Directions on Government

Revised Kentucky and Tennessee US Topo Digital Maps Reveal New Design

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:48:37 -0500

Newly designed maps covering Kentucky and Tennessee are now available online for free download May 15, 2013 - US Topo maps now have a crisper, cleaner design - enhancing readability of maps for online and printed use. Map symbols are easier to read over the digital aerial photograph layer whether the imagery is turned on or off. Improvements to...

Average People Can Do GIS and other Government GIS News

Thu, 16 May 2013 06:42:39 -0500

There's a new beta GIS for Bowling Green Kentucky. It's called GIS Application. What can you do with it? The average person can use this service for many things. It can tell who owns a property, where they can vote, what police or fire district they are in and the acreage of the property they are in. Sadly, if that average person is running Safari he or she can't do...

Wyndham City Council Further Enhances its Residents Geographic Information with an Enterprise GIS Solution

Thu, 16 May 2013 01:14:02 -0500

In the city of Wyndham, Australia, rapid population growth, coupled with the diverse business activities of the city, has increased demand for spatial services exponentially. This article discusses how the Spatial Systems Unit at the Wyndham City Council planned to provide an accurate and current enterprise GIS for all staff, empowering them to obtain information seamlessly, while...

AeroMetric Presents USACE with Award for Navajo Housing Authority Project

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:23:35 -0500

– AeroMetric presented the St. Louis U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with special recognition including an inscribed award and project poster for "Creating an On Target Geospatial Foundation for the Navajo Housing Authority." The award and poster were duplicates of the ones that AeroMetric was honored with the at the MAPPS conference in November...

Crowdsourcing Environmental Issues in California and other Government GIS News

Tue, 14 May 2013 08:31:58 -0500

An innovative website allows people in the Coachella Valley and the Imperial Valley to report environmental hazards, channel their complaints to government agencies and track actions taken in response using online maps that flag each report with a colored dot. The website, called IVAN, uses crowdsourcing to collect reports of incidents such as illegal dumping,...

Privatizing National Mapping Technology

Tue, 14 May 2013 03:31:38 -0500

Google has not only become the de facto mapping app, the de facto navigation app, the de facto remote sensing app, the de facto change detection app, etc. It's the de facto National Map, as well. The USGS collected the data (imagery, topo, etc.) but Google monetized it. Is this an acceptable model where the government invests but the private sector monetizes the...

White House Initiative Takes a Hard Look at GPS as if it’s Critical Infrastructure

Mon, 13 May 2013 08:41:26 -0500

While GPS itself is not considered critical infrastructure, a report into the risks its loss might pose was begun in 2010. That reports is not complete, but an update is coming. The new, more expansive analysis of infrastructure protection will begin hardening 16 essential sectors such as energy and communications against risks that include losing — or losing trust in...

Canadian Public Safety Claims First Life Saved by Drone

Sun, 12 May 2013 13:49:36 -0500

A man's car had flipped leaving him well offroad in cold Saskatchewan on Thursday night. He called Canadia 911, but traditional manned aircraft could not locate him. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched a Draganflyer X4-ES helicopter drone near the last known coordinates from his cell phone. The drone's infrared sensor helped authorities find and treat the accident...

Obama Administration Releases Historic Open Data Rules to Enhance Government Efficiency and Fuel Economic Growth

Fri, 10 May 2013 07:14:21 -0500

May 9, 2013 - The Obama Administration today took groundbreaking new steps to make information generated and stored by the Federal Government more open and accessible to innovators and the public, to fuel entrepreneurship and economic growth while increasing government transparency and efficiency. Today’s actions—including an Executive Order...

Governor Martin O�Malley Unveils Data.Maryland.gov

Thu, 09 May 2013 06:38:23 -0500

Announces official launch of Maryland’s first statewide open data portal Hosts Future of Information Alliance’s “The Big Picture of Big Data” panel discussion May 8th, 2013, ANNAPOLIS, MD - Governor Martin O’Malley today officially launched data.maryland.gov - Maryland’s first statewide open data portal that will provide researchers,...

OpenStreetMap Launches New Editor and Funding Drive

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:30:13 -0500

As of today OpenStreetMap users with a modern browser will automatically use the new iD editor, the result of the Knight New Challenge grant. Users can switch between iD (open source, available on github) and the existing Flash-based Potlatch 2 editor (soon to be the intermediate tool). The Foundation is also launching a funding appeal to pay for additional server...

GGP GIS Helps Speed Up House Purchases in Eastleigh

Tue, 07 May 2013 03:20:33 -0500

The UK’s Eastleigh Borough Council has transformed its local authority property search service with a new automated system connected to the council’s corporate GIS. Land Charge searches form an essential part of the conveyancing process, identifying if there are any aspects of the property or its surroundings which a prospective buyer should be...

Coahuila Disasters -� NASA DEVELOP: Piedras Negras

Tue, 07 May 2013 02:01:16 -0500

Coahuila, one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, shares a border with the U.S. for a 512-kilometer stretch along the Rio Bravo, also known as the Rio Grande. Flood risk is a geographically sporadic, yet very serious concern in the state. In April 2004, the state experienced a devastating flood in the border city of Piedras Negras, where more than 30...

Australia Renames its “NGA”

Mon, 06 May 2013 06:32:17 -0500

The Defence Signals Directorate and the Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organisation, two Australian defense agencies, are getting new names to better reflect what they do. The new names do not include "Defence" in them: Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) , Australian Geospatial-Intelligence Organisation (AGO) - PS News...

Quote of the Week - 5/3/13

{blog_authors backspace="2"}Quote of the Week - 5/3/13, {/blog_authors} — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:09:36 -0500

Also my experience as a license builder and being an appraiser for The County of Wayne and my certification in GIS enhances my understanding of local and county government. Theodore Galeskim, 68, explains his credentials in his run for City Council in Wyandotte, MI in Wyandotte Patch..

PaMAGIC Contests: Videos and “If I ran the circus”

Fri, 03 May 2013 06:40:20 -0500

[no date] PaMAGIC Contest Array – In preparation for the Annual GIS Conference [June 3-5, State College], and with the intention of ‘funning it up’, PaMAGIC is creating 9 prizes spread in 2 categories. Winners will be announced and shown during the PaMAGIC session at the GIS Conference. One does not have to be a PaMAGIC member nor be present...

GGP GIS Helps Speed Up House Purchases in Southern England

Thu, 02 May 2013 07:22:22 -0500

The UK�s Eastleigh Borough Council has transformed its local authority property search service with a new automated system connected to the council�s corporate GIS. Land Charge searches form an essential part of the conveyancing process, identifying if there are any aspects of the property or its surroundings which a prospective buyer should be...

Indonesia to Better Manage Housing and other Government GIS News

Thu, 02 May 2013 05:55:08 -0500

The Department of Human Settlements and Spatial Planning [Indonesia] will be leveraging GIS to improve data integration and management for the sustainable development of human settlements in the country. The system enables users to create and embed maps with charts and other documents; visualise spatial data to show the original landforms and its spatial features;...

Census Bureau News—Measuring America: County Business Patterns Interactive Map Update

Wed, 01 May 2013 20:19:23 -0500

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 -- The following tip sheet was released today by the U.S. Census Bureau: In conjunction with yesterday's release on the 2011 County Business Patterns, the Census Bureau has updated the Measuring America County Business and Demographics Map. The map provides an interactive, easy-to-understand overview of how many types of...

MAPPS Commends Reintroduction of “Map It Once, Use it Many Times” Act in Congress

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:34:53 -0500

MAPPS (www.mapps.org), the national association for private sector geospatial firms, today commended Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) for reintroducing H.R. 1604, the "Map It Once, Use It Many Times" Act on April 17. H.R. 1604 is intended to reform, consolidate, and reorganize federal geospatial activities. Recently, a number of Government...

China’s Beidou Gains Two New Countries as Customers

Wed, 01 May 2013 06:29:38 -0500

China's Beidou satellite navigation system is adding two new countries in Southeast Asia to its list of customers: Laos and Brunei. The two will adopt the GNSS via research and co-operation agreements per China's Ministry of Science and Technology. Thailand was the first country on board. - Zee News

The new cartographers: making mountains out of hills

Wed, 01 May 2013 06:28:32 -0500

When hillwalkers Graham Jackson and John Barnard had climbed every hill over 2,000ft in England and Wales – the traditional demarcation of a mountain – they wondered what could spice up their weekend walks. So the former ICI colleagues set about measuring them instead. It turns out some of the hills are actually mountains. - The Guardian Image courtesy...

Yotta DCL showcases MAP-21 system at GIS-T Symposium

Wed, 01 May 2013 04:02:29 -0500

Delegates to the annual GIS for Transportation Symposium (GIS-T) will discover how Yotta DCL technology can help States highways departments meet MAP-21 asset management requirements. Yotta DCL will be on hand in the Technology Hall at the Boise Center, Idaho (May 5 to 8, Booth 5) to discuss how its visualized asset management system Horizons will...

Global Interoperability Consortium’s Cloud Computing Project Detailed at NATO Conference

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 14:06:31 -0500

Eric Vollmecke of the Network Centric Operations Industry Consortium reports the proliferation of geospatial information will pose problems for disaster responders and describes a project designed to move critical data more efficiently using an open cloud-based infrastructure WASHINGTON, April 30, 2013 -- Managing and disseminating...

Utah Community Data Project to Bring Unprecedented Online Community Data Access to Utah

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 09:44:09 -0500

SALT LAKE CITY--April 30, 2013--The Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business is readying the launch of the Utah Community Data Project, an online system of community-level demographic, housing and socioeconomic data unprecedented in Utah for its breadth and for the access it will allow...

Location-based Playground Inspection App and other Government GIS News

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:37:51 -0500

The Shorewood village (IL) board approved a $136,000 contract with Joliet-based Ruettiger, Tonelli & Associates for development of custom mobile and web GIS to enhance its current system. Of interest to me: The playground inspection application, for example, will validate that such park inspections are taking place on a biweekly basis. Barrowman said by utilizing...

NearMap: Making Money from Subscriptions to Imagery

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:37:24 -0500

IF Nearmap chief Simon Crowther was offered $1 every time someone asked the listed aerial mapping outfit why it was mad enough to take on Google Maps, he would be rich enough to buy the California-based giant. As the patient Crowther explains, Nearmap's business plan -- based on business rather than individual users -- is far removed from Google's motive of...

Ohio Paper Tries to Gain Access to City’s Gang Map

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:19:44 -0500

In July 2012 the Toledo Blade requested a copy of the city’s map that shows gang boundaries. The city said no, which prompted a lawsuit by the paper which has gone on for months. The city’s law director, Adam Loukx, explained that city officials declined to make the map public because it was created to investigate crimes. The two mayoral candidates are leaning toward...

Canada Post Not Only Claims Copyright Database of Codes, but Trademark of term “postal code”

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 07:43:00 -0500

In a stunning update to the lawsuit currently underway between Canada Post and Geolytica, the firm which runs Geocoder.ca, Canada Post now claims they also own the common word pair “postal code.” In an amended statement of claim, filed this week in federal court, Canada Post is expanding their original claim — that they own the copyright to postal codes — against...

Rolta Awarded USTDA Contract for Nanjing, China “Smart City” with Partner, ARES Security

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:54:12 -0500

Rolta today announced that it has been awarded the prestigious "Smart City" project for Nanjing, China, in preparation for hosting the 2014 Youth Olympics. Rolta has engaged ARES Security Corporation of Burlingame, CA to leverage their systems engineering expertise to assist in developing an integrated geospatial transportation solution for the...