as a strategic advantage in todays highly competitive environment. In addition to the use of GeoCue by the majority of LIDAR processing companies in North America, a number of companies ( a few are listed on this slide) have engaged with us to take them from a state of never having performed LIDAR processing to fully competent to engage in profitable production. These LIDAR bootstrap programs are very effective for getting your company into this rapidly expanding business area. GeoCue scales from a single user to a large, multi-user enterprise system. Thus no project or company is too small or too large for GeoCue-based LIDAR processing. For a small shop, GeoCue allows a small, multitasking production team (and indeed, we have some installation where this is a team of one!) to track multiple projects while switching back and forth between them multiple times per day. Large teams, of course, benefit from the multiuse core of GeoCue. For example, multiple LIDAR data editors can process tiles within the same project without coordination of who is working on which data. Our customers report typical productivity gains on the order of 25% based only on the data and personnel management aspects of a GeoCue managed processing environment.

GeoCue Executive Overview - Copyright 2010

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