GIS

Report Card on the U.S. NSDI

The Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (COGO) released its Report Card on the U.S. National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) that depicts the condition and performance of the nation’s geospatial “infrastructure” which includes surveyed, mapped and remotely-sensed information. The NSDI Report Card is in the familiar form of a school report card—assigning letter grades that are based on physical condition and needed investments for improvement.

The report card was developed by an expert panel chaired by The Honorable James E. Geringer, former Governor of Wyoming, with Dr. David J. Cowen, John J. Moeller, Dr. John D. Bossler, Susan Carson Lambert, The Honorable Tom D. Rust, and The Honorable Robert T. Welch. www.cogo.pro

Western Australian Whole of Government Open Data Policy

The Western Australian Whole of Government Open Data Policy (the Policy) aims to facilitate greater release of government data to the public in appropriate and useful ways to generate value and productivity. A draft of the Policy, which ultimately will be implemented and maintained by the Western Australian Land Information Authority (Landgate) with progress reports to the Minister for Lands, has been released for consultation. As currently written, the Policy would require the “proactive” release of datasets under creative commons licensing, while still reserving the ability of some agencies to charge for “higher value datasets or information that comes with a cost of publication.

Defeating dengue the smart way

Pakistan’s Sindh province is working on a dengue prediction system based on surveillance data gathered in real time using a smartphone app and fed into a spatial or geographical model.

The dengue surveillance model using spatial technology was designed by the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO). http://www.scidev.net/

Summit Evolution compatible with Global Mapper

The new Global Mapper Extension from DAT/EM Systems International connects Global Mapper® from Blue Marble Geographics® with any edition (Professional, Feature Collection or Lite) of DAT/EM’s famous Summit Evolution™ stereoplotter. The extension is provided at no additional cost with any purchased or supported Summit Evolution license. It enables Summit Evolution to be a 3D digitizing device for Global Mapper and allows Global Mapper projects to utilize the tools of Summit Evolution. www.bluemarblegeo.com/

CompassData granted ISO 9001:2008 Certification

CompassData has announced that they have received ISO 9001:2008 Certification for Quality Management Systems from Orion Registrar, Inc. It has completed a rigorous audit in which Orion Registrar, Inc. reviewed each step in the firm’s quality management methodologies used during the creation of GPS-surveyed ground control and other geospatial products such as orthorectified imagery, DEM, sensor calibrations and GIS map products. www.compassdatainc.com

Bluesky Partnership launches air pollution monitoring rocket

A rocket equipped with air pollution monitoring equipment has been launched recently. As part of a wider air pollution mapping project supported by aerial survey company Bluesky, a pollution monitoring system, developed by scientists at the University of Leicester, aims to record how dangerous gases, such as nitrogen dioxide, dissipate with vertical distance from the earth. The micro sensors will be integrated with other technologies and launched into the atmosphere using Starchaser Industries’ Tempest Research Rocket. The launch follows previous work mapping air pollution across entire cities from planes, cars and ground sensors. www.bluesky-world.com

Mapping illegal colonies in Delhi

The Delhi government has started the process for fixing boundaries of unauthorized colonies to give shape to the promise of regularization. Delhi government has decided to begin the process of regularization with a ground mapping survey which could last a year. Old list of 1,639 unauthorized colonies is now expected to become longer. A notification has already been issued to this effect by the Union urban development ministry. http:// timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Romanian New Geoportal

The Romanian government’s Topographic Military Directorate (DTM) recently implemented a portal for geospatial data based on Esri technology. The DTM Geoportal is compliant with the established standards of Romania’s spatial data infrastructure (SDI) and joins the country’s other geospatial data portals including the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) Geoportal and the INIS Geoportal. The new geoportal provides quicker access to critical geospatial data and greater collaboration among the agencies the DTM serves, such as the Romanian Ministry of Defense (MoD). www.esri.com

White Paper on smart cities spatial information framework by OGC

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has released a White Paper on smart cities spatial information framework. The paper provides critical guidance on how to plan and implement open spatial standards architectures that guide deployment of interoperable information system components.

It discusses open standards for mobile location communication, 3D urban models, building information models, indoor navigation, augmented reality, and sensor webs. It also gives Smart City system architects insight into how changing computing paradigms, particularly the widespread use of XML and the rise of RESTful programming, figure into Smart City planning. In the paper OGC has discussed the primary steps for developing a spatial information framework for urban spatial intelligence based on open standards such as OGC CityGML, IndoorGML, Moving Features, and Augmented Reality Markup Language 2.0 (ARML 2.0).

Statistics Agency plans Br1.7 billion budget for next census in Ethiopia

The Central Statistics Agency (CSA), Ethiopia has prepared a proposal that includes costs and various work plans to fully carry out the 2016/17 population and housing census of Ethiopia.

The proposal was prepared in June 2014, drawing lessons from the previous population and housing census; it will be submitted to parliament in 2015/16 through Population Census Commission, which is yet to be established by the end of this budget year.

The Commission will have the responsibility of processing, evaluating and analyzing the data collected during the census. It will be chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and the members of the commission who will be drawn from various Ministries, regional state representatives, the House of Federation, the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia and the CSA, the entire group serving as the Office of the Census Commission (Secretariat).

The cartographic work, which is used to sub-divide regions into enumeration areas to avoid omission or repetition, will be carried out through GIS. http://allafrica.com/

Ghana to develop Lands Bill

Nii Osah Mills, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, has inaugurated a 17-member special working group to oversee and guide the development of a Lands Bill and associated legislative instruments. The working group forms part of the Lands Administration Project which focuses on facilitating access to land, ensuring security of title to land and enhancing institutional capacity for efficient and effective land administration. Nii Mills said for the past 13 years, Government had been grappling with the drafting and passage of a Lands Bill to consolidate and update the legal framework for an efficient, transparent and sustainable land administration in the country. He said the only way to ensure viable land administration was to reinforce the policy, legal and regulatory framework. www.businessghana.com/

High Accuracy and Advanced Field Work with Latest SuperSurv

Supergeo has announced the latest SuperSurv (Android), the GIS mapping app, which not only allows users to connect with and operate external Bluetooth GNSS devices, but also elevates field work efficiency with new averaging algorithms. It is an efficient mobile GIS App designed for field data collection on Android and iOS-powered devices. www.supergeotek.com

Agency9 brings WebGL streaming of 3D cities to iOS and Android

Agency9 has extended its 3DMaps WebGL support to iOS and Android devices. Large highly detailed 3D city models can now be streamed to web browsers on both tablets and smartphones with both high performance and visual quality. Mobile support substantially improves reach in GIS and planning applications. www.agency9.com

EMU researcher awarded $1.5 million grant

Yichun Xie ,director of Eastern Michigan University’s Institute for Geospatial Research and Education, recently won a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to work with 120 Michigan teachers to integrate GIS applications into their curricula and thus enhance career possibilities for their students. Participating teachers will be selected in partnership with the Michigan Math and Science Networks. www.heritage.com