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YOUR GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

www.GISdevelopment.net

www.geospatialworld.net

OCTOBER 2010 VOL 01 ISSUE 03

Geospatial World I October 2010 5

Cover Story

Brazil Geospatial Industry

Poised to realise potential Brazil's geospatial industry is in sync, with the benefits of the technology being realised by a wide range of users and immensescope for further growth…

Interviews

'The real value of a map is in being real-time'

Ola Rollén President & CEO Hexagon AB

Towards holistic data management

Carsten Rönsdorf Corporate Data Manager, Ordnance Survey, Great Britain

Cloud computing

Future belongs to 'GIS as a Service'

Philip O'DohertyPhilip O'Doherty, CEO, eSpatial

GIS Development Pvt. Ltd.A - 145, Sector - 63, Noida, India Tel + 91-120-4612500 Fax +91-120-4612555 / 666

PRICE: INR 150/US$ 15

DISCLAIMERGIS Development does not necessarily subscribe to theviews expressed in the publication. All views expressed inthis issue are those of the contributors. It is not responsi-ble for any loss to anyone due to the information provided.

Printed and Published by Sanjay Kumar. Press M. P. Printers B - 220, Phase-II, Noida - 201 301, Gautam BudhNagar (UP) INDIA Publication Address A - 92, Sector - 52,Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida, India Editor Sanjay Kumar

34

31

22

48

Inside...

COVER STORY.. Pg 34

Advisory Board

Dato’ Dr. Abdul Kadir bin Taib

Director General of Survey and Mapping, Malaysia

Prof. Ian Dowman

Former PresidentISPRS

Prof. Josef Strobl

Director, Centre for GeoinformaticsUniversity of Salzburg, Austria

Kamal K Singh

Chairman and CEORolta Group of Companies

Mark Reichardt

President and CEO,Open Geospatial Consortium

Matthew O’Connell

CEO, GeoEyeUSA

Dr. Prithvish Nag

DirectorNATMO, India

Prof. V. S Ramamurthy

DirectorNIAS, Bangalore, India

KCM Kumar

Chairman & Managing DirectorSpeck Systems Limited

Brian Nicholls

General ManagerAAM

Shailesh Nayak

SecretaryMinistry of Earth Sciences, India

Prof William Cartwright

PresidentInternational Cartographic Association

Dr Derek. G. Clarke

Chief Director: Surveys and MappingSouth Africa

Bradley C Skelton

Chief Technology OfficerERDAS

Bhupinder Singh

Sr. Vice PresidentBentley Systems Inc.

07 Editorial 08 News 51 Picture This 52 Conference Report 53 Events

CHAIRMAN M P Narayanan

PUBLISHER Sanjay Kumar

PUBLICATIONS TEAMManaging Editor Prof. Arup DasguptaDirector Publications NirajAssociate Editor Bhanu RekhaAssistant Editor Deepali RoySub-Editor Anand Kashyap

DESIGN TEAMSr. Creative Designer Deepak Kumar Graphic Designer Manoj Kumar Singh

CIRCULATION TEAMCirculation Manager Priyanka Ujwal, Vijay Kumar Singh

Quickly access field data in the office.

Label features.Use GIS with GPS. Preview maps.Find street routes.

Copyright © 2010 Esri. All rights reserved. Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcPad, ArcGIS, and www.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.

Try ArcPad Today!

Download a free evaluation of ArcPad software and see how it improves your fi eld productivity. Visit www.esri.com/arcpad.

ArcPad® software provides an accurate, hassle-free way to collect and

share data using a variety of mobile devices.

Simplify your data collection tasks by capturing, editing, and

synchronizing field information back to the office where advanced

analysis can be performed. ArcPad integrates with GPS, range finders,

and digital cameras to help you make more-informed decisions.

Complete time-sensitive projects, including field mapping, asset

inventory, maintenance, and inspections, while sharing critical enterprise

information across your organization quickly and efficiently.

Collect and Share Field Information Immediately Across Your Organization

ArcPad®

Synchronize with the server.

G43685_GISDev_Sep10.indd 1 8/19/10 8:53:13 AM

couple of issues ago we carried an in-depth

analysis of the purchase of Intergraph by Hexa-

gon. In this issue we carry an interview with Ola

Rollén, President and CEO of Hexagon AB. It is

interesting to see how a company originally in

the business of metrology found opportunities in seeming-

ly unrelated areas and progressed from CAD to design,

mapping, remote sensing and now GIS. The story of Hexa-

gon is an excellent example of moving up the value chain.

As the interview brings out, Hexagon could easily become

a one stop shop for design and engineering applications.

This gels very nicely with the trend of making geospatial

technologies a part of the solution rather than a stand-

alone technology. Does this have a message for geospatial

companies with a single product?

Another interesting idea put forth in the interview is the

concept of map as an activity. All of a sudden, a static

object like a map takes on a new avatar. Interestingly, the

concept of map as an activity is also what researchers are

working on in the area of ubiquitous mapping. Here the

user and the map are no longer separate entities. The

user becomes a part of the map. The key to ubiquitous

mapping is context awareness, which enables a user to

relate a 2D map to the real world that is in 3D and populat-

ed by animate and inanimate objects also in 3D. It must

therefore present the user with a 3D real world perspec-

tive. Further, the user need is time dependent therefore

ubiquitous mapping must be a real time activity. The third

requirement of ubiquitous mapping is real scale mapping.

Here, reference points in real space are used to locate

synthetic representations of real objects in the mapping

environment.

Our second story is on Brazil. Economically, Brazil is one

of the BRIC nations and therefore being watched with

great interest by the rest of the world. Our story brings out

the opportunities and pitfalls that dot the geospatial land-

scape. Like the other BRIC nation, Brazil holds promise. It

is endowed with natural resources, an enabling polity and

trained personnel. The geospatial industry in Brazil is at a

nascent stage. The environment is open but the lack of

coordination may be a damper. Such issues are common

in the BRIC countries and therefore should not pose a bar-

rier to the geospatial industry. The two big sporting events

awarded to Brazil, the 2014 Soccer World Cup and 2016

Olympic Games, may be the drivers for significant growth

in the geospatial business in Brazil. I do foresee opportu-

nities in design and engineering, transportation, utilities

and security. For example, in India, the Commonwealth

Games have given the opportunity to establish a geospa-

tially enabled security system for the movement of ath-

letes and spectators. We had covered this in our Septem-

ber 2009 issue.

This is the third issue of Geospatial World and we would

like to hear from our readers if the product in its new form

is living up to its promise and your expectations. So

please, send us your comments and suggestions to help

us make Geospatial World, your magazine.

EditorSpeak

7Geospatial World I October 2010

Geospatial: Moving up the value chain

A

Prof. Arup Dasgupta

Managing [email protected]

SOUTH AFRICA

Innovative way to

forecast climate

change

As African grassland terrains aredifficult to map because of denseforest cover, scientists at theCarnegie Institution's Departmentof Global Ecology in Palo Alto, Cali-fornia have used the Carnegie Air-borne Observatory, an airbornemapping system that works muchlike a diagnostic medical scan andcan penetrate the tree canopy tothe soil level. The mapping systemcreates a three-dimensional map ofthe vegetation and terrain. "Byunderstanding the patterns of thevegetation and termite mounds over

different moisture zones, we canproject how the landscape mightchange with climate change," said,Greg Asner, one of the scientists atCarnegie.

UAV for farmland

surveying

The engineering team that devel-oped South Africa’s first commer-cial satellite, SumbandilaSat, isnow developing an unmanned aerialvehicle (UAV) that can snap picturesof farmland. The project aims toprovide farmers with an affordableway to survey their properties fromthe air.

At present, farmers who want anaerial view of their land rent helicopters or small fixed-wing air-craft, which cost them aroundR2000- R8000 per hour. The UAVwill cost about R1300 per hour,according to project leader ThomasJones, an associate professor ofengineering at the University ofStellenbosch.

Geospatial World I October 20108

Airborne geophysical survey completed

The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Nigeria, in collaborationwith the World Bank Sustainable Management of Minerals Resources Pro-ject (SMMRP), has completed 100 per cent airborne geophysical survey ofthe country and launched the manual for the geochemical mapping of thenation. Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development,Elizabeth Emuren said that the target of these surveys was to guideinvestors and the public in the solid minerals sector.

NIGERIA

INDIA

Payloads for

Chandrayaan-2

Indian Space Research Organisa-tion (ISRO) announced that anational committee of experts hasfinalised seven payloads that will goon the second lunar mission, Chan-

drayaan-2. It is scheduled forlaunch from the Satish DhawanSpace Centre, Sriharikota in 2013.Three of the seven payloads arenew. The five recommended pay-loads of Chandrayaan-2 orbiterinclude: Large Area Soft X-raySpectrometer (CLASS) and Solar X-ray monitor, L and S band Syn-thetic Aperture Radar, Imaging IRSpectrometer, Neutral Mass Spec-trometer, Terrain Mapping Camera-2. In addition, two scientific pay-loads on Chandrayaan-2 rover areLaser induced Breakdown Spectro-scope and Alpha Particle InducedX-ray Spectroscope.

GIS Development

signs MoU with

university

GIS Development signed a memo-randum of understanding (MoU)with Bharathidasan University,Tamil Nadu. Dr K. Meena, Vice-Chancellor of the universityexchanged the MoU document withNiraj, Director (Publications), GISDevelopment.

According to Niraj, this initiativeaims to study the status of imple-mentation of geospatial technologyin five states of the country andthen provide appropriate recom-mendations to the state govern-ments.

Nation's prowess in

space showcased

A three-day international confer-ence cum exhibition on space busi-ness – Bengaluru Space Expo 2010,organised by the Confederation ofIndian Industry (CII), showcasedIndia’s prowess in space. It alsounderlined the importance ofgreater cooperation and interactionbetween the industry and govern-ment in space related business withfocus on inclusive growth. Deliver-ing the keynote address, Dr K Rad-

hakrishnan, Chairman, ISRO, high-lighted the contribution of spacetechnology particularly emphasis-ing upon the commercialisation ofspace technology for inclusivegrowth. “For the Indian space sec-tor to remain in the frontline, theindustry would have to become arisk bearing partner. This wouldraise the overall level of qualitybesides proving mutually benefi-cial,” he said. “In this context, the

industry would also do well to lookat high technology sectors in linewith ISRO's growing demand for thelatest know–how,” he added.

‘Small could be next

big thing’

In the satellite industry, ‘small'could be the next big thing in com-ing years. ‘Smallsats' cost less,weigh less, can be built fast and


JAPAN

Michibiki

launched

Japan launched "Michibiki," thefirst of a planned series of satel-lites that promise to improve theaccuracy of satellite navigationservices in the country. It wassent into space atop a JapaneseH-IIA rocket from the country's Tanegashima Space Center. Michibiki isthe first in a planned series of three satellites that will provide navigationsignals focused on the Japanese islands. Key to their mission is a figure-of-eight orbit that will see them make a tight northern swing over Japanand a much broader southern pass over Australia. This "quasi-zenith"orbit gave the project its name: Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS).

JAXA developing SPRINT satellites

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is developing a series ofsmall scientific satellites, called the SPRINT series. These satellites canbe built quickly and inexpensively and will allow more scientists to con-duct research in space. These new satellites vary in purpose - fromobserving the geospatial environment including the Earth’s upper atmos-phere, magnetic fields, solar plasma and cosmic rays to astronomy andplanetary observation. Covering such a wide range of missions requiresflexibility and speed. This can be achieved by shortening the developmenttime. JAXA aims to cut development time and cost by creating “semi-made-to-order” satellites - the first such project in the world.

launched quickly in multiples andpack in just as much punch,according to D.V.A. Raghav Murthy,ISRO's Project Director for SmallSatellites.

“They can achieve 90 per cent ofwhat big satellites can at five percent of the cost and do 17 per centof their tasks at one per cent of thecost,” said Koteswara Rao, Director,Laboratory for Electro-Optics Sys-tems at ISRO.

Indian Railways to

install GPS

GPS technology will be installed ontrains in India in the next two yearsto avoid accidents, according toRailway Minister Mamata Banerjee.The project, Satellite Imaging forRail Navigation (Simran), usessatellite imaging software alongwith the GPS and was developed aspart of the Railway Safety Technolo-gy Mission to provide correct traininformation to passengers. Fieldtrial was conducted in several

trains, including Rajdhani Express(Mumbai, Howrah, and Patna) andShatabdi Express (Bhopal, Amrit-sar, and Lucknow).

SRI LANKA

Nationwide digital

mapping

The government of Sri Lanka isdeveloping a digital map of thecountry to record citizen informa-tion. The project is a joint effort ofthe defence ministry, the economicdevelopment ministry and the Uni-versity of Kelaniya. During the firstphase, volunteers will go door-to-door to collect imformation fromthe residents. The data collectionwill begin from Nahena in Kelaniya.

Officials expect to cover the entiredistrict within five days. Once thedata is gathered, IT experts fromdefence ministry will take photo-graphs of the locations. KelaniyaUniversity will then step in to devel-op a database.

10 Geospatial World I October 2010

CHINA

Satellites to monitor greenhouse gases

OHB System from Germany and the Institute of Remote Sensing Applications,a unit of the Chinese Academy of Sci-ences in Beijing, have signed a contract tojointly develop a satellite fleet to monitorgreenhouse gases contributing to climatechange. The CarbonSat constellationwould measure carbon dioxide andmethane in the atmosphere, gauging theircontributions to rising global tempera-tures. The satellites could help implementa post-Kyoto Protocol designed to reduceheat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions across the globe, according to anOHB System statement.

'Mapping Satellite-I' launched

China successfully launched its first high resolution, stereoscopic mappingsatellite for accurate surveys of its land resources. The satellite, 'MappingSatellite-I', which was launched on a Long March 2-D carrier rocket, hassuccessfully entered into the preset orbit. The civilian use of the satellite willstart in the second half of 2011. It would be used mainly to conduct scientificexperiments, carry out survey on land resources and mapping, according toa statement posted on the website of Ministry of National Defence.


FRANCE

Boom in satellite

business

Euroconsult, a leading global con-sulting and analyst firm specialisingin satellite sector, has forecastedthat approximately 1,220 satelliteswill be built for launch over the nextdecade. The average of 122 satel-lites, to be launched per year, is upsignificantly from the annual aver-age of 77 satellites launched in theprevious decade, a sign that gov-ernment and commercial operatorsrequire more satellite capabilities.Revenues from manufacturing andlaunch of these 1,220 satellites will

reach USD 194 billion worldwide forthe decade.

Awards declared

Euroconsult announced the winnersof its 7th Annual Awards for Excel-lence in Satellite management.While GeoEye received the EarthObservation Operator of the Yearaward for the year 2010, Telesatwon the Global Satellite Operator ofthe Year award. Strategic Transac-tion of the Year was awarded toViasat. Arabsat was declaredRegional Satellite Operator of theYear and Hughes Communicationsbagged the Broadband SatelliteOperator of the Year award. Accord-ing to the company, the awards arethe highest tribute in the satellitesector and are given to leaders andtheir companies for outstandingachievement in several categories.The winners are presented theawards each year in September inParis at the World Satellite Busi-

ness Week, the industry’s premieresenior executive event, now in its14th year.

RUSSIA

Three more

GLONASS satellites

launched

As part of its Global NavigationSatellite System (GLONASS), Russialaunched three more satellites intoorbit. However, only two out of thethree satellites will be put intooperation.

The third will be kept in reserve.By mid-October, a total of 23 satellites will be operational. Thesystem requires 18 operationalsatellites for continuous navigationservices covering the entire territo-ry of Russia and at least 24 satel-lites to provide navigation servicesworldwide.

Russia to lift ban on

satellite imagery?

A draft to remove restrictions onthe use of satellite imagery withless than two meter resolution hasbeen prepared and discussed byministries and departments,according to Russian federal spaceagency RosKosmos.

This has been one of the longpending demands of companies likeScanEx. In fact, ScanEx has filed aclaim in the Moscow Court of Arbi-tration requesting the Court to forceRoskosmos to lift the restrictions.The company also plans to appealto the higher authority in case itsdemand is rejected.

Autonomous MAVs by MAVinci

An unmanned aircraftsystem guided by navi-gation satellite has beendeveloped by Germancompany MAVinci toprovide rapid monitoringof land areas and disas-ter zones. The aircraftuses autonomousmicro-air vehicles(MAVs) with a wingspan of less than two metres, to inspect land areas.Johanna Born, CEO, MAVinci, explained, “Our MAVs are cost-efficient,available at short notice and easy to use for surveillance of developmentareas, construction sites, disaster zones and waste disposal sites, just tomention a few. They can carry visual and thermal cameras or other cus-tomer-specific measuring equipment.”

Trim

ble

®®

SPAIN

RS technology to

measure pollution

A team of investigators in Spain isdeveloping a technology that wouldkeep a virtual eye on pollution lev-els generated by traffic jams. Usingremote sensing (RS) capabilities,researchers at the Universidad Car-los III de Madrid (UC3M) in Spain,hope to find out how the pollutantemissions vary over time.

Researchers are developing a sci-entific instrument that would useinfrared radiation to analyse thequality of air at certain locations.Their approach is based on theexisting Open-Path FTIR approach.

Instant response to

earthquakes

A Spanish company, Geoconstructi-vas Decisions (DG), has developed asoftware that will allow govern-ments to instantly respond to emer-gencies like earthquakes. The soft-

ware is developed under the project‘Seisem’, funded by the Technologi-cal Corporation of Andalusia (CTA).The software would allow monitor-ing and quantification of seismicrisk at municipal level for the emer-gency planning and early warning.Developed by DG, it represents theseismic hazard of each point of thecity on a digital map using GIS, thusdividing the city into zones of equaldanger on the basis of action 'insitu' and local seismology. Seisemis expected to be completed by theend of this year.

THE NETHERLANDS

Garmin may quit

smartphone market

Garmin will decide over the nextcouple of quarters the future of itsstruggling smartphone unit and isready to exit the business if it doesnot achieve success, according tothe company’s Chief Financial Offi-cer (CFO) Kevin Rauckman in aninterview with Reuters. Rauckmanalso said that nuvifone handsetshad missed the company's expecta-tions so far.

Analysts expect Garmin, whichmakes its phones in partnershipwith Taiwan's Asustek, would haveto sell about a million smartphonesa year to make a business. But, thePND or personal navigation device industry has been hit bycompetition from navigation-enabled smartphones and in-dashnavigation devices. After hitting apeak in 2008, global PND shipments declined in 2009 and are expected to continue the downward spiral.


GERMANY

World methane

map to be

developed

The German Aerospace Center (DLR) reported that aFranco-German climate satel-lite is scheduled for launch in2014. The climate missionMerlin (Methane RemoteSensing LiDAR Mission) willtrack down the greenhousegas methane around theglobe. Merlin is a joint missionby DLR and the French spaceagency CNES. DLR is develop-ing and building the methaneLiDAR instrument. France isproviding the satellite platformand mission control. MethaneLiDAR will work from space inexactly the same way as itshelicopter-mounted counter-part. The instrument has beendeveloped jointly by DLR,ADLARES GmbH and E.ONRuhrgas AG

FINLAND

Nokia to challenge

Google Street View

Nokia and its mapping divisionNavteq are developing a rival toGoogle's Street View, one that offersfull three-dimensional computer

models of villages, towns and cities,and could one day allow those urbancentres to form the backdrop to realistic computer games.

Nokia's proposed service relies ontwo technologies: one to construct avirtual cityscape, the other to clothe itin images taken from life. The 3Dmodels that make up virtual streetsand buildings are built with data

from Navteq's nascent Journey View system, a dataset of mapping measurements made by the laser-radar technique known as LiDAR. These models are then decorated by City Scene,software written by Mattila's group that projects and accuratelystitches photographs onto the 3D cityscape.


GIS boosts economic growth

Geospatial technology saved councils GBP 230 million andboosted GDP by around GBP 323 million in England and Walesin 2009, according to a report produced by ConsultingWhereLimited and ACIL Tasman. The report was prepared for theLocal Government Association (LGA) and Improvement andDevelopment Agency (IDeA). Councillor David Parsons, Chair-man of the Local Government Association's Improvement Board, said, "It is estimated such technology and infor-mation sharing could potentially save councils up to GBP 372 million by 2014/15. In this climate of strained budg-ets, councils must strive to keep reaching more residents and improving services in a creative manner and look atmore ways of working together to make big savings."

UK

AUSTRALIA

Innovative fire

prevention system

Victoria Premier John Brumby hasannounced USD 21.5 million tobuild a fire prevention system thatcan provide authorities withdetailed information about a fire

within minutes of it being discovered. The new computeriseddigital mapping system will bringtogether the existing FireWeb system with PhoenixWeb, a firesimulation and mapping systemdeveloped at the University of Melbourne.

Brumby said, "This new technology integrates critical fire,Bureau of Meteorology weatherdata, topographical information and on-ground fuel data and maps it immediately in digital format for use by fire authorities to predict the path and intensity of fires."

Location-based

emergency alerts

The Australian Government is tofund the upgrade of the nationalemergency warning system, 'Emer-gency Alert', to deliver warnings onmobile phones based on the loca-tion of the handset. At present,warnings are issued based on anowner's billing address. The interimreport of the Victorian BushfireRoyal Commission, released inAugust 2009, recommended theestablishment of a national warningsystem based on the location of thephones.

The Australian Government sup-ported this recommendation andprovided USD 1.35 million to theVictorian Government to investigatethe capability on behalf of all statesand territories.

Robots – the new

farmers

Robots from MechanisationAutomation Robotics Remote Sens-ing (MARRS) could one day runautomated farms in Australia, saidDr Adam Postula, a researcher atthe University of Queensland. DrPostula added that MARRS tech-nologies can control unmanned air-craft or unmanned tractors. Theycan also use detection systemscapable of observing environmentusing visual, infrared or laser lightwavelengths.

The emerging technologies canalso help farmers by detecting and communicating in real-timevariable environmental, field, and crop parameters such as moisture content, temperature andhumidity.


Seabed map

freely available

Highly detailed digital maps ofNew Zealand’s seabed are nowfreely available on National Insti-tute of Water and AtmosphericResearch’s (NIWA) website. Themaps give an unprecedentedinsight into the shape of theocean floor – ridges, volcanoes,plateaus, canyons andseamounts. The data presentsdigital terrain models generatedfrom multibeam data, combinedwith traditional bathymetric data. The 250-metre-resolutiondigital terrain maps of NewZealand’s Exclusive EconomicZone are available in multiplehigh-resolution file formats tosuit present and future needs.The dataset provides the mostup-to-date bathymetry of themajor features from one of thelargest areas of deep-waterseabed.

BUSINESS

Limitations of GPS,

boon for LBS

Inability of indoor tracking, one ofthe limitations of GPS, is proving aboon for location-based services(LBS) as more and more organisa-tions are now offering alternativesolutions. In the US, several muse-ums have created a mobile applica-tion (app) which works like a guide.Similarly in the retail business, thedecision by the largest regionalmall owner in the US to embrace asmartphone application marked anew stage in the rapidly unfoldingevolution of mall marketing,according to a report published byPenton Media.

Motorola acquires

LBS company

Motorola has acquired Aloqa GmbH,a German developer of location-based software and technologies.Aloqa has joined Motorola Mobility,which comprises Motorola's MobileDevices and Home businesses.According to the company, Aloqawill further enhance Motorola'sMOTOBLUR, which delivers cus-tomised content to mobile devicehomescreens and allows users toaccess Facebook, MySpace andTwitter updates along with emails,news and favourite apps and widg-


Discovery of world’s tallest forests

A new study using laser pulses shot from satellites has found that theworld's tallest forests are along the Pacific Northwest coast. The tem-perate forests of Douglas fir, Western hemlock, redwoods and sequoiasthat stretch from northern California into British Columbia easily reachan average height of more than 131 feet. That's taller than the borealforests of northern Canada and Eurasia. With the help of computers,Michael Lefsky, Assistant Professor in the department of forest, range-land and watershed stewardship at Colorado State University, puttogether a global forest height map based on LiDAR data from 250 mil-lion laser pulses collected during a seven-year period. Overall, LIDARoffered direct measurements of only 2.4 per cent of the Earth's forestedsurfaces. "This is really just a first draft and it will certainly be refined infuture," he said.

GPR technology for excavation

Two NASA Earth scientists are using satellite data and ground pene-trating radar (GPR) technology to map and protect areas of archaeologi-cal interest for an excavation project in central Turkey. Scientists Comp-ton Tucker from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt,Maryland, and Joe Nigro, who works at Goddard through Science Sys-tems and Application Inc., hope to use the data to pinpoint the positionof tombs and artifacts prior to excavation, protecting them from bothnatural elements and looting. In the past, NASA radar has been used onsatellites and spacecrafts to detect ice deposits and to explore deepcanyons on the moon’s surface.

APPLICATION

ets -- all in one place. MOTOBLURwill integrate Aloqa's open, loca-tion-triggered mobile push platformto connect users and publishers oflocation-aware content in real-time.

Morgan Stanley to

cut stake in DGI

The private-equity arm of MorganStanley currently owns about 31 percent of DigitalGlobe Inc. (DGI).According to NASDAQ report, thecompany plans to sell about half ofits shares since shares of DGI havejumped one-third this year. Themove by Morgan Stanley will result

in the investment bank losing theright to name two of DigitalGlobe'snine directors. It will, however, havethe right to nominate three direc-tors so long as its stake remainsabove 15 per cent. The sale of atleast 6 million DigitalGlobe shareswill cut its stake to as little as 18per cent.

Map spamming – the

latest way to cheat

Practice of map spamming hasrecently gained the attention of gov-ernment regulators in the US. It isthe evolved new version of directoryspamming which involves the falsi-fication of information within Web-based map directories. The termdescribes the practice of dishonestadvertisers using popular Web-

based map directories, such asGoogle Maps or Yahoo! Maps, tocreate the false impression of abusiness’ local presence. BetterBusiness Bureau (BBB) standardsaddress the issue in two ways:advertisements that are untrue,

misleading, or deceptive shall notbe used; and online advertisersshould use Internet technology topromote the customer’s knowledgeof the products or services beingoffered and should not use technol-ogy to mislead customers.


PRODUCTS

GreenRide Connect globally launched

As part of its complete suite of Green-Ride mobility management solutions,Ecology and Environment, Inc., (E & E)has announced the global launch ofGreenRide Connect, a state-of-the-artweb-based platform that facilitates moresustainable transportation matches forcommuters. Designed for use in a varietyof languages and in any country with asuitable map base, GreenRide Connect integrates robust content manage-ment and a variety of social networking options to foster a more simplifiedand natural user experience. It reduces single-passenger vehicle usethrough an easy-to-use online interface that identifies personally relevantoptions for carpools, vanpools, bicycling, park-and-ride facilities and pub-lic transit. Currently implemented in 22 states across the US, as well as incountries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand, GreenRide Connect isavailable to more than 39 million users.

Series of precision farming products

launched

John Deere has launched several new precision agriculture technologiesincluding a new telematics system, JDLink, GreenStar 3 family of displays,the StarFire 3000 GNSS Receiver and iGrade and iSteer. “The GreenStar 3and the new GreenStar 3 2630 display is the new generation of GreenStardisplays,” explained Jake Stein from John Deere. “We have new featureslike video capability, access manager, operator lock-outs, user friendlystandby mode and more.” One of the key new features of the displays is itsvideo feature. The video allows them to see more and in real-time. Anoth-er new product is the StarFire 3000, which is a new receiver replacing theStarFire ITC. “It has got great new features like GLONASS, so we get moresatellites. We now have the third access in our TCM that we can calibrateto allow autotrack to perform better in the field,” said Stein.

OTHERS

Foursquare as ‘Tech

Pioneers’

World Economic Forum includedFoursquare, a location-based socialnetworking website and softwarefor mobile devices, amongst a classof 31 companies deemed pioneersin technology - the same honour itonce bestowed on a young Google.However, Foursquare is yet to figureout a way to monetise its hot loca-tion-based mobile service. Of thecompanies selected, 17 were fromthe US. Five Silicon Valley compa-nies made it to the list, as did twofrom the Boston area. The forumrecognised the companies amongstthose poised to have a criticalimpact on the future of business.

DigitalGlobe CEO to

step down

Jill Smith will stepdown next year asCEO and chairper-son of DigitalGlobe(DG). The company,in a regulatory filing,

said Smith elected not to renew heremployment agreement scheduledto expire on September 1, 2011.However, she has agreed to remainin her position until her successoris appointed. The company hasalready hired an executive searchfirm to look for a successor. Prior to DG, Smith worked withGomez Inc and eDial. She lives inBoston. Her resignation announce-ment comes just days after DGIwon about USD 3.6 billion contractfrom the NGA.

CANADA

A system to predict

accidents

Engineers at the University ofBritish Columbia are developing asystem for predicting the likelihoodof car crashes in a specific area. Alaboratory being built at UBC's

Kelowna campus is designed toestimate how many collisions willhappen in a neighbourhood, givenspecific road layouts, and helpengineers improve their plans.Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria andKelowna are supporting the projectby providing collision data, GISmapping and other information tohelp build the models that calculatethe likelihood of accidents.


COSTA RICA

Digital maps for

property information

Costa Rica will soon get digital mapsunder the “Programme for Cadastre and Registration Regularisation.” Theprogramme is expected to be completed by December 2012. One of the mainobjectives of the programme is digital mapping and ortho-photography,including maps with images, which will be used as a basis for territorialcadastre.

BRAZIL

IBGE releases satellite images of Amazon

Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia eEstatística (IBGE) recently released2100 new satellite images of theAmazon and the Northeast regionon its website. The images are like-ly to benefit users of mapping, car-tography and natural resource evaluation services. The new imagesare of 20-meter resolution and cov-er approximately 74 per cent of thecountry. They can be accessed atftp://geoftp.ibge.gov.br/Alos. Theimages were obtained by PALSAR

(Phased Array L-band SAR), a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) which oper-ates within the L-band range.


INTERVIEW

Hexagon is originally a scientificinstrumentation company withexpertise in metrology and engi-neeering. How did it all begin?

Hexagon started as a 3D meas-urement company and not really as ascientific instrumentation company.When we started expanding our 3Dmeasurement capabilities, we startedoff our operations in metrology andengineering. We then tossed aroundwith ideas on what all we could dowith the sophisticated 3D softwarecapabilities we had.

We looked at this from two differ-ent perspectives - CAD world and GISworld. Looking at the CAD world, forinstance in the case of design of acar, it has many components andwhile designing using sophisticatedCAD capabilities, those componentsform the basis for the final productand from CAD processes we generatecertain commands on how to manu-facture these products. Those com-mands will be the basis for program-ming drilling machines, turningmachines and other processes andfrom these operations, we generateseveral components. Hexagon hastraditionally been at this stage of theindustrial world to check these com-ponents and create Direct CAD Inter-face (DCIs) to reference the actualcomponent against the original CADdrawing. This is the step wherein onecould determine the quality of thecomponents and accordingly decideon the next steps.

The next step is assembly processat an industrial site wherein Hexagonis heavily involved in guiding andmonitoring robots and reducing costand increasing productivity byanalysing CAD files against the realworld objects.

What motivated Hexagon to enterthe geospatial market?

Having said that the analysis andrelationship of CAD drawing with thereal world is very unique to the corebusiness of Hexagon, we realised thatthis is not happening in the field ofcivil engineering, housing and infra-structure. A few obvious questionsthat arose in our minds were - whydon't we use these processes andmethodology of DCIs to increase pro-ductivity and quality while building alarge plant, bridge or motorway? Whydon't we take the learning fromindustrial world wherein thesemethodologies and processes havebeen successfully used for more than100 years?

Against this background, ourinterest in GIS and geodetic applica-tions stems from the desire of usingknowledge which could measurecomponents and complexity of build-ing houses and infrastructure. Build-ing a small, traditional house may notrequire such a high level of measure-ment and processes, but today wehave a variety of businesses like plantand production management whereinthese measurement tools could be

effectively used. These businesseshave complex products and thereinlies the possibility to measure theircomponents and put them together tocreate a final product. For instance, anuclear power plant has a fairly com-plex set of operations and processes.Their components can be measuredthrough CAD capabilities and furthercomplemented by scanning technolo-gy that can capture each and everyobject and convert them in 3D mod-els. That's where the combination ofIntergraph and Leica Geosystems'capabilities with the existing capabili-ties and experiences of Hexagonmakes valuable sense. In such aninstance, content measurement capa-bilities of Hexagon are strengthenedby scanning technology of LeicaGeosystems and CAD/ GIS capabilitiesof Intergraph. In a nutshell, Hexagonstill has measurement technology atits core while the acquisition of LeicaGeosystems and Intergraph hasstrengthened its position in scanningand GIS technologies.

Having entered in geospatial mar-ket with acquisition of LeicaGeosystems, Hexagon has kept onmarcching with its journey withmany more acquisitions. But thelatest acquisition of Intergraph hasbeen the largest not only for Hexa-gon, but also for the core geospa-tial industry. What has been therrationale for the same and howdoes it fit into your agenda?

‘THE REAL VALUE OF A MAP

IS IN BEING REAL-TIME’

IN AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SANJAY KUMAR, CEO OF GIS DEVELOPMENT,

OLA ROLLÉN SHARES HIS VISION ON FUTURE TRENDS OF GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY AND

HEXAGON'S ROADMAP FOR MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND HARNESSING ITS POTENTIAL


Having derived the value of scan-ning, sensors and camera capabilitiesto capture each and every object ofbusiness and processes, which madefor an appropriate combination andextension of Hexagon's offerings ofmeasurement tools, there still was animportant missing link in the wholeprocess, namely GIS and CAD capabil-ities. So the rationale is clearly visibleand that is to provide the entiremeasurement cycle and deliver real-time information to our customersabout their business and associatedactivities. I believe GIS is all aboutmaps and that it is now a public com-modity. There are several companieslike ESRI, Google, Intergraph andMicrosoft providing GIS tools andmaps. But the real value of a map isin being real-time which can actuallyconvert a map into an activity ratherthan just being a static map. Itrequires much quicker capabilities to

capture the ongoing activities andupdate the same in a map in real-time. For customers in the businessof defence, security, infrastructureand transportation, real-time infor-mation is very critical. And that'swhere real-time information of anactivity being captured by scanners,sensors and aerial cameras could beanalysed and represented by usingGIS tools. So this offers a combinationand synergy between the capabilitiesof Intergraph and Leica Geosystems.Against this background, GIS is animportant component of our busi-ness. Not necessarily as standaloneGIS, but as a part of the system.

What are the key business driversfor Hexagon?

The changing pattern of globaleconomy is the major driving force forHexagon’s business. In the past 100

years, about 90 percent of the globaleconomy was concentrated in Europe,North America, with significant pres-ence and purchasing power of middleclass being the main engine of theeconomy. But in the past 10 years,Western societies lost their balance.The emergence of stronger middleclass in countries like China, Indiaand Brazil is primarily due to the factthat the cost of a middle classresource in these countries is 1/5

thof

that in Western economies and thatdetermines business policies toinvest in building their capabilities inemerging markets. Another signifi-cant change that is taking place is theemergence of labour arbitrage thatwill squeeze the western middleclasses for purchasing power evenmore. Eventually things in the globaleconomy will get back to equilibriumand we will see the emergence of astrong global middle class with

Our rationale is to provide theentire measurement cycle anddeliver real-time information toourr customers about their businessand associated activities

’’

“

Ola RollénPresident & CEO, Hexagon AB

greater purchasing power. What hasbeen driving this is the price and pro-ductivity comparison between, forexample, engineers from emergingmarkets with respect to that fromWestern countries. Given the lowprices, companies are inclined to pro-vide salary incentives on a regularbasis which motivates them to deliver

better. If you look at the growthof income in the US, the top

1 percent of peoplegrew 74 percent inthe past few yearswhile 99 percentgrew about 30 per-cent which is equiva-lent to the inflation,which essentiallymeans they had nogrowth. Similar sit-

uations emergedin the employ-

mentsce-

nario wherein millions of people losttheir jobs and in order to control thissituation, government provided stim-ulation and created 10 million newjobs. But then these jobs were creat-ed in health, education, governmentand social sector and about 6.6 mil-lion jobs were lost in manufacturingand engineering, making them lose acompetitive edge.

Typically in an economic recessioncausing unemployment, the govern-ment steps in with stimulus packagesand invests in building infrastructureand public utilities and in the processprovides employment to its citizens.But what changed in the recent eco-nomic recession is that though thegovernment provided stimulus pack-ages to companies, jobs were createdoverseas to remain competitive andprofitable, resulting in a situationwhere unemployment continues to bea challenge.

Against this backdrop, Hexagonremains focussed on constant innova-tion and continues its investments inemerging markets of Asia (especiallyChina and India) and South America.China will continue to be our top pri-ority. Hexagon has 20 percent of itsrevenues from China which reducedto 15 percent with the acquisition ofIntergraph but we will quicklyrebound to 20 percent and are target-ing at getting 30 percent of our busi-ness from China in the next five years.India shall be our second largestmarket in Asia and in next five years,we expect Asia to form over 50 per-cent of Hexagon's business revenues.This situation will likely motivate usto shift our headquarters to Asia.

Broadly speaking, we will continueto provide leadership to businessopportunities in North America andEurope, but our major growth will bedriven out of Asia and South Ameri-ca. At present, we have about 38percent revenues being generatedoutside Europe and America, whichis likely to grow to 60 percent in the

next five years. We think that China'sgrowth path has increased demandfor nickel, copper, oil, coal and min-erals. Countries like Brazil, Indone-sia, Mexico, Venezuela, Kazakhstan,Chile and Middle East will benefitfrom this growing demand and to takeadvantage of the same, these coun-tries will need to invest in cadastre,infrastructure and utilities. Interest-ingly, the case of India is quite differ-ent. India's growth is fuelled by devel-opments within the country. It is moredriven by the purchasing power ofmiddle class within the country and itwill be an interesting market forHexagon. At present, India con-tributes 3 percent to Hexagon's busi-ness which is equal to our revenuesfrom entire South America. Industry-wise business drivers for Hexagonare agriculture and food; infrastruc-ture; mineral resources; utilities;power; constructions; security; andurbanisation.

It is estimated that population willgrow to nearly 10 billion in the next 30years which means greater demandfor food in general. On top of this, theburgeoning middle class with betterpurchasing power will demand betterquality of food, creating extra demandfor agriculture and food processingindustries. Hexagon looks at this asan opportunity to invest heavily inprecision farming and develop solu-tions to improve productivity. We needto be more intelligent with agricultureproduction. For instance, measure-ment companies like Leica and Trim-ble do provide steering equipmentsfor tractors in the field. Leica also hasairborne sensors, but there is no con-nection. With Intergraph’s capability,we can fly over a field and colour-ref-erence it using GIS and present it toan agronomist for improved decisionmaking while providing an analysis onwhat is going on in the field. Based onstandards set about 100 years ago, wenormally leave 45 cm gap betweenseeds. The same can now be reduced


The changing patternof the global economyis the major drivingforce for Hexagon'sbusiness. Hexagoonremains focussed onconstant innovation

’’

“

25

to 30 cm with an application of GISand measurement tools, leading todense agriculture plantation requir-ing less water and fertiliser and yield-ing higher productivity. It’s all aboutaddressing deficiencies and enhanc-ing productivity by interfacing the realworld and the model world and infor-mation exchange back and forth.

Should we believe that the acquisi-tion of Intergraph is the end of'acquisition-journey' of Hexagoon oris it just another important mile-stone in the ongoing process?

Acquisition is a process for Hexa-gon. Today, we are big enough to fundour own development, but one wouldwonder if that is so clever especiallywhen advanced technologies arealready available in the market. Wehave Erdas in our GIS portfolio but ithas its own limitations and con-straints. We could have gone aheadwith developing and designing ourown strong GIS, but we decided toacquire one of the two strong GIStechnologies available in the marketto save on time and begin integratingour solutions.

Though we initially made anattempt to develop more GIS compo-nents in Erdas, we soon realised thatwe don't need just GIS but GIS incombination with an activity. This iswhere Intergraph steps in, with farmore sophisticated tools than ESRI asIntergraph has added computer-aideddispatch and records managementtools to its portfolio. Intergraph fitsinto our future vision which goesbeyond traditional GIS.Today, we havemany consumer solution providers inGIS market like Google and Microsoftbut we decided to focus on the pro-fessional market which needs morethan just maps and images.

How do you propose to integratevarious offerings of Intergraph andLeica Geosystems especially whenn

there are a few competing productlines?

Integration will be done over aperiod of time and we will choose oneor two industries to begin with. As weselect the industries, we will build ateam sourced from different busi-nesses and they will form a new unitto integrate the new technologies.

Though there are a few overlap-ping areas of competing productlines, on a closer look we found quitecomplementary characteristics.Erdas is quite strong in image pro-cessing whereas Intergraph is leadingin photogrammetry. Let us take theexample of airborne sensors. Leicawanted to develop mid-frame cameraand Intergraph has very good mid-frame capabilities. Similarly, Inter-graph wanted to develop large-frame camera and Leica Geosystems hasthe same already in its existing port-folio. So we will continue to develop both these technologies tosuit the requirements of our customers in each segment. We alsounderstand that people are in lovewith different workflows of Intergraphand Leica and wish to stay there but Ithink we may combine these two infuture and develop next generationtechnologies. Another possibility is tore-organise our business to be moreindustry driven and our future tech-nology developments could be drivenout of these markets.

Let's take the case of agriculture.Future will require very high resolu-tion, small and light weight camerasso that they can be used by UAVswhich consume less energy. WithHexagon's current capabilities, weexpect UAVs to become a major toolfor geospatial applications. We haveGNSS capabilities of Novatel fordesigning navigation models forUAVs; aerial borne sensors ofLeica/Intergraph will help developlight weight high resolution cameras,while the image processing capabili-

ties of Erdas and geospatial capabili-ties of Intergraph will provide usalmost real-time information ofgeospatial activity.

Intergraph’s addition to HexagonGroup seems to have augured anew order for the geospatial indus-try and is perceived to have left notmany choices for large geospatialcompanies. Do you foresee a poolar-isation of geospatial industry?

I think we see it as a process of consolidation of geospatial industry.First, it is very important for us tokeep open standards so that, forexample, companies like Trimble andESRI are able to connect with oursensors and software. I see Inter-graph and Hexagon as a solution tomove away from 'Frankenstein' typesolutions wherein we borrow differentsystems from different supplierswhich are difficult to fit together inone body. With such comprehensiveofferings from Hexagon, customersmay get more productive systemswithout having to worry about com-munication protocols and interfacestandards among different compo-nents of their geospatial system andworkflows. Having said that, oneshould never lock anyone out of thebusiness by shutting down communi-cation and that's where open stan-dards and interoperability shall be thekey for the industry. At the end of theday, users will be the real winners.


Integration ofvarious offerings ofIntergraph and LeicaGeosystems will bedone over a period oftime and we willchoose one ortwo industries tobegin with

’’

“

A general perception is that Inter-graph has not been progressingwell in the last ten years as comm-pared to its position a decadeback. So, was it the right time tobuy and that too at such a pricee?

First of all, it is not correct to saythat Intergraph's progress has sloweddown in the past one decade. This ismore of a perception of traditionalgeospatial community and Intergraphhas been moving away from tradition-al to modern geospatial businessopportunities. Today, Intergraph isless of a competitor to ESRI which isfocussed on traditional GIS market.With regard to timing, this was theright time but it is also true that thereis not just one right time. We lookedat Intergraph and Leica Geosystemsat the same time in 2004. We couldhave combined the capabilities of thetwo with some other company, but it'sall about timing and cost of the com-bination. Intergraph was available forsale in 2004 at much lower price butat the same time with much lowerprofits.

What would be different at Inter-graph under your leadership?

Hexagon will bring in moreaggressive investment and re-invest-ment to keep customer satisfactionand belief in Intergraph intact.Process, Power and Marine (PPM)business of Intergraph has grown sig-

nificantly in the last few years but I doagree that GeoMedia has notadvanced as much as it should have.There is definitely an opportunity forHexagon to turn it around. It is a greatproduct and with capital investmentsof Hexagon, I am quite confident ofbringing it to the required levels andErdas will provide a great support andhelp in this endeavour.

Shall we presume that Erdas willget integrated with Intergraph?

Yes, we can presume that Erdaswill become a part of Intergraph as itmakes more sense to be integratedwith Intergraph and at the same timeZeiss/Intergraph (ZI) will become apart of Leica Geosystems. There willbe an exchange of technologybetween the two groups.

How do you intend to implementthis integration and break long-lived legacies of individual compa-nnies under one umbrella?

We have adequate experience inbringing in such integration. I havebeen involved with acquisitions andintegrations since 2001. I work fromLondon with a purpose to connectmyself better with our facilitiesaround the world. We will have fourmajor strategic centers i.e. Heer-brugg, Hyderabad, Huntsville andQingdao and all these locations arewell connected from London. We will

bring people fromdifferent centresto a commonplace and createcommon technol-ogy platforms toachieve largebusiness objec-tives. Moreover,London is a neu-tral location awayfrom Hexagon'smajor facilitiesand it helps to

keep away biases of operations whilemaking decisions. What we need ispeople with right and open attitudeand clever mind to achieve the laiddown business objectives.

What will be the unique valueproposition for end users?

The future of technology lies notonly in accurate sensors, but also inenhancing productivity of peopleworking with the technology andhelping them deliver better end prod-ucts. In this case, the end product isCAD and GIS that supports civil engi-neering structures. We need to takethat view and rationalise value andcost. Common improvement will beproductivity for everyone and it willalways depend on specific industrysegment we are talking about.

Acquisition of Intergraph, for sure,puts Hexagon well ahead of othergeospatial companies, making iitthe leader of the geospatial market.Such a position also puts extraordi-nary pressure to not jusst maintainthe leadership position, but also toinvest in market development andprovide direction tto the industry.What specific plans do you have toaddress this situation?

Hexagon is one of the leaders ofthe geospatial industry and we under-stand our responsibility well. In theshort term, we have the obligation toprovide a more competitive GeoMediafor traditional and loyal users whorelied on it for decades. In the longterm, I think it is even more importantto provide a path to the GIS user toremain competitive against the largemovements led by Google andMicrosoft as they begin to encroachupon the professional GIS space. Ithink that's where Hexagon couldprovide a more stable solution to pro-fessional GIS community to furthertheir profession.


The future of technologylies not only in accurate

sensors, but also inenhancing productivity of

peeople working with thetechnology and

helping them deliverbetter end product

’’

“


Launched in October 2009, WorldView-2 is capable of captur-ing 46 cm1 panchromatic imageryand is the first commercial satel-lite to provide 8-Band multispec-tral imagery at 1.84 m resolution.The high spatial resolution, cou-pled with 8 bands, enables the discrimination of fine details like vehicles, detailed building textures and even individual treesin an orchard.

Further, the high spectral resolution can provide detailedinformation on such diverse areasas the quality of road surfaces,depth of oceans and the health ofplants.

Additionally, WorldView-2delivers a remarkable daily collection capacity of nearly500,000 km2 of multispectralimagery and average revisit time of 1.1 days around the globe, which greatly enhances the value of its 8-Band imagery. To date, the DigitalGlobe ImageLibrary contains nearly 100 million km2 of current 8-Bandimagery.

The combination of high spatial and spectral resolution isalready revealing the world inamazing detail, empowering problem-solvers with new analysis-based insights and maximising ROI on imagery.

DigitalGlobe I Advertorial

27

The detailed information provided by

high-resolution 8-Band multispectral imagery from

DigitalGlobe improves the segmentation and

classification of land and aquatic features beyond

any other space-based remote sensing platform

Insight is in the details

WorldView - 2

Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar taken by WorldView-2 on April 28, 2010.

ENHANCED FEATURE

EXTRACTION

Shifts in agricultural practices, increasedurbanisation and naturalprocesses, all are con-tributing to the changingnature of land use andland cover around theglobe.

Remote sensing is a critical tool in under-standing changes on alarge and small scale. DigitalGlobe's 8-Bandimagery is enabling a finerlevel of discriminationwith higher accuraciesand paving the way forimproved decision-makingin both the public and pri-vate sectors.

Mapping Rice Paddies The economies of manyAsian countries are close-ly tied to rice, with exportquantities measured in

millions of metric tonsand export prices in theneighbourhood of $600per ton. With such finan-cial importance placed onthis global crop, it is critical for governments to have a comprehensivemechanism for assessingand monitoring thenationwide production ofrice.

Enter DigitalGlobe's 8-Band imagery, which isbeing leveraged as a tool for identifying, classi-fying and assessing rice paddies.

Early indications arethat the spectral fidelity ofWorldView-2's 8-Bandimagery and in particularthe Yellow and Red-Edgebands are proving to bevery effective in identifyingrice paddies and classify-ing the health of the crop.In addition, the rapidrevisit capabilities ofWorldView-2 make it anideal platform for shortand long term monitoring.

Refining Urban Land Cover Maps Thailand, one of the agri-cultural powerhouses ofthe region, also happensto be home to one of theworld's greatest cities.Bangkok, with a popula-

tion of over 12 million(over 18% of the popula-tion of Thailand), hasexpanded by roughly 4million people in the past20 years. This significantgrowth places pressure onthe urban infrastructureand inevitably leads tourbanisation of the surrounding rural areas.

Using feature extrac-tion techniques that leverage all 8 bands, DigitalGlobe's imagery isbeing employed to createdetailed classificationmaps of the urban land-scape. Man-made objectsare being extracted andclassified by material type,e.g. asphalt, concrete andclay in roads and roofingmaterials, with accuraciesin many cases over 90%.The spectral and spatialfidelity of the 8-Bandimagery is proving to bean invaluable tool for cre-ating accurate land usemaps and enabling gov-ernmental agencies todocument the changesover time.

VEGETATIVE ANALYSIS

Vegetative analysis hasbeen the mainstay of thesatellite remote sensingcommunity for decades.While the traditional

Normalized DifferenceVegetation Index (NDVI)method of measuringplant material has beenvery successful, increas-ingly the Red-Edge spec-tral band is demonstratinga finer sensitivity to planthealth. By combiningWorldView-2’s new Red-Edge and NIR2 bandsand the tightly focussedGreen band, analysts arerevealing details in intra-field productivity that canhelp to make more effec-tive decisions.

Analysing Wine GrapeVineyards The ability to map mois-ture levels, growth ratesand fine scale differencesin productivity may not benecessary for all croptypes, but when it comesto the vineyards that growpremium wine grape,every single detail mat-ters. According to WineSpectator, in certainregions of California'sNapa Valley, premiumgrape growers charge asmuch as $23,500 per tonof grapes, or approxi-mately $6,800 per acre. Insituations like this, slightvariability in the condi-tions of each plot of landtranslates into substantial


Land cover classification map of Bangkok

Advantage 8-Band Imagery c>>

revenue. Analysts havealready demonstratedthat with the spectral andspatial fidelity of the 8-Band imagery, agricultur-al fields can be accuratelysegmented by suchparameters as species,moisture level, health and

maturity. Now with agreater financial incentiveto produce detailed intra-acre productivity maps,DigitalGlobe's 8-Bandimagery is being put totest.

Improving Wildfire ModellingWhile the premium wineindustry delivers luxury,the risk posed by wildfiresrepresents a threat to thewellbeing of millions of

people around the globe.Every year, thousands offorest fires threaten urbanpopulations from Russiato Indonesia to California.Large-scale forest mapshave been derived fromsatellite imagery fordecades, based on lowerresolution imagery fromsatellites such as Landsat. These maps,however, lack the finescale detail necessary tosupport the developmentof sophisticated wildfiremodels.

In Australia, World-View-2 is being deployedto collect in-track 8-Bandstereo imagery in order todevelop wildfire modelsthat combine vegetativeanalysis and topography.Through species classifi-cation, and mapping ofdry fuels and moisturepatterns, analysts areable to create more accu-rate assessments of theforest conditions. Plus,with in-track stereo col-lections, the sameimagery also becomes thesource for accurate dataelevation models, whichare then leveraged to pro-duce detailed models ofwildfire behavior and riskassessments for sur-rounding areas.

BATHYMETRY AND

MARINE HABITATS

Coastlines, shoals andreefs are some of themost dynamic and con-stantly changing regionsof the globe. Monitoringand measuring thesechanges is critical tomarine navigation and animportant tool in under-standing the interactionsbetween people and theenvironment.

Monitoring MarineHealth HazardsHarmful algal blooms(HABs) are anothercoastal phenomenaoccurring with increasedregularity. In 2008, theNational Centers forCoastal Ocean Science(an organisation withinNOAA) released a reportciting that the economicimpacts of these bloomsare in excess of $82 mil-lion per year in the U.S.alone. Impacts includedamage to commercialfisheries, impacts to

tourism, public healthcosts and the costs asso-ciated with monitoringand managing the out-breaks.

Recent studies in theUAE have demonstratedthat HABs can be clearlydetected with Digital-Globe's 8-Band imagery,providing a new and effec-tive way to monitor theextent of these bloomsand track their move-ment. 8-Band imagerywill provide another toolfor governments to man-age and hopefully reducethe impacts of theseblooms.

Rapid Response toChange8-Band imagery isincreasingly proving itsvalue in the area of bathy-metric mapping. Severalstudies are revealing thatthrough supervised clas-sification techniques,bathymetry can be accu-rately calculated within ± 1 meter, down to depths

of 30 meters in clearcoastal waters. Whilethese techniques dorequire a limitedamount of groundtruth in order toachieve this degreeof accuracy, thespeed and scale thatcan be achieved cre-ates some remark-able possibilities inareas such as postdisaster mapping.


Vegetative analysis of wine grape vineyards

Analysis of HAB off Abu Dhabi, UAE

y case studies

In the aftermath ofHurricane Katrina, massiveamounts of debris washedoff shore and settled in theMississippi Sound. Over thecourse of several months, aNOAA funded sonar surveycovered approximately 114 square nautical milesand identified over 1300sonar contacts that createdpotential hazards to shipsnavigating throughout theSound.

In a situation like this,8-Band imagery, in con-junction with a small frac-tion of the sonar surveydata, could create accuratebathymetric measure-ments over hundreds ofsquare miles of coastline indays vs. months. It wouldalso provide accurateassessments of marinehazards which could beused to rapidly update thenautical chart for the entireregion. With the costs ofderiving bathymetry from8-Band imagery being sub-stantially less than those ofconducting an exhaustivesonar survey, it becomes avery effective and efficienttool for responding to thistype of challenge.

FUTURE RESEARCH

In many ways, the fullcapabilities of 8-Bandimagery are still to be exploited. Someresearchers are exploringthe potential for identifyingmineral deposits, whileothers are trying to detect

sub-surface water fea-tures. There are severalefforts underway to createautomated feature extrac-tion and change detectionalgorithms based on thecombination of spatial andspectral fidelity and thesetoo are yielding positiveresults.

The 8-Band ResearchChallengeDigitalGlobe's Inaugural 8-Band Research Challenge represents anunprecedented collabora-tion between private enterprise and the scientific community tounderstand the power ofthe additional spectralfocus of 8-Band imageryand support its usability inthe commercial market.Overall enthusiasm for thechallenge is very high, withresearchers from over 70countries planning toexplore potential applica-tions for 8-Band data. DigitalGlobe is leading theway through technologyand ingenuity to bring the most advanced imageryproducts and solutions tothe marketplace.

Read our whitepaper,

download sample imagery

and get technical specifi-

cations on WorldView-2

and the 8-Band sensors at

www.digitalglobe.com/

8-bands.1All imagery is resampled

to .50 and 2.0 metres to complywith U.S. regulations.


The 8 Bands of WorldView-2

WorldView-2 is the first commercial high-resolution satellite to provide 8spectral sensors in the visible to near-infrared range. Each sensor is nar-rowly focused on a particular range of the electromagnetic spectrumthat is sensitive to a particular feature on the ground, or a property of theatmosphere. Together they are designed to improve the segmentationand classification of land and aquatic features beyond any other space-based remote sensing platform.

Coastal Blue (400-450 nm)

• Absorbed by chlorophyll in healthy

plants and aids in conducting vegetative

analysis

• Substantially influenced by atmos-

pheric scattering and has the potential

to improve atmospheric correction tech-

niques

• Least absorbed by water, and will be

useful in bathymetric studies.

Red (630-690 nm)

• Narrower than the red band on

QuickBird and shifted to longer wave-

lengths

• Better focused on the absorption of

red light by chlorophyll in healthy plant

materials

• One of the most important bands for

vegetation discrimination

• Very useful in classifying bare soils,

roads, and geological features

Blue (450-510 nm)

• Readily absorbed by chlorophyll in

plants

• Provides good penetration of water.

• Less affected by atmospheric scat-

tering and absorption compared to the

Coastal Blue band

Red-Edge (705-745 nm)

• Centered strategically at the onset of

the high reflectivity portion of vegetation

response

• Very valuable in measuring plant

health and aiding in the classification of

vegetation

Green (510-580 nm)

• Narrower than the green band on

QuickBird

• Able to focus more precisely on the

peak reflectance of healthy vegetation

• Ideal for calculating plant vigour

• Very helpful in discriminating

between types of plant material when

used in conjunction with the Yellow

band

NIR1 (770-895 nm)

• Narrower than the NIR band on

QuickBird to provide more separation

between it and the Red-Edge sensor

• Very effective for the estimation of

moisture content and plant biomass

• Effectively separates water bodies

from vegetation, identifies types of vege-

tation and also discriminates between

soil types

Yellow (585-625 nm)

• Very important for feature classifica-

tion

• Detects the "yellowness" of particular

vegetation, both on land and in the

water

NIR2 (860-1040 nm)

• Overlaps the NIR1 band but is less

affected by atmospheric influence

• Enables broader vegetation analysis

and biomass studies

www.digitalglobe.com I [email protected]

Denotes New Bands

Ordnance Survey has beeninvolved with standards formany years, what initiallymotivated them to deevelop astrategy and architecturebased on standards?

Ordnance Survey initiallybecame involved in OGCstandards about 10 yearsago because we were inter-ested in structuring anddelivering our productsmore openly.

However, a mind shifttook place at Ordnance Sur-vey a few years ago, aboutthe use of standards,because we knew we had tomodernise our informationarchitecture to respond tomarket needs in a moredynamic way; this hasresulted in a new geograph-ic database and data man-agement system that isunderpinned by standards.

Previously, we thought itwas all about data deliveryin terms of GML (Geograph-ic Markup Language) encod-ing and standards across products,but OGC standards are also usefulfor connecting and modularisinginternal production systems.

The question refers to stan-dards in general, not just OGCstandards, and this is goodbecause we also support otherindustry standards. Under ISO

TC/211 we also deal with a lot ofstandards at the lower level, todeal with geospatial information,that is, the general feature modelwhich is reflected in the OGC ref-erence model. There is a stronginternal driver to do so because weaim to utilise model driven archi-tecture in the creation and mainte-

nance of data models wher-ever this is feasible. We havebeen trialing this approachin projects to better controlthe models that we workwith. This means embracinga process for data modelsand data specifications thatis in line with INSPIRE andachieving some level ofautomation to get anoverview instead of a largenumber of separately man-aged data models. We had aclose look at the INSPIREmethodology to develop dataspecifications, and haveadopted a very similarapproach to this. Essentiallywe are trying to do datamanagement in a moreholistic manner; that is, lessisolated for individual prod-ucts and production flow-lines. We have also investedsignificantly in skills devel-opment to ensure staff isaware and competent aboutthe necessary standards.

The delivery of products in GMLformat has been a major emphasisfor Ordnance Survey. How havethinggs progressed into the use ofother OGC standards? Please pro-vide examples.

We have embraced WMS (WebMap Service) and WFS quite earlythrough a number of projects and

INTERVIEW I Carsten Rönsdorf

31

Towards holistic

data management


Carsten Rönsdorf

Corporate Data ManagerOrdnance Survey, Great Britain


customer pilots. In 2009, we wentlive with a commercial servicecalled 'OS OnDemand' that deliv-ers 10 Ordnance Survey productsthrough WMS and includes thelarge scale OS MasterMap®Topography Layer, which is in araster format that is dynamicallygenerated from the vector datastore. We are currently examiningthe Web Map Tile Service (WMTS)Standard and are looking at thepossibility of using it in future ver-sions of our services.

Looking forward, I wouldexpect that the need to serve datausing OGC web service protocolsunder the INSPIRE Directive willaccelerate the uptake and cus-

tomer acceptance of technologieslike WFS in delivering OrdnanceSurvey data.

In terms of CityGML, I see thisas a natural follow-on from ourwork on GML. This has been driv-en by our customers, who told usthey wanted 'investment security',that is, not just being told what todo by vendors but actually havingsomething that is accepted anddriven by a larger implementationcommunity like the OGC. They alsowant technical guidance on thistopic; so our investment benefitsmore than just Ordnance Survey.We are therefore looking atCityGML for product encoding. Weare also looking at the modu-

larised structure ofCityGML and the nextgeneration GML4.0,which should fit withour requirements.The GeoSPARQLStandards WorkingGroup (SWG) is alsovery interesting

because of the UK Government'sactivities around linked data.

How have OGC standards helpedOrdnance Survey save money orincrease revenue?

Yes, the OS OnDemand servicementioned in the previous ques-tion has enjoyed a healthy uptake.In fact customers have cited thestandards compliance of this serv-ice as one of the reasons for usingthe service.

Since it is a paid-for service, ithas created additional revenues.From our perspective most of theadditional benefits of standardsare less tangible. Standards helpyou determine whether you canachieve something or not; in somecases, they have been the keyenabler that allowed us to imple-ment an approach. Without usinggeospatial standards we wouldhave needed to back off our ambi-tion.

When moving towards an infra-structure that supports the cre-ation and maintenance of newproducts, standards help. Theagile development process natu-rally aligns with a standardsapproach and so we have benefitedthrough the overall processimprovement.

Have OGC standards helped Ordnance Survey deliver a higher level of service to customers and the public in GreatBritain?

Yes, I think there is a higherlevel of service. Change onlyupdate (COU) through GML is oneexample. It is just not possible tomanage such a process throughless simplistic data encodings -

Standards help you determinewhether you can achieve somethingor not; in some cases, they havebeenn the key enabler that allowedus to implement an approach

Interview

you need the richness and the lifecycle management of the featuresthat are being changed. Thismeans that customers don't haveto receive the entire database -which is large in terms of datavolumes - even if they don't takenational coverage, they justreceive the changes and can man-age those.

The WMS also offers a higherlevel of service because itexpands the product offering - itsimply streams data into clientapplications, where this is appro-priate. Our delivery capacity forINSPIRE is also now wellequipped; that is we are very aufait with the technologies from adelivery viewpoint and this mar-ries well with our current role

around INSPIRE delivery in Eng-land.

Has Ordnance Survey commitmentto OGC standards encouraged oth-er producers and users of geospa-tial information to commit to OGCstandards?

Definitely, because all GIS ven-dors decided to comply with ourversion of GML in OS MasterMap,our flagship product that is usedacross Great Britain. There areover 1,000 users of OS MasterMapand more than 20 software suppli-ers that support our productsdelivered in GML.

Ordnance Survey has made asignificant investment in theOGC's work on geospatial rightsmanagement. Is this work still a

priority for Ordnance Survey?We sponsored the rights man-

agement thread in the OWS-4(OGC Web Services project 4) testbed and gained a very goodunderstanding in this area. Wealso played a significant part indeveloping the GeoDRM modeland welcome recent implementa-tions, notably con terra's work inthis area.

However, the future businessdirection of Ordnance Survey andthe themes of this work are lessconnected now. We have achievedour goals in this area in terms ofresearch, but we have turnedtowards addressing the pragmaticbusiness issues first.

Complete interview is available onwww.geospatialworld.net


Brazil is one of the fastest-growing economies inthe world. According to industry estimates, thecountry has registered a 9 percent growth in

the first quarter of 2010. Little wonder then that theworld's fifth largest country is outweighing otherSouth American nations by its large and well-devel-oped agricultural, mining, manufacturing and servicesectors. Add to it the fact that the country will be play-ing host to two of the world's most popular sportingevents - 2014 Soccer World Cup and 2016 OlympicGames - and the country is all set for exponentialgrowth in the coming years. And with the growingstature comes a more aggressive geopolitical stance.

The country's geospatial industry is matching pacewith its economic growth. The industry is passing througha very critical process of gaining maturity. Sustainabledevelopment requires balancing economic developmentwith the need to improve and sustain the quality of life,conserve resources and coexist in harmony with nature,

thereby protecting the future generations as well.Because geography is a basic element in this quest,geospatial technology plays a key role in ensuringinformed decisions aimed at creating sustainable envi-ronment. Brazil's decision makers are already using thetechnology towards this end.

BUSINESS DRIVERS

Brazil is rich in mineral resources: Its steadily risingindustrial sector and rapidly growing agricultural sector,coupled with a government that is actively encouragingforeign investment, auger well for the growth of itsgeospatial industry.

2014 and 2016 sports events: Brazil has made itsmark in the international sports arena by securing host-ing rights for two premier sporting events - 2014 SoccerWorld Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics. The events willoffer the country an unparalleled opportunity to show-case itself to the world. These events will not only boost

BRAZIL GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY

34

BRAZILIAN ECONOMY IS ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING IN THE WORLD, STEPPING

OUT OF THE PERIPHERY INTO THE SPOTLIGHT AND ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING THE

COUNTRY OF THE FUTURE. ITS GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY IS IN SYNC, WITH THE BENE-

FITS OF THE TECHNOLOGY BEING REALISED BY A WIDE RANGE OF USERS AND

IMMENSE SCOPE FOR FURTHER GROWTH. HERE'S AN ASSESSMENT OF BRAZIL'S

GEOSPATIAL INDUSTRY - ITS BUSINESS DRIVERS, STAKEHOLDERS, CHALLENGES,

OPPORTUNITIES AND THE ROAD AHEAD


Brazil's economy and infrastructure but will also allow itto package itself before the world in a way that wouldresult in immediate and sustained benefits to all seg-ments of the economy. The success of these events willbe crucial in determining its emergence as a favoureddestination for investors and corporate houses.

As part of its winning bid to the International OlympicCommittee, Brazil committed to spend upwards of $14billion on a vast programme of sports-related infrastruc-ture development.

Infrastructure development: Brazil is investing asmuch as $229 billion through 2015, with investment lev-els rising by 18 percent/year. The government's growth-acceleration programme, launched in 2007, encompass-es building initiatives such as airports and ports through-out the country, repair of highways, development of ener-gy projects in the north and providing housing, water andsewage systems to benefit the poorer Brazilian commu-nities. The programme also consists of measures to

improve the investment environment. A quicker turn-around of construction projects is one of the expectedoutcomes, in addition to encouraging further infrastruc-ture development through oil, gas, transportation andsanitation projects.

Utilities: Utilities, including electricity, water, gas andphones are significant contributors to good quality of lifein urban environment and Brazil is no different. The riseof the services sector has also resulted in the growth ofthe middle class, resulting in stable cash flow in the over-all sector. Brazil is leading the way in Latin America inshowing significant Smart Grid activity.

Mining and minerals: Brazil has world classresources of minerals including silver, copper, nickel,niobium, zinc, iron ore, manganese, bauxite, tin and gold,not to mention a comprehensive suite of industrial min-erals and fuels. The status of Brazil as a top priorityregion in global allocation of mining investments can beunderstood by analysing its relative importance in

35

Cover Story

attracting parcels of the flow of foreign capital directed toexploration and development of mining business opportu-nities. Participation of foreign investors in mineral andenergy sectors is also being encouraged by the govern-ment.

Oil and Gas: Sitting upon 12.2 billion barrels of oilreserves, Brazil is one of the world's fastest growing oilproducers. As the tenth largest energy consumer in theworld, one of the world's largest ethanol producers andthe country with the second largest crude oil reserves,Brazil is a critical player in the global energy market. Thecountry continues to welcome foreign investment frominternational oil companies to increase direct investmentin hydrocarbons.

Agriculture and forestry: Self-sufficient in foodgrains,Brazil offers very strong potential in agri-business. It is aleading exporter of a wide range of crops includingoranges, soybeans, coffee and cassava. Brazil, unlikemost Latin American countries, has increased agricultur-al production by greatly expanding its cultivated area. The

South and Southeast parts of the country are importantfor forestry as well.

Open mapping policy: A significant contribution inawareness towards GIS-based information systems hasbeen made by Right to information and Open Map Policy.A large portion of map-data is freely available and bothgovernment and private organisations are trying to findeasier ways to manage, update and publish informationfor the public. Users are permitted to have their own inde-pendent programmes regarding acquisition and manage-ment of geospatial data including aerial photography andhigh resolution satellite images. Another interesting facethighlighted by Gilberto Camara, General Director, Nation-al Institute for Space Research (INPE), is that the nationalremote sensing agency, INPE, has made all its data avail-able on Internet, free of charge, to serve its citizens. Thisinitiative has further been supplemented by providing freeopen source software known as SPRING which is goodenough for elementary usage of satellite images.

Democratic political set up: Brazil is politically stable


and organised under a democratic system. It has an opti-mistic long term outlook as it is largely free from gettinglocked in conflict with its neighbouring countries. Itseconomy is more broad-based and so far it has shown noambition of playing any significant political role on theworld stage.

STAKEHOLDERS

Crucial to defining and steering the future direction for anindustry are its stakeholders. Some of the key stakehold-ers of the Brazil geospatial industry are discussed below.

National Mapping and Remote Sensing Programme The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE)is the Federal Government institution responsible for pro-ducing, analysing and disseminating statistical informa-tion as well as geodetic, cartographic and geographicinformation and the information related to naturalresources and environment. The combination of statisticsand geosciences in its activities allows IBGE to optimiseresources and maximise the quality of the contributions ofeach area of the Institute. IBGE is also responsible forsystematising information on natural resources and forcarrying out regional geography studies.

Brazil also has the National Institute of SpaceResearch (INPE, responsible for the development andapplication of space technologies in space and atmos-pheric sciences, research and development in space engi-neering and technology, remote sensing, Amazonia Pro-gram, research and development in meteorology, tech-nologies associated with the field of space and the EarthObservation Project that focusses on scientific and tech-nological knowledge on remote sensing and geoprocess-ing, natural resources surveying and environment moni-toring.

Companhia de Pesquisa de Recursos Minerais(CPRM) is the foremost company in the field of geologicalmapping. In the year 2000, the company launched a vigor-ous programme of modernisation in the area of informa-tion technology to present its products through the map-ping technology of GIS and relational databases, informsJoao Batista V. Dias Junior, Chief of Staff. It began pre-senting its maps and other cartographic products via GISand the relational data banks. The project Projeto GIS doBrasil, launched in the same year, constituted a techno-logical milestone for the country as it represented themigration from traditional to digital paradigms. In the

year 2000, with the objective of meeting the need for adata structure to support the project, the idea of a corpo-rate data bank was floated, leading to further expansion ofthe geological data bank, GEOBANK, Dias adds.

CONCAR - The National Commission of Cartography,plays a directive role in setting up technical standards andspecifications based on which is the production ofgeospatial data for the National Catrographic System.CONCAR comprises the majority of the geospatial dataproducers and maintainers of Brazil's public sector,including one representative of each of the following: 19Ministries; IBGE itself; the mapping branches of Army,Navy and the Air Force; one association representing theprivate sector companies which provide air survey andmapping services and five regional forums representingthe federation's states.

Linked to the Ministry of Economy and Planning, theGeographical Institute of Cartography - IGC was createdto promote knowledge of Paulista territory through theproduction of cartographic detail and accuracy and geo-graphic studies related to the Administrative and Territor-ial Division of the State of Sao Paulo. According to Alexan-dre Iamamoto Ciuffa of Geographical Institute of Cartog-raphy, most of the maps available to users are in anunsatisfactory scale and not updated. IGC is responsiblefor converting existing digital maps and restituting newdigital maps of regional scale; developing new method-ologies for use of satellite imagery and mapping specificsoftware to produce thematic maps; implementing GISwith information from the database of IGC and other pub-lic agencies; conducting studies and field surveys to sub-sidise the process of changing the territorial-administra-tive framework of the state and aerophotogrammetricsurvey.

The design of a new highway, the construction of ahydroelectric power plant, the installation of an industrialcomplex, decisions on resource planning and manage-

37

"Users have access to National Spatial

Data Infrastructure (INDE) by means of

an Internet portal, the SIG Brasil.

During the next decade, other national

organisations will be able to join INDE"

Cover Story

Luiz Paulo Souto FortesDirector of Geosciences, IBGE


ment, as well as the elaboration of public and private poli-cies - all are facilitated with the introduction of theNational Spatial Data Infrastructure (INDE). According toLuiz Paulo Souto Fortes, Director of Geosciences, IBGE,users have access by means of an Internet portal, the SIGBrasil. During the next decade, other national organisa-tions - at state and municipal level, for example - will beable to join INDE. The portal will be fed and updated withgeospatial information from diverse bodies.

Geospatial companies According to a survey by Magalhaes & Granemman, thereare more than 200 companies working with GIS in Brazil.A market research from Intare Consulting in InformationManagement pegs the market potential for geotechnolo-gy in Brazil at $360 million, taking into account all thedata components, software and services, with a growth of9 percent between 2006 and 2007 and estimated 20 per-cent for 2008. In Brazil, the data providers have estab-lished their business around the failures of the Brazilianmapping agencies to provide basic digital cartographicinformation, with their business mostly consisting of digi-tising existing topographic maps as well as high-resolu-tion imagery distribution. In the coming years the privatecompanies are likely to continue to be influenced by thenetworks of innovators. As the public SDI in Brazil grows,one can expect a reduced market for data providers andan expansion of the market for service providers who willhave to adapt themselves to a geospatial informationmarket centered around building corporate applicationsbased on spatial databases.

UsersMunicipalities and town planning: The city of Rio de Gene-rio had been grappling with the housing problem for quitesome time. To tackle the situation, the Municipality of Riode Janeiro has implemented the SABREN System for low-

income settlements, with an aim to gather and dissemi-nate information on slums and irregular settlements andother types of illegal squatter settlements in the city,informed Fernando Cavallieri, Director of City Informa-tion, Instituto Periera Passos.

In 2004, the Municipal Authority of the commercialcapital Sao Paulo, also known as City Hall, decided toacquire high resolution large scale maps of 1:1000 scaleand larger scale through aerial photography in partner-ship with the federal government. According to Luiz CesarMichienlin Kiel, Development Manager, Prod, PRODAM,Sao Paulo, "While the primary objective was to create anupdated large scale map and use the same for multiplepurposes by different departments of the Municipality,this initiative also helped to increase revenues and taxcollections as it gave a much more detailed informationabout property and cadastre falling in municipal areas."As of today, the secretariats dealing with human develop-ment, government management, finance, production andplanning have agreed to use the maps and have created atechnical group to assist and cooperate with each other,says Jose Marcos, Director, DIPRO, Prefeitura de SaoPaulo.


"The Brazilian National Water Agency

has presented the Atlas for Urban

Water Supply that includes a proposi-

tion of technical alternatives for the

water supply until the year 2025"

Marcelo BitterBusiness Development, GeoAmbient

"Codelco applies a GIS-based analysis

and classification strategy of satellite

data for exploration of copper

province of Brazil"

Alexandre Carnier Nunes da SilvaGeologist GIS Coordinator, Codelco

Project GeoCONVIAS is the result of a partnershipbetween CONVIAS (Infrastructure and Work Departmentof city of Sao Paulo) and SABESP (Sao Paulo Waste andWater Company) and extended by association with othercompanies that operate in the Sao Paulo city area.According to Eng. Antonia Ribeiro Guglielmi, Director,Department of Control of Public Roads, the GeoCONVIASsystem consolidates the asset data buried or under-ground in the municipality areas by using a uniquegeospatial database. According to Carlos HenriqueGomes de Souza of Municipality of São José do Rio Preto,since the initial deployment of geographic informationsystem, a major obstacle to expansion of the system inthe Municipality has been the difficulty in acquiring andmaintaining licenses primarily in the acquisition of newlicenses for new users. With the signing of the contractALS, the outlook started to change, expanding the num-ber of users and therefore the applications of GIS in thecounty.

Utilities: The Brazilian National Water Agency wasestablished with the mandate of enforcing the NationalPolicy on Water Resources. On December 9, 2009, theBrazilian National Water Agency presented the Atlas forUrban Water Supply for metropolitan areas, for NorthEastern and Southern Brazil. Marcelo Bitter, BusinessDevelopment, GeoAmbient, informs that the studies con-ducted in the Atlas include population forecasts anddemand estimates, evaluation of sources referring towater availability and quality, diagnosis of water produc-

ing systems and a proposition of technical alternatives forthe water supply until the year 2025.

The Sao Francisco Hydroelectric Company (Chesf) hasrecently created a new GIS solution which unifies andshares important information to meet the variousbusiness processes of different departments.With its decision to acquire an enterpriseGIS platform, the company now boastsof a robust platform that allows thesharing of information from theaccess to corporate database, saidValeria Carazzai, Engineer Car-tographer, Chesf.

Mining and minerals: Com-panhia Vale do Rio Doce (Vale),the second-largest diversifiedmining and metal company in theworld, is one of the pioneers of theuse of geotechnology in Brazil.According to Paulo Fernando Costa,Sr GIS Specialist, VALE, geoprocessingwas introduced into the planning andimplementation of mineral exploration proj-ects in early 1980s and today it provides supportto all phases of the project life cycle. They providestrategic and support tools for defining guidelines fordecision-making and efficient operations management.

Codelco applied a GIS-based analysis and classifica-tion strategy of satellite data for exploration of copperprovince of Brazil. Analyses of geological, structural andoptimised remotely sensed data of the mining areas aidsin identifying some common characteristics of alteredrocks and associated porphyry copper ores, informsAlexandre Carnier Nunes da Silva, Geologist GIS Coordi-nator, Codelco.

Oil and gas: National Agency of Petroleum, NaturalGas and Biofuels (ANP) is an autarchy functioning underthe control of the Federal Public Administration. Thesolution initially adopted at ANP to maintain the data


"Key challenges include interoperabili-

ty of data and systems; access, sharing

of geospatial data; web (Intra/Internet)

geospatial data dissemination and

interconnection with other databases

and information technologies systems"

Fernando Gonçalves dos SantosRegulatory Specialist - Geologist, Superintendent of Collection Management and Technical Data - TDS, National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels

related to oil fields was based on geoprocessing tools.Fernando Gonçalves dos Santos, Regulatory Specialist -Geologist, Superintendent of Collection Management andTechnical Data - TDS, ANP points out that challenges per-

tain to interoperability of data and systems;access, sharing of geospatial data; web

(Intra/Internet) geospatial data dissemina-tion; confidence and access speed;

geospatial data management andintegrity; geospatial data storage;

interconnection with other data-bases and information technolo-gies systems; handling of a greatamount of raster data; metadatacreation and recovering and inimplementing a new geoprocess-ing structure.

When a GIS solution was firstconsidered at Petrobras Gas Busi-

ness Unit in early 2003, the situationdemanded a reliable and efficient sys-

tem to support the engineering divisionresponsible for the conceptual design of new

gas pipeline projects and management of theexisting one. To meet ongoing demands from regulatory

and environmental agencies, the Unit started GIS imple-mentation with a different approach that has yielded goodresults. The implementation cost of this was about $268,000. Although the GIS tools require some time to beproperly implemented, they guarantee data reliability andintegrity and ensure that all professionals linked to theproject will have quick access to updated information,says Marksuel Xavier Bastos, Geodesy Engineer, Pero-bras. Petrobras recently implemented a 3D GIS environ-ment for management of equipment including manifolds,pipelines and platforms.

Environment and Forests: In the Amazonia region ofcentral Brazil, environment management is a major chal-lenge, especially deforestation in the Para region. The

Ministry of Environment of Para (SEMA / PA) has beencoordinating the Rural Environmental Policy Registration(CAR) of the private property of rural areas with the goalof promoting environmental regulations of economicactivities that result in changes in forest cover. In order togive transparency to the outcomes of this policy, the EMS/ PA has provided on its homepage, a link to access themap with all the registered properties, informs GadelhaRodolfo de Sousa, GIS Technician at Para Gadelha Rodol-fo de Sousa, Ministry of Environment of Para.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment, SaoPaulo has recently launched "Environment Paulista: Envi-ronmental Quality Report 2010." According to Arlete TiekoOhata, DIA Director / CPLA, Secretary of State for theEnvironment, Sao Paulo, the work is a reflection of theenvironmental status of Sao Paulo, addresses key issuesin the environmental area and aims to provide decisionmakers with relevant information. The various pro-grammes related to environment underway at InstitutoGeologica, Sao Paulo with an aim to contribute to theunderstanding and meeting the demands of mapping andinterpretation of geological units of the State of Sao Pauloare evolution of high-grade metamorphic terrains andplutons and geomorphology of the State of Sao Paulo,informs Paulo C Fernandes Da Silva, Executive TechnicalAdvisor, Instituto Geologico. The geotechnical and envi-ronmental research underway aims to develop researchfocused on characterisation of the climatological state ofSao Paulo, especially rainfall, promoting awareness


"The various programmes related to

environment underway at Instituto

Geologica, Sao Paulo are evolution of

high-grade metamorphic terrains and

plutons and geomorphology of the

State of Sao Paulo"

Paulo C Fernandes Da SilvaExecutive Technical Advisor, Instituto Geologico

towards differences of the elements of climate in time andspace and supporting the integrated study of the environ-ment, said Antonio Carlos M. Guedes from the Institute.

CHALLENGES AND CONSTRAINTS

As the geospatial industry in Brazil is in its nascentstages, it has its own set of challenges.

Immature geospatial industry: The industry requires alot of nurturing before it can reach a stage of maturity. Ahistorical perspective to its development reveals that ithas been concentrated in pockets and is being driven byfew disconnected drivers. This fragmented developmenthas resulted in a lopsided development of the geospatial

industry and has been a constraint for overall industrygrowth, opines Alexandre P. Cabral, Business Line Man-ager, Fugro Brazil.

Paucity of large geospatial companies: For a countrywhich is home to almost 200 million people with approxi-mately $5000 per capita income, Brazil has no geospatialcompany worth the name with local origins. Most of thegeospatial business in the country is carried through anetwork of distributors. Distributors catering to the wholecountry are a rarity. Also, a single distributor handling twoor more rival manufacturers is not rare.

Price driven market:: In a price sensitive Braziliangeospatial market, demand is disproportionate to priceand the number of professional dealers is very limited.Professional dealers bid for the products and then fixprices not as per the cost price of the product but on pro-jected demand for the product.

Market-makers quote prices at which they are pre-pared to buy or sell, up to some quantitative limit, saysEng. Marcos Guandalini, Sales Director, Alezi Guandalini.They adjust the prices according to the supplies, implyingthat the prices will increase if the stocks are ill suppliedand vice-versa.

Kindly highlight the dynamics of the

South America market

South America is a very diverse market-

place with different cultures and

economies varying from country to coun-

try and their sub-regions. Our group,

both Hexagon Metrology and Leica

Geosystems, in Metrology and Geomat-

ics respectively, has different business

models and commercial channels

throughout this continent. Brazil and

Argentina are the main marketplaces but

Hexagon approaches each market

accordingly to its specific characteristics:

in a simplistic view, industry has a strong

concentration in Brazil and Argentina;

agriculture in Brazil, Argentina and Peru;

mining sector has interesting opportuni-

ties in Brazil, Chile and Peru and oil &

gas fares well in Venezuela, Brazil,

Bolivia and Colombia. Brazil is in fact a

strong leader in South America. The

country is facing an exceptional eco-

nomic cycle at the present moment;

being used to be all promise in the past,

it has been delivering for a few years

now, in a steady and democratic fashion,

with social, political and economic stabil-

ity. But we cannot underestimate the

issues to address and the difficult prob-

lems Brazil has to tackle - government

spending, investment inefficiency, social

security issues, education, etc.

Hexagon group has been investing con-

sistently in the South American conti-

nent for a long time and both Leica

Geosystems and Hexagon Metrology as

a whole have 11 offices and 26 local

certified partners with a significant par-

ticipation in this region.

What are the key benefits offered byy

Hexagon?

Hexagon, Metrology and Geosystems

and its brands have been successfully

present in the South American market-

place for many years now, supplying and

supporting systems and integrated solu-

tions to local and international major

customers. This is a clear differentiation:

Hexagon provides complete and wide-

ranging solutions with local expertise to

support them in each segment of the

industry. Additionally, Hexagon, as a

global market leader in many seg-

ments, with a comprehensive portfolio

of products, brands and the interna-

tional expertise for development, man-

ufacturing and technical support, oper-

ates with a strong local compromise.

What are the potential sectors for

business in Brazil?

In generic words, as a world-leading

supplier of systems for measurement,

Hexagon provides to our customers

access to measurement data with readi-

ness and precision to improve efficiency

and productivity and, consequently,

enhancing quality and cost savings in the

production process. The main sec-

tors for business in Brazil for

metrology are automo-

'Brazil is in the right direction'

"The advantages of the geospatial

technologies are well understood and

the progress path of the industry is

already well laid out"

Helder CarvalhaisDirector, Threetek

42

Claudio SimaoPresident

Hexagon South America

tive, airspace, railways & metro, ship-

yards, oil & gas, energy (wind & hydro),

agro-industry, medical, metal industry,

machine-tools, plastics industry, food and

packaging and tech-centers. For Leica

Geosystems, the most potential seg-

ments are civil engineering, structural

engineering and monitoring, construc-

tion (highways, railways, ports, airports,

shipyards, metro, etc), precision agricul-

ture, mining, oil & gas applications, elec-

tricity (generation and distribution), water

and sanitation, general surveying (prop-

erty legalisation, seismic monitoring, etc)

as others. The industry growth is relevant

and directed to the strong internal mar-

ket related to consumption.

What are the main challenges faced in

Brazil?

Brazil has still significant social imbal-

ances to deal with, in spite the excep-

tional increase in the medium class dur-

ing the last years as also the raise of

credit availability to lower classes and

general salary mass. Another problem

that Brazil will have to tackle is the need

for funding for all the projects planned:

internal savings are too low so the coun-

try will need to attract external invest-

ment. Brazil has a very complex tax

structure with high cumulative taxation

and bureaucracy is also still an issue as

well.

Leica Geosystems has very comprehen-

sive range of products. How do you pro-

pose to integrate them and position

them in South America?

If one looks at Hexagon and Leica

Geosystems portfolio of products and

solutions, it is clear how it is important

for us to correctly address the different

business segments. But it is our mission

to analyse the applications and either

select or develop the correct options for

our customers and not the other way

around. I would like to emphasise that

the approach is not the same in all

sub-regions in South America, so we

have developed our commercial chan-

nels and technical support teams

with different formats in different

markets. In parallel, we have also

analysed the segments in different

regions and structured our product offer-

ing to better fulfil the different applica-

tions per segment.

For Leica Geosystems, South America is

the smallest territory in terms of revenue,

if we look at the whole sceenario. Only 3-

4 percent of the annual revenue comes

from this region whereas the opportuni-

ties arre quite high. So how do you plan to

tap the market?

In fact, South America has a participa-

tion of around 5 percent of the world

economy, and a little bit less for the glob-

al geomatics market in value. So, I would

say that Leica Geosystems South Amer-

ica is aligned to the market size. On the

other hand, it is also correct that we will

have very important opportunities in

Brazil and South America in the next

years and we intend to increase signifi-

cantly our participation in this market-

place too. One part of our strategy is to

increase our exposure to the market and

enhancing our organisation in some

regions of the South American territory.

What are your future plans for Brazil?

South America is a key region for Hexa-

gon, with excellent possibilities for

growth. In spite of the fact that we are

well positioned in the region, we are

ready to go further: opening new offices,

hiring and training more people and set-

ting-up other service and training cen-

tres within the next years.

Wouuld you be investing more time in get-

ting solution for clients?

Absolutely, Hexagon is a strong group,

well-known by its innovation tradition

and as a solution provider. We are a fast-

growing organisation and this is our mis-

sion, our differentiation factor.

Do you see any threat from low-ennd

markets?

Not really, Hexagon has a solid global

strategy but acts with local focus. For

sure, there are purely price-oriented

brands in the market but when users see

no support, major reliability issues as

other important product limitations, they

stop buying these brands. This is clearly

valid in Brazil and South America where

values as strong technical approach,

close professional relationship, compre-

hensive support and relentless commit-

ment in the after-sales activities are

stressed.

Poor coordination and cooperation: The industry suf-fers from a lack of inter-organisational cooperation, coor-dination and collaboration. Numerous agencies workingin the field pursue their work in an independent fashion,with very little cross-agency coordination on a formal,accountable basis. Governments are traditionally imma-ture in their thinking and actions, hindering industrydevelopment and the roll-out of pragmatic solutions forstakeholders.

Heavy taxation and import duties: Tax burden is heavyacross Brazil in terms of tax rates and administrativecomplexities. Heavy taxation, the huge variety and com-plexity of tax categories as well as the conflict and contra-diction among one another poses significant challengesto the companies, says Eng. Marcos Guandalini, SalesDirector, Alezi Guandalini. In addition to federal tax, statetax and city tax, enterprises also need to pay for varioustypes of social expenditures. Typically, taxes amount to71.1 percent of the gross profit per year for a mediumsized enterprise.

Challenges faced by users:: Users have their own setof challenges. Since the country took to mapping very lateand not very sincerely, the quality of maps for vast areas

of the country is very poor, particularly for ecologicallysensitive areas like the Amazonia region (for which thereare no maps available in any scale). Lack of updation isalso a challenge, with most of the maps being approxi-mately 30 years old and professionals such as planners,engineers and geographers needing updated documentsto develop their work. Also, being a relatively new indus-try, there is an understandable lack of trained manpower.Initially the manpower may be brought from outside but inthe long run the need for trained manpower needs to bemet locally. While manpower demand is sufficient for lowand medium levels, the paucity is more pronounced athigh levels.


"The GeoCONVIAS system consolidates

the asset data buried or underground

in the municipality areas by using a

unique geospatial database"

Eng. Antonia Ribeiro GuglielmiDirector, Department of Control of Public Roads

Other key challenges faced by users are interoperabil-ity and standardisation and lack of data centralisation.Organisations regularly use spatial data collected from avariety of sources; they often face the need to re-formatand re-standardise data to make the information compat-ible with existing systems. The country faces a lack ofeffort in efficiently integrating and managing centraliseddata. Lack of centralised data can result in significantinefficiencies and suboptimal operational and long-termmanagement strategies.

PRECAUTIONS AND DIRECTIONS

Challenges notwithstanding, Brazil has a lot going for itand is all poised to emerge as a key geospatial destinationto reckon with. A few investments would go a long waytowards this end.

Land of opportunities: The opportunities in Brazil arevast, particularly considering that there is no one vendorwho is a leading seller in more than two segments out ofmajor market segments, namely government, education,environmental management, agriculture, oil and gas,

mining, forests, water resources and utilities. Accordingto a report by Intare Consulting in Information Manage-ment, in the last few years, growth in the number of com-panies operating mainly in services associated with dataand software with various solutions for different seg-ments of market has been more than 40 percent, indicat-ing that growth can be achieved by increasing the ability tooffer solutions for integrated services.

High growth potential: The outlook for the geospatialindustry in the coming years remains bright. As far assoftware vendors are concerned, according to Iara MusseFelix, Director, Santiago e Cintra Consultoria, there aresignificant differences when one considers GIS solutionsand systems for image processing.

But the path to achieving this kind of growth is slight-ly complicated. In this context, the initial route may be thatof providing free promotional software designed to aid theongoing projects, thereby establishing credentials andtrust, Iara adds. After securing public trust and apprecia-tion and establishing some sort of recognition, the moreformal market strategies may be implemented in themarket.

The growing demand for integration between GIS sys-tems and corporate management systems in national andinternational context is highly sensitive to quality requirements and performance. This realisation high-lights the need for strategic partnerships so that the needs of increasingly complex and demanding usersare met, opines Marcos Covre, Executive Director,Imagem.

Second mover advantage: Brazil is well placed tosecure the second mover advantage in the geospatial fieldand be spared the false starts and unprofitable ventures.Helder Carvalhais, Director, Threetek opines that theadvantages of the geospatial technologies are alreadywell understood and the progress path of the industry isalready well laid out.


"As far as software vendors are

concerned, there are significant

differences when one considers

GIS solutions and systems for image

processing"

Iara Musse FelixDirector, Santiago e Cintra Consultoria

"INPE has made all its data available

on Internet, free of charge, to serve its

citizens. This initiative has further been

supplemented by providing free open

source software SPRING"

Gilberto CamaraGeneral DirectorNational Institute for Space Research (INPE)

Long term strategies: One of the primary roles of theindustry is to be innovative and consistently bring new andbetter solutions to the market place. The best possibleway is to think long term and bring solutions to marketsrather than just products. It is important to play a respon-sible role by creating a level of education and knowledgeabout geospatial technology and not merely to worktowards increasing the turnover.

Investment in understanding market dynamics:Studying, analysing and understanding a specific marketis necessary to consider the dynamics of the market, itslevel of maturity and evaluate trends and changes. It isalso important to consider the needs of different users ofdifferent segments to guide them.

Localisation of manufacturingg and product develop-ment: As in any other market, the success or failure of any

business enterprise in thisregion will be decidedby the ability of thecompanies to givesolutions to the chal-

lenges of the localindustry.

At this juncturethe uniqueness of the

country may also beemphasised. Thereforethe customisation ofsolutions to the needsof the people consti-tutes an important step

towards the develop-ment of the indus-

try in Brazil, saysHeber, ChiefExecutive Offi-cer, Geoja.

HUMAN RESOURCE CAPITAL

In Brazil, education and training in geo-information start-ed in the beginning of 1970s, with the National Institutefor Space Research-INPE starting a Masters programmein remote sensing.

Today, cartography engineering courses are beingoffered by the Federal University of Pernambuco-UFP inRecife (NE region), two courses in Rio de Janeiro, at theState University of Rio de Janeiro-UERJ and at the Engi-neering Militar Institute-IME. There is also a course in theState University of São Paulo-UNESP, in Presidente Pru-dente Campus and other in the Federal University ofParaná-UFP in Curitiba. All these institutions are involvedwith cartography, remote sensing, photogrammetry andGIS, mainly the UFP and IME. Marcos Covre informs thatImagem offers courses for GIS students.

CONCLUSION

Brazil as a country is poised to grow and grow to its truepotential. In addition to its natural resources, the countryhas unparalleled human resources with a unique distinc-tion of cultural values and co-existing spirits. Democraticpolitical set-up and visionary leadership has made itsmark and intent to play a key role in world politics andeconomy. Successful bid to host World Cup in 2014 andOlympics in 2016 is an indication of the quest of Braziliansto find their due position and role in world affairs. What isoften considered as laid back attitude of Brazilians can bean asset instead of weakness as it allows process of con-sultation and paves the way for consistency. Being a dem-ocratic country, it is very important to have consensusbuilding through consultation with different stakeholdersand the same needs time and consistency. Undoubtedlyspeed is important, but what is more important is collec-tive view and consistency of direction.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Anamika DasSenior Manager - Conferences, [email protected]


"Environment Paulista: Environmental Quality Report

2010 aims to provide decision makers with relevant

information paying attention the need to formulate

action plans on the environment"

Arlete Tieko OhataDIA Director / CPLA, Secretary of State for the Environment, Sao Paulo

"The Brazilian Geospatial market operates by

the market-makers quoting prices at which they

are prepared to buy or sell, up to some

quantitative limit"

Eng. Marcos GuandaliniSales Director, Alezi Guandalini

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There is a growingconsensus that thefuture of software

is tied to cloud comput-ing and software as aservice. Someday, allsoftware will run onlineand clunky desktopapplications will be adistant memory. Recent-ly, I explored "How Will

GIS Companies Weatherthe Gathering CloudComputing Storm?" andconcluded that cloudcomputing and the soft-ware as a service (SaaS)model would be the pushthat finally delivers GIScapabilities to a muchwider corporate audi-ence beyond its existing

niche markets. One ofthe big problems with GIStoday is that it has failedto fulfil its true potentialoutside its core marketssuch as the government,utilities, telecommunica-tions and oil and gas sec-tors. There is no doubtthat GIS can provide valueto more users and organi-

sations than the marketserves today, but itsuptake by the wider busi-ness community is stilldisappointing. Those of uswho know GIS, understandthat the capability toanalyse data in relation toits location and visualisethe results in easilyunderstood maps, charts

CLOUD COMPUTING I Philip O'Doherty

48

FUTURE BELONGS TO

'GIS as a Service'



and reports ultimatelyincreases the value andutility of that information.But still today, GIS usageis constrained by factorssuch as excessive cost,unnecessary complexityand lack of accessibility.Integrating location intelli-gence into enterprise andline-of-business applica-tions for across-the-boarduse is just too difficult andexpensive using existingclient-server GIS softwaretools.

Despite the con-straints there is a growingdemand for GIS both with-in and beyond its existingniches and some of thatdemand is driven by theavailability of low-end GISonline, for example, con-sumer mapping toolssuch as Google Earth andBing Maps. They firstgained traction in the con-sumer and hobby spacesbut are they reallyequipped for large scaleGIS? Whilst providing theirmapping technologies freeof charge for many uses,companies report that notinsignificant costs canapply when used for inter-nal business purposes.

However, Google andBing have at the very leastbeen great for raisingawareness of the potentialthat exists in GIS and haveshown the way in terms ofaccessibility and ease-of-use. Because of them, thepower of location informa-tion is better understood

by a wider-audience and itwon't be long beforegeospatial capabilities willbecome a base-levelexpectation for moreinformation systems andusers will demandincreasing functionalityand ease-of-access to alldata sources.

More GIS

There is clearly untappeddemand for geospatially-enabled solutions thatbring benefits within itsestablished markets butthe potential uses for GISgo far beyond the existingindustry verticals. Toaddress all these marketssuccessfully, the industryneeds a differentapproach than that of thelast 20 years; an approachthat tackles the problemsof cost, complexity andaccessibility. SaaS andcloud computing is theobvious answer and itwon't be too long beforeSaaS-based solutionsbecome the dominantdelivery method forgeospatial capabilities inenterprise and line-of-business information sys-tems.

But what can usersexpect from GIS in thecloud or GIS as a Service?Will it be just like a webi-fied version of currentdesktop GIS products orwill it be more like asuper-charged consumermapping solution? AteSpatial we believe that

GIS as a Service has got tobridge the yawning gapbetween consumer map-ping applications and tra-ditional corporate GIS,while also including anelement of business intel-ligence. But rather thanjust mimicking today'sclient-server solutions,GIS as a Service has thepotential to offer a lotmore to customers - a lotmore GIS.

At eSpatial, we look atGIS as a Service as a mul-ti-layered offering withtailored business/industryGIS applications sitting ontop of broad GIS function-ality and a robust GISplatform, all delivered inthe cloud via SaaS infra-structure that has all thesecurity, reliability, scala-bility that a user wouldexpect from online appli-cations.

Data and Data Integration

Anyone who knows any-thing about GIS will quick-ly realise that one of thebiggest challenges withGIS as a Service is data.It's already one of the keychallenges facing GIS inthe client-server environ-ment. Because of data'soverarching importance,data integration is a pri-mary design considerationfor GIS as a Service, whichneeds to provide versatileand deep data integrationcapabilities to support thewide range of require-ments of enterprise cus-

tomers. In many aspects,cloud computing eases asignificant amount of painregarding data by bringingflexibility to the table asnever before. For example,allowing access to a rangeof geocoding engines tosupport customers with

varying geocodingrequirements, enablingthem to select the appro-priate capability for theirsituation and making datasharing and data integra-tion a lot easier than intraditional environments.In other ways however,some sceptics see SaaSas further complicatingthe data issue by raisingthe spectre of security and

49

The industry

needs an

approach

that tackles

the problems

of cost,

complexity

and accessi-

bility. SSaaS

and cloud

computing is

the obvious

answer

’

“

privacy, despite papersand reports demonstrat-ing that data is probablymore secure in the cloudthan it is in most privatedata centers.

GIS Cloud Platform and

Functionality

The GIS platform on whichGIS as a Service sitsneeds to have a lot, if notall, of what today's client-server and desktop GISofferings provide, butdelivered and accessed ina radically different way.So just like any geographi-cal information system,GIS as a Service needs tobe able to capture, store,analyse, manage, andpresent data that is linkedto location, allowing usersto create interactivequeries, analyse spatialinformation, edit data,maps, and easily presentthe results of all theseoperations. So far it is

similar to GIS but whereGIS as a Service differs isthat all the functionalityabove is fully accessiblethrough a standard webbrowser and comesready-to-go with essentialbase data as part of thepackage.

And that's just thestart of what SaaSenables. GIS on its own isuseful but its real poweremerges when it is inte-grated with other busi-ness applications. Besidedata, this is the area thathas presented some of thebiggest hurdles for organ-isations looking to adoptGIS. Integrating existingdesktop and client-serverGIS with accounting, cus-tomer relationship man-agement or planningapplications has notalways been easy. Longproject lead times addsignificantly to the cost ofGIS and in the past have

made it difficult for organ-isations to justify invest-ment.

As with data, the cloudparadigm and web tech-nologies have dramaticallysimplified applicationintegration in other fieldsand will do the same forGIS-as-a-Service. All of asudden, it's a lot easier tooffer pre-packaged inte-grations for applicationsand platforms such asSalesforce.com andSharePoint as well aseasily configured APIs toenable rapid integrationwith pretty much any busi-ness application includingenterprise resource plan-ning (ERP), customerrelationship management(CRM), business intelli-gence (BI) and even tradi-tional client-server GISapplications.

On top of this, thecloud phenomenon allowsfor collaboration in a waythat just isn't possiblewhen we are all using isolated silos of GIS func-tionality. SaaS enablescollaborative developmentof easily accessible indus-try-focused solutions thatdovetail with specific busi-ness processes that areoften unique to a sector.The flexibility that is pro-vided by GIS as a Servicemeans that businessesare no longer stuck with aone-size-fits-all solutionas tailored applicationsare developed faster and

deployed on the same GISplatform to be accessedby all subscribers.

This might not soundtoo radical for a growingband of corporate IT userswho have grown used toSaaS applications such asSaleforce.com, Netsuite orWebex; but if GIS as a Service is to succeed, itwill need to meet theexpectations that arebeing set by the moreestablished SaaS andbusiness softwareproviders. Part of meetingthe expectations willmean delivering a pletho-ra of services such asgeospatial business intel-ligence or location intelli-gence tools that go wellbeyond basic GIS.

There is no stoppingthe cloud revolution.There are too manyadvantages to SaaS andcloud computing that arealready shaping how busi-nesses buy software andmanage hardware. Grant-ed it could be some timeyet before the desktop is adistant memory in the GISworld, but GIS is noexception and the accessi-bility, lower cost and flexi-bility that comes with GISas a Service means it willeventually take over fromtoday's Earth-bound solu-tions.

Philip O'DohertyCEO, eSpatial [email protected]


GeospatialWorld I October 2010 51

Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Delft University of Technology and

the Netherlands Institute for Space Research, the Netherlands have conducted a nov-

el study to simultaneously measure, for the first time, trends in how water is trans-

ported across Earth's surface and how the solid Earth responds to the retreat of gla-

ciers following the last major Ice Age, including the shifting of Earth's center of

mass.Using a new methodology, the researchers calculated new estimates of ice loss

in Greenland and Antarctica that are significantly smaller than previous estimates.

According to researchers, the new estimate of shift being larger than previous model

estimates of 0.48 millimeters [.019 inches] per year suggests that either Earth's low-

er mantle must be more viscous than previously believed, or the history of Earth's

deglaciation needs to be significantly revised.

Darker areas in the picture represent greater loss of mass.

Image & text courtesy: NASA

Picture this...

Mass Movement

The XXII ESRI Latin America User Confer-ence 2010 (LAUC 2010) was a spectacleproviding an ideal platform for geospatialstakeholders from 16 countries of theregion. Organised in Mexico City in associa-tion with Sistemas De Informacion Geografi-ca, SA De CV (SIGSA), the three-day con-ference was an eclectic mix of governmentusers, academia and private industry.

The conference opened with a presentationby Carlos Salman Gonzalez, Director Gener-

al, SIGSA. Incidentally, the occasion markedthe 30th anniversary of SIGSA. Carlossketched the history of geospatial industry inMexico and indicated that Mexico is adopting geospatial technologies in tourism,agriculture, forests, minerals and utilitiessegments.

Dean Angelides, Director, InternationalOperations, ESRI, in his special address, dis-cussed the significance of GIS as a founda-tion for a strong economy. What started witha few thousand professionals as a researchproject, GIS, today is all-pervasive, Deanopined and added that computing and networks, measurement, GIS software, GIScience and data policies are all comingtogether and providing greater geographicunderstanding of the world. This was followed by a detailed demonstration onArcGIS 10, its functionalities and exclusivefeatures.

The conference saw the coming together ofabout 950 delegates discussing various top-

ics like planning, urban and rural cadastre,urban and rural development, public safety,disaster management, infrastructure, agri-culture, tourism, natural resources and edu-cation. The conference also witnessed thepresentation of geospatial excellenceawards. A pre-conference workshop on edu-cation was well-represented by the localacademia and research institutes. The one-day workshop had about 14 papers dealingwith various science and applicationsrelated to geospatial technologies.

Latin America right on G-track

ESRI LATIN AMERICA USER CONFERENCE 2010 - Conference report

GeospatialWorld I October 2010

CONFERENCES

53

Mark your Calendar...

OCTOBER 2010

04 - 06 October

International symposium onBenefiting from Earth Observa-tionKathmandu, Nepalhttp://www.icimod.org/?page=1024

04 - 08 October

XVII Conferencia Latinoameri-cana de Usuarios ESRIChilehttp://www.sigsa.info/lauc2010/

05 - 07 October

IntergeoCologne, Germanyhttp://www.intergeo.de/en/englisch/index.php

06 - 07 October

Location and Beyond SummitSan Francisco, CA, UShttp://pointthinktank.com

07 - 09 October 2010

Geospatial technologies for Sustainable PlanetAllahabad, Uttar Pradesh, Indiahttp://www.mnnit.ac.in/opensdi2010

18 - 20 October

ESRI Health GIS ConferenceDenver, Colorado, UShttp://www.esri.com/events/health/index.html

19 - 20 October

Bentley Systems Be InspiredEventAmsterdam, The Netherlands http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Pro-mo/Be+Inspired/

19 - 22 October

2010 Geospatial ConferenceAthens, Georgia Area, UShttp://www.geospatialconference.com

19 - 22 October

12th GSDI world conferenceSingapore

http://www.gsdi.org/gsdiconf/gsdi12

24 - 27 October

GIS for National Security,Defence & Emergency Manage-ment ConferenceAbu Dhabi, UAEhttp://www.geospatialdefence.com

25 - 29 October

8th International ConferenceAfrican Association of RemoteSensing of the Environment(AARSE)Addis Ababa, Ethiopia http://www.aarse2010.org

26 - 28 October

2010 ESRI EuropeMiddle East, and Africa User ConferenceRome, Italyhttp://www.esri.com/events/emea

NOVEMBER 2010

01 - 02 November

Geospatial Expo Middle EastDubai, UAEhttp://geospatialexpo.org

01 - 04 November

GEOINT 2010 New Orleans, LA, UShttp://www.geoint2010.com

02 November

IronGIS Event Naperville, IL, UShttps://solutions.seilerinst.com/NewsandEvents/tabid/143/vw/3/itemid/76/d/20101102/Default.aspx

03 - 04 November

Conferencia ESRI 2010Teruel, Spainhttp://eventos.esri.es/conferen-cia2010/

05 - 06 November

Asia GIS 2010 International ConferenceKaohsiung, Taiwan

http://www.agis2010.tgic.org.tw/eng/index.html

08 - 10 November

Trimble Dimensions 2010Las Vegas, Nevada Area, UShttp://www.trimbleevents.com

09 November

GIS in the Coastal Environment Bundaberg Area, Australiahttp://www.sssi.org.au09 - 10 November

ESRI Malaysia User Meet 2010Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

10 November

GeoDATA 2010 GlasgowGlasgow, United Kingdomhttp://www.citiesrevealed.com/events/geodata10/

10 - 12 November

5th Esri Eastern Africa User Con-ferenceNairobi , Kenyahttp://www.esriea.co.ke/index.php/events-overview

10 - 12 November

XXX INCA international congress- 2010Dehradun, Indiahttp://www.incaindia.org/

16 - 17 November

Rocket City Geospatial ConferenceHuntsville, AL, UShttp://www.rocketcitygeospatial.com

17 - 18 November

Tracking and Positioning Europe Amsterdam, The Netherlandshttp://www.thewherebusiness.com/tracking/

23 - 25 November

Map Africa 2010Cape Town, South Africa http://mapafrica.gisdevelopment.net/

29 November - 03 December

GeoTunis 2010Tunis, Tunisiahttp://www.geotunis.org/2010

30 November - 01 December

European LiDAR Mapping ForumConference and ExhibitionThe Hague , The Netherlands http://www.lidarmap.org/ELMFm

DECEMBER 2010

02 - 04 December

5th International Conference - gvSIGValencia, Spainhttp://jornadas.gvsig.org/home

01 - 03 December

ISRS 2010Pune, Indiahttp://www.isrs2010.in/schedules.aspx

06 - 10 December

5th URISA Caribbean GIS ConferencePort-of Spain, Trinidadhttp://www.urisa.org/conferences/caribbean/info

07 - 08 December

SPAR Europe 2010Amsterdam, The Netherlandshttps://www.eiseverywhere.com/ereg/newreg.php?eventid=12830&

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