GEO: connexion articles from September 2004

GEO: connexion archives from September 2004

Making a difference.(Upfront)
September 1, 2004... Whoever would have thought it a relief to escape from the insufferable heat and humidity of Britain for the more refreshing climes of California's sunshine coast? But that was the topsy turvey situation in early August when your editor...

Trust me, I'm a photogrammetrist.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... The International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing (ISPRS) Foundation is inviting donations from organisations and individuals to support its programme of grants and awards to worthy applicants. The foundation is particularly keen...

GIS live!(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... A recent television programme--Channel Five's Fighter Plane Gig... Live!--featured a GIS from ESRI UK (Aylesbury, UK). Shown live the programme centred on the excavation of the wreckage of a fighter plane which had been buried under Buckingham...

Microsoft and Multimap sign agreement.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Microsoft (Redmond, California) and Multimap (London, UK) have announced that they have signed an agreement to accelerate the delivery of solutions based on the Microsoft MapPoint Web Service. As part of a non-exclusive worldwide partnership....

Messages to Mars.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Researchers at the Knowledge Media Institute (KMi) at the Open University (OU) are working with NASA researchers in a human-robot rehearsal for a future manned mission to Mars. The scientists on 'Mars' and 'Earth' are using collaboration...

EU-US strike a deal.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Europe and the US have signed a deal to cooperate over satellite navigation. Colin Powell, the US secretary of state and Loyola de Palacio, the EU transport commissioner, finalised the deal at the EU-US summit at Dromoland Castle, Ireland in...

New subsidiary at Pentax.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Pentax Corporation has announced the creation of a new subsidiary, Pentax Industrial Instruments Co. Ltd. This announcement comes as part of the company's mid-term business reform plan. The subsidiary has been created by merging the existing...

ESRI goes on the defensive.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... ESRI (Redlands, California) has briefed over 50 mapping and defence professionals from organisations in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on the latest GIS technologies for mapping, charting and defence industry applications. Working with Baltic...

Strength in numbers.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Tele Atlas (Ghent, Belgium) is strengthening its position in Europe by expanding into Eastern Europe. It has signed a co-operation deal with the Central European Data Agency (CEDA, Prague, Slovak Republic) and with Top-Map (Budapest, Hungary)....

Survey Supplies sole seller.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Survey Supplies (Liverpool, UK) has been announced as the sole distributor of Trimble mapping and GIS products and services in Ireland. Survey Supplies will sell, hire and repair Trimble's entire range of products. The company has twelve...

Bentley news.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... The Gdansk Development Agency (Gdansk, Poland) has developed an IT system to efficiently produce local urban maps and to facilitate data exchange between it and the city hall. The agency employs Bentley MicroStation GeoGraphics to input digital...

EWR utilises AED-SICAD solution.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... German utility company, EWR AG has implemented UT on ArcGIS from AED-SICAD (Bonn/Munich, Germany), an application for use with utility network, data analysis. EWR is using it to evaluate its asset and network data. Other functionality includes...

Risky business.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... MapInfo (Troy, New York) has announced that it is working with IBM to develop web-based portal applications on Envinsa, MapInfo's unified location platform designed to help organisations derive the greatest value from location data to meet...

Best in show.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Avenza Systems Inc. (Ontario, Canada) has announced the 2004 MAPublisher Map Awards for users of its MAPublisher software. Users will be able to showcase their work, share ideas and compare productions with other users around the world. "This...

Flood and mud monitoring.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... The Italian Ministry for Environment, in conjunction with Planetek Italia (Ban, Italy), has implemented a flood and mudslide monitoring system. Over 30 percent of Italian towns are at risk from flooding or mudslides. The system is an extension...

Streamlining kosovan cadastre.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions (Huntsville, Alabama) has been selected by the Kosovo Cadastral Agency (KCA) to provide its land information management solution for cadastral registration and land information access in Kosovo. The...

Mapping news flash.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... ESYS PIc (Guildford, UK) has helped to implement a new mapping service for Reuters AlertNet, a humanitarian news service from the Reuters Foundation. AlertNet provides up to the minute new for NGOs and other humanitarian aid organisations. The...

Piecing together the puzzle.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... A new consumer classification system of Scotland has been released by Experian (Nottingham, UK). Entitled Mosaic Scotland, the system combines over 400 datasets including 2001 census data and divides the population of Scotland by postcode and...

Around the world.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Clark Labs has announced the formation of two new resource centres in its International Resource Centre (IRC) program: Peking University in Beijing, China and the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico in Toluca, Mexico. The Remote...

Shoals oversees shores.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Fugro has announced its intent to purchase an Optech International (Kiln, USA) SHOALS-1000T Airborne Lidar Bathymeter for coastal zone mapping. Through its operating company, Fugro Pelagos, Inc., Fugro has issued a Letter of Intent to Optech...

Euro 2004 from space.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Space Imaging has released imagery of the UEFA Euro 2004 football stadiums. The stage for the final, Estadio da Luz is shown here in the heart of Lisbon, Portugal. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * www.euspaceimaging.com

GCT and Bluegiga deal.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Global Consulting Touch Iberica (Spain, GCT) and Bluegiga Technologies (Espoo, Finland) are collaborating to create new features to wireless terminals by integration location-awareness with Bluetooth connectivity. Bluegiga specialise in...

Lastminute deals on your mobile.(LBS News in Brief)
September 1, 2004... Lastminute.com has launched DealFinder, a new service through the O2 mobile network that users to locate various deals in specific relevant areas through their mobile phone using the latest mobile location technology. The service is currently...

Opportunities.(GEO:News)
September 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:...

Laser-Scan acquires Sysdeco.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Laser-Scan (Cambridge, England) has announced the acquisition of Sysdeco (Kongsberg, Norway). Under the free acquisition Laser-Scan as the larger company in terms of size and revenue takes over all Sysdeco shares. The two companies have already...

Tele Atlas closes funding.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Tele Atlas (California, USA) has announced that its North American subsidiary, Tele Atlas North America Inc. has closed the financing proposal it received in April for [euro]175 million. Funding comes from a consortium led by Oak Investment...

TDC joins Abacus.(GEO:News)
September 1, 2004... Abacus Group plc has acquired Telecom Design Communications Ltd (TDC), a specialist distribution business based in Basingstoke, which last year made sales of [pounds sterling]4 million. TDC will continue to operate as a separate company within...

Autodesk.(Results)
September 1, 2004... * Autodesk (Nasdaq: ADSK) has announced its quarterly dividend. The board of directors declares a cash dividend of [euro]0.024 per share on its common stock. As of April 30, 2004, the company had [euro]417 million in cash, cash equivalents and...

SDI-building in Zambia: Christopher Lungu and Raynold Moyo outline the current state of play.(Africa News)
September 1, 2004... Has a long-term vision statement or strategic plan been developed for your country's NSDI? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Yes. The strategic plan adopted by the Zambia Association for GIS (ZaGIS) and the ICT Draft National Policy (1) both...

Calculate Iraqi coordinates.(GEO:Middle East)
September 1, 2004... Blue Marble Geographics (Maine, USA) has released a new version of its Geographic Calculator: Version 6.1 introduces for the first time the Iraq Zone coordinate system. The calculator is used all over the world by GIS analysts at universities,...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
September 1, 2004... The caption to our photo gallery on page 18 of the June issue was in error in referring to the four-year lifespan of the EROS A satellite and the launch timetable for its successor. EROS A is expected to outlive its intended lifespan and...

Telmap taxi deal.(GEO:Middle East)
September 1, 2004... Telmap (Herzlia, Israel) has announced an agreement with Orpak Industries Ltd and Monitex which will create an up-to-date mapping, tracking and dispatching solution for taxis in Israel. Telmap is a provider of mobile mapping applications, Orpak...

Imagery used to map illegal crops.(GEO:Middle East)
September 1, 2004... The United Nations is using to IKONOS images from Space Imaging (Denver, USA) to carry out a study into the cultivation of illicit crops in Afghanistan. The UN's Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) published the Afghanistan Opium Survey 2003 at...

Services to geography.(GEO:People)
September 1, 2004... Professor of spatial analysis and planning at University College London (UCL), Michael Batty has been awarded a CBE in the Birthday Honours List. He is known across the world for his work on land use and transportation modelling and GIS for...

Walker moves to BAE.(GEO:People)
September 1, 2004... Dr Stewart Walker has been named as director of marketing for the Geospatial eXploitation Products (GXP) line by BAE Systems (San Diego). In this capacity, industry veteran Walker will use his experience of the commercial photogrammetric...

Benz & Ehrhardt join definiens.(GEO:People)
September 1, 2004... Dr Ursula Benz and Martin Ehrhardt have been appointed as managing directors at Definiens Imaging. Benz has been with the company since 2000, she has previous experience with the German Aerospace Centre. She was initially responsible for SAR...

Expansion in China.(GEO:People)
September 1, 2004... Wallingford Software has appointed a new staff member to expand its Shanghai office. Ms Vivian Dou Qiu Ping has joined as customer support manager bringing previous experience from Hongyang Software Ltd at Tongji University. There she was...

Mason joins GDC.(GEO:People)
September 1, 2004... Nigel Mason has joined GDC as business development manager. In his new role, Mason will be responsible for identifying and securing new business opportunities, particularly in the utilities sector where he has extensive experience. Mason has...

Wilster moves up.(GEO:People)
September 1, 2004... DAT/EM Systems has recently promoted Sunny Wilster to the post of marketing director. Wilster has worked at DAT/EM since 1995 when she joined the company as a receptionist. She has since worked her way up as office manager, logistics...

Tele Atlas welcomes Reinelt.(GEO:People)
September 1, 2004... Tele Atlas has appointed Jack Reinelt as its new managing director and chief operating officer for Europe. Reinelt has 27 years of operating experience in building successful companies involved in software development, database applications,...

Intermap appoint UK channel manager.(GEO:People)
September 1, 2004... Intermap Technologies has announced Andy Shepherd as channel manager for its NEXTMap Britain 3D land mapping products. Shepherd has been who joined Intermap in 2000 has been closely involved with the NEXTMap Britain project since its inception,...

INTERGEO 2004, Stuttgart, Germany.(GEO:Connect)
September 1, 2004... Mobility and internationality are at the heart of this tenth annual exposition which opens its doors next month (13-15 October) at the Killesberg Trade Fair and Congress Centre in Stuttgart. Billed as the world's largest congress and trade...

Laser-Scan User/Partner: conference, Cambridge, England.(GEO:Connect)
September 1, 2004... The 15th Laser-Scan User and Partner Conference opens for business this month (15-16 September) in Cambridge, England. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The company's core competence in enterprise-wide data management is reflected in this year's...

Envirolnfo 2004, Geneva, Switzerland.(GEO:Connect)
September 1, 2004... This year's International Conference on Informatics for Environmental Protection--the 18th to date--will be held 21-23 October in the main CERN building, Geneva. Staged by the Gesellschaft fur Informatik (German Informatics Society) and...

Britain's Association for Geographic Information.(News in Brief)
September 1, 2004... * Britain's Association for Geographic Information has announced new dates for AGI 2004, its Annual Conference and trade show. This will now be held 12-14 October at Chelsea Village in London, www.agi2004.org.uk

MENSI.(News in Brief)
September 1, 2004... * Trimble 3D laser scanning subsidiary, MENSI, holds its '3rd DiMENSlon' conference next month (28-29 October) at Le Chalet de la Porte jaune in Paris. A departure for this year's event is that admission will be open to all interested visitors...

HNIT-Baltic.(News in Brief)
September 1, 2004... * ESRI distributor for the Baltic region, HNIT-Baltic of Vilnius, Lithuania, recently hosted more than 50 mapping and defence professionals from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia at a seminar on new ESRI products. Also under discussion was the...

The 3rd International Conference.(News in Brief)
September 1, 2004... * The 3rd International Conference on Engineering Surveying (INGEO 2004), will be held 11-13 November in Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Organised by the Department of Surveying of the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava and FIG...

AGI view: a successful year in the north.(GEO:Community)
September 1, 2004... AGI North has celebrated its first anniversary by continuing its popular seminar programme. The 'Addressing the Issues Of Addressing' seminar was held in Liverpool on 21 June and attracted delegates from across the North of England. The seminar...

Eurogi profile: the Swedish development council for land information, ULI.(GEO:Community)
September 1, 2004... Date of foundation: 1986 Status: Non-profit umbrella association President & chairman: Lars Lindqvist Secretary general: Patrik Ottoson Language: Swedish Literature: Geografisk IT brochure Budget: 300,000 Euro per...

Be inspired: the draft INSPIRE directive generated a long and often heated debate throughout Europe as different countries interpreted it in different ways. Disagreements have, however, been overcome thanks to hard work and diplomatic thinking, as Bob Barr explains.(Dangling Segment)
September 1, 2004... After many trials and tribulations the European Commission has adopted the INSPIRE (INfrastructure for SPatial InfoRmation in Europe--in Euro acronym speak!) proposal for a directive. This is only the first step, in what will potentially be a...

Bentley Systems Inc.(NewsRound)
September 1, 2004... Bentley Systems Inc., has launched an Enterprise Training Subscription (ETS) Resource Center at www.bentley.com/ets. This adds a wide portfolio of on-demand resources to Bentley Institute's training offering including more than 1000 Feature...

Khatib & Alami.(NewsRound)
September 1, 2004... For the second consecutive year, the GIS Services Division of Lebanon-based Khatib & Alami (K & A) teamed with training and career development specialist Projacs International to convene a course entitled 'GIS Projects: from inception to...

Open GIS Consortium.(NewsRound)
September 1, 2004... The Open GIS Consortium (OGC) has formed a University Working Group Technical Committee (University WG). Agreed at the OGC's 50th Technical Committee meeting held in July in Southampton, England, it will seek to boost higher education...

What's wrong with our academics'? (revisited).(NewsRound)
September 1, 2004... Canadian reader Marie-Claire Belanger comments on the: up front editorial in our March issue that wondered why our academics are seemingly so reluctant to promote higher education courses in the geosciences This reply comes rather late,...

Closing the .NET; GEO: connexion touches base with MapInfo's Felicia Semple as the company starts shipping its latest generation of products.(Interview)
September 1, 2004... GEO:connexion: MapInfo has spent the past couple of years re-evaluating and re-designing its core technology. What was the thinking behind this move? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Felicia Semple (FS): It was...

Reaching for the sky: can you handle more then 23 million cadastral parcels in one system? The Czech Forest Service certainly can. Josef Vojacek, Jakub Svaty and Petr Oujezdsky explain how.(Cadastre/LIS)(Cover Story)
September 1, 2004... The Czech Forest Service or LCR (Lesy Ceske Republiky) is the largest land owner in the Republic, its holdings amounting to some 18 per cent of the nation's territory. For the state enterprise, the formidable task of managing its holdings was...

Holding back the tide: Bob Chell looks at how Britain's Environment Agency is boosting the quality and performance of its National Flood and Coastal Defence database.(Data Quality)
September 1, 2004... In examining various aspects of the National Flood and Coastal Database (NFCDD) system, Britain's Environment Agency (EA) has looked closely at reliability and performance. In particular, it has focussed on the quality and quantity of spatial...

Raising the standards for spatial web & wireless: Mark Reichardt reviews work-in-progress by the Open GIS Consortium.(Web and Wireless)
September 1, 2004... Imagine a world in which there are many Internet platforms--not just one. Imagine many vendor-specific WWW implementations based on proprietary protocols--not just one. Such "islands" would be far less useful than the Web we now enjoy... one...

SEE-ing is believing: Fawzi Kabbara explores the practical possibilities of spatially-enabling the Semantic Web.(Web and Wireless)
September 1, 2004... In the May 2003 issue of Geo:connexion, we introduced the concept of "SEE-" (Spatially Enabling E-) in the W3. This was approached from a strategic viewpoint based on statements made by prominent thinkers. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In...

On the right track: Webraska's Jonathan Klinger shares some thoughts on the way ahead.(Location Based Services)
September 1, 2004... On subscription navigation Similar to our deal with Orange, our vision is to make GPS navigation available as a monthly subscription service through every cellular network. In essence, a remote server calculates the required route,...

From mobile phones to multi-tools: Wolfgang Patelay explores the emergent LBS space--and the means to capitalise on its many and varied possibilities.(Location Based Services)
September 1, 2004... Location, location, and location again, is the oft-repeated mantra of the real estate business. And moving on a step, determining one's location in unfamiliar territory is now at the heart of B2B and B2C services from wireless carriers...

Heading in the right direction? Jason Angelides assesses the prospects for wireless location services across Europe in the light of new research.(Location Based Services)
September 1, 2004... The wireless location industry has for some time been tipped as being on the cusp of a breakthrough. High accuracy location technology is already being deployed across the United States, thanks to a mandate from the Federal Communic-ations...

Fleet tracking with location technology: Colin Bates extols the virtues of Location Based Services in vehicle fleet management.(Location Based Services)
September 1, 2004... A vehicle fleet is a key element for many businesses and its efficient operation can noticeably improve the bottom line. Whether used for ferrying goods or people, vehicles of all types together with the workforce operating them and the cargo...

Data extraction from high resolution satellite images: Siva Subramanian, Manda Sudhakar, Prabir Mukherjee and Shalabh Bhardwaj explore the advantages and limitations by putting theory to the test.(Photogrammetry)
September 1, 2004... An essential input for cellular network planning in the telecommunications industry is clutter data derived from medium resolution satellite images. While these images satisfy needs at the macro-cellular planning level, the only option...

DigitalGlobe.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2004... DigitalGlobe (Colorado, USA), has been awarded a $500,000 contract by Allegheny County, Pennsylvania to provide satellite and aerial imagery of the region for a major overhaul and upgrade of the county's GIS. The updated GIS will be used for...

Blue Marble Geographics.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Blue Marble Geographics (Gardiner, USA) has announced an agreement with 4MationGeo Inc. (Seattle, USA) to sell iSync Mobile 2.1, a field data collection software package. Patrick Cunningham, president of Blue Marble said, "By adding iSync...

Fastrax Ltd.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Fastrax Ltd (Helsinki, Finland), a developer of OEM GPS receivers for optimal utilisation of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems, has announced a new distribution agreement with Eurodis Electron Plc. Under the new agreement Eurodis Electron...

GeoWise.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2004... The State Forestry Department in the Netherlands has purchased an enterprise version of IMF-ArcIMS from GeoWise (Edinburgh, UK). After evaluation they felt it offered them "rapid access to a wealth of functionality at an affordable price". They...

Idevio.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Idevio, (Goteborg, Sweden), the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration and Carmenta have a new call-off agreement in place as part of a maintenance agreement regarding the SpaceAce technology. Idevio produces compression and map streaming...

IONIC.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2004... IONIC has launched INSPIRE NatureGIS portal for the European Commission (EC). This is the first implementation of the EC's Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) program which aims to develop a harmonised GIS to support...

Intergraph.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Intergraph has placed a $2.2 million order with DALSA (Waterloo, Canada) for high-resolution CCD image sensor chips for the Z/I Imaging Digital Mapping Camera. The chips will be delivered over the next 15 months. "We're very pleased to once...

LizardTech.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2004... LizardTech (Seattle, USA) has announced five new resellers in Latin America for its geospatial image products. Geographic Mapping Technologies (Puerto Rico), Geosystems SRL (Bolivia), Geotecnologias S.A. (Costa Rica), Telematica (Peru) and...

Maporama International.(Business Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Maporama International (Paris, France) has launched a new version of its website maporama.com. The enhanced site now offers customisation options including support for 27 languages, 31 map styles and different map sizes. It provides access to...

AND and LogicaCMG.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... AND (Rotterdam, The Netherlands) and LogicaCMG have been working together to create kilometre registration in SAP. The aim of the joint venture was to increase efficiency for companies calculating travel expenses for employees, a...

Avenza Systems.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Live online demos of Avenza Systems' (Toronto, Canada) MAPublisher are now available in French. Teaming with local distributor Alain Oliver Geomatique to provide the demos which can be accessed through a URL by clients with a password. A...

AVS.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... A new release of Express has been launched by AVS (Waltham, USA). Version 6.3 is a major upgrade to the data visualisation software which is aimed at the scientific and engineering fields. Overall performance has been improved and there are new...

Autodesk.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Autodesk (Hampshire, UK) has updated its Design Web Format (DWF), its format for sharing design, engineering and mapping information. The revisions add support for sharing 3D models adding to existing 2D and object information support. The...

BAE Systems.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Version 6.2 of VITec Electronic Light Table (ELT) has been launched by BAE Systems (San Diego, USA). Updates to the package include the ability to create annotation templates in display space that can be restored across ELT sessions. "This...

Blue Marble Geographics.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Blue Marble Geographics (Gardiner, USA) in association with 4MationGeo (Seattle, USA) has announced the release of iSync Mobile 2.1, a mobile mapping software package. The product can collect GPS coordinates and associate data on handheld...

Hitachi Software Engineering.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Hitachi Software Engineering GIS Division (Paris, France) has announced the availability of Image Series version 7.1 for AutoCAD 2005. It offers raster management, vectorisation, and editing tools to improve the creation and manipulation of...

Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions (Huntsville, USA) is now shipping version 9.2 of its geo-facilities management system, G/Technology. The updated package offers companies a way to optimise and streamline operations thereby reducing...

Snowflake Software.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... Snowflake Software (Southampton, UK) has released an updated version of GO Loader. Version 1.2 incorporates new functionality such as plug-in extensions and a 30 per cent increase of load speed performance. GO Loader now supports Oracle 10g...

PTV.(Software Briefs)
September 1, 2004... PTV Intermodal Guide is the latest offering from PTV (Karlsruhe, Germany). The intermodal transport planner can determine the optimum method for transporting goods by rail or sea or as a combination of means of transport throughout Europe. The...