GIS ILWIS migrates to open source
The Integrated Land and Water Information System (ILWIS, http:// www.itc.nl/ilwis) is a PC-based GIS & Remote Sensing software, developed by ITC. The ITC directorate has recently decided to make current ILWIS software free of charge and to migrate it as such to open source software under the 52° North initiative. Leading research organizations in the ?eld of geoinformatics (ifgi, conterra, ITC, ESRI) participate in 52° North’s innovative development for establishing open spatial data infrastructures (SDI) and transformation of these into practical technological solutions.

Nokia N95 smartphone with GPS capabilities starts shipping
Nokia N95 has started shipping in key European, Asian and Middle Eastern markets. The phone is an all-in-one multimedia computer with a unique 2-way slide design, integrated GPS functionality and many other features. www.nokia.com

New Magellan ProMark™3 RTK alters the RTK Landscape
Magellan has announced the introduction of its ProMark3 RTK, designed to provide surveyors with centimeter accuracy in a realtime solution and complete postprocessing and mapping capabilities. It operates in two modes; base + rover and rover only. The rover can be connected to a real-time network through a GPRSenabled cell phone using NTRIP and direct IP. The base + rover, employs plug-and-play spread-spectrum radio solution that does not require a license or separate con? guration integrated with ProMark3 RTK. cgeffroy@magellangps.com

Galileo – the European Programme for Global Navigation Services for civil purposes is an initiative led by European Union. We provide regular updates to our readers on the Galileo programme.

Abu Dhabi to introduce new road maintenance system
Abu Dhabi is preparing a unique Road and Bridge Asset Management System. The system would establish a satellite-aided geographical database by using the GPS. It will also feature an e-archives for road executive designs and an e-connection with other working systems. The system seeks to standardize the methods and costs of maintenance work of the 20, 000- km road network and 90 bridges in the emirates, according to an official at department for Municipalities and Agriculture. www.khaleejtimes.com

Geospatial Intelligence Standards: Enabling a Common Vision
The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has issued a new document that provides guidance and direction to develop an overall baseline for common geospatial standards used to share, manipulate, and exploit digital geospatial data. The document, “Geospatial Intelligence Standards: Enabling a Common Vision,” outlines the standards that will be used in the National System for Geospatial-Intelligence (NSG). The NSG is the combination of technology, policies, capabilities, doctrine, activities, people, data and communities necessary to produce geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in an integrated multi-intelligence, multidomain environment. www.nga.mil

Hemisphere GPS Innovation Wins FinOvation Award
Hemisphere GPS has announced that the Outback S2 GPS guidance system has won a FinOvation Award by Farm Industry News. The Award recognizes the most innovative new products published in Farm Industry News during the past year. The guidance system combines Crescent® GPS Technology with a simple guidance interface. When combined with Outback eDrive and the new BaseLineHD, it provides the most affordable one-inch pass-to-pass automated steering system available.
Hemisphere GPS has also introduced centimeter-level accuracy through a Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) application for professionals working in precision agriculture, marine navigation, surveying and others. It also provides the same accuracy as dual-frequency RTK systems but at a fraction of the cost. www.hemispheregps.com

Galileo – the European Programme for Global Navigation Services for civil purposes is an initiative led by European Union. We provide regular updates to our readers on the Galileo programme.

US expresses concern over satellite-killing test by China
The USA, Australia and Canada have voiced concerns to China over the fi rst known satellite-killing test in space in more than 20 years. The capability demonstrated by China was no surprise to the Bush administration, which revised U.S. national space policy in October to assert a right to deny space access to anyone hostile to US Interests. The US has been researching satellitekillers of its own, experimenting with lasers on the ground that could disable, disrupt and destroy spacecraft. http://news.scotsman.com

NATO awards GIS contract to TENET
NATO NC3 Agency has awarded the GIS Data Preparation Contract to TENET supported by Galdos Systems Inc. and IIC Technologies Inc in Canada. The project involves the generation of a wide range of geospatial data models compliant with some of the latest spatial open information standards from OGC and ISO and the conversion of many terabytes of vector, raster and gridded data. A large proportion of NATO’s paper holdings of maps and charts will also be digitized and converted to the same set of open standards. The objective is to create an open and shareable map database as part of NATO core GIS infrastructure withinz the Alliance. At the forefront of these open standards are the two key encodings of GML and GMLJP2 to provide effective encoding for Raster and Coverage data.
www.galdosinc.com