GEO: connexion articles from February 2004

GEO: connexion archives from February 2004

Agreeing to disagree?(Upfront)
February 1, 2004... The observations on GIS certification penned by Peter Batty in last month's issue brought a robust response from Scott Grams, GISCI's certification manager, and an equally spirited defence from the author (see next month's issue for both sides...

Bright future (1) for GPS/GNSS markets.(News)
February 1, 2004... Recent analysis by Frost & Sullivan (London, England) suggests that Galileo, Europe's contribution to the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), is creating a buzz in the market. With advantages of signal reliability and integrity, it is...

India to participate in Galileo.(News)
February 1, 2004... The Hindustan Times reports that India has formally pledged its participation in the EU Galileo project. It is claimed that India's expertise in cost-effective space technologies could bring both technical value and price competitiveness to the...

Affordable GPS/GIS data collection device for utilities: MobileMapper makes mapping easier than ever.(Case Study)
February 1, 2004... A growing number of utilities are exploiting the increasingly versatile GPS technology and its database companion, the geographical information system (GIS), a pair of powerful tools that are having a major influence on the way utilities,...

SPOT, CNES contract Thales and CS.(News)
February 1, 2004... Following a study conducted by Spot Image (Toulouse, France) and CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales--the French national space agency) to define the detailed design of an integrated system for automatic production of orthoimages, two...

AED-SICAD for Lower Saxony.(News)
February 1, 2004... The Lower Saxony cadastre office in Germany is introducing AED-SICAD's (Munich, Germany) data management component 3A Editor Professional, based on ArcGIS[TM] technology as the collection component for its AFISO-ALKISO-ATKISO concept. These are...

New iSMART for Ireland and Arkansas.(News)
February 1, 2004... eSpatial (Dublin, Ireland) has announced iSMART[R] 4.3 with new features that include a single rapid application development environment for non-GIS specialists and powerful connected and disconnected functionality for mobile and off-line use....

Acacia Programme pilot report.(News)
February 1, 2004... The Acacia Programme in UK (aiming to deliver "a definitive, consistent and joined-up national infrastructure of property addresses and related data...") has published a Report compiled by the pilot project managers following work undertaken...

CHK cartoplus for Local Development Plans.(News)
February 1, 2004... Cook Hammond & Kell (London, England) are offering Internet mapping for Local Development Plans enabling the public to view complex multi-layer maps of their local areas with software developed by Kingswood MapMechanics (Brentford, England)...

Riegl scanner for Halcrow.(News)
February 1, 2004... Halcrow Geomatics (Leeds, England) have invested over [pounds sterling]100k ([euro] 140k) in the Riegl (Horn, Austria) LMS-Z360 Terrestrial Laser Scanning system, to support their business in the water, property, transportation and consulting...

Novo sells ESRI distributorship.(News)
February 1, 2004... Novo (Helsinki, Finland) has sold its ESRI and ERDAS software distribution businesses in Finland and Estonia to ESRI Finland Oy, owned by the Swedish company GISFocus Holding AB, which also owns ESRI Sweden AB. Novo does not consider...

XYZ maps Europe at 1:1 million.(News)
February 1, 2004... For the last two years The XYZ Digital Map Company (Edinburgh, Scotland) has been creating a 1:1 million scale world dataset suitable for both GIS and cartographic use. Starting from the US government's Digital Chart of the World, XYZ has...

Watsonian boundaries digitised.(News)
February 1, 2004... Landmark Government, part of Landmark Information Group Ltd (Exeter, England) has digitised the Watsonian Vice County boundaries of Great Britain for the National Biodiversity Network (NBN). NBN makes this data available, free of charge, for...

Scots, English & Australian win Irish contract.(News)
February 1, 2004... Infoterra Limited (Leicester, England) the Registers of Scotland (Glasgow, Scotland) and Professor Don Grant (University of Melbourne, Australia), have been appointed by the Irish Land Registry (Dublin, Ireland) to provide consultancy and...

Mapinfo launches Envinsa[TM].(LBS News in Brief)
February 1, 2004... MapInfa (Troy, New York) has launched Envinsa[TM], billed as a location platform for business and government organisations to harness the power of location across their complete enterprises. The Envinsa[TM] location platform has been designed...

Fast, effective relief from the M6!(News)
February 1, 2004... Multimap.com has been chosen to support Midland Expressway's advertising campaign to promote the new M6 Toll Road that bypasses British motorway congestion around the city of Birmingham. The regionally specific campaign uses banner ads that...

Hilton teams with Multimap.(News)
February 1, 2004... Multimap.com has rolled out its mapping services for Hilton International across six countries, in 6 different languages and with coverage of over 400 hotels. Hilton has deployed Multimap's "Inline Mapping" and "Travel Directions" services to...

Opportunities.(News)
February 1, 2004... GEO: connexion publishes this sample round-up of business opportunities and contract awards courtesy Geo-UK Ltd's twice-weekly newsletter of GIS, mapping and surveying-related tenders and contracts. More information on individual items from:...

Autodesk to restructure.(News)
February 1, 2004... Autodesk has announced it's results for the third fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2003 at the same time as releasing details of a planned restructuring. Revenue for Q3 totalled [euro]189 million, a 10% sequential increase on the [euro]171...

PriceWatch*.(News)
February 1, 2004... PriceWatch* stock price change Autodesk 20.75 -3.04 Intergraph 20.37 -1.51 MapInfo 9.35 +1.77 Trimble Navigation 34.13 +10.34 * Share price conve ted to eurcs...

Trimble closes MENSI deal.(News)
February 1, 2004... Trimble has officially closed its acquisition of MENSI (see also GEO: connexion November 2003 issue) and established a new specialist business area for 3-D laser scanning within its Geomatics and Engineering (G & E) Division. Tristan...

++Results++++results++.(News)
February 1, 2004... Haestad Methods Celebrates Worldwide Market Growth in 2003 The water resources software company Haestad Methods (Waterbury, USA), has celebrated the beginning of its 25th year in business by reflecting on double-digit gains in 2003. The...

Imagest celebrates.(Middle East)
February 1, 2004... ImageSat International N.V. (Limassol, Cyprus) is marking the three-year anniversary of the launch of EROS A into orbit on a Russian-made Start-I Launcher. Menashe Broder, CEO of ImageSat International N.V., said, "We are very proud of the...

German satellite map for Bam earthquake.(Middle East)
February 1, 2004... The German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) has established a crisis and disaster response team to support national and international relief efforts with satellite imagery and geospatial information. DLR is...

GIS for WaterAid in Malawi.(Africa)
February 1, 2004... In 2003, WaterAid Malawi, with Japanese Government funding, undertook a pioneering study of the condition and location of 1200 waterpoints in six districts in Malawi. GIS, with population data, was used to ascertain the current equity of...

Rwanda strengthens GIS & Remote Sensing capability.(Africa)
February 1, 2004... The Rwanda Development Gateway Group (Kigale, Rwanda) has been launched to apply information and communication technologies to advance social and economic development in Rwanda. The Group is a partnership of the Development Gateway...

Straits tunnel promises jobs boom.(Africa)
February 1, 2004... The Spanish Development Ministry has produced a plan for two adjacent tunnels running beneath the Straits of Gibraltar to Morocco. They are planned to run between Punta Palomas, 40 km west of Gibraltar and Punta Malabata near Tangiers, chosen...

Nairobi mapping company moves.(Africa)
February 1, 2004... Ramani (Nairobi, Kenya) the Kenyan survey, mapping and GIS company has moved to Wilson Airport on the western outskirts of the city. It's postal address is: Ramani Communications Ltd PO Box 15353, Nairobi 00509, Tel +254 (0)20606030,...

10th EC GI & GIS Workshop, Warsaw.(Connect)
February 1, 2004... The 10th EC GI & GIS Workshop entitled ESDI: The State of the Art will convene at the Sheraton Hotel in Warsaw, Poland, 23-25 June 2004. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Its proceedings will measure the development of Spatial Data...

Photoscape 2004, UK venues.(Connect)
February 1, 2004... Intermap and Getmapping have announced PHOTOSCAPE 2004, a series of regional seminars that build on the success of the original Photoscape event held at the Royal Geographical Society last September. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The one-day...

GIS in the Marine and Coastal Environment: experiences and solutions.(News in Brief)
February 1, 2004... A special one-day conference, GIS in the Marine and Coastal Environment: experiences and solutions, is scheduled for 18 March alongside the Oceanology 2004 Conference and Exhibition which takes place in London...

GeoNorth 2004.(News in Brief)
February 1, 2004... GeoNorth 2004, a one-day forum and exhibition devoted to GI issues and technologies of interest to the public sector, will be held 16 March 2004 at New Century House in Manchester, England. "Last year's event proved very popular with visitors,...

The 27th Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) Annual Conference.(News in Brief)
February 1, 2004... On-line registration is now available for The 27th Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) Annual Conference, to be held 25-28 April at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle, USA. 85 paper presentations, 15...

FiG Working Week, Athens.(Connect)
February 1, 2004... "The Olympic Spirit in Surveying" is the topical theme chosen by the International Federation of Surveyors (FiG) for its Working Week 2004, to be held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Athens, Greece, 22-27 May. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

IM2003 Awards, London: WISARD does the trick--again!
February 1, 2004... As announced in last month's Stop Press, the winner of the GIS category in the 2003 Information Management Awards was the WISARD (Wales Information System for Agricultural and Rural Data) project involving Landmark Government, Infoterra and...

AGI view: networks, networks, networks: incoming AGI chair John Alderson issues the call for participation in the all new 2004 AGI Conference & Exhibition.(Community)
February 1, 2004... The AGI annual conference is acknowledged as one of Europe's leading events for the application and use of geographic information in all industry sectors. Taking place between 18-20th October in London's Chelsea Village, AGI2004 marks the 16th...

Art meets science in St. Gallen: Switzerland's Rhine Valley takes on a fascinating new look, thanks to the work of artists from across Europe (and a little scientific help).(Focus on ...)(Cover Story)
February 1, 2004... The mountainous border canton of St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland is renowned for the Bodensee (Lake Constance), its University and, of course, for Heerbrugg, the home town of Leica Geosystems. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Last year, and as...

ESRI.(NewsRound)
February 1, 2004... Leading GIS software developer, ESRI, has provided teacher training to Iraqi nationals from the ministries of Planning, Mines, Housing & Construction, and Water Resources in support of Iraq's redevelopment efforts. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Training 4 GIS.(NewsRound)
February 1, 2004... Training 4 GIS, the training and consultancy arm of The GeoInformation Group (Cambridge, England), recently registered its 400th UK student under the internationally-renowned GIS Distance Learning Programme. The company says that the milestone...

Ordnance Survey.(NewsRound)
February 1, 2004... Schoolchildren across Britain are being introduced to democracy at an early age with the opening-up of Ordnance Survey's election maps web site. Hitherto available to councillors, MPs and political activists for electoral purposes, the...

Advisory Unit.(NewsRound)
February 1, 2004... Also at BETT and making their debut on the Advisory Unit stand were new modules for integrating Experian Goad town plans and ECW-format aerial photographs in the award-winning AEGIS 3 educational mapping package. More than 1,000 Goad town...

Hazard mapping: ignore at your peril: Wolfgang Steinborn stares disaster in the face.(Letter from Central Europe)
February 1, 2004... Dangers and disasters, be they natural or man-made, are increasing in frequency, damage--and cost. The world's biggest reinsurer Munich Re (www.munichre.com) calculates that some 700 catastrophes in 2003 (as many as in the previous year) killed...

AED-SICAD enhances its utilities team.(People)
February 1, 2004... Gerald Kreuwel has taken charge of the product management of UT on ArcGIS at AED-SICAD (Munich, Germany), Kreuwel has moved from Miner & Miner where he was sales and marketing director for Europe for the last four years. [ILLUSTRATION...

New President for EuroGeographics.(People)
February 1, 2004... During the 3rd General Assembly of EuroGeographics in Istanbul, Turkey, in October, 2003, Dietmar Grunreich, Director General of the German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), was appointed as the new President of...

Autodesk appoints VP EMEA.(People)
February 1, 2004... Autodesk (San Rafael, California) has appointed Karsten Popp as vice president, EMEA (Europe, Middle East & Africa). Popp joins Autodesk from his role as CEO of Adelante Technologies and was previously president. Europe for Mentor Graphics....

Rix joins ESRI (UK).(People)
February 1, 2004... David Rix has joined ESRI (UK) (Aylesbury, England) as managing consultant. Rix will be managing the Government Sector Consultancy group comprising four Programme Management groups with their consultants and project managers. [ILLUSTRATION...

Intergraph's CEO for tomorrow.(Interview)
February 1, 2004... Last July, Intergraph welcomed Halsey Wise as its new president and chief executive officer--only the third in the company's 34-year history. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A Virginia native raised in New York, Wise earned a bachelor's degree...

A new map for Apeldoorn: Hans van der Maarel explains why and how.
February 1, 2004... In the summer of 2001, the geographic department of the city of Apeldoorn (pop. 154,000) in The Netherlands sought a better way to produce small-scale maps. Up until that point, 1:10.000 and higher scale compilations (internally referred to as...

Where there's a will ... there's a way, goes the saying. That was certainly the ethos adopted by a husband-and-wife team in putting the Great Orme on the map.
February 1, 2004... Keen hill walkers, Tony and and Alison Davies, were rarely at a loss in finding their around Llandudno mountain in North Wales. It was, after all, home territory. What was frustrating was having to point lost and confused visitors to the Great...

TOP performer: want a birds-eye view of Germany? No problem with the latest TOP-50 data and viewing software.(Cartography)
February 1, 2004... Even in the age of the Internet and powerful GIS software, individuals owning a PC often prefer to use CDs to view map data. For this reason, Germany's Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (www.adv-online.de) and the state mapping...

Celebrating local authority co-operation: Robin waters went along to find out if congratulations were in order.(GDC Seminar Report)
February 1, 2004... From the results of a survey conducted at a recent seminar sponsored by UK-based GDC (www.graphdata.co.uk), the answer would seem less than clear-cut. More than half of respondents claimed to receive insufficient backing from senior management...

A tale of two Xcities: Jorma Zielinski relates how two of Finland's leading municipa authorities are broadening their horizons with an integrated approach to municipal information.(Local Government)
February 1, 2004... Combining spatial, population and infrastructure data in a single database utilises municipal information to the full and facilitates versatile new applications and services. Despite this logic, geographic and non-geographic data have...

Studies in interoperability: Adena Schutzberg traces the fortunes of public sector organisations in North Rhine Westphalia as they tackle the interoperability challenge.(Local Government)
February 1, 2004... At the end of 2002, Intergraph initiated a grant program to encourage the use of its software to solve interoperability challenges. 100 grants were set aside for organisations ready to move from stand-alone GIS solutions to those based on...

Bridging the north-south divide: local authorities on both sides of the English-Scottish border are investing in Oce's latest product offering to satisfy their e-government needs. Phil Dowling explains why.(Local Government)
February 1, 2004... As most readers in the UK public sector will know, the expectation is that local authorities will be ready to implement e-government by 2005. This target is acting as a spur for numerous Councils to digitise their legacy data... a mammoth...

Pushing the boundaries: Matthew Spencer reports on how location-based intelligence is taking centre stage in Rotherham's ambitious e-Government strategy.(Local Government)
February 1, 2004... The intention to provide all UK government services electronically by 2005 is currently preoccupying the nation's local authorities. While turning concept into reality is fraught with challenge, Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) in...

Stopping the slaughter: in the first of a three-part series, Mary Jo Wagner discovers how radar satellites are helping national maritime authorities fight the elusive crime of oil pollution.(Satellite Remote Sensing)
February 1, 2004... For national maritime authorities, offshore zones are a potential crime scene of enormous proportions. The evidence--oil illegally discharged from passing vessels--is all too apparent, yet may go unnoticed for hours or even days until reported....

Department of Local Government and the Environment planning and building control directorate: mapping and GIS officer ([pounds sterling]27,310--[pounds sterling]33,228).(Isle of Man Government)
February 1, 2004... Set in the Irish Sea less than 60 miles from the north west of England, the Isle of Man measures just 33 miles by 13 with a population of 76,300. This is a very different Island with it's own laws and the world's oldest continuous parliament,...

Diary.
February 1, 2004... February 04 10. Dublin, Ireland. IDC eGovernment Ireland Conference 2004. Details: http://emea.idc.com/egov04 17. London, England. GeoDATA 2004. Details: www.crworld.com 18. Manchester, England. GeoDATA 2004. Details:...

AVEVA Group plc.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... AVEVA Group plc (Cambridge, England) plans to enable the use of point-cloud data directly in PDMS, according to chief executive Richard Longdon. AVEVA reports it is in discussion with several leading providers of laser scanning solutions, and...

European Space Agency.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... At the 4th GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) Forum in Baveno the European Space Agency (ESA) presented SAGE. This addresses the GMES priority themes Environmental Stress and Land Cover. It focuses on the cardinal needs of...

EuroDirect.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... EuroDirect (Leeds, England) has redeveloped and expanded it's award winning marketing GIS DemoGraf*, under the new brand name MICROVISION. This will enable EuroDirect to reposition its product and service offering much closer with their network...

GGP Systems.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... GGP Systems (Croydon, England) was one of the main sponsors of the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) awards presented in Westminster in December 2003. A shortlist of 17 authorities were asked to attend the Exemplar awards that...

Intermap.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Intermap's (Denver, Colorado) computer-generated 3D landscape map, NEXTMap Britain, is now available over the Internet. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Engineers, surveyors and other professionals interested in detailed landscape mapping can...

Laser-Scan.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Laser-Scan (Cambridge, England) has been working closely with the Photogrammetric Services (PS) department of Ordnance Survey to re-engineer the Ordnance Survey Corporate Editor, used to manipulate and update large scale data for the Positional...

NASA.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... NASA's Ice. Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) is collecting important scientific data and spectacular 3-D views of Earth's polar ice sheets, clouds, mountains, and forestlands. The data are helping scientists understand how life on...

Newcastle University's Geomatics.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Researchers from Newcastle University's Geomatics department have discovered that Devon and Cornwall move up and down approximately 10 - 15 cm twice a day. The scientists have found that that the coast 'bounces' up and down with regularity, as...

Ordnance Survey.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Ordnance Survey (Southampton, England) staff have been learning about the role and influence of the European Union on their work--and how the British national mapping agency is contributing to the enhanced digital mapping of the continent....

Overview Mapping.(Business Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Overview Mapping (Northampton, England) has supplied the territory mapping for 'Benjys Delivered', a new mobile sandwich franchise. The country was divided into 700 equal territories delineated by postcodes and main roads. Population census and...

Conservation Technology.(Hardware Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Conservation Technology (England) now offers the Gotive H4I rugged handheld computer for its FieldWorker mobile data collection software. The Gotive H4I integrates GPS, GSM/GPRS (Voice, SMS, Data), Bar Code Scanner and wireless LAN. The unit...

Pacific Crest Corporation.(Hardware Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Pacific Crest Corporation (Santa Clara, California) has agreed that HR Telecom (Heerhugowaard, The Netherlands) should act as the exclusive authorised service centre for its Positioning Data Link (PDL) products. From January 2004, Pacific Crest...

Sarantel.(Hardware Briefs)
February 1, 2004... A new miniature GPS antenna from Sarantel (Wellingborough, England) can acquire GPS signals inside a vehicle as efficiently as a traditional external device. The company's new F02 SmartAntenna will benefit invehicle navigation and tracking...

Topcon Europe.(Hardware Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Topcon Europe (Capelle a/d ljssel, The Netherlands) has introduced the TOPCON GPT-3000 series of long range reflector-less total stations that make use of pulse laser technology to ensure accurate and reliable non-prism measurements. The...

Acxiom[R] Corporation.(Software Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Acxiom[R] Corporation (Little Rock, Arkansas) has reached an agreement to acquire the Claritas Europe group of companies from VNU N.V. (Haarlem, The Netherlands). Claritas products will be rebranded with the Acxiom name and, like Acxiom's...

Algo Vision LuraTech.(Software Briefs)
February 1, 2004... With the new LuraWave.jp2 GEO Edition, Algo Vision LuraTech (Berlin, Germany), has launched a new version of the proven JPEG2000 compression tool especially tailored to the requirements of the GIS sector. Developers and users of geo information...

Algo Vision LuraTech GmbH.(Software Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Algo Vision LuraTech GmbH (Berlin, Germany) and PDF Tools AG (Switzerland) have intensified their co-operation with PDF adding the latest PDF compression tools from Algo Vision LuraTech to its range of PDF technology products. AVL have also...

GeoConcept SA.(Software Briefs)
February 1, 2004... GeoConcept SA (Paris, France) has launched GeoConcept Pocket 2.0, a new mobile application solution providing sharp, detailed images that can be modified and enriched to meet user requirements at any level. GeoConcept Pocket has a high quality...

Leica Geosystems.(Software Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Leica Geosystems (Atlanta, Georgia) is now shipping ERDAS IMAGINE[R] V8.7, featuring JPEG2000 support (including GeoJP2), improvements to its mosaic tool and a faster, smoother multi-threaded IMAGINE Geospatial Light Table[TM] (GLT) viewer. It...

Vexcel Corporation.(Software Briefs)
February 1, 2004... Vexcel Corporation (Boulder, Colorado) has announced added support for the Vexcel UltraCam-D large format digital aerial camera with an updated version of its EarthFinder data management system. This will facilitate the task of cataloguing and...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
February 1, 2004... An incorrect URL was inadvertently given in a GEO:news story in our December/January issue. The link at the foot of story headlined Aerodata & Meixner go digital! on page 6 should, of course, have read: www.aerodata-surveys.com. Our thanks to...