Location intelligence is a hot market. Don't believe me? Note that two location tech-centric gatherings-- Location Intelligence Conference and Where 2.0--are happening on the heels of each other.

Joe Francica, chairman of the Location Intelligence conference, says this is a $3 billion market that's expected to grow 10 times within the next five to 10 years. He tells me 2007 is the year people are really going to be "monetizing the use of mapping technology." We're talking big opportunities for startups, who can sell themselves to corporations that want to use their technology as part of a new service--for example, a cellular carrier that wants to offer mapping and location-based services to customers.

That makes sense, says Greg Sterling, founder of Sterling Market Intelligence. He cites Microsoft's recent acquisition of Tell Me, saying, "Large corporations like Microsoft can't necessarily execute as well as startups can across the board."

Though the Location Intelligence Conference is sponsored by Microsoft, Oracle, and other big names, lots of portal player, local search, and mapping startups will participate--like PlaySpace, Urban Explorer, and Local Matters, which was started up by Mapquest founder Perry Evans.

Mr. Sterling says the biggest opportunity for monetization right now is in business-to-consumer, offering ever-richer services to cell phone users, mobile gamers, and the like to generate ad-based revenue. But he cautions we're not quite there yet. "It's an incremental process," he says, though he touts advances in software and that can connect to both satellite and cellular networks.