For those of you interested in the ways in which new location-based technologies are being talked about by companies and entrepreneurs, head on over to the site of the Where 2.0 conference (http://en.oreilly.com/where2009).

Normally, most conference sites display only press releases publicising this or that company's information. The organiser of Where 2.0 have gone a big step further, presumably because it wants a wider group to understand the concepts behind the new market of location-based services.

Where 2.0 was held on May 19 to 21 in San José, California as a exhibition and workshop on emerging technologies relating to the geospatial industry and "particularly the way our lives are organised, from finding a restaurant to finding the source of a new millennium plague".

The site holds what seems to be most of the presentations and workshop lessons either as slides, audio or streaming video. Workshop topics include 'Reality Mining for Companies, or, How Social Networks Network Best', 'Ghosts of Location Based Social Networking Past, Present and Future', 'The Evolving Geoweb' and 'DIY City: An Operating System for Cities', to pick out a few.

The presentations include discussions by experts in the field on topics such as how statistics and alternate methods of collecting such data can provide geospatial information for practical purposes, for example tracking the repopulation of New Orleans or helping alert local police about changing crime patterns.

A mention should be given to OpenGTS (Open Source GPS Tracking System), available at www.OpenGTS.org. The open source software might interest small business interested in setting up their own tracking system for their fleet. The free software is now in use in about 50 countries for tracking vehicles, trucks, delivery vans, ships, people, phones, and other items.

OpenGTS uses Google Maps to help you track a vehicle with GPS. Read the manual first to see if you understand the technique to install it and begin communicating via SMS messages via cell phone connection to your server desktop. You also need to have compatible cell phones and GPS receivers to get the fixes for plotting on your map. There is a commercial version, "GTS Enterprise", which presumably provides more technical support and help.

On a separate topic, you might also want to take a look at a Deloitte survey on how chief executives are treating the use of social networking sites by their employees. Employees may use online social networks to communicate, share ideas, and disseminate information, but this networked connectivity also blurs the lines between professional and private lives.

In its annual Ethics & Workplace Survey, Deloitte found that 74 percent of executives identify social networks as a possible source of ethical dilemmas for individuals and presents a risk for a company's brand.

Not surprisingly, many want to control this sphere of their employees' lives. About 60 percent claim they have the "right to know" how employees portray themselves and their organisations online, while 53 percent of employees contend that "social networking pages are none of an employer's business". About 17 percent of executives surveyed say they have programmes in place to monitor and reduce the possible reputational risks related to the use of social networks. Less than a quarter have formal policies on their use.

Deloitte suggests one compromise. One option is to establish policies and protocols, though half of employee respondents report that such guidelines will not change how they behave on the Internet. "Therefore, organisations should emphasise culture, values, and ethics in order to mitigate reputational risk in these online communities," Deloitte suggests in the paper, available at www.deloitte.com.

On a separate but related topic, IT specialists will be interested in another new Deloitte report, 'From Treading Water to Losing Ground', this year's annual security survey of technology, media and entertainment, and telecommunications companies.

The survey found such companies were scaling back on security as the economy continues to spiral downwards. Executives also reported that outsourcing is outpacing security measures, regulatory issues are moving to the forefront and virtual and physical security worlds are intersecting. The full report plus a video conference is available online.

Send any comments to elamin.ahmed@gmail.com.