Top Stories
Spar receives $6 Million DND Hercules Aircraft GPS Contract
Spar Aerospace Limited today announced the award of a Department of National Defence contract for the supply, installation and integration of a commercial off-the-shelf Global Positioning System in the Avionics Update Project (AUP) modified CC130 Hercules fleet of thirty-two (32) aircraft. The new GPS system to be installed is FAA approved which will allow navigation of commercial airways and GPS non-precision approaches. "Spar is very pleased to have worked closely with DND in defining this solution to enhance the CC130 navigation and flight management systems," said Harley Ranson, Vice President, Marketing Programs. The contract will be performed over the next sixteen-month period commencing immediately at Spar Aerospace Limited in Edmonton, Alberta. Spar developed, installed and integrated the existing AUP suite of avionics systems into the DND CC130 fleet under a separate five-year Crown contract completed earlier this year. The CC130 Hercules aircraft is the workhorse of Canadian Forces' strategic and tactical airlift operations and is used in the Aerial Refueling, Search and Rescue roles, and to support international requirements as required.
Visit:
http://news.excite.com/news/pr/011026/spar-dnd-hercules-con &
http://www.spar.ca/
Link digital photos with GPS information
GPS-Photo Link by GeoSpatial Experts is PC software that simplifies the task of documenting where digital photos were taken. The GPS does not have to be connected to the camera, simply place the GPS in your backpack and take pictures. GPS-Photo Link will do the rest. Hundreds of photos can be processed in a matter of minutes. GPS-Photo Link watermarks digital camera photos with latitude, longitude, and other descriptive information. Web pages are created containing the watermarked photos and on-line maps that show were the photos were taken. ESRI Shape Files are also created for easy integration with desktop mapping software such as ESRI's ArcView GIS.
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www.GeoSpatialExperts.com
OGC Releases Call for Participation / Request for Quotation for multi-hazard mapping initiative
The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announces that a Call for Participation /Request for Quotation for the Multi-Hazard Mapping Initiative (MMI) Phase I is available for download at
http://ip.opengis.org/mmi/. This pilot project, sponsored by the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), will establish a limited operational framework of interoperable services to illustrate the advantages of using products with OGC interfaces to access, fuse and visualize critical spatial information in support of FEMA multi-hazard mitigation, response and recovery functions. FEMA is an independent agency of the federal government, reporting to the President. By implementing interoperable geospatial services based on OGC interfaces, FEMA will be able to operationally demonstrate the value of a "common thread of interoperability" across federal, state, and local agencies and with other organizations supporting mitigation efforts. During the pilot, spatial information from multiple agencies and sources will be accessed across the Internet using vendor products and reference implementations developed during OGC's previous Interoperability Initiatives. Responses to the CFP/RFQ are due November 21, 2001 at 1:00 PM EDT and the program is expected to begin later this year with completion by March 2001. Inquiries related to MMI should be addressed to Mr. Jeff Harrison, Director of OGC Interoperability Programs,
jharrison@opengis.org.
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www.opengis.org
OpenOSX Releases Grass Pre 2 CD - Now Shipping
GRASS GIS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) has been in development for twenty years and is considered by many to be the most complete and sophisticated open-source GIS available. The OpenOSX Pre 2 CD offers Mac OS 10.0.x through 10.1 compatibility including dual-processors), additional modules, along with bug fixes. With over 350 modules, Grass is the only real alternative to ArcView GIS, which fully-configured will cost more than US$20,000 and is not supported on the Macintosh (MAC) platform. Grass GIS offers users state of the art three-dimensional dynamic spatial analysis and visualization. Prominent users of Grass include NASA, U.S. Geological Survey and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The OpenOSX CD greatly simplifies installation and installs a long list of all the required libraries and programs for full functionality. The CD is bundled with complete documentation and limited installation support.
Visit:
http://grass.itc.it/ &
http://www.openosx.com/ .The binaries may be downloaded from
http://grass.itc.it/grass5/binary/mac_os_x/
Minimum 50% off ERS SAR data for business development initiatives under new program
Eurimage, the global multi-mission satellite data distributor, is introducing a new programme, the Eurimage Business Development Initiative (EBDI), to support value-adding companies in the development of products and services using datasets from ERS SAR, the upcoming ENVISAT mission and others, for targeted market sectors. In view of the launch of ENVISAT early next year and the increased opportunities this new mission will bring, Eurimage's goal with the EBDI programme is to work more closely with the value-added industry to further develop the potential market for Earth Observation products and services. To launch the programme Eurimage is introducing a special discount starting at 50% for a minimum of 10 products, for orders placed before December 15, 2001(conditions apply). This is only the first phase of the EBDI, which will be complemented by other initiatives in the coming months and with the arrival of ENVISAT.
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www.eurimage.com
Cquay validates Common Ground's scalability with assistance from Burntsand, Sun, EMC and Oracle.
Cquay Inc., a provider of location intelligence for the enterprise, has announced the completion of a comprehensive Performance and Scalability Initiative that validates the scalability of the Common Ground® Service Platform. To support on-line location intelligence services and the anticipated delivery of 300 transactions per second from a large-scale location database, Cquay requires a high-performance, scalable, application architecture and infrastructure. "The Performance and Scalability Initiative addressed this requirement and validated the core application architecture and scalability/performance assumptions," declared Gerrit Boerman, Cquay's director of e-Service Delivery. Cquay conducted the Performance and Scalability Initiative with significant assistance from various strategic partners and vendors, including Burntsand, Sun, EMC and Oracle. Testing and validation of the architecture took place through an engagement with Burntsand, in their Authorized iForce (SM) Ready Center. iForce Ready Centers are the foundation of Sun Microsystems' iForce initiative. Sun Microsystems of Canada Inc. arranged for support from Sun and Oracle via the Sun Oracle Application Technology Center (SOATC), to provide a design review of the high-availability Common Ground infrastructure.
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www.cquay.com
Valence Semiconductor Receives GPS Receiver Design Win from Sony Electronics
Valence Semiconductor, a global provider of highly integrated system on silicon solutions for the broadband and mobile connectivity markets, today announced that it has received a design win from Sony Electronics Inc. for its recently announced VS7001 GPS Receiver chip. As one of the world's largest providers of handheld devices, Sony plans to design in Valence's VS7001 GPS radio receiver and its family of VS7000 GPS solutions for applications within its GPS modules and multi-chip modules. Valence has designed its GPS silicon solutions and reference designs to be compatible with Sony's current 2931 GPS baseband, as well as with future 293x generations of Sony basebands. Valence's VS7001 represents the world's first fully integrated, pure CMOS receiver and provides the industry with a clear path to the first single chip GPS system. With this technological breakthrough, the VS7001 provides GPS designers with the industry's lowest power consumption, smallest die size, lowest external component count and highest level of design integration of any GPS product currently on the market. Because the total power consumption of the RF is only 27 mWatts, the VS7001 receiver can be placed in battery-operated devices that will open many new GPS and mobile connectivity markets for both Sony and Valence.
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www.valencesemi.com
Packard Bell implements Maporama's geocentric solution
Packard Bell, a division of NEC Computers International and N° 1 on the family PC market in France, chooses the geocentric solution of Maporama, European leader in online cartography and geocentric information. Through this new functionality, Packard Bell facilitates searching for Packard Bell products reseller on its website
www.packardbell.fr. The solution has been implemented entirely in the traditional
www.packardbell.fr look and feel. To search for the closest Packard Bell reseller, Internet users access an online form via a direct link on the Internet homepage of the company. They only key in an address and Maporama provides, in a single click, an exhaustive listing of nearby stores that carry Packard Bell products. Each shop listed is accompanied with a link to a detailed street map centred on the address entered by the user, as well as to a detailed door-to-door itinerary between the selected store and the specified address.
Visit:
www.packardbell.fr &
www.maporama.com
Government of Manitoba Recognized for Data Sharing Initiative
The Office of Information Technology, Government of Manitoba, was presented with an Award of Excellence at ESRI Canada's annual ESRI Regional User Conference in Winnipeg. Alex Miller, President of ESRI Canada, the leading geographic information systems (GIS) provider in Canada, presented the award in recognition of the Office of Information Technology's innovative Intranet work. More than 100 GIS professionals were on hand for the presentation, which was one of the highlights of the conference. "The Award of Excellence is going to a very deserving organization that is dedicated to the advancement of GIS within the government through the development and distribution of data," said Mr. Miller. The Office of Information Technology (OIT) is responsible for defining and articulating a vision of how information technology can be used to enhance the operations of government and for leading the government toward the realization of that vision.
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www.esricanada.com
Asia News
Integrated Spatial Information Solutions Subsidiary Enters Into $1.3 Million Contract with China
Integrated Spatial Information Solutions, Inc. announced that its subsidiary, PlanGraphics, Inc., a provider of spatial information technology services, has entered into a multiyear, $1.3 million contract with China's Sichuan Province to develop an urban management geographic information system (GIS) for the Sichuan Urban Environment Project Office. The project is supported by the World Bank, whose objective is to provide a safe environmental setting for the sustainable long-term economic growth of urban areas in the Sichuan Province. The PlanGraphics-developed system will improve urban infrastructure and environmental information management for various agencies in Western China. The company will develop and implement an institutional, administrative and technical framework for the development of a network of shared information systems and data between provincial and local government agencies. The work will involve, in a subcontractor capacity, Jinkecheng Geospatial Information Technologies Company of Chengdu, one of PlanGraphics' business partners in China. The project has five major systems. PlanGraphics will provide system development and technical training for a provincial decision support system and office automation system for the Sichuan Provincial Construction Bureau; an environmental management information system and office automation system for the Sichuan Environment Protection Bureau; an urban decision support system for the municipalities of Deyang and Luzhou; a wastewater infrastructure operations system for the city of Leshan; and a water supply infrastructure operations system for the city of Luzhou.
Visit:
http://www.plangraphics.com/ &
http://www.isis.cc/
Land records of Goa computerised
A farmer, who wanted information about land records, walked to a kiosk. He asked the official for a copy of the details, paid Rs. 50 and walked away. When the official called him to return the balance of Rs. 25, the farmer asked him to keep it. For, the same process earlier cost him Rs. 250 in bribes.
Narrating the incident, the Union Rural Development Minister, Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, told presspersons that the incident took place in a rural district in Bangalore, where kiosks had been opened on a pilot basis. The move may now be replicated in Goa.
Goa is the first State to computerise its land records. At the press of a key, all details, including the record of rights and the dues to be paid to the Government, are available.
The printout of the details is available on the payment of a nominal amount. The system will be later replicated in all the 569 districts in the country.
Read the complete article at:
http://www.hinduonnet.com/stories/1427205f.htm
