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Z/I Imaging announces plans to develop TerraShare Enterprise DTM

Z/I Imaging Corporation has announced at the MAPPS/ASPRS 2001 Fall DEM Specialty Conference its plans to extend its TerraShare enterprise system into the area of high-volume elevation data production and management. The new system, TerraShare Enterprise DTM, will integrate all elements of elevation processing and management into a tightly integrated enterprise environment that will add significant tools and productivity enhancements to this often-difficult workflow. The solution will support the production and management of elevation data from a variety of sensors and techniques, including interactive stereo collection, automatic image correlation techniques and LIDAR. Acting as the nexus of the system, TerraShare will manage, in a distributed environment, many common varieties of elevation data in their native formats. A DTM services layer will be added to TerraShare that will provide a robust set of "server-side" functions such as contouring, TIN generation, format conversion, data probing, LIDAR filtering, automatic elevation extraction from stereo models and other advanced tools. A feature-rich and open programmer's interface will be provided to the services layer that will allow users to directly interface to the service module. The Z/I Imaging-provided client applications will include visualization, stereo editing and production generation tools.

Visit: www.ziimaging.com

Trimble GPS Helps Respond to Forest Fires in Portugal

Trimble has announced that it has teamed with Portugal Telecom Inovacao SA and the Alvao Natural Park to tackle the frequent problem of forest fires in the region. With the help of Trimble's Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, the region's firefighting services are better able to accurately locate and quickly respond to forest fires. The Alvao Natural Park is part of the Portuguese Institute for Nature Conservation consisting of 7,220 hectares (17,500 acres) of mountainous terrain. Forest fires constantly threaten the land, especially during the hot summer months. Despite having the physical resources in place to tackle any outbreaks, one of the major difficulties that the fire fighters face is navigating through the wilderness to reach the site of the fire. In addition, there is often limited knowledge about forest tracks, suitability for vehicles and the location of natural water supplies. In order to overcome these problems, the Alvao Natural Park has implemented the Emergencies Support System from Portugal Telecom Inovacao SA. The system works through a combination of GPS technology, short messaging service (SMS) data communications, and well-structured up-to-date cartography. A local Geographic Information System (GIS) provides the cartography which helps classify the forest tracks in the park in terms of their condition and suitability for vehicles.

Visit: http://www.trimble.com/

New tools to help manage coastal resources in Africa

A Tanzanian atlas of coastal and marine resources, expected to be of considerable benefit to NGOs, local planners and environmental resource managers, was launched last week in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The atlas and an accompanying Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database on the coastal environment contain information on the resources of the 800 km Tanzania coastline fronting the Indian Ocean - from Kenya in the north at 4°38'S to Mozambique in the south at 10°30'S, including the offshore islands of Zanzibar (Unguja and Pemba) and Mafia, to the south. The GIS database would provide data and information to planners and decision-makers from institutions and specialised agencies in Tanzania, including the Marine Parks and Reserves Unit, Department of Archives, Museum and Antiquities, and the National Environment Management Council, UNEP stated. The system would allow the production of different thematic maps to meet the demands of the users - such as provision of base maps for conservation areas and critical habitats, development of emergency contingency plans in case of an accidental oil spill, and identification of action priority areas and hotspots.

Visit: http://allafrica.com/stories/200111010001.html

Expert: Military Needs Better Database Mapping

In his last day in uniform, Lt. Gen. James King, the former director of the U.S. military's mapping agency, said Tuesday that a lack of interoperability among databases offers an obstacle to U.S. information superiority in battles. King, ex-director of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), told attendees at a defense conference held near Washington, D.C., that interoperable databases would allow military mission planners to assemble more complete and up-to-date electronic maps or virtual simulations of battlefield terrain and to deliver the content in real time to war fighters -- from pilots to ground troops. "We must solve the database issue," said King, explaining that interoperability of databases for geographic or "spatial" data also could lead to better data-analysis and data-mining tools. "We will not have a true [real-time systems] ability until database interoperability is achieved." Today, spatial information exists in an untold number of database formats at Defense Department agencies such as NIMA and at other federal agencies. The information might be as mundane as an electronic street map or as sensitive as digital imagery of an enemy airfield. Military mission planners might need to pull together data from several sources to create a map -- or a computer simulation that a pilot might use to rehearse a mission, for example. But because data might lie "stovepiped" in databases that aren't interoperable, a mission planner using one system might not have real-time access to related data in another system, according to King.

Read complete story at: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cmp/20011031/tc/inw20011030s0007_1.html

Asia News

IT.com takes off on subdued note

BANGALORE- A scaled-down fourth version of Bangalore IT.com took off on Thursday, with the speakers at the inaugural function stressing that the business must go on as usual. ``That is the message that we have been giving,'' said the Nasscom Chairman , Mr Phiroz Vandrevala.

In spite of the doom and gloom forecast, Mr Vandrevala put the growth rate for the IT industry at 30-35 per cent. ``On a base of $6 billion, that is more than what any other industry can offer. We have a great story and a great future.''

Post-September 11, IT.Com saw a number of cancellations, totalling Rs 2 crore, said the Karnataka IT Secretary, Mr Vivek Kulkarni.

The Karnataka Chief Minister, Mr S.M. Krishna, admitted that the Government had initial reservations about holding it. "However, our confidence in the IT industry has been vindicated.''

Corporate presence on the dais was subdued, with the private sector being represented by Mr N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman, Infosys and head of the IT Task Force; Mr Vandrevala, President, TCS and Chairman, Nasscom; and Mr Rajeev Nair, Managing Director, Microsoft India, which is a Platinum sponsor. Significantly, the two chief guests were Mr Douglas Alexander and Mr Erwin Huber, Ministers from the UK and Germany, two of the emerging destinations for Indian IT business.

The presence of 70 foreign companies, of which 18 were from the UK, reflected India's new focus on Europe, Japan and South-east Asia, said the Karnataka IT Minister, Mr B.K. Chandrashekhar.

Source: Business Line

Bavaria seeks expertise for e-governance

BAVARIA has invited Indian companies to set up operations and be a part of the DM 300 million e-governance project to be implemented next year.

Mr Erwin Huber, Bavarian State Minister for Media and Information, told newsperson that his country started implementing e-governance a couple of years ago and some two lakh people had already been trained.

Indian companies, apart from bidding for the project, could also share their expertise and help upgrade the skills of the Bavarians, he added.

The State, by virtue of its location - "in the centre of Europe" - proved to be an ideal route to the European market for the Indian companies, according to him. The Bavarian State Government agency, Gotobavaria.com, opened an office in Bangalore on Wednesday.

Read complete article at: http://www.blonnet.com/businessline/ew/stories/0102a106.htm
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