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CGDI online training
This online course is designed to introduce you to the various components of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure, their functionality, and the standards and specifications necessary to implement them.more
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Pulling it all together….
Groundbreaking GIS Collaboration through Web Services
By Terry Fisher
At a highly anticipated Web cast held on November 30, 2007, a government-industry team demonstrated the integration of geographic information, linking remote data sets in real time to perform actual work. The once elusive quest for data integration has now become a reality, paving the way for future innovation.
As the largest project of its kind in the world, Canada once again shone as a leader in the Geographic Information Systems field. This project created so much interest that LISAsoft, one of the participating private sector partners, hosted a special repeat Web cast for Australia and New Zealand to deliver a presentation in their time zone.
Access to current, standardized geospatial data is vital in every day life and decision making. Correct data is even more important in emergency situations. For example, current data is critical for evacuation plans in the event of an industrial accident involving toxic material, natural disasters and security.
With the aim to improve access to data and services, the Canadian government partnered with provinces, territories, educational institutions, organizations and the private sector to develop the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI). The CGDI is the collection of technology, standards, access systems and protocols to increase the use and sharing of location-based (or "geospatial") information and technologies online. The CGDI actively encourages the use of standards established by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC).
The main objective of the CGDI Interoperability Pilot (IP) project was to test Web Feature Services in a real situation. These advances enable decision-makers, researchers, and other users of location-based data and technologies to find, share and use these geospatial resources online quickly and easily. A secondary objective was to develop a collaborative technical network with CGDI partners to advance the development of the CGDI.
The CGDI IP project, led by GeoConnections, included public sector and private sector participants. Land Information Ontario (LIO) was one of the organizations that helped develop the scope, objectives and implementation plan for the CGDI IP project. In addition, LIO contributed data to the project.
Public sector participants came from Natural Resources Canada, Statistics Canada, Environment Canada, Elections Canada and government organizations in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
Private sector participants came from Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.® (OGC) (Wayland, MA.,United States), CubeWerx (Gatineau, Quebec), LISAsoft Pty. Ltd. (Sydney, Australia), The Carbon Project (Burlington, MA., United States), Sunertek (Rimouski, Quebec) and Galdos Systems Inc. (Vancouver, British Columbia).
How it came together…
The CGDI IP project made three types of GeoBase data available from a single point of contact, using WFS. This data was accessible from their individual remote locations at the provinces or territories. The data sets included geographic names, the national roads network and administrative boundaries.
The Web Feature Service showcased many use case scenarios, such as the access and download of closest-to-source data; real-time transactional updates of provincial databases; and information access to support an emergency response situation.
The CGDI IP project clearly demonstrated that Web Feature Services (WFS) created to OGC standards will now work in real situations. Now that the technology has been proven, the next step will be to move from a pilot environment to a production-level implementation. The project also succeeded in building a collaborative team of CGDI partners to advance its development.
For more information visit the GeoConnections Web site:http://www.geoconnections.org/en/index.html.
Below: The CGDI IP project demonstrates to an International audience 100 place names accessed in real time over the Internet from several provincial and territorial servers.
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Land Information Ontario is a proud participant of the CGDI IP project. For more information on LIO, please visit our website: www.lio.on.ca