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Resources & Tools
GeoNOVA brings geospatial information and services to clients' desktops
Nova Scotia business people, academics, researchers, policy makers, and citizens can now access a broad range of provincial geographic resources from a single, convenient location known as the "GeoNOVA Portal."
Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations (SNSMR) launched the GeoNOVA Portal in June 2004 on behalf of the provincial government to anchor the province's geospatial data infrastructure. This infrastructure contributes to the larger national infrastructure—the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI).
Partially funded by GeoConnections, GeoNOVA improves access to the province's geospatial data and services, and lets users and suppliers more easily exchange data. In fact, GeoNOVA is intended to become the primary online vehicle for citizens to find, access, and analyze geographically related data about Nova Scotia.
Augmenting existing services
GeoNOVA augments, not replaces, other provincial and municipal services and applications. In fact, GeoNOVA may well increase awareness about these other services and applications—as people visit the portal, they'll discover the programs and benefits offered by GeoNOVA's provincial and municipal partners, such as access to digital data, coordinate transformation services, and thematic maps. In this light, GeoNOVA also presents opportunities for agencies to work together and save money by streamlining services and information flows. For example, GeoNOVA will help municipalities save money by using this access point to better manage and distribute geospatial information.
The GeoConnections connection
Nova Scotia created the GeoNOVA Portal with three goals in mind: to coordinate the creation, maintenance, and distribution of geographic data using industry standards; to offer this data to all Nova Scotians to help them make decisions; and to reduce government duplication of effort. Through the GeoNOVA Secretariat, the province is working with GeoConnections to meet these objectives and to leverage the CGDI architecture, tools, and services.
The CGDI employs open standards, such as those of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), to make geospatial tools and services readily accessible. By adopting these standards, GeoNOVA permits portal users to share geospatial data and services. And by sharing data, users not only improve their decision making, but they also avoid duplicating efforts.
An assortment of useful capabilities
GeoNOVA serves a wide range of potential users—from high school students to research scientists and shopping-mall developers—reflecting Nova Scotia's diverse information needs.
GeoNOVA's capabilities come in a variety of flavours. For example, users can search for data by type, location, place name, coordinates, or map interface. They can display map data online, download and access data, publish web content, order hardcopy products, and access land-ownership and related information collected through the province's Land Registration Offices, to name but a few features. In the future, users will also be able to participate in online discussions and collaborations.
As Nova Scotians discover these and other capabilities, GeoNOVA will become an increasingly important provincial asset, one that people may eventually wonder how they ever made do without.
To visit GeoNOVA, go to http://www.geonova.ca.