The State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (SBSM) will continue to promote 100 merit-based digital cities nationwide, which will rapidly push the construction and completion of the digital China geo-spatial framework. The digital city construction has made significant progress since its launch in 2006 and currently, 78 cities have been involved in the construction and …

From the vaults of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai founded in 1804, maps circa 18th Century – priceless, irreplaceable, hand-drawn and colourful original prints – have been disappearing.
Almost nothing remains of the entire set of maps that date back to 1803-04: they depict the expanse of Mumbai (then Bombay) in great detail when the first …

Minister Mah Bow Tan said Singapore’s land use planning for the next 10-15 years has to take into account new trends and emerging issues. Many of these issues are complex and may involve trade-offs between different objectives. He also launched a public consultation to seek public views on shaping Singapore’s physical landscape. The Urban Redevelopment …

USGS seeks proposals to build NSDI
USGS and the Federal Geographic Data Committee of USA formally announced their request for proposals to support the 2010 National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Cooperative Agreements Program.
The NSDI CAP will award an estimated 31 innovative projects in the geospatial data community. www.fgdc.gov

Digital village in China
A two-year project to bridge the urbanrural digital divide in Yunnan Province in southern China is gathering pace. US$18 million so far has been spent in the creation of the ‘Yunnan Digital Village’, which will bring information technology to 16 cities, 129 counties and 130,000 villages in the province. The initiative was devised by Intel, which provided consulting services as well as technology and engineering solutions. http://chinadigitaltimes.net

286 cities in China will complete digital surveying and mapping to facilitate planning and management by the end of 2015, the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping said. The digital database will serve as the sole authoritative geographical information source for each city. All the databases will be nationally networked so governments at national, provincial and municipal levels can share information

China to regulate its GI industry
Authorities in Guangdong are cracking down on illegal surveying and mapping to better regulate the geographic information industry in the southern province. Foreign organizations, businesses and individuals have been told that they must apply to the central government’s surveying and mapping authority for approval to gather geographic information in the southern province. www.chinadaily.com.cn

OGC calls for Industry input on Geospatial Fusion

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) has issued a Request for Information to solicit industry input into a Fusion Standards Study to be conducted in preparation for the planned OGC Web Services, Phase 7 (OWS-7) Testbed. It will also partner with other Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) having technology relevant to fusion. www.opengeospatial.org

Delhi 3 months away from geogovernance

For the first time ever Delhi city will have a utility map through aerial photographs and also real-time monitoring of the ground situation throughout the city with the help of 64 wireless internet protocol cameras. 31 departments and agencies will be able to access this data in real time. The Rs 120 crore project called the Delhi State Spatial Data Infrastructure (DSSDI) project is in the last stages of completion. It is being done by Delhi government along with Survey of India (SOI). Times of India

Study GIS at Hong Kong Polytechnic
The Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University is now accepting applications for Master of Science/ Postgraduate Diploma in Geomatics (GIS/ Surveying). It is the longest running postgraduate program in GIS and the only one in Geomatics (Surveying) in Hong Kong. www.lsgi.polyu.edu.hk

Ohio researcher tracks H1N1 virus
An Ohio State University Medical Centre biomedical informatics researcher is tapping the power of the Ohio Supercomputer Centre to monitor the spread of the H1N1 influenza virus. Associate professor Daniel Janies synthesizes large, diverse datasets to understand the spread of infectious diseases over hosts and geography. The resulting maps can be viewed with Google Earth. Janies will project the evolutionary tree of the virus’ mutations and host shifts onto the globe using web application, Supramap. www.osc.edu