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Sioux City, IA (January 30, 2009) The Sioux City assessor and Woodbury County assessor wish to announce the combination of their individual GIS web sites. The new Beacon site will provide one convenient location to obtain assessment data, maps and other related information.  Making information available on the internet has reduced counter traffic for both assessors while considerably improving customer service.  Additional benefits are increased capability for many city and county departments and off-site storage of data for disaster recovery.  The Beacon website found at http://beacon.schneidercorp.com/?site=WoodburyCountyIA provides 24/7 information access for the public and internal users. 

With this site, users have the ability to work directly with the powerful capabilities of GIS technology by visiting the Sioux City and Woodbury County Assessor’s website listed above.  Information can be searched in many different ways, utilizing the map to visualize search findings, turning on or off the various map layers provided by the County and City, as well as composing and printing maps and data. In this way users are utilizing a GIS to view, understand and visualize data that is meaningful and helps in making decisions or answering certain questions.

Kathy Sands, the Woodbury county Assessor had this to say about how beacon is helping creating efficiency for both offices,

“As County Assessor I chose Beacon as our web provider in 1998 because of their history of consistently providing fast and effective customer service.  Beacon is constantly in the process of enhancing their products and their widespread usage provides a wide base of experience and knowledge that benefit all Beacon customers.  We welcome the addition of the Sioux City data as the city assessor and I anticipate the benefits for all our customers.” 

The Schneider Corporation is currently hosting similar sites for more than 100 organizations across the Midwest, including Emmet, Monona, Sac, and Shelby County, Iowa. For information about beacon, please visit www.geogearonline.com/beacon or to see beacon in action visit http://beacon.schneidercorp.com.

About Schneider: The Schneider Corporation has been providing GIS solutions since 1989 to hundreds of county, municipal, state, federal and private entities. Built on the strength of our traditional surveying and engineering services, we provide GIS services that exceed the expectations of our clients. Learn more about The Schneider Corporation at http://www.gis.schneidercorp.com.

           

January 30, 2009, Wayland, Mass. – The membership of the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) is requesting comments on the candidate standard OpenGIS(R) GeoLinking Service (GLS) Interface.

The candidate GLS standard defines an interface for services that provide the ability to “link” data that contain information about geographic objects, such as census tract population statistics, with data in another repository that contains the actual geometry (points, lines, polygons). For example, a table of populations of cities on one server may not contain the geometry information that describes the cities’ locations and boundaries, while a second server may house the cities’ geometry. The candidate GLS standard describes a set of interfaces for both servers that lets the city name be used as a “common geographic identifier” to join the population data to its geometry, so the user can create a map or perform geospatial analysis on the linked data.

The 30 day public comment period begins January 30, 2009 and ends March 1, 2009. After the OGC’s GLS Standards Working Group has addressed comments received in response to the RFC, the draft standard will be submitted to the OGC Technical Committee and Planning Committee for their review and possible approval as an adopted OGC Standard.

The RFC can be downloaded from
http://www.opengeospatial.org/standards/requests/53. Comments are due by March 1, 2009.

The OGC® is an international consortium of more than 365 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OpenGIS® Standards support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. OGC Standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org/.
_______________________________________________
Press and Media mailing list
Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.
35 Main Street, Suite 5, Wayland, MA 01778 USA Media@lists.opengeospatial.org Subscribe/unsubscribe for OGC lists at  http://www.opengeospatial.org/resources/?page=email
Other List Options available at
 https://lists.opengeospatial.org/mailman/listinfo/media

           

Norcross (Georgia, USA) – The International Charter Space and Major Disasters recently held its Board Meeting in Toulouse, France, opening the French National Space Center (CNES)’s presidency for the next six months. During this meeting, the CNES presented the catalog for the International Charter’s imagery resources. This catalog is powered by ERDAS’ enterprise solutions.

The International Charter gathers ten space agencies from all over the world, including USGS (USA), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), CNSA (China) and ISRO (India). In case of natural or man-made disaster, a unified system enables acquisition of space data resources from all Charter members, providing emergency and rescue services with the accurate and up-to-date information on the impacted area. In 2008, the Charter was activated over 30 times, delivering information to regions affected by cyclones, hurricanes, floods, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or fires.

When the Charter is activated, its members order images to their respective satellites. For maximum efficiency, authorities trying to mitigate the human and material effects of the ongoing disaster must quickly identify, find and use the most relevant resources for their particular need. Therefore, a unique centralized catalog describing all the available space imagery of the impacted area is critical at the time of a disaster. Moreover, months or years after the emergency period, reconstruction and repair may also need to access imagery of the damaged area, searching the Charter’s catalog for the most appropriate information resources.

The Charter catalog is in the continuity of the CNES and ERDAS achievements for the Heterogeneous Missions Accessibility (HMA) project, which defines the architecture and interoperability standards for harmonized data access across the ground segments of the European and Canadian missions. HMA-compliant, the Charter catalog dramatically extends the array of ground segments participating in a unique catalog, demonstrating the operational efficiency of the HMA model.

In addition, the Charter’s catalog has also been proposed to the Group on Earth Observation, in response to the recent call for participation to build a Community Catalog for hurricane data. This critical catalog component of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) will allow decision-makers to retrieve and access all relevant earth observation resources when reacting to floods due to hurricanes.

“A major supplier of satellite imagery, the CNES is very conscious of the value that lies in precise and up-to-date views of an area impacted by a disaster. Human lives and essential infrastructure are at stake. However, without an efficient search and retrieval tool supported by a solid metadata structure, the risk is high to see this powerful imagery underused or even misused”, said André Husson, Director of Program Strategy / Earth Observation, CNES. “With the catalog designed for the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, every country is better equipped for a quick and targeted reaction to the disasters affecting them.”

“Committed to open standards-based interoperability, ERDAS believes that a big part of geospatial data’s value lies in its usability and accessibility. The International Charter Space and Major Disaster bring the operational confirmation that OGC standards effectively solve complex interoperability challenges”, said Thomas Bayer, Vice President Europe, Middle East & Africa, ERDAS. “Our vision is to be supported by major international and non-profit endeavors aiming to collectively enable the nations to exploit the best geospatial resources for reacting to disasters and protecting their environment.”

For more information about the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, please visit www.disasterscharter.org. For more information about the CNES, please visit www.cnes.fr.  For more information on ERDAS go to www.erdas.com or call + 1 877 GO ERDAS.

###

About ERDAS
ERDAS creates geospatial business systems that transform our earth’s data into business information, enabling individuals, businesses and public agencies to quickly access, manage, process, and share that information from anywhere.

Using secure geospatial information, ERDAS solutions improve employee, customer and partner visibility to information, enabling them to respond faster and collaborate better. It also means better decision-making, increased productivity and new revenue streams.

ERDAS is a part of the Hexagon Group, Sweden. For more information about ERDAS or its products and services, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 877 GO ERDAS, or visit www.erdas.com .

 

Media Contact:
Jason Sims
ERDAS Inc.
Marketing Manager
5051 Peachtree Corners Circle, Suite 100
Norcross, GA 30092
Phone: +1 770 776 3400 or +1 866 534 2286
E-mail: Jason.Sims@erdas.com

           

Michael Kennedy, P.E. Named General Civil Director for FICE

Sarasota, Fla./January 28, 2009 – WilsonMiller is pleased to announce that the Florida Institute of Consulting Engineers (FICE) has appointed Michael A. Kennedy, P.E., to serve on its Board as the General Civil Director. Kennedy is the Executive Vice President of WilsonMiller and is the Managing Principal for the firm’s Sarasota and Sebring offices. He also serves on WilsonMiller’s Board of Directors and is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. In his position on the FICE Board, he will provide guidance and advice on education, technology, legislation, and other issues that impact the professional practice of consulting engineers in Florida.

Kennedy is a Professional Engineer in both Florida and Alabama. He was selected for Leadership Manatee (1996-97) and Leadership Florida (2002-2003) and has served on the Boards of the Manatee County Economic Development Council, Manatee County YMCA, Manatee Chamber of Commerce, and Manatee Community Charitable Foundation. Kennedy has over 20 years of experience as a civil engineer and has managed more than 100 of WilsonMiller’s projects, including several major developments within the Lakewood Ranch community.

“We congratulate Mike on his appointment to the FICE Board of Directors. WilsonMiller has a long history of leadership and service in the Florida Institute of Consulting Engineers and the Florida Engineering Society, and this continues our firm’s commitment to serving in our professional organizations,” said Fermin A. Diaz, P.E., President of WilsonMiller.

ABOUT WILSONMILLER: 
WilsonMiller, Inc. is a multidisciplinary planning, design, and engineering firm with a history of more than 50 years in professional consulting. With strategically located offices throughout Florida, the firm offers a single source of diverse services for land management, infrastructure, transportation, and environmental projects to public and private clients in Florida and beyond. WilsonMiller ranks among the top 200 design firms in the United States, according to Engineering News-Record’s 2008 list.

For more information, call (800) 649-4336 or visit WilsonMiller’s Web site, www.wilsonmiller.com.

##

 

Ida K. Vanderhoof
Senior Marketing Coordinator
WilsonMiller, Inc.
3200 Bailey Lane, Suite 200
Naples, Florida 34105
239.649.4040
WilsonMiller.com

           

Norcross, GA – ERDAS announces ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3…IMAGINE the Possibilities, a free webinar on February 3, 2009 at 11 a.m. (EST).

ERDAS IMAGINE is the industry’s leading and most complete collection of software tools designed to manipulate, process and understand  geospatial data. This webinar will demonstrate how to more efficiently display, pan, zoom and edit vectors with ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3. Additionally, this webinar will also highlight Web Mapping Services (WMS) and Web Coverage Services (WCS) for accessing data sources and improved ECW projection support. ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3.2 will be used during this webinar.

Each month, ERDAS is offering at least two different webinar topics. In addition to a live presentation and demonstration, each webinar also includes the opportunity for customers to interact directly with the presenters. Scheduled to last forty-five minutes, each webinar will include approximately thirty minutes of presented material and fifteen minutes for Q&A.

To register for ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3…IMAGINE the Possibilities, or find out more about other upcoming webinars, please visit: www.erdas.com.

###
About ERDAS
ERDAS – The Earth to Business Company – helps organizations harness the information of the changing earth for greater advantage.

ERDAS creates geospatial business systems that transform our earth’s data into business information, enabling individuals, businesses and public agencies to quickly access, manage, process and share that information from anywhere.

Using secure geospatial information, ERDAS solutions improve employee, customer and partner visibility to information, enabling them to respond faster and collaborate better. It also means better decision-making, increased productivity and new revenue streams.

Welcome to ERDAS: a trusted name, with a new energy, and a new vision. Earth to business starts here.

ERDAS is a part of the Hexagon Group, Sweden. For more information about ERDAS or its products and services, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 866 534 2286, or visit www.erdas.com.

Media Contact:

Jason Sims
ERDAS Inc.
Marketing Manager
5051 Peachtree Corners Circle, Suite 100
Norcross, GA 30092
Phone: +1 770 776 3400 or +1 866 534 2286
E-mail: Jason.Sims@erdas.com

           

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

Media Advisory

For release: January 28, 2009

Contact:
Jessica Robertson, U.S. Geological Survey, (703) 648-6624, jrobertson@usgs.gov
Peter Soeth, Bureau of Reclamation, (303) 445-3615, psoeth@do.usbr.gov
Candice Walters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, (202) 528-4285, Candice.S.Walters@usace.army.mil
Daniel Parry, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, (301) 734-1092, Daniel.Parry@noaa.gov

Managing Water Resources in a Changing Climate

A study to help better manage and preserve the nation’s water resources in a changing climate is now available in a report compiled by multiple government agencies.  

Water managers can use this report to support their efforts to provide water to communities and farms, generate power for cities, sustain ecological systems, or protect lives and homes from floods – all critical to the public’s health, safety, and quality of life.
What:         The media are invited to a briefing to learn more about using science to develop the necessary strategies to prepare for, adapt to, and mitigate the effects of climate change on the nation’s water resources.

Who:                 Steven Stockton, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Dir. of Civil Works
Chet Koblinsky, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Dir. Climate Office
Bob Quint, Bureau of Reclamation, Dir. of Operations
Matthew Larsen, U.S. Geological Survey, Associate Dir. for Water

Where:         Department of Interior (Main Interior Building)
1849 C Street NW
Washington DC 20240
Room 7000A

When:                Monday, February 2
                11:15am – 12pm

Call In:        703-648-4848
                Conference code: 21371 #
                                               

USGS provides science for a changing world. For more information, visit www.usgs.gov.

Subscribe to USGS News Releases via our electronic mailing list at http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/list_server.asp or our RSS feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/UsgsNewsroom.
**** www.usgs.gov ****

           

GOLDSBORO, N.C. – Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG) announces that the City of Folsom, California has implemented LGdispatch Community Connect, LGmobile Community Connect, and LGroute. 

 

LGdispatch Community Connect is a mapping interface that provides E-911 dispatchers with an interactive map displaying the location of emergency calls.  It is integrated with AVL allowing the dispatcher to view a public safety vehicle’s location in real time.  It is highly customizable and allows dispatchers to enter special events to display on the screen.  The application has the ability to perform historic call mapping, historic AVL mapping, and E-911 call mapping. 

 

LGmobile Community Connect is a GIS software solution that allows LG users to integrate AVL with the LGmobile software.  LGmobile allows officers in the field to view critical GIS and 911 call data.  The software allows GPS enabled vehicles to be tracked via the GIS interface.  It takes GPS data from vehicles and places a moving map symbol on the GIS map interface that corresponds to the vehicles location in the real world.  Historical AVL information is maintained with the product.

 

LGroute offers users of the GTG LG Suite of products exciting new routing functionality such as finding the most efficient travel route, generating travel directions, finding the closest facility, or defining service areas based on travel time. 

 

“Folsom has been an exemplary site for GIS in California and the entire Untied States,” said Curt Hinton, CEO of GTG.  “Staff at Folsom have done GIS the right way.  They understood early on that they must have a GIS Implementation Plan to guide their daily activities.  Once completed, they have focused on one success after another.  Ramona Navarrete, GIS Analyst, has been very focused on ensuring that GIS is very understandable and practical for staff at Folsom.  This current project is another chapter in a very successful implementation at Folsom.  Folsom is a textbook example of the right way to do GIS for local government.  GTG is excited to be a part of this success and looks forward to many more years of working alongside staff to make Folsom a continued GIS success story.”

 

About Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG):

GTG is a full-service local government GIS consulting company offering specialized experience in the planning, design, implementation, and procurement of geo-technologies.  GTG has unmatched technical GIS capabilities, demonstrated successes, international experience, and a reputation for successfully implementing the right solutions. GTG develops GIS products that spatially enable various enterprise solutions and integrates an organization’s IT investment via a common interface. GTG also offers stand alone products for land management, public safety, public access, touch screen technology, and utilities.

 

GTG has over 700 clients located throughout North America and Europe and serves all levels of government as well as the private sector. To support our clients, GTG maintains six offices located across the United States: Headquarters in North Carolina, and Regional Offices in Texas, Illinois, and Florida.

 

Additional information may be obtained by contacting Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. at 888-757-4222 or you can access our website at www.geotg.com.

           

Timmons Group Completes Upgrade of Enterprise Forestry Management Application to ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Mobile 9.3

 

Richmond, VA—January 27, 2009 – Timmons Group, a leading provider of geospatial services, recently upgraded the Virginia Department of Forestry’s (VDOF) Integrated Forest Resource Information System (IFRIS©) application to ESRI’s 9.3 product line.  IFRIS allows users to spatially and temporally track activities and quantify time spent in terms of strategic goals, grant allocation and cost sharing directly through a web browser.  Additionally, IFRIS allows employees to track time and accomplishments out in the field and map forest-related activities such as forest health observations, stands, tracts, trails, and other ancillary features . 

 

The IFRIS enterprise also includes a mobile solution that integrates GPS functionality, allowing approximately 200 VDOF staff to use ESRI’s ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Mobile software. All field workers are equipped with Trimble GeoXMs running ArcGIS Mobile and SQL Server Compact.  Timmons Group recently upgraded the web and mobile solutions to ArcGIS Server 9.3 and ArcGIS Mobile 9.3.  Additionally, the field to web synchronization process was upgraded to use a service oriented architecture approach based on Microsoft’s Sync Framework.  The synchronization process improved the field workers ability to submit their field collected data directly into IFRIS Web for real-time access and visualization. 

 

“The upgrade of the IFRIS enterprise to the ESRI 9.3 platform and the migration of the field synchronization process to a truly service oriented architecture approach has bolstered the foundation of IFRIS to support the needs of many other VDOF business requirements that will be integrated in the future”, says Chris Gerecke, Director of Enterprise Solutions for Timmons Group.

 

IFRIS is based on ESRI ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Mobile, ArcSDE and Microsoft SQL Server, which stores data covering more than 147,000 forested acres.   Future releases of IFRIS© will incorporate field-based and web-based mapping and data collection of water quality harvest inspections, water quality concerns and wildfire mapping. This technology will make it easier for field staff to capture data describing the location and nature of wildfire incidents, water quality harvest inspections, forest health observations and other critical data.

 

About Timmons Group

Timmons Group is a leading provider of geospatial, information architecture and engineering services focusing on ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Mobile and Enterprise solutions.  Timmons Group is a privately held ENR 500 company and maintains a strong business partner relationship with ESRI.  Timmons Group has been a recipient of both the ESRI Business Partner of the Year award and the ESRI Foundation Partner of the Year award. 

 

For more information about Timmons Group’s technology services, contact Lowell Ballard at lowell.ballard@timmons.com or visit http://www.timmons.com/markets-and-services/technology.asp.

 

 

For more information contact:                                                             

Tim Asimos, Marketing Manager

Timmons Group

804.200.6375

tim.asimos@timmons.com

           

Lawrence, KS – ThinkGeo has just released the final versions of its Map Suite Web Edition 3.1, Map Suite Services Edition 3.1 and Map Suite World Map Kit extension products.  Formerly in beta testing, these three GIS software products will make mapping applications developed on Microsoft’s .NET platform even easier, faster and more powerful.

 

The final edition of Map Suite Web Edition 3.1 empowers developers of Web-based .NET mapping applications with faster and simpler coding, broad support for data and image formats, and a host of powerful rendering styles, spatial querying and geometric manipulation features. Services Edition 3.1 lets developers create their own Windows services, Web services and console applications in .NET, all of which leverage the power of GIS to deliver relevant spatial data in a high-performance package.  Last but not least, the World Map Kit can be added to either Web Edition or Services Edition as a high-performance extension, and offers a complete set of map data covering the entire world, along with a pre-built look and feel that can be integrated with just a few additional lines of code.

 

Each product’s final release includes numerous bug fixes and feature enhancements that were identified not only by Map Suite’s development team, but also through feedback from the large community of Map Suite users.  “The public beta release was extremely beneficial to us in our development process,” says David Rehagen, Chief Architect of the Map Suite development team.  “We received a lot of great feedback from our customers, and that helped us shape and polish Map Suite into an even better set of .NET GIS tools.  We think our customers will be very pleased with the refinements in the final release.” 

 

A free 60-day evaluation of Web Edition 3.1 or Services Edition 3.1 can be downloaded from ThinkGeo’s website at http://gis.thinkgeo.com.  Customers who purchased the beta version of Web Edition, Services Edition or the World Map Kit are entitled to a free upgrade to the final release.  Licensees of Web Edition and Services Edition can download the final release from the ThinkGeo Customer Portal at http://helpdesk.thinkgeo.com. 

 

ThinkGeo is an industry leader in GIS mapping controls and components.  The company offers a wide variety of high-quality products for software developers who are using mapping and geospatial functionality within their applications. They have clients from a wide base of industries ranging from agriculture to aerospace. For more information about ThinkGeo products or professional services, visit www.thinkgeo.com or contact one of our sales representatives at sales@thinkgeo.com or (866)847-7510.

 

# # #

 

For More Information Contact:

 

Moritz Wolffer

ThinkGeo, LLC

1617 St. Andrews Suite 201

Lawrence, KS 66047, USA

 

Phone:    1-866-847-7510 (Toll-Free)

Phone:    1-785-727-4133 (International)

Fax:      1-877-250-7122

Email:    sales@thinkgeo.com 

Web Site: www.thinkgeo.com

           

GfK GeoMarketing releases comprehensive map of Russian postcodes

GfK GeoMarketing recently released an updated and expanded digital map edition for Russia. A particular highlight is the unprecedented map of the country’s two-digit postcodes. Also noteworthy is the maps’ comprehensive and gapless coverage of the entire country, from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

The new 2008 digital Russia Map Edition contains a total of 22 postcode, administrative and topographic maps, including, for the first time, a map of the country’s two-digit postcodes. GfK GeoMarketing’s in-house cartographers completely re-digitized the maps contained in the edition to reflect the 2008 status.

The available administrative maps are subdivided into maps of Russia’s seven federal districts, 80 administrative regions and 2,532 districts. The highlight of the topographic maps is the depiction of more than 108,000 cities that gives users a detailed overview of their geographic distribution. The cities have been subdivided into six categories according to number of inhabitants. The layers depicting the country’s administrative regions and cities include both Cyrillic and international place-name attributions.
“This new map edition is a response to the significant demand for maps and data for Russia,” comments Doris Hardt-Beischl, director of sales at GfK GeoMarketing. “In spite or even because of the economic crisis, there is an immense need for reliable cartographic information on dynamic markets like Russia.”

The Russia Map Edition is one among a series of GfK GeoMarketing’s comprehensive and newly updated map editions for Asian countries. From now until early summer 2009, GfK GeoMarketing will be releasing updated postcode, administrative and topographic maps for all Asian countries. Many of the updated map editions for Asian countries are already available, including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan. GfK GeoMarketing offers the world’s largest collection of digital maps depicting postcodes and administrative regions. The company’s collection of maps for 240 countries is regularly updated and expanded.

Applications
Digital maps serve as the foundation for the geographical analysis of data. They are used in conjunction with specialized cartographic software applications to support companies in their sales territory and expansion planning, among other things. Data on customer addresses, branch turnover and market potential can be associated with a postcode map and then visually displayed and analyzed.

Data formats
GfK GeoMarketing’s digital maps are available in the following data formats: *.lay (RegioGraph and DISTRICT, GfK GeoMarketing’s mapping software solutions), *.tab/*.mid/*.mif (MapInfo Professional), *.shp (ESRI ArcGIS) and *.gdb (GeoDatabase). GfK GeoMarketing’s maps are vector-based, which allows for infinite zoom capability. GfK GeoMarketing’s in-house *.lay format of the Russia Map Edition includes integrated street data from Tele Atlas. This additional data means that natural boundaries such as rivers and mountains can be taken into account when planning sales or service territories with RegioGraph. The data also make it possible to calculate drive-time zones around company locations.

Additional information on the digital Russia Map Edition can be found at
www.gfk-geomarketing.com/russia or by contacting Nicole Lahr at +49 (0)7251 9295160 or
n.lahr@gfk-geomarketing.com.

Print-quality illustrations can be found at
www.gfk-geomarketing.com/russia_map_edition (approx. 1.3 MB).

Download press release (approx. 56 KB)

About GfK GeoMarketing

GfK GeoMarketing is one of Europe’s largest providers of geomarketing solutions for customers from all branches of trade. Its services include:

• Consultancy
• Market data
• Digital maps
• RegioGraph and DISTRICT geomarketing software solutions

The company is a subsidiary of the international GfK network. Ranked among the world’s top 5 market research organizations, the GfK Group consists of 115 subsidiaries and approximately 10,000 employees, with operations in 100 countries.

The GfK GeoMarketing press newsletter is published by:

GfK GeoMarketing GmbH,
Germany
www.gfk-geomarketing.com

Press Information:
Cornelia Lichtner
Public Relations
Tel. +49 (0)7251 9295 270
Fax +49 (0)7251 9295 290
c.lichtner@gfk-geomarketing.com

Management Board: Olaf Petersen, Wolfram Scholz, Dr. Eberhard Stegner
Amtsgericht Mannheim, HRB 250872

           

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Editorial Contacts:

Jennifer Schuh     Bob Richter
NAVTEQ      for NAVTEQ
Tel: 312-894-3913      Tel:  212-802-8588
e-M: jennifer.schuh@navteq.com      e-M:  bob@richtermedia.com

Tina Shilling
Telogis
Tel: 949-923-2527
e-M: tina.shilling@telogis.com

   

NAVTEQ is Platinum Sponsor at Telogis GeoBase Technology Summit
NAVTEQ maps, traffic and transport products to be showcased
Newport Beach, CA, January 26, 2009– NAVTEQ, a leading global provider of digital map data for location-based solutions and vehicle navigation, today announced from the Telogis GeoBase Technology Summit 2009 its participation as a platinum sponsor.  At this symposium, NAVTEQ is highlighting its world-wide map database offered through the Telogis platform.  Additionally, NAVTEQ is providing overviews of other products available to Telogis customers, including NAVTEQ Transport™ and NAVTEQ Traffic™. 

The summit offers Telogis customers and developers the opportunity to learn more about the GeoBase platform by participating in forums and technical sessions, and collaborating with peers and the Telogis development staff.  Sessions, client and technology panels and training courses are designed to maximize GeoBase knowledge for attendees.

Visit the NAVTEQ booth at the conference to learn first-hand about specific NAVTEQ products built to enhance fleet applications, including NAVTEQ Transport and NAVTEQ Traffic.  NAVTEQ Transport includes critical attributes required to enable sophisticated truck navigation as well as routing and dispatch optimization.  Some of the key attributes available are height, weight, width and length restrictions, legal truck restrictions, HAZMAT and truck related warning signs. 

NAVTEQ Traffic provides continuously streamed information about traffic conditions.  This product is comprised of flow and incident data aggregated and tested from multiple sources including GPS vehicular probes, roadway sensors and Operations Centers.  NAVTEQ Traffic is a premier provider of real-time traffic services that offers comprehensive, reliable nationwide coverage.

Attendees can also learn more about NAVTEQ’s breadth of coverage available to the Telogis customer community.  Spanning 74 countries and territories on six continents, the NAVTEQ map is one of the most robust and accurate geographic databases in the world. 

“Telogis’ extensive collaboration with NAVTEQ continues to be extremely successful,” stated David Cozzens, CEO, Telogis.  “Their support and participation in our conference is just one example of the collaboration we enjoy.  We look forward to a continued business relationship with NAVTEQ which benefits our customers by providing them the quality data they demand.”

“NAVTEQ is excited to support Telogis’ first GeoBase Technology Summit as a platinum sponsor.  We are especially pleased to use this event to update the Telogis customer community on our fleet management specific content and our world-wide map database,” commented Roy Kolstad, vice president and general manager, Enterprise Americas, NAVTEQ.  “NAVTEQ continues to focus on producing a quality product that supports the cross-industry fleet management requirements of the Telogis user-base.”

About Telogis
Telogis, the leading global platform for Location Based Services, is dedicated to enhancing the value of our customer’s business through intelligent integration of location technology, information and services. Telogis was established in 2001 and is headquartered in Irvine, CA and has a development center in Christchurch, New Zealand. Telogis products and services are used and distributed in over 40 countries worldwide. To learn more about Telogis visit our website at www.telogis.com or call toll free at 866-TELOGIS (866-835-6447). 
About NAVTEQ
NAVTEQ is a leading provider of comprehensive digital map information for automotive navigation systems, mobile navigation devices, Internet-based mapping applications, and government and business solutions. NAVTEQ creates the digital maps and map content that power navigation and location-based services solutions around the world. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 4,000 employees located in 196 offices and in 43 countries.
NAVTEQ, NAVTEQ Traffic and NAVTEQ Transport are trademarks in the U.S. and other countries. All rights reserved.

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Lansing, MI. – January 26, 2009 – IDV Solutions® today announced that it will host a webinar on “Empowering Business Users: Building Visual Composite Apps on Demand” which will take place on Wednesday January 28, 2009 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST.

 

In this webinar Scott Caulk, Product Manager for IDV Solutions, will present on how IDV Solutions’ Visual Fusion® product leverages Microsoft’s SharePoint and the geospatial component of information to empower the entire organization to create dynamic, interactive, Enterprise 2.0 applications.

 

Ronald Schmelzer, Senior Analyst at ZapThink, will also discuss the value SOA brings to the enterprise when business professionals build the business focused applications and IT professional concentrate on provisioning the services for those applications.

 

This Webinar will inform attendees about the business value of combining disparate content in a meaningful and actionable way, how portal-based composite application foster contribution to and collaboration around critical business issues, and ultimately how the Visual Fusion platform fuels real business empowerment that brings competitive advantage and tangible ROI to the enterprise.

 

IDV Solutions invites you to attend their webinar by registering at:  https://www106.livemeeting.com/lrs/pe5a_20174/Registration.aspx?PageName=lrjcjr9dsklh3n0l.  For more information on the webinar or Visual Fusion, contact IDV Solutions at info@idvsolutions.com.

 

About IDV Solutions

IDV Solutions is a visual composite applications company. IDV’s suite of products, Visual Fusion Suite®, helps organizations engage their enterprise data in an interactive, easy to use, web-based environment. IDV Solutions is committed to helping Global 2000 and government organizations make their information more accessible, understandable and contextual. Through the visual integration of enterprise data, third-party data and web services, IDV delivers intuitive and compelling composite applications. For further information, visit our website at www.idvsolutions.com.

           

For Immediate Release, January 26, 2009

Contact:  Joel Lawhead, 228-242-0014, jlawhead@nvisionsolutions.com

 

Bay Saint Louis, MS — NVision Solutions, Inc. is pleased to announce its recent milestone of surpassing 50 employees. Since its incorporation in March 2002, NVision has experienced success and growth at a steady pace and in July of 2007 expanded its offices to the newly opened Stennis Technology Park in Hancock County between Mobile, AL and New Orleans, LA.

Joel Lawhead, NVision Solutions CIO, points to their new facility with its location adjacent to the NASA Stennis Space Center as part of the reason for their continued growth. Over the last year, NVision has nearly doubled in size adding 5 long-term contracts supporting more than 25 employees. Services for these contracts range from administrative services to software engineering and database development.

 

Founded in March 2002, NVision Solutions was established with personal loans from the co-founders and has grown from a 2-person, 100-square foot office to 3 regional offices and over 50 employees.   The company has expanded their customer base to include prominent clients such as NASA, NOAA, FEMA, the Department of Interior, the Hancock County Port & Harbor Commission, and the U.S. Navy.  Additionally, NVision continues to forge international alliances in Canada, France, and Japan

 

NVision’s growth and success have been marked by a number of industry and government awards as well as independent press coverage.  Since 2002, NVision has been honored with the Tibbetts Award for Excellence in federal research, Technology Innovator of the Year awards for both Mississippi and Louisiana, NASA’s Tech Briefs Award, and industry-leading ESRI awards including Business Partner of the Year and Special Achievement in GIS.

 

“It has been a blessing during these difficult economic times to be able to focus internally to improve our ability to meet the ever changing needs of our clients,” stated Craig Harvey, NVision COO and Executive Vice President.  “Part of our philosophy is that the cutting edge isn’t a place to be, it’s a way of life. Now, during these slower times is the opportunity to make our services, our processes, our products, and our company even better.”

 

###

 

NVision Solutions, Inc. is a small, disadvantaged, minority, woman-owned certified 8(a) firm specializing in mission-critical, high-tech, GIS-based decision support systems and services.  NVision, an active member of Mississippi’s geospatial industry cluster, is headquartered in south Mississippi.  For more information about NVision Solutions, Inc., visit www.NVisionSolutions.com.

           

Upcoming Web Seminar Will Show How the API Provides the Technology Needed to Build Fast and Expressive Mapping Applications

 

Redlands, California—January 22, 2009—Web developers can tune in to an ESRI online seminar this month to find out how to use the new ArcGIS API for Flex to build fast and visually rich Web mapping applications that can be deployed on the Internet or to the desktop.

      Building Rich Internet Applications with ArcGIS API for Flex will air Thursday, January 29, 2009, at www.esri.com/lts. The times will be 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 3:00 p.m. (Pacific standard time).

       ArcGIS API for Flex enables developers to create powerful and interactive applications by taking advantage of the geographic information system (GIS) capabilities of ArcGIS Server services, such as powerful mapping, geocoding, and geoprocessing, along with the rich user experience capabilities of the Adobe Flex framework. Seminar attendees will learn the concepts of rich Internet applications (RIAs) and what tools they will need to start building their first Web mapping applications with ArcGIS API for Flex.

The presenter will show a demonstration of how ArcGIS API for Flex is used to build Web mapping applications. Seminar attendees also will learn about

The capabilities of the Adobe Flex framework and ArcGIS API for Flex’s features and functionality
How to use existing Flex components with ArcGIS API for Flex
What to consider when authoring and deploying applications in a Web server
Other educational resources available about Flex applications and how to obtain the information
       This seminar will be of interest to developers of both simple and advanced Web mapping applications. They should be familiar with the basic concepts of ArcGIS Server and Web application development.

A broadband Internet connection and an ESRI Global Account are needed to watch the seminar. Creating a global account is easy and free: visit www.esri.com/lts, click Login, and register your name and address. A few weeks after the live presentation, the seminar will be archived and available for viewing on the ESRI Training and Education Web site.

For more information about this free live training seminar, as well as upcoming classes, visit www.esri.com/training.

###

 

 

About ESRI Educational Services

With more than 190 courses to choose from, ESRI Educational Services is a recognized leader in geographic information system training. Courses cover a variety of topics related to ESRI software, the theory underlying GIS technology, and applying GIS tools to find solutions in particular fields, all while combining hands-on experience, interactivity, and instructional support to create an effective learning environment. Visit www.esri.com/training for more information.

 

About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world’s mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.

 

ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, GIS by ESRI, ArcGIS, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

 

Press Information

Contact: Carla Wheeler, ESRI

Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-2448

E-mail: press@esri.com

           

Project Is Featured in Bentley System’s New Publication “The Year in Infrastructure 2008,” Available Online at www.bentley.com/YearInInfrastructure2008

EXTON, Pa. – Jan. 12, 2009 – CH2M HILL, a global leader in full-service engineering, consulting, construction, and operations, won a 2008 Be Award of Excellence in the “Sustaining the Environment” category for its Round Butte Dam Selective Water Withdrawal system. The project is featured in the new publication “The Year in Infrastructure 2008,” available online from Bentley Systems, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, at www.bentley.com/YearInInfrastructure2008. The project team was tasked with creating a method for modifying the surface-current directions of the Deschutes and Crooked rivers in Oregon to reestablish the anadromous fish runs above the dam. Using MicroStation and the TriForma Extension, the project team developed a 3D model to visualize the design as it progressed, drive the engineering data, and coordinate and construct the components – all while saving thousands of man-hours. Composed of a steel-and-concrete floating platform, the new system selectively diverts water from specific depths of the lake and simultaneously diverts migrating fish from the turbine intake. The system allows the fish to enter into a fish-handling area more easily, provides a fish-collection system, and ensures the released water complies with Clean Water Act quality standards.

“This project could only have been completed using the innovative visualization capabilities built into Bentley applications,” said Wally Bennett, project manager, CH2M HILL. “Had we chosen a different method for this project, the cost would have been much higher and design time would have taken much longer. Indeed, the final geometry of the proposed structure would have been difficult to accomplish without Bentley’s 3D tools. The generated 3D model became the sole source of design information and tied all aspects of the project together. Bentley products were ideal in making this project a reality.”

For additional information about MicroStation, visit www.bentley.com/microstation.

About the Be Awards of Excellence
The Be Awards of Excellence, which are judged by independent panels of industry experts and presented at an evening ceremony during the annual Be Conference, honor the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world’s infrastructure. These projects set benchmarks and showcase the imagination and technical mastery of the organizations that created them.
To learn about the hundreds of innovative projects nominated for the Be Awards of Excellence during the past five years, visit www.bentley.com/YearInInfrastructure and read Bentley’s “Year in Infrastructure” annual publications. For information about how to enter projects for consideration in the 2009 Be Awards of Excellence competition, visit www.bentley.com/BeAwards.
About CH2M HILL
Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in engineering procurement, construction and operations for public and private clients. With more than $5.1 billion in revenue, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked in 2007 by Engineering News-Record. The firm’s work is concentrated in the areas of transportation, water, energy, environment, and industrial facilities. The firm has long been recognized as a most-admired company and leading employer by business media and professional associations worldwide. CH2M HILL has more than 24,000 employees in regional offices around the world. For additional information about CH2M HILL, visit www.ch2m.com.

About Bentley Systems, Incorporated

Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Architects, engineers, constructors, and owner-operators are indispensable in improving our world and our quality of life; the company’s mission is to improve the performance of their projects and of the assets they design, build, and operate. Bentley sustains the infrastructure professions by helping to leverage information technology, learning, best practices, and global collaboration – and by promoting careers devoted to this crucial work.

Founded in 1984, Bentley has more than 2,800 colleagues, offices in more than 50 countries, annual revenues surpassing $500 million, and since 1993, has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions. Nearly 90 percent of the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms are Bentley subscribers, and a 2008 Daratech study ranked Bentley as the world’s #2 provider of geospatial software solutions.

For additional information about Bentley, visit www.bentley.com. For information about Be Communities, a social networking site that enables members of the infrastructure community to connect, communicate, and learn from each other, visit http://communities.bentley.com.

# # #

Bentley, the “B” Bentley logo, Be, Be Awards of Excellence, MicroStation and TriForma are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

           

Vancouver, BC, January 12, 2009 – Safe Software, the leaders in spatial ETL (extract, transform and load), today announced the release of FME 2009 – the only complete spatial data conversion and distribution solution available in the market today. This new version, which includes new releases of FME Desktop and FME Server, has been enhanced to make it even easier for the geospatial industry to access the spatial data they need to use.

Over recent years, three trends have been emerging in the geospatial industry that have increased the demand for improved data interoperability: a rise in the numbers of popularized and widely used formats, a growing interest in spatial data by non-traditional GIS professionals, and vastly larger data volumes resulting from the growing popularity of geographically-referenced data. More than ever before, data users require a better, more efficient way to access the spatial data they need in the applications they prefer.

In response to these industry trends, Safe Software has designed FME 2009 to help organizations better address their data interoperability challenges and ultimately make their spatial data easily accessible to the people who need it, how they need it. The new enhancements to FME 2009 give organizations these benefits as they overcome their data interoperability barriers:

Faster Access to Spatial Data
The FME 2009 platform has been optimized for processing complex conversions on large volumes of spatial data. Based on test results, most conversions now run approximately 20% faster than using previous versions of FME, with some conversions running as much as twenty times faster. Also, FME Server now natively supports 64-bit Windows, Linux and Solaris for greater processing power when converting, loading and distributing large datasets. Each of these changes means that FME can now convert data into the required format and data model faster than ever before, ensuring quick access to spatial data.

Access Data in Popular and Emerging Formats
FME 2009 introduces support for more than a dozen emerging formats and has enhanced reading and writing capabilities for several popular formats. With support for over 200 CAD, GIS, raster, database, 3D and BIM formats, Safe Software remains committed to offering the broadest range of format support to ensure that users of geospatial data can leverage whichever data formats, systems, and applications they want to use. Newly supported formats include Adobe Geospatial PDF, AutoDesk 3ds, CityGML, IBM Informix Spatial, OpenStreetMap (OSM) XML, and more.

More Easily Perform Complex Data Conversions
The latest FME user interface enhancements make it even easier to convert spatial data into the required format and data model. Today, more non-geospatial professionals are beginning to transform and integrate their data with spatial data supplied by other teams which use different applications. FME 2009 reduces the learning curve for these new audiences, ensuring that they can quickly gain access to the data they require within whichever applications they prefer to use.

FME 2009 is another testament to Safe Software’s ongoing dedication to advancement and innovation in removing the barriers to data interoperability. Its unmatched format support, web based data access and scalable transformation capabilities make spatial data more accessible than ever before.

“In Safe Software’s 15 year history, we’ve continued to enhance our FME platform according to what our customers and the market are telling us. We believe that by designing FME with our ears attuned to this feedback, we can help spatial data users gain access to the information they need even more quickly and efficiently,” says Dale Lutz, Vice-President of Development at Safe Software.

Organizations interested in learning more and trying out FME can visit: www.safe.com/FME2009release.

General Availability
FME Desktop 2009 – January 12, 2009
FME Server 2009 – January 12, 2009

About Safe and FME
Safe Software powers the flow of spatial data with its software platform, FME. The recognized standard in spatial ETL (extract, transform and load), FME is the only complete solution for data conversion. It delivers the most extensive format support for data translation and integration, and provides unlimited flexibility in data model transformation and distribution.

FME is used by thousands of customers worldwide in a variety of industries including government, utilities, and petroleum. Its powerful data access technology also makes FME the choice of leading GIS, CAD, and database vendors for integration into their own solutions. Designed for true data interoperability, FME unleashes spatial data so people can use it where, when, and how they want to. For more information, visit www.safe.com.

###

Media Contact:
Lakhvir Brar
Acting Director of Marketing
Safe Software Inc.
(604) 501-9985 ext. 274
lakhvir.brar@safe.com

FME is a registered trademark of Safe Software Inc. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

           

QCoherent Software, provider of Limitless LiDARTM software tools, is pleased to announce the release of its free LiDAR viewer, LP Viewer.  LP Viewer is able to load and visualize copious amounts of LiDAR data in the industry standardized LAS 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 formats.  Requiring a Windows operating system and a minimal hardware configuration, LP Viewer provides fast on-the-fly tinning, contouring, 3D, profile visualizations, and ease of operation for which QCoherent Software has become known. LP Viewer is installed with a Free LP360 Evaluation. The LP360 evaluation (including LP Viewer) can be downloaded from QCoherent Software’s web page: www.QCoherent.com.

 
According to Torin Haskell, QCoherent Software’s Director of Business Development, “One of the most frequent requests we have received is to provide a free viewer that has the ability to load massive quantities of data with the visualization capabilities inherent in QCoherent software.  LP Viewer accomplishes this and in so doing promotes the use of classified point clouds rather than the unfortunately all too common distribution model of creating and maintaining an assortment of stripped down derivative data.  Often this is done primarily because of software limitations and an unfamiliarity with the value inherent in a full LiDAR point cloud.  LP Viewer provides an ideal free tool to access the rich high-density point clouds being collected and delivered by today’s LiDAR service providers.”
LP Viewer continues QCoherent Software’s mission of developing flexible LiDAR software that enables users of LiDAR data to easily and efficiently access gigantic LiDAR point clouds in geospatial operations. LP Viewer is part of QCoherent’s LP360 LiDAR software tool suite.

For more information and a free software trial, please visit QCoherent online at www.QCoherent.com, contact us by phone at 719-386-6900, or by email at info@qcoherent.com. QCoherent Software is headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, USA.
 

QCoherent Software
719-386-6900
www.QCoherent.com

           

Take a mailing list of any size and easily geocode it and append 100’s
of important profiling variables as well as shapefiles.

With the new GeocodeDVD 5.2, researchers can automatically
generate ArcGIS shapefiles for importing into their mapping
software. Now in one simple step a list of addresses can
create a layer of points that are instantly usable in
ArcGIS – no further conversions or processing necessary!

This product matches addresses to their latitude/longitude
coordinates and appends census designations such as block,
block group and tract so the user can profile an address
list.  This product also appends demographic variables based
on the Census 2000 Long Form, such as race, age, income,
housing value, employment and more.  If you want even more
data, the GeocodeDVD with 2008 Estimates and 2013 Projections
will append the most up to date demographic data directly to
addresses.  With this product users assign address coordinates
and append data in one simple process, letting business and
academic researchers quickly profile their clients, customers,
or research subjects.

Geocoding can be done for an individual address (manual mode)
or a list of thousands or millions of addresses (batch mode).

GeocodeDVD version 5.2 appends zip+4s to the matched address,
as well as having the option to assign historic 1970, 1980, and
1990 Census tract and block group codes, in addition to the
latitude, longitude, and 2000 Census block code.  The source
data for geocoding addresses are the most up-to-date 2008
TIGER/Line® Shapefiles.  The GeocodeDVD is a stand-alone product
that offers accurate, high-speed geocoding and an affordable
annual license.  For more information on GeoLytics’ GeocodeDVD,
go to: http://geolytics.com/USCensus,Geocode,Data,Features,Products.asp
###

GeoLytics provides demographic and geographic data to social
researchers and businesses.  More than 4,000 libraries,
universities, government agencies, and businesses trust
GeoLytics for their census, demographic, and GIS data. For
further information about our company or our products, call
us at 1-800-577-6717 or email us GeoLytics at info@geolytics.com
We can also be reached on the web at http://www.geolytics.com
or by mail at GeoLytics, PO Box 10, East Brunswick, NJ 08816

           

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE           Contact:  Lisa Stone

January 12, 2009                        (601) 853-4597; lstone@olemiss.edu  

 

Jackson, MS – The Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS) and the Geospatial Council of the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) are pleased to announce that the state of Mississippi has funded the geospatial statewide software site license program for the 2008-09 academic year.

 

As one of Mississippi’s most notable and successful activities in the geospatial arena, the geospatial software program provides remote sensing and Geospatial Information System (GIS) software learning packages for use at all Institutions of Higher Learning and Community and Junior Colleges at no cost to the individual institutions.

 

The total cost for FY09 for the State of Mississippi is $260,000, including software and administrative expenses. The total product value for FY09 is almost $25 million. This value is the amount that would be charged for the software without the site license agreement, representing quite a substantial savings for the state.

 

“We are so pleased that the Mississippi Legislature recognizes the importance of this program to help ensure that an educated, well-trained workforce is available to address the growing workforce development needs of the geospatial industry,” stated Dr. Greg Easson, EIGS Executive Director.  “The wide spread use of this technology, from government agencies to engineers to farmers dictates that we keep pace with the industry’s demand for the high number of workers needing to be trained in this field. The availability of this software to our educational institutions is crucial to the sustained growth of this technology sector in Mississippi.”

As the first of its kind in the U.S., this program was established in 1999 for remote sensing/GIS software with three industry-leading vendors – ESRI, ERDAS, and ITT Visual Information Systems.  Other states have since followed Mississippi’s lead in having such a progressive program that serves the entire statewide public higher education community. The program is funded through EIGS and managed by the MS Automated Resource Information System (MARIS) under the direction of the IHL Geospatial Council.  The site licenses are designated for educational and research purposes and allow for unlimited copies of the software at all 8 public universities and all 15 community and junior colleges. 

 

Including software extensions and modules, almost 22,000 licenses have been issued since the program began in 1999.   With over 1,000 licenses utilized in 1999, the program increased to a peak of over 3,400 in 2006 and has since leveled off during the past two years to approximately 2,500 annually.

 

“Over the past couple of years, the use of the extension modules have increased by 125 percent showing more complex courses being taught requiring the more specific modules to be licensed,” stated Jim Steil, Director of MARIS and Chair of the IHL Council.  “This demonstrates the increase in the number of students tackling advanced topics and tasks utilizing the extensions and also the diversity of new projects that the campuses are involved with.”

 

“This software program is a resource that is critical to the research, development, and training mission of the participating universities and community colleges as well as the continued growth of the geospatial industry,” said Easson.  “The software is being used as part of curricula, supporting research applications by faculty, helping graduate and undergraduate students complete research projects, and training the next generation of employees for Mississippi’s geospatial industry.”

 

###

 

About the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions:  Since 1998, the State of Mississippi has nurtured the growth of a cluster of high-tech companies in the geospatial technology industry. The Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS) is the program that coordinates the activities of this cluster.  EIGS works with private companies as well as university research programs, state agencies, and other related organizations to support geospatial business development and research with the primary mission of growing the research-based, world-class geospatial technology industry in Mississippi.  For more information, visit www.eigs.olemiss.edu. 

 

About the IHL Geospatial Council:  The Geospatial Council was established in 1999 by Mississippi’s Institutions of Higher Learning to organize, coordinate, and promote educational activities in geospatial technologies in the state of Mississippi.  The Council includes faculty and staff from all Mississippi’s public universities and community colleges as well as several state agencies. Additionally, the Council provides oversight and maintenance of the statewide geospatial software site license program.  For more information, contact

Steve Walker at swalker@ihl.state.ms.us or visit www.maris.state.ms.us/HTM/GeospatialCouncilWebsite/index.html.

           

January 9, 2009 (Park Ridge, IL) – URISA is seeking nominations for its GIS Hall of Fame.  The Hall of Fame recognizes and honors the best of us in GIS. Started in 2005, the URISA Hall of Fame documents the contributions made by key individuals. URISA welcomes nominations from any profession and is not restricted to those having a past or current relationship with URISA. This award is not given every year, and some years there may be multiple recipients. The selection criteria for this honor are:

•    At least 25 years of sustained professional involvement in the GIS field.
•    Original and creative contributions to the field.
•    Well known and respected by a wide range of peers.
•    Consistent demonstration of sound professional and personal ethics.

Nominations must be submitted to URISA by May 1. For details and to learn more about current Hall of Famers: http://www.urisa.org/hall_of_fame 

 

Contact:

Wendy Nelson

Executive Director – URISA

wnelson@urisa.org   www.urisa.org    847-824-6300

 

Mark Your Calendar:

GIS/CAMA Technologies Conference – February 8-11, 2009 – Charleston SC

URISA’s GIS in Public Health Conference – June 5-8, 2009 – Providence RI

URISA/NENA Addressing Conference – August 4-6, 2009 – Providence RI

URISA’s 47th Annual Conference – September 29-October 2, 2009 – Anaheim CA

GIS in Transit Conference – November 10-12, 2009 – St Petersburg FL

           

Spatial Insights, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of CartoUS 2009, updated with enhanced and reformatted US Census Bureau TIGER files just released in December. With a total of 66 layers of mapping data, the seamless CartoUS 2009 data are available by county, state, region, or nationwide, and include Puerto Rico and the US Territories. Ten new layers of data are included with this new release.

 

Layers provided in CartoUS include roads (primary, secondary, and local), Census boundaries (from block group and larger), metro areas, landmarks, legislative and school district boundaries, railways, water features, American Indian reservations, and ZIP code tabulation areas. New layers include military installations, and five new Economic Census boundaries.

 

“CartoUS is a full-featured mapping database that provides quality data and outstanding value.” said Don Segal, President of Spatial Insights.  “With annual updates, improvements in accuracy and new additional content, CartoUS 2009 will be an invaluable asset to users of mapping software.”

 

CartoUS 2009 comes packaged with or without blocks and address ranges. For those needing only particular categories of data, subsets of roads, census boundaries, census blocks, landmarks, metro areas, legislative and school district boundaries are available.

 

CartoUS 2009 formats include MapInfo ProfessionalTM TAB and ESRITM SHAPE file formats. Expedited delivery is available via ftp download.

 

Product information, including pricing, is available at the following URL:

http://www.spatialinsights.com/catalog/product.aspx?product=199

 

About Spatial Insights, Inc.

Spatial Insights is a geographic information services company specializing in innovative project consulting and mapping services, customized software solutions and data products for commercial organizations.  Additional information is available at www.spatialinsights.com.

 

Contact/For More Information:    

Erin Rubio, Director of Marketing

Phone:  301.229.4413 x 317

Fax:      301-229-4479                             Sales:   800-347-5291

Email:   erin@spatialinsights.com            Web:    www.spatialinsights.com

           

Thought Leader Strives to Expand Reach of GIS in Education

 

Redlands, California—January 8, 2009—Thinking spatially helps solve many of the problems faced in daily life, from the simple, like finding driving directions, to the complex, such as responding to natural disasters. With a focus on promoting spatial literacy among students in all disciplines, Dr. Michael Gould joins ESRI as director of higher education. He will also concentrate on supporting the implementation of geographic information system (GIS) technology across academic and administrative departments.

 

“When GIS is used for problem solving, a student analyzes data within its spatial context, which allows for more informed decision making,” says Gould. “GIS is used on campuses for teaching and research in traditional spatial disciplines, such as geography and planning, but there are also significant benefits from using geospatial technology in wider areas such as business and public health departments. I look forward to supporting the use of geospatial technology in all areas of study as well as the use of GIS on campuses to improve operations such as facilities management and green initiatives.”

 

Gould brings 20 years of experience in teaching and research to ESRI. He began his career after earning a Ph.D. in geography (GIS) from the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA), University at Buffalo. Most recently, he was an interdisciplinary professor of information systems and cocreator of an Erasmus Mundus-funded geospatial technologies master’s program at Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain. Gould’s research expertise includes creating Spatial Data Infrastructures (SDI); researching standards-based interoperability with the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC); and developing geospatial Web services.

 

Gould has also worked as a GIS advisor to government agencies in the European Union (EU), businesses including ESRI and Microsoft, and nonprofit organizations. An active member of the Association of Geographic Information Laboratories in Europe (AGILE), Gould recently completed a two-year term as chair of its management board. He was also nominated by the Spanish government to serve as an expert on a series of research projects with the EU including Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE).

 

ESRI president Jack Dangermond says, “Solving the problems of the 21st century requires a populace that’s adept at creating and using geospatial technology. Michael Gould is a thought leader in the international GIS community who will help foster the open sharing of information and new forms of cooperation and collaboration with the education community.”

 

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About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world’s mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.

 

ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, GIS by ESRI, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

 

 

Press Information                                                                          

Contact: Jennifer Caito, ESRI

Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-5404

E-mail: press@esri.com

Images available upon request

           

Norcross, GA – ERDAS Inc. announces the launch of ERDAS TV, an area on www.erdas.com featuring informative videos that capture development news and other happenings at ERDAS. These movies (or webisodes) are three to eight minutes in length. ERDAS’ YouTube account also features each of these videos, as well as product demonstrations and presentations.

ERDAS TV now includes three webisodes, The History of ERDAS, Inside the ERDAS IMAGINE War Room (Part 1) and ERDAS at the GEOINT Symposium 2008. The History of ERDAS includes a short interview with Brad Skelton, CTO at ERDAS. Skelton was also the second software developer to join ERDAS in 1980. Inside the ERDAS IMAGINE War Room includes interviews with the ERDAS IMAGINE Product Manager, Development Manager and several engineers. This webisode also contains several short demos, highlighting new features of ERDAS IMAGINE and other upcoming developments. ERDAS at the GEOINT Symposium 2008 showcases the company’s participation in this key industry event and overall commitment to the GEOINT community. Additional webisodes will regularly be added to ERDAS TV, including a second installment of Inside the ERDAS IMAGINE War Room.

“ERDAS TV provides a unique window into our company, broadcasting interesting and useful information via short online videos,” said Mladen Stojic, Senior Vice President, Product Management & Marketing, ERDAS. “We are excited to offer additional opportunities to interact with our partners and customers on our website, as well as on successful sharing and social networking sites such as YouTube and Twitter.”

ERDAS TV is accessible from the Company tab on www.erdas.com or can be accessed directly at http://www.erdas.com/Company/ERDASTV/tabid/145/Default.aspx. ERDAS can also be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/ERDASINC and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/erdas. YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates, which are text-based posts.

For more information about ERDAS or its products and services, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 877 GO ERDAS, or visit www.erdas.com.

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About ERDAS
ERDAS – The Earth to Business Company – helps organizations harness the information of the changing earth for greater advantage.

ERDAS creates geospatial business systems that transform our earth’s data into business information, enabling individuals, businesses and public agencies to quickly access, manage, process and share that information from anywhere.

Using secure geospatial information, ERDAS solutions improve employee, customer and partner visibility to information, enabling them to respond faster and collaborate better. It also means better decision-making, increased productivity and new revenue streams.

Welcome to ERDAS: a trusted name, with a new energy, and a new vision. Earth to business starts here.

ERDAS is a part of the Hexagon Group, Sweden. For more information about ERDAS or its products and services, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 866 534 2286, or visit www.erdas.com.

Media Contact:

Jason Sims
ERDAS, Inc.
Marketing Manager
5051 Peachtree Corners Circle, Suite 100
Norcross, GA 30092
Phone: +1 770 776 3400 or +1 866 534 2286
E-mail: Jason.Sims@erdas.com

           

GOLDSBORO, N.C. – Geographic Technologies Group® (GTG®) was selected for multiple software contracts including:  City of Hoover, Alabama—purchased LG Geo Blade Viewer.  City of Sunrise, Florida—upgrading LG Geo Blade Viewer.  City of Eureka, California—purchased one (1) seat of LG Dispatch and purchased one (1) seat of LG Address.  City of Arcata, California—purchased three (3) seats of LG Dispatch.  City of Fortuna, California—purchased three (3) seats of LG Dispatch.  City of Murray, Utah—purchased five (5) seats of LG Viewer, one (1) seat of LG Work Orders, and one (1) seat of LG Community Maintenance.  Pasco County, Florida—purchased 33 seats of LG Dispatch Community Connect.  St. Mary’s County, Maryland—purchased 50 seats of LG Mobile Community Connect.  Sutter County, California—purchased one (1) seat of LG Dispatch.  City of Titusville, Florida—purchased one (1) seat of LG Address for Land Management.

 

The City of Hoover, Alabama selected GTG to create several GIS data layers.

 

The City of Titusville, Florida selected GTG to perform GIS services for database cleanup and synchronization.

 

Budgeting for GIS just got easier!  Geographic Technologies Group offers a free budgeting worksheet for your organization!  Create your budget online now at http://www.geotg.com/main.html. 

 

About Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG):

GTG is a full-service local government GIS consulting company offering specialized experience in the planning, design, implementation, and procurement of geo-technologies.  GTG has unmatched technical GIS capabilities, demonstrated successes, international experience, and a reputation for successfully implementing the right solutions. GTG develops GIS products that spatially enable various enterprise solutions and integrates an organization’s IT investment via a common interface. GTG also offers stand alone products for land management, public safety, public access, touch screen technology, and utilities.

 

GTG has over 700 clients located throughout North America and Europe and serves all levels of government as well as the private sector. To support our clients, GTG maintains five offices located across the United States: Headquarters in North Carolina, and Regional Offices in Texas, Florida, and Illinois.

 

Additional information may be obtained by contacting Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. at 888-757-4222, or you can access our website at www.geotg.com.

           

Sam Bacharach
Executive Director, Outreach and Community Adoption Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc
tel: +1-703-352-3938
sbacharach@opengeospatial.org

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Wayland, Mass., January 7, 2009 – In Valencia, Spain, at the December Technical Committee meetings of the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.
(OGC), the OGC and the Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to coordinate in advancing open geospatial standards (OGC’s mission) and open source geospatial software and data (OSGeo’s mission).

Mark Reichardt, CEO and President of the OGC, explained that, “Openness benefits markets. Vendors of proprietary software have found that today’s more open and complex “business ecosystem,” which includes both open source software and open standards, is good for their businesses. It’s also good for technology users. It makes sense for the OGC to work with the OSGeo.”

Open source software is software that has been designed and developed in an open, community process. The OGC’s open standards are similarly developed in an open, community process, but they are specifications (for interfaces, encodings and best practices), not software.

Arnulf Christl, President of OSGeo, said, “We look forward to collaborating with the OGC to identify open source technologies that can be used as reference implementations for OGC standards and to identify standards requirements that result from our open source geospatial software development programs.”

The MOU provides for the assignment of up to six one-year Individual Memberships in the OGC.  Memberships will be selected by OSGeo and are subject to OGC qualifications for Individual Membership.

The OSGeo is a not-for-profit organization founded in 2006 whose mission is to support and promote the collaborative development of open source geospatial technologies and data.

The OGC® is an international consortium of more than 365 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OpenGIS® Standards support interoperable solutions that “geo-enable” the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. OGC Standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org/.
_______________________________________________

           

Lansing, MI. January 7, 2009 – IDV Solutions®, a visual composite applications software company, today announced that the eight U.S. Microsoft® Technology Centers (MTCs) have selected IDV Solutions as an alliance partner and will showcase IDV’s Visual Fusion Suite® to its enterprise customers. Visual Fusion is a platform that integrates siloed enterprise information with Web services into a portal, leveraging Microsoft® Office SharePoint Server, to provide immediate insight and understanding of an organization’s information.

 

Visual Fusion is an important part of the MTCs’ SharePoint and data visualization engagements, providing MTC alliance partners the capability to demonstrate applications in production conditions. This helps MTC customers visualize how to leverage their existing data investments, take advantage of Web 2.0, and integrate their disparate information into a single web-based application.

 

“IDV’s Visual Fusion is an exciting addition to the Microsoft Technology Centers,” said Chuck McCann, director of the MTC Alliance Member Program. “Demonstrating how Visual Fusion leverages SharePoint to rapidly build custom visual composite applications to immediately answer pressing business questions drives home one of the many value points of SharePoint in the enterprise.”

 

This consolidated view, presented in the context of location and time, empowers users to explore new opportunities, reveal strategic and operational value, and share discoveries quickly and easily. Visual Fusion can give organizations a competitive advantage and save the organization resources and money.

 

Microsoft Technology Centers provide a valuable environment and technology expertise for enterprise customers to envision and demonstrate solutions based on Microsoft and partner technologies.

 

About IDV Solutions

IDV Solutions is a visual composite applications company. Our suite of products, Visual Fusion Suite®, helps organizations engage their enterprise data in an interactive, easy to use, web-based environment. We are committed to helping Global 2000 and government organizations make their information more accessible, understandable, and contextual. Through the visual integration of numerous data sources, IDV delivers intuitive and compelling composite applications placing their data only a mouse click away.

           

Media Contact:          

Karen Fouts, CMS                 

Marketing Manager

kfouts@sidwellco.com

 

St. Charles, IL – Despite the troubled state of the economy, The Sidwell Company, a provider of GIS and land records management solutions, sees the market for these services continuing to thrive in many areas of the country. Sidwell’s versatility and variety of solutions has contributed to their selection by a diverse group of local government and private-sector entities in recent months, including: Clark County, Nevada; Cleveland County, Oklahoma; Pueblo County, Colorado; Robertson County, Texas; Lawrence County, Missouri; Worth County, Iowa; and the Capitol Appraisal Group, Inc., of Austin, Texas. Among the numerous services that Sidwell will be providing are conversion of GIS data to the industry-standard geodatabase and implementation of Parcel Builder™, their parcel maintenance solution built on ESRI® technology; creation of countywide color digital orthophotography; digital imaging of more than 250,000 land records; and development and enterprise deployment of a spatially-enabled field appraisal solution.

 

According to company President Neal Carpenter, “It’s clear that geographic information continues to be a priority and that local government will continue to operate and provide support to their citizens despite the economic downturn.  The challenge is to accomplish this in creative ways that are affordable and yet add real value.” Adds Carpenter, “Not only are our existing customers asking for our support, we’re also serving new counties and markets as we tailor our services to fit their budgets and address their immediate needs in land records management.”

 

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For more information about Sidwell’s GIS, aerial photography, photogrammetric, mapping and professional services, contact the company at 877.SIDWELL (877.743.9355), or visit their website at www.sidwellco.com.

           

Media Contact:

Karen Fouts, CMS

Marketing Manager

kfouts@sidwellco.com

 

St. Charles, Illinois – Capitol Appraisal Group, Inc. (CAGI) is a provider of appraisal and information services to governmental entities primarily for the purpose of property taxation. CAGI made the decision to pursue an initiative which would facilitate the collection of field appraisal data by incorporating a GPS/GIS-based solution. To help them accomplish this, they selected The Sidwell Company, a provider of geographic information systems, aerial photography, and cadastral mapping and GPS solutions. In addition to their expertise in parcel mapping and geodatabase development, Sidwell is also an Authorized Distributor of Magellan® GPS equipment.

 

This project will be completed in three phases. The first phase includes review of the typical workflow for field data collection as performed by CAGI technicians, development of a prototype database design, creation of custom forms for ArcPad® data capture, and the design and implementation of a solution to associate digital camera images directly to records in the ArcPad database. Phase Two will consist of refinement of the data capture forms and database design to enhance the data collection workflow, and on-site installation, configuration, testing and training. Phase Three, enterprise deployment of the solution, will include installation and configuration of ESRI’s ArcGIS® Server, data loading and tuning, technical consulting, and ArcGIS Server administrator training.

 

The end result of this project will be an efficient system to inventory, value, and keep track of oil and gas infrastructure and the land parcels on which they are built.

 
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For more information about Sidwell’s GIS, aerial photography, photogrammetric, mapping and Magellan GPS solutions, contact the company at 877.SIDWELL (877.743.9355), or visit their website at www.sidwellco.com.

ESRI, the ArcPad and ArcGIS trademarks are used under license from ESRI. For more information on GIS industry leader ESRI, visit their website: www.esri.com.

           

January 6, 2009 (Park Ridge, IL) – URISA and the National Center for Transit Research (NCTR) are pleased to announce a new partnership to present the Fifth National GIS in Transit Conference, taking place in St. Petersburg, Florida, November 10-12, 2009. This biennial conference will focus on the growing role of GIS in supporting planning, service delivery, and decision making in public transit.

The Program Committee will organize an educational program based upon the abstracts submitted through the Call for Participation. All abstract submissions, received by February 27, 2009, will be reviewed and considered for this conference.  The Program Committee encourages abstract submissions  in one or more of these four general categories – Applications, Tools, Data, and Management & Policy. Examples of topics within each category are included below:

APPLICATIONS
Asset Management – Stops, stations, communications, routes/track, work orders, etc; Bus Stop Inventory Collection and Management
Transit Operations – Scheduling; AVL; voice annunciation; ridership stats; routing; performance analysis; data validation, etc.
Security and Safety – Crime analysis, accident/safety analysis, emergency planning, disaster recovery, etc.
Planning -  Service planning; Census data transit planning; transit-oriented development; demand studies (long-range forecasting, transit oriented development, etc.)
Public Information – data presentation/cartography; trip planners; other public website services
Other Applications Topics
TOOLS
Software – Google/Microsoft and transit; open source and web-enabled GIS; mashups, Web 2.0   
Data Collection – Automatic Passenger Counters (APC); GPS, mobile GIS
Other Tools Topics
DATA
Data Modeling – transit modeling applications
Data Standards – transit data standards
Data Sources -  American Community Survey, LED (Longitudinal Employment Dynamics) Data, Census Data, National Household Data Survey
Other Data Topics
MANAGEMENT & POLICY
Enterprise Architecture – implementation issues
GIS and IT management topics
FTA/Census/FGDC programs/priorities – Intelligent Transportation Systems, Title 6, NTD Data
GISP Program
New Starts Program
Other Management & Policy Topics
Preconference workshops, an exhibition and networking events will accompany the educational program. Visit the conference website, for details and submission guidelines.

 

 

Contact:

Wendy Nelson

Executive Director – URISA

wnelson@urisa.org

www.urisa.org

847-824-6300

 

Mark Your Calendar:

GIS/CAMA Technologies Conference – February 8-11, 2009 – Charleston SC

URISA’s GIS in Public Health Conference – June 5-8, 2009 – Providence RI

URISA/NENA Addressing Conference – August 4-6, 2009 – Providence RI

URISA’s 47th Annual Conference – September 29-October 2, 2009 – Anaheim CA

GIS in Transit Conference – November 10-12, 2009 – St Petersburg FL

           

GIS Software, Data, and Training Allocated to Commercial Real Estate Professionals Tasked with Tackling Business Problems Using Spatial Analysis

 

Redlands, California—January 6, 2009—ESRI, the leading provider of geographic information system (GIS) software solutions, and CCIM Institute, the largest commercial investment brokerage and real estate network firm in the world, have announced a $1 million U.S. grant program. This program is designed to give CCIM members access to innovative technology that will help them address changing market conditions in the real estate industry and develop business strategies that maximize the return on investment (ROI) of commercial investments.

CCIM designee and candidate members are eligible to receive GIS software, data, and training from ESRI. The grant program provides the resources to allow CCIM members to employ spatial analytics and geodemographic data to find solutions to some of the major challenges they face in the real estate life cycle.

 ”GIS has become one of the most important tools for making more informed real estate investment decisions. Many companies trust it to provide the answers they need to better manage their portfolio, improve the site evaluation process, and develop properties more profitably,” says Simon Thompson, commercial business industry manager, ESRI.

The program was announced by Jack Dangermond, president of ESRI, at the CCIM and Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) Success Series Symposium 2008 held October 17–18 in Chicago, Illinois. Grants will be awarded to forward-thinking projects that improve workflow and enhance decision-making processes.

“In light of the economic downturn of late, CCIM and ESRI hope to encourage businesses of any size with dealings in commercial real estate to think creatively using GIS,” Dangermond stressed. “Our partnerships with STDB Online and CCIM have given many companies access to timely U.S. demographic information and analysis using GIS. With this grant, we hope to encourage real estate professionals to go a step further and introduce spatial modeling, with no risk, into their business decisions and workflows.”

Charles A. “Mac” McClure, CCIM, 2009 president of the CCIM Institute, agreed: “This innovative grant program is fundamental to what CCIM stands for as an organization—networking, education, and technology. We hope that through this grant program, our members are introduced to the most forward-thinking technology available and that they learn how to apply it and share their experiences with others.”

ESRI will award 200 grants within the United States throughout 2009. Grants will be awarded in several property types, including retail, office, industrial, and multifamily. Special consideration will be given to nontraditional commercial real estate ventures such as health care and specialized manufacturing sectors. Additional grants will be awarded to small businesses, which are encouraged to apply. Program details will be announced in early 2009. CCIM members interested in the grant can visit www.esri.com/ccimgrants for information updates.

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About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world’s mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.

 

ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, GIS by ESRI, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

 

Press Information                                                       

Contact: Karen Richardson, ESRI

Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-3491

E-mail: press@esri.com

           

Contact:          Karen Fouts

                        Marketing Manager

kfouts@sidwellco.com

 

St. Charles, Illinois¾Cleveland County, located in central Oklahoma, has selected The Sidwell Company of St. Charles, Illinois, to convert their cadastral-based GIS data to ESRI’s ArcGIS® Geodatabase platform and to provide an ESRI-based software solution for maintaining the cadastral GIS. Sidwell—a provider of geographic information systems, aerial photography, cadastral mapping and website provision services—will convert Cleveland County’s current cadastral data into an enterprise Geodatabase that utilizes the cadastral tag data model.  The company will perform design file data scrubbing services, conflation of coincident boundary lines and geospatial referencing of the mapping data to the County’s orthophotography. Cleveland County’s parcel number inventory will be imported into Parcel Builder-Administrator™, which will enable the County to link parcel numbers directly to the GIS, thereby making them available for integration with tax and CAMA applications and for enhanced workflows.

 

Cleveland County will receive Sidwell’s Parcel Builder™ integrated software suite for maintaining the converted data, as well as several hours of customized training on how to maximize use of this powerful mapping productivity toolkit. The County is also contracting with Sidwell to provide mapping services to prepare the cadastral database for plotting, including the creation of map indexes, templates and symbology style sets that are designed for use with the Parcel Builder-MapPlotter™ software module.

 

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For more information about Sidwell’s Parcel Builder or their GIS, aerial photography, photogrammetric, mapping and website provision services, contact the company at 877.SIDWELL (877.743.9355), or visit their website at www.ParcelBuilder.com or www.sidwellco.com.

ESRI and the ArcGIS trademark are used under license from ESRI. For more information on GIS industry leader ESRI, visit their website: www.esri.com.

           

Redlands, California—January 5, 2008—Small utilities will soon have greater access to geographic information system (GIS) technology as ESRI rolls out the Small Utilities Enterprise License Agreement (SU-ELA) program. For an affordable, fixed cost, the SU-ELA program provides IT, business, and supply-chain benefits to utilities in the United States with 100,000 customers or fewer. The program offers select unlimited deployments to desktop, server, Web, and mobile solutions of ESRI’s ArcGIS platform; maintenance and support for products; staff training; passes to ESRI’s International User Conference; and ESRI’s data models.

At the heart of the SU-ELA program is ESRI’s ArcGIS software, an open, scalable, and interoperable platform that provides a complete system to author, serve, and use geographic information. An enterprise GIS, based on ArcGIS technology, serves designers, analysts, decision makers, field staff, and customers.      

To improve the small utility IT work processes, the SU-ELA program includes established maintenance and complete flexibility of ArcGIS deployment without the need to acquire additional licenses. Organizational workflows are simplified because ArcGIS technology complies with IT standards and uses off-the-shelf, commercial relational databases and standard data models.

The SU-ELA program offers built-in GIS training and support for enterprise GIS operations. ESRI’s enterprise GIS is a mission-critical tool proven to support more than 70 different business functions of a utility extending from asset, vegetation, and outage management to inspection, maintenance, and as-built record keeping. Utility staff from multiple departments can quickly access information; share workflows; provide better customer service; and respond effectively to work orders, leaks, or outages.

The SU-ELA program simplifies the contract and budgeting process, saving utilities time and money. Procurement costs are reduced because the agreements require only one payment per year for the three-year term. Administrative costs shrink as a result of centralized coordination and management of software distribution, support, services, and training.

“While small utilities sustain themselves on limited budgets and personnel, they are still expected to provide the same level of operations management and customer service as their larger counterparts,” says Bill Meehan, ESRI’s director of utility solutions. “To effectively and efficiently meet challenges, utilities rely on enterprise GIS. ESRI’s SU-ELA program makes enterprise GIS easy for small utilities to acquire.”

For more information, visit www.esri.com/suela or call 1-800-447-9778, extension 2990.

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About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world’s mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. Visit us at www.esri.com.

 

ESRI, the ESRI globe logo, GIS by ESRI, ArcGIS, www.esri.com, and @esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of ESRI in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

 

Press Information                                                                          

Contact: Jessica Wyland, ESRI

Tel.: 909-793-2853, extension 1-3345

E-mail: press@esri.com

           

5th January 2009, Cambridge, UK. 1Spatial is exhibiting at a workshop being organised by the Association for Geographic Information (AGI) in London on 8th January 2009. The event will provide an opportunity for all parties with an interest in INSPIRE* to learn more about the Data Specifications for Annex 1 (Reference Datasets**). These have now been published by the European Commission for comment by registered organisations (such as AGI).

The AGI’s INSPIRE Action Working Group is running the workshop with a view to sharing information and providing updates relating to the INSPIRE data specifications that have now been published to enable Legally Mandated Organisations (LMOs) and Spatial Data Interest Communities (SDICs). 1Spatial is a registered SDIC working on the INSPIRE transformation testing with several European Member States across a number of Thematic Areas, such as cadastral parcels, hydrography and transportation networks. Most of this testing is being carried as a result of 1Spatial’s involvement in ESDIN***, the best practice network for European Spatial Data Infrastructures.

The AGI is also an SDIC – one of at least 40 such organisations from the UK. Most of the UK experts that have participated in the INSPIRE Thematic Working Groups have agreed to contribute to this AGI-sponsored event. Defra and the European Commission are also sending representatives who will set the Data Specifications in UK and EU contexts respectively.

This will be a technical workshop to outline and explain the background of the data specifications. It will cover some of the INSPIRE comitology approach, describe the consultation process and cover the different requirements for the various data specifications. Organisations will benefit from involvement if they read the relevant data specifications for their business domain or thematic area prior to attending the workshop. It is not a forum for any political or strategic discussions on behalf of the UK for INSPIRE related matters.

Robin Waters, Chair of the AGI INSPIRE Action Working Group stated:
“We want GI software vendors – whose products will be needed to help deliver INSPIRE – to take part and make sure that their voice is heard.  A number of vendors, such as 1Spatial are already well involved in the INSPIRE consultation process.  This is an opportunity for other national and international suppliers to interact with the people that are writing these specifications and to learn more about them.”

Steven Ramage, Business Development Director of 1Spatial, added:
“1Spatial is already very active in INSPIRE and involvement in this workshop furthers our commitment to help move the process forward.  As part of the Annex I testing phase, we are already working with a number of industry leading organisations to define a series of sample test rules according to the INSPIRE schema using our Radius Studio product.  Once data is loaded (and transformed) into the INSPIRE schema users can then evaluate their data content for conformance using these rules. Since there are 27 Member States that will be assessing ways to make their data conform to INSPIRE specifications across a number of Thematic Working Groups we believe that being able to reuse these rules will prove to be very powerful.”

The INSPIRE data specifications are published on the INSPIRE website managed by the JRC. Comments on the data specifications must be sent back to the INSPIRE team at the European Commission via individual LMO/SDIC contact persons by the end of January.

* The European Union’s INSPIRE Directive came into force on 15th May 2007. INSPIRE stands for Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe and can be described as the European Spatial Data Infrastructure programme (ESDI). It creates a legal framework for the establishment and operation of an ESDI for the purpose of formulating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating Community policies at all levels, and providing public information. It lays down the ‘ground rules’ and arrangements which enable spatial data from separate digital databases to be combined seamlessly without undue difficulty, and for such datasets to be widely available and used, not just for viewing but also for comparison and analysis.

** Coordinate Reference & Geog Grid Systems, Geographical Names, Administrative Units, Addresses, Cadastral Parcels, Transport Networks, Hydrography (which includes Hydrology), Protected Sites

*** ESDIN is a 30-month project that runs from September 2008 until March 2011. During the same period the INSPIRE process will produce a series of data specifications for a series of thematic areas, such as cadastral parcels, hydrography and transport networks. ESDIN will enable NMCAs at different levels of national Spatial Data Infrastructure development to share knowledge and information relating to good practice for aggregating and sharing data across borders throughout the Europe. As well as addressing technical issues, ESDIN will also cover business model development including pricing, licencing, intellectual property and digital rights management.

The ESDIN website is now live at:
http://www.esdin.eu

For more information please contact Chloe Rooney.    
Tel:     +44 (0)1223 420414
Fax :   +44 (0)1223 420044
Email : chloe.rooney@1spatial.com

About 1Spatial
1Spatial delivers integration and quality control software and services to help organisations maximise value from geospatial information.  With an open, standards-based, GIS-neutral approach 1Spatial enables the integration and transformation of geospatial data across and between operational planning and decision-making processes.  In doing so, 1Spatial can help reduce costs and increase efficiencies, delivering added value into workflows of any scale or complexity.  The modern era demands the unconstrained sharing and integration of ever-increasing amounts of geospatial data. 1Spatial is a leader in facilitating such sharing and integration through the creation of cooperative infrastructures and workflows. www.1spatial.com

           

For Immediate Release

 

Media Contact:  Karen Fouts, CMS

                        Marketing Manager

                        kfouts@sidwellco.com

 

St. Charles, IL – Faced with the challenge of maintaining parcel data for multiple agencies in their region, Pueblo County, Colorado, was in need of a tool that would enhance and streamline their workflow process. With that in mind, the County selected the Parcel Builder™ software suite from Sidwell as their parcel maintenance solution.  Parcel Builder, developed by Sidwell, runs on ArcGIS® 9.3 software from GIS industry leader ESRI®. The Parcel Builder suite consists of four modules: PB-Administrator™, for tracking and maintenance of land parcel numbers; PB-MapEditor™, a set of tools for the creation and maintenance of GIS data; PB-MapViewer™, a data deployment tool that allows for wide-spread viewing and analysis; and PB-MapPlotter™, for the creation of high-quality hardcopy cadastral maps. Among the factors cited by the County in their selection of Parcel Builder were its ease of use and customizable workflow manager.  Also of critical importance in these budget-conscious times: the reasonable price point of the Parcel Builder product.

 

Pueblo County will also receive from Sidwell: software installation services and multiple days of training on site at the County; as well as consultative services on the development and administration of Pueblo County’s Enterprise Geodatabase.

 

***********************************************************************************

The Sidwell Company is an employee-owned firm providing integrated land records management solutions to local government and private sector entities across the United States. Sidwell solutions include: geographic information systems and cadastral parcel mapping, aerial photography, and Magellan™ GPS products and services. For more information about Parcel Builder, or Sidwell’s offerings, contact the company at 877.SIDWELL (877.743.9355), or visit their website at www.sidwellco.com.

 

ESRI and ArcGIS 9.3 are licensed trademarks of ESRI. For more information about GIS industry leader ESRI, contact the company at 800.GIS.XPRT (800.447.9778) or visit them on the web at www.esri.com.

           

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