Ralf Hackmann
Sales Consultant
con terra
Germany

Biography
Ralf Hackmann is working since 2001 in sales and project management at con terra GmbH in Münster , Germany. As a member company of the Esri Deutschland Group, con terra’s activities are mainly based on the ArcGIS Platform as well as open standards, to which systematically further products and technologies are added. Con terra is actively involved in committees and working groups relating to ISO, GDI-DE, OGC, INSPIRE and many others. Ralf Hackmann is advising customers in both building and managing complex spatial data infrastructures and enterprise solutions, as well as using con terra’s “out of the box” software products. Furthermore he is responsible Partner Manager for the DACH area in the reseller network for the con terra software products.

Abstract
Building and Managing “Next Generation“ Geo Apps - Dos and Don'ts

Even though they are in many cases still in use: the times of heavy weight Web-GIS and everything-but-the-kitchen-sink map "portals" are counted. Most geo-information and -analysis systems will in future need to measure more at their ease of use and rapid information delivery as on a possible comprehensive but hardly controllable functionality. In times of easy to use apps on any device, anytime and anywhere even professional geo web applications are becoming leaner, more focused and easy to use. The quick and easy solution to specific issues come to the fore, functionally overloaded and often slow geoportals are becoming less important. At the same time a simple and for the user intuitive to use application is not synonymous with a simple task for someone who has to build such an application! Often just the simplifying of workflows make the highest demands on the architecture and design! The presentation takes a look at some aspects that need to be considered in the preparation of such web-based geo apps to master the difficult balancing act between sometimes complex use cases while remaining easy to use. The basic dos and don'ts are also highlighted, as well as the previously often neglected question of the management of multiple geo apps. Because with the creation of focused applications only a first step has been taken. Sustainable management regarding the maintenance, migration and development of these applications is the more important, the greater the number of apps is. Against this background, examples are presented, which, among other things, show new ways of user interaction, illustrate the intelligent combination of map content and tools, reinterpret the theme of "search and find", or explain the automatic and rule-based update of geo apps by using templates synchronization mechanisms. Technically the emphasis is placed on browser-based web apps (html5, JavaScript) which follow the "one-fits-all" paradigm by using responsive design patterns.