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

EXPRESSMaps delivers detailed maps in 6 hours
Spot Image and Infoterra are launching www.express-maps.com to deliver detailed basemaps covering over three quarters of the Earth’s land surfaces. This service creates 1:50000 basemaps, which can be delivered electronically in just 6 hours. It is mainly aimed at civil protection agencies, military and humanitarian aid teams in crisis management situations. www.infoterra.fr

Indian NSDI publishes Metadata Standards ver 2.0

The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI), under Department of Science & Technology of Government of India, has released Metadata Standard 2.0. It is prepared by the working group on ‘Metadata Standards’ chaired by Dr. S K Pathan, from Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmadabad. The National Natural Resources Management System (NNRMS) Metadata Standards defines the schema and design for the NSDI Metadata. It also contains a set of relational tables that standardise the layer metadata, the geographic search metadata, the access metadata etc.

Metadata is the first element of the NSDI, which enables a user to find spatial data that is available in different NSDI Agency servers. It serves two major purposes – both for the spatial data generator and for the spatial data user. For the generator, it provides a framework to document the spatial data and declare its content for users. For the user, it serves many important purposes, including finding the spatial data as per need; browsing spatial data; deciding on whether the spatial data will meet the application need and finding how the spatial data can be accessed.

ISRO, with the involvement of Survey of India, National Informatics Centre, Geological Survey of India, Forest Survey of India, National Bureau of Soil Survey and Land Use Planning, National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation, Central Ground Water Board, Central Water Commission and the private sector, has led the effort of defining a ‘National Metadata Standards’. http://www.nsdiindia.gov.in

Intelligent map system tender by SLA
The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has awarded the tender for the design, development and maintenance of a government-wide intelligent map system to NIIT Technologies Pvt. Ltd. The proposed solution shall be based on ESRI ArcGIS Server 9.3 and Microsoft Dot Net Technology. www.sla.gov.sg