Top Stories
OGC Requests Input to Build Directory of Interoperable Products
The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announces the development of an authoritative index of software products that implement OpenGIS® Interface Specifications. OGC requests the assistance of technology developers worldwide to help establish a directory that will be the ultimate source of information about software products and services that use OGC's interoperability specifications. The public directory will be the "go to" website for those looking for interoperable solutions, including software vendors, system integrators, and end-users. Individuals or organizations interested in listing their implementation(s) in the directory are invited to submit information at http://www.opengis.org/addimp.htm. Details of the product, which specification(s) are used, and the submitting organization's contact information will be gathered and provided in the directory. OGC Membership is not required for inclusion. The directory is a free, public service maintained by the OGC.
Visit:
http://www.opengis.org/addimp.htm
Paradigm Advanced Technologies announces the development of a new GPS security product
Paradigm Advanced Technologies, Inc. has confirmed that it had a new highly sensitive GPS based product in development called SecurTRAC(C). SecurTRAC(C) is based on PowerLOC's proprietary GPS technology. Specialized highly secure sensors communicate to a remote server if the doors to the trailer have been opened and if the load inside the trailer is being moved. The entire system can be monitored over the Internet for each trailer so equipped. Using the new technology, the shipper, the trucking company, the broker as well as custom officials can be assured of the integrity of the shipment. SecurTRAC(C) works in conjunction with PowerLOC L-Biz(TM) Tracker. PowerLOC intends to demonstrate a test version of SecurTRAC(C) in a high security application likely to be announced within the next two business weeks. This demonstration will be done in conjunction with the IDC division of CRITICOM Corporation, one of the premier Location Service Providers (LSP) in the U.S.A. PowerLOC expects to have the new SecurTRAC(C) product available commercially in the first quarter of 2002.
Visit:
http://www.powerloc.com/
MapInfo brings together wireless leaders for executive roundtable teleconference
WHAT: Join a roundtable teleconference with executives from Motorola, Oracle, Sun, MapInfo and others to discuss the exploding mobile location services market. Hear about current and future mobile location applications from the companies that are driving the development of next-generation wireless technologies.
WHY: Mobile location technology is now more critical than ever. Whether locating the nearest resources, tracking a vehicle fleet or remotely sending information to field workers, a mobile location strategy can help companies boost productivity, cut operating costs, increase competitive advantage and maintain long-term customer relationships.
WHO: Roundtable participants will include: Scott Adkins, wireless solutions specialist, Oracle
Raghavan Srinivas, technology evangelist, Sun Microsystems Jennifer Yan, business development, Motorola's iDen Subscriber Group Ron Smith, J2ME platform team, Motorola
Brian Lantz, vice president of global business and sales development, MapInfo Corp. Scott Petronis, program manager for location-based services, MapInfo Corp.
WHEN: At MapInfo's First Annual Mobile Location Services (MLS) Summit Wednesday, November 14, 2001 3:30-4:15 PM (EST)
HOW: Join a conference call with the roundtable by dialing 1-800-288-8968. Ask to be connected to MapInfo's Executive Roundtable Teleconference.
Visit :
www.mapinfo.com
Motorola to supply intelligent command and control mobilizing system to London Fire authority
Motorola has been awarded a 7-million pound ($10MUSD) contract by the London Fire Authority to replace and enhance its command and control emergency response system, across 112 fire stations in the Greater London Region. The contract has been awarded to the Integrated Solutions Division of Motorola's Commercial Government and Industrial Solutions Sector and will be implemented by Printrak, a wholly owned subsidiary. London Fire Authority has invested in new technology to cope with the rising demand for the Brigade's services, and to maintain and
improve its emergency response time capabilities across its 1,587km(2) territory. To ensure the technology can cope with future demands, the new command and control system has been scaled to handle 1 million calls per year and a peak call rate of 600 calls an hour. The system has also been designed to improve the processing times for handling and logging incoming calls, increase the speed of assessing both an incident and the most appropriate means of response, and strengthen the swiftness of resource deployment. These process improvements are made possible through Printrak's ProCAD(TM) computer-aided dispatch system. At every stage of the process, the ProCAD component helps to intelligently assess and manage a situation. It can help response decisions to be reached more quickly, thereby shaving vital seconds off the time taken to
handle and deal with an incident. The state of the art technology being deployed by the London Fire Authority will be implemented into both a primary and a fall back control room and will deliver functionality to 40 operator positions. Each position will have telephony, radio and integrated geographic information system (GIS) access.
Visit:
http://www.motorola.com/
Laser-Scan technology helps to launch Land Cover Map 2000
Land Cover Map 2000 (LCM2000), a complete census of the UK countryside was launched at the recent "Mapping the Countryside" event held by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Created by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH), the LCM2000 is a complete census of land cover in the UK on a field by field basis. It updates the Land Cover Map of Great Britain (LCMGB) of 1990 and was produced with the aid of Laser-Scan's unique technology. LCM2000 uses a combination of summer and winter satellite images to allow discrimination between different land cover types. Developments to the image pre-processing stage have allowed improvements to the input data compared with those used in LCMGB. The most important development in LCM2000 is the use of spectral segmentation of images to generate vector land parcels on which the remainder of the production is based. Laser-Scan technology is used to classify the land parcels generated. The LCM2000 will be available in a number of formats ranging from a raster product identical to LCMGB to Gothic data sets with full attribution.
Visit:
www.laser-scan.com
ESRI associate sponsor of GIS in Telecoms 2001 Conference in Switzerland
ESRI is pleased to announce that it is an associate sponsor, exhibitor, and presenter at this year's GIS in Telecoms 2001 conference to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, at the Hotel Intercontinental Geneve from November 12-15. Presentations will be conducted by ESRI and its business partners including SignalSoft, Telecom Argentina, BITE GSM, T-Mobil, mobilePosition, and Pocket-IT. In addition, the Open GIS Consortium (OGC) will hold a forum on the OpenLS Initiative, for which ESRI is a key sponsor. ESRI's exhibit at the conference will highlight a myriad of telecom solutions including the WaveSight propagation prediction tool by WaveCall, MultiNet Raster data by Cartosphere, and Cellular Expert by HNIT-Baltic GeoInfoServisas. For additional conference information, please
visit:
www.iir-conferences.com/gis
Asia News
China to Build Int'l Earthquake Science Center
SHIJIAZHUANG, -- Twenty-five years after it suffered a catastrophic earthquake, Tangshan in north China's Hebei Province plans to build an international earthquake science center for gathering quake-related information. Tangshan, which suffered tremendous loss of life and economic damage in the 1976 earthquake, is now making full use of the scientific data gleaned from the quarter-century of study of the calamity. The center, occupying 26.7 hectares of land, will include an earthquake museum, and sub-centers for the causes of earthquakes, quake simulation and demonstration of quake prevention systems. To commemorate the 240,000 victims as well as those who lost their lives in the disaster relief work, an altar will be built and an ancient-style bronze vessel, seven meters long, 2.8 meters wide and 1.976 meters tall, will be placed on it. The center will also include two memorial walls inscribed with the names of the victims. The project, jointly launched by a U.S. company and its Chinese counterpart in Tangshan, will cost 7.31 million U.S. dollars, about 48 percent of which comes from the U.S. side. Construction will begin later this year and should be finished in one year.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
