In News 
Interactive Relief and Rescue Map Aids in NYC Response
An interactive Relief and Rescue Map of Manhattan has made rapidly changing information easily available to those involved in emergency operations in NYC. Posted within 48 hours of the attack, the map features locations and links for information such as hospitals, missing persons, blood donation centers, closed roads, telephone and electrical outages, grief counseling centers, relief organizations, and areas left damaged by the attack. The map is featured on websites such as http://www.fema.gov/ dozens of news organizations such as http://www.nypost.com/ and http://www.yahoo.com/ and the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce ( http://www.manhattancc.org/home.cfm) and the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau ( http://www.visitnyc.com). The map, which will be renamed the Relief and Recovery Map as soon as search operations cease, will remain an integral information source as the city begins to rebuild.
Visit:- www.urhere.com/nymap
Top Stories
Ordnance Survey redraws partnership strategy
Private businesses and public sector agencies across Britain are on track to benefit from a major new partnership initiative from Ordnance Survey. The national mapmaker is announcing a twin programme of support and investment aimed at developing the markets in mapping and location-based services. The first strand - to be launched at this week's AGI/GIS 2001 conference and exhibition at Earls Court, London - is a web-based support programme for innovators keen to develop business ideas using Ordnance Survey data. It offers a year's direct access to more than £40,000 worth of sample mapping data, plus online technical help, in exchange for a nominal administration fee. The second strand of the initiative, to be launched in November, involves a more targeted approach to existing and potential partners whose business ideas are ready for the market now. A package of fresh investment by Ordnance Survey will underpin a range of benefits for partners, including e-business links, access to sample data, and technical and marketing support.
This strand is timed to coincide with the first release of data from OS MasterMap, a huge new definitive database and online service developed under Ordnance Survey's Digital National Framework project.
Visit:- www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business
OGC and FGDC Grow Interoperability in Local Governments
The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) and The Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) held a workshop in early September to teach two-dozen students the basics of implementing OpenGIS® Web Map Server (WMS) based services. The workshop aimed to connect new local government hosted map servers with National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Clearinghouse data catalogs to enable greater use of spatial information. Attendees were recipients of FGDC Cooperative Agreement Program funding geared to help local organizations integrate NSDI Clearinghouse and Web Mapping capabilities. Instructors included OGC and FDGC staff and support from OGC member companies SAIC, Compusult, and ESRI.
Visit:- www.opengis.org & www.fgdc.gov
NAVTECH map data offers nationwide coverage throughout the Continental U.S.
Already producing the most widely used digital map database in the world, Navigation Technologies Corporation has announced an unprecedented 3.56 million-mile upgrade of NAVTECH(R) digital map data. This upgrade delivers full coverage of 5.3 million miles of roadway in the continental U.S. NAVTECH data is currently harnessed by all U.S. automotive navigation systems, seven of 10 European car brands and the majority of leading Internet, Wireless and PDA (personal digital assistant) digital map applications from MapQuest and Microsoft Expedia to Garmin's Street Pilot. The nationwide continental U.S. coverage now contains more than 1 million miles of field verified data, including more than 290,000 turn restrictions, 170,000 highway signs, and 267,000 miles of one-way information, all necessary for accurate and optimal route planning.
Visit:- www.navtech.com
Digital masterstroke changes the map of Britain
Ordnance Survey this week reveals a new definitive map of Britain - a revolutionary concept in mapping for the digital age. OS MasterMap is a massive database and online service developed over the past two years under the project title Digital National Framework (DNF). It is the most detailed, flexible and intelligent mapping ever provided by Ordnance Survey - measuring every square metre of Britain and bringing a host of benefits for both private businesses and public sector agencies. Details of OS MasterMap, including prices, are being unveiled at the AGI/GIS 2001 conference and exhibition at Earls Court, London, ahead of the first release of data in November. OS MasterMap is at the heart of Ordnance Survey's new e-business strategy. It will support a wide range of existing and emerging uses of Ordnance Survey large-scale data and underpin new applications into the future. It includes seamless, polygonised data, which can be delivered online in themes such as roads, buildings and railways. Customers can also access change-only updates cutting down the amount of data they have to manage.
Visit:- www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/business
IDELIX Software Inc. awarded NRC R&D funding
IDELIX Software Inc. has announced that they are the recipients of a $97,500 contribution from the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, helping to foster future research and development of their visualization technology known as Pliable Display Technology (PDT). This project will produce core technology associated with the IDELIX/PDT platform strategy involving the use of PDT technology across a wide range of desktop, Internet, and handheld/wireless applications. Pliable Display Technology is a patents-pending virtual lens technology designed to solve the "screen real estate problem" and improve the productivity and workflow efficiency of end users in a number of vertical markets as they work with image and data sets. It is a technology targeted at people who rely on their existing pan and zoom functions for data exploration, editing and annotation, and analysis. PDT lets a user roam freely within the context of an image and magnify detail as it appears within the focal region of the lens.
Visit:- http://www.idelix.com/
Leica names new dealer for GPS/GIS products in upper Midwest
Leica Geosystems has announced the appointment of Kunde Company, Inc., as a dealer for Leica GPS/GIS products in the upper Midwest. Kunde Company will be responsible for sales and service of Leica's GS50 GPS/GIS data acquisition system and GIS DataPRO software, as well as other Leica terrestrial data collection systems. The company will also use Leica's products for its own fieldwork on behalf of GIS customers. Based in Roseville, Minnesota, Kunde Company is a leading natural resource consulting firm with 20 years of experience serving customers in the upper Midwest. Kunde is one of the largest forestry-consulting firms in the region. The company also provides GIS-based asset management and mapping services for a variety of applications. Kunde is a co-developer of INVENTREE, a community tree inventory software package that can integrate
with most GIS software.
Visit:- www.leica-geosystems.com
Asia News
GSI warns ministry against hasty step
The Geological Survey of India (GSI), country's pioneering mineral exploratory agency, cautioned the Union Ministry of Coal and Mines against taking hasty decision on the Geetha Krishnan Committee report, which had recommended, among other things, winding up of 14 GSI circle offices, including regional establishments in Shillong and two other circle offices at Itanagar and Guwahati.
The panel, known as the Expenditure Reforms Committee, headed by former finance secretary Geetha Krishnan, was constituted by the Ministry of Mines to assess the working and future role of the premiere earth science organisation.
In July, the committee had submitted its report to the Ministry, suggesting folding up of over a dozen GSI circle offices, downsizing manpower and merger of various technical wings with other organisations.
The GSI authorities have reacted sharply to the Geetha Krishnan panel report, rubbishing it as unimaginative, impractical and grossly inadequate.
The Geetha Krishnan committee report suggested winding up of several GSI circle offices citing lack of adequate work and non-viability, which is not correct, said GSI's northeast regional head and deputy director general D K Chakraborty.
He said as far as Northeast region was concerned, it might be true that the region did not have large, economically viable mineral base, but the GSI had many other critical roles to play in this part of the country.
Source: The Pioneer ( http://www.dailypioneer.com/secon2.asp?cat=\state4&d=States)
Information kiosks for fishermen soon
HYDERABAD, Sept. 17- INFORMATION `kiosks', the one stop place to access a variety of data are all set to get into a specialised mould.
A couple of `kiosks' that will exclusively provide information on potential fishing zones in the coastal areas are to be set up by the Department of Ocean Development (DoD).
These kiosks will be launched in October in the coastal areas in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala to begin with, according to Dr K.R. Radhakrishnan, Director of the Hyderabad-based, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
The location of the kiosk would either be in the campus of a Central Government research institute or a non-governmental organisation (NGO). The fishermen in the neighbourhood areas would be provided data in local languages also, Dr Radhakrishnan told Business Line.
The Department of Space (DoS), using remote sensing satellites has prepared extensive maps of potential fishing zones (PFZ) along the coastal states an islands. The work co-ordinated by the National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), has recently been transferred to INCOIS, an autonomous department under DoD.
The data culled out from the satellite imagery in the form of maps and text showing the `potential spots' where fishes could converge is being transmitted to the fishermen community through fax, telephones, telegrams etc.
About 110 fish landing centres in the 9 coastal States are on the list of data receivers of the PFZ twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. There are a total of 300 such centres in these locations.
The PFZ information has been found to be useful for fishermen to reduce the search time and increase the catch per unit effort. Scientists use the sea surface temperature data gathered by the NOAA satellite and the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS-P4), to prepare these maps, according to DoD.
Source: Business Line ( http://www.hinduonnet.com/bline/2001/09/18/stories/071805bz.htm)
S Korea, Japan, China, Asean to Cooperate in IT Standardization
SEOUL, Sept 17 Asia Pulse - South Korea, Japan, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations [ASEAN] agreed Monday to strengthen cooperation through efforts to adopt common standards for information technology [IT], according to the Ministry of Information and Communication.
The agreement was reached at director-general meetings from officials of the three Northeast Asian countries and ASEAN held in Okayama, western Japan.
Under the agreement, the participating countries agreed to work for the standardization of the "Asian public key infrastructure [PKI] forum" and "e-learning."
A PKI ensures that sensitive electronic communications are private and protected against tampering, providing assurances in the identities of the participants in transactions. It also prevents their later denial of participating in such transactions.
At the meetings, South Korea, Japan and China reviewed a proposal to set up the "digital bridge fund" aimed at narrowing the digital divide in the Asian region.
The three countries also discussed the installment of a pilot network for ultra-high speed Internet services among the three as part of efforts to expand such services in the region.
The 10 ASEAN member states comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010917/16/1gy4i.html
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