Welcome to GISWeekly! DM Solutions Group has been involved in the development of MapServer technology with the University of Minnesota for about six years. Dave McIlhagga, President and CEO of DM Solutions, said that at that time, there were about 100 users of the technology. Now DM Solutions estimates that there are between 30,000 and 70,000 installations of MapServer worldwide. In an interview with GISWeekly, McIlhagga presented some background on MapServer and talked about their recent announcement of MapSherpa, a web services offering built on MapServer technology.
Also, GISWeekly's new Discussion Boards include topics such as Intergraph, ESRI, and Autodesk MapGuide. Post your questions or concerns on these boards and help to get some discussions going.
GISWeekly examines select top news each week, picks out worthwhile reading from around the web, and special interest items you might not find elsewhere. This issue will feature Industry News, Top News of the Week, Announcements, Contract Awards, Awards, People, New Products, Letters to the Editor and Upcoming Events.
GISWeekly welcomes letters and feedback from readers, so let us know what you think. Send your comments to me Here.
Best wishes,
Susan Smith, Managing Editor
Industry News
Interview with DM Solutions
by Susan Smith
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MapSherpa is DM Solutions Group's platform for delivery of spatial web services enabling the easy addition of high quality interactive maps to any organization's web site or web application. MapSherpa provides an environment where web developers can distribute maps combined with other spatially enabled information using Web 2.0 technologies for smooth drag, zoom and location queries.
MapServer technology was created at the University of Minnesota, but did you create something specially for Autodesk?
DM: Autodesk came later into the picture.
We've been involved in this for quite some time, in providing more support for some of the capabilities that MapServer has. For instance, when we first started using it, there was no Windows support for MapServer technology which was a huge barrier to its adoption. So we began to actively support Windows for the community and the Open Source universe. That was one of many additions to the technology that has spurred its tremendous growth over the last few years.
Where Autodesk came into the picture was, last fall they made the decision to open source MapGuide as a new technology. At one point there was an attempt to bring these two things under a common umbrella - two technologies in the MapServer universe. After receiving feedback from the community, they decided to keep them separate so there are two projects, MapGuide Open Source and the MapServer Project. We've been involved in both technologies.
Phase one of our business was to grow adoption of our technology and now in Phase 2, we're beginning to roll the services and products around that to provide greater support to the communities that are using the technologies.
MapSherpa is our web services offering built around the MapServer Technology, which is a vehicle for us to build custom solutions for our customers on top of it. We leverage that infrastructure capability ourselves to build custom solutions for customers and also sell access for third party developers to leverage the API to build applications for themselves.
MapSherpa is then to be used exclusively with MapServer?
It's actually based on MapServer but it's a hosted service, so the user never has to use MapServer itself. They can just plug into the API and build their applications on top of it. MapSherpa is built around MapServer. MapServer draws the maps and provides the webmapping interface. Customers don't have to download or install any software technology -- they can build their applications into their web pages and web environment and plug directly into our services.
Who are the users of MapSherpa?
They're typically very IT savvy, have good skills in IT but very little in the way of geospatial background. They're really coming from the web development universe. They know they need mapping but they don't want to have to learn all about what shapefiles are, GIS projections, etc. they simply want to be able to depend upon a service. That's the target audience. One of our customers is using it for asset tracking so they get GPS points for where vehicles may be located. They can use our API to draw the maps behind that and plot the specific locations of the vehicles with that
Do you see this as a trend, offering solutions to the IT user?
I think it's a very important part of making this all more accessible. The problem with GIS in general has been that the GIS industry has tried to get the world to use GIS, but there was too much of a learning curve as a barrier for people to adopt it. This is a means by which people can effectively benefit from GIS and use geospatial capabilities without going through the extensive learning curve of becoming a GIS analyst. The main thing is it [technology] could drive a change in the role of GIS analysts, maybe leaning more towards helping and enabling those IT people to be able to leverage those kinds of technologies, rather than being the point where all GIS technologies take place.
We're working on a lightweight editing capability on the web, so that via the web you can edit and modify geospatial data. Historically, that's been the domain of GIS experts. Those who have access to a web browser can now have some sort of control. There is a need for the GIS people who have the background expertise to support them and to help them be able to use these tools. It's a fairly dramatic shift in how geospatial information is managed and created.
Will users be able to use Google Earth with MapServer?
There have been a lot of people with MapServer, MapGuide and MapGuide Open Source doing integration through KML to Google Earth. One of our objectives in the near term is to be able to enable that with MapSherpa as well.
One of the benefits of building on the MapServer technology is that we can also deploy it and make it accessible to an organization's own geospatial assets. One of the big lessons of Google Map and Google Earth is that by making this more accessible to the IT world, it can really take off, and be used many ways than we can imagine. We want to achieve the same thing by using an organization's own data rather than what a provider might provide through Maptech or TeleAtlas data. Often utilities or municipalities have rich datasets of information that they want to get to the public or their own decision makers. We're expecting that MapSherpa can play a strong role in making that happen.
What is on the horizon for DM Solutions?
We will be introducing Premier Services
Would you say this is similar to what Autodesk is offering with its Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise 2007? Premier Services is similar; the biggest difference is how we handle people who are using these technologies who really need support. Developers using it know if there's a problem, they have someone to call. But because it's web mapping technology, the real question is, how do I use this effectively to build high quality applications? It's not like when you buy a software product that comes with support. This is enabling technology for users to build applications on top of, so they need a level of support and advice and best practices, and that's what Premier Services will bring to them in addition to the commercial support you expect around the product - hands on advice for those who want to know how to effectively do cartography on the web.
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MapSherpa uses DM Solutions Group's Maps for Mapserver data products as the basis for its cartographic output. MapSherpa's maps come from a variety of sources, and have been optimized for tiled output.
Top News of the Week
John Copple, CEO of Sanborn, is pleased to announce that the company has been selected by the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide statewide digital terrain models and color orthophotography for the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA).
The VITA, through its Virginia Geographic Information Network (VGIN), is the lead public agency in the Commonwealth for spatial data and geographic information systems (GIS). VITA's VGIN mission is to facilitate the cost effective development and use of spatial data, GIS, and related technologies in organizations throughout the Commonwealth.
GeoEye announced that the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) Stereo Airfield Collection program has awarded the company $3.7 million to image 365 airfields and produce Airport Mapping Databases (AMDB) over a 12-month period. GeoEye will deliver IKONOS stereo imagery and perform three-dimensional airport feature extraction services in accordance with NGA specifications. This is the NGA's third and largest Airport Mapping Database award to GeoEye, following two prior awards for three airfields in 2004 and 15 airfields in 2005. The effective date of this award is June 2006.
Announcements
PCI Geomatics has achieved complete certification for its flagship software, Geomatica®, to be used for processing data from the CARTOSAT-1 satellite, from the Indian government-contracted ANTRIX Corporation.
Intergraph Corporation announced WPS Resources Corporation (NYSE: WPS) has successfully implemented and deployed Intergraph's Outage Management System (OMS), based on InService technology. This enhanced technology will assist WPS Resources Corporation's electric and natural gas subsidiaries in delivering reliable and affordable service to customers in northeastern and central Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.
With the emergence of portable navigation suppliers and consumer electronic companies, the European aftermarket for telematics and infotainment systems is witnessing growing competition. Accordingly, major consumer electronic suppliers are consolidating their position as leaders in the market, which was earlier dominated by traditional automotive companies. As a result, the market is experiencing greater demand for navigation solutions, mobile services for off-board support and Bluetooth car-kits, thereby also assisting the growth of component suppliers and solution providers.
"The leading product segments such as navigation and Bluetooth telephony are luring an increasing number of suppliers in the value chain, thus contributing to the highly dynamic nature of the aftermarket," notes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Shyamsundar Anandhan.
Contract Awards
OSI Geospatial Inc. announced it has signed two contracts for the U.S. Air Force totaling approximately C$1.7 million (US$1.5 million). These development contracts continue engineering work underway to improve the effectiveness of certain existing systems and processes. Work will be performed over the next two years.
Photo Science has taken delivery of a second Z/I Imaging Digital Mapping Camera (DMC) as part of its continued migration strategy to an “all-digital” acquisition fleet. As early adopters of digital sensor technologies, Photo Science has been providing these services since 2003. As part of this strategy, Photo Science continues to invest in image processing infrastructure to best deliver geospatial solutions to its client base. This capability truly enables a fully-digital workflow process throughout the project lifecycle from mission planning; integrated flight navigation; simultaneous (panchromatic, color and color infrared) digital image acquisition; softcopy analytical aerotriangulation; feature extraction to GIS database delivery.
All Virginia public school students in grades 6-12 will soon have the opportunity to use geographic information system (GIS) software and extensions. Virginia's statewide
Awards
Guy Carpenter & Company, Inc., the leading global risk and reinsurance specialist and a part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies announced that it has been named 2006 winner of the Oracle(R) Spatial Excellence "Innovator of the Year" Award in recognition of its Gradient Analysis Tool, one of the portfolio management tools offered as part of its revolutionary i-aXs(TM) online risk management platform.
People
HP announced that Pablo Sanchez-Lozano has been named senior vice president and general manager of its Managed Services business unit within HP Services.
With more than 15 years in HP Services, Sanchez-Lozano, 40, brings extensive global business management, sales engagement and finance expertise to his new position. He will report to Steve Smith, senior vice president of HP Services.
New Products
GlobeXplorer announced the successful loading of its 200th DigitalGlobe CitySphere market to its suite of online data services for mapping/GIS users and Web developers.
Dated from 2002 to 2006, the CitySphere collection includes high-resolution satellite imagery of 200 of the largest cities across the globe, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
DigitalGlobe's CitySphere collection features orthorectified 2-foot color imagery The resolution and industry-leading accuracy of CitySphere make it ideal for use as a basemap in Web mapping, GIS, and other applications.
Digital mapping and geographic information systems (GIS) software developer Cadcorp has announced that it is offering three new Plug-ins for XML-based data for use with its Cadcorp SIS - Spatial Information System software suite.
The GeoRSS, GPX and MIDAS Plug-ins are part of V6.3 of Cadcorp SIS, due later this year, but are fully compatible with the current V6.2 release. The new Plug-ins will be available for free download from the Cadcorp web site.
The next service pack release of Cadcorp SIS V6.2 will include a version of the free Map Browser product that will be able to use the GeoRSS Plug-in. This will enable Map Browser users to load GeoRSS 'feeds' and to combine them with Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.™ (OGC™) W*S services.
Century 21 Real Estate LLC, through a relationship with Microsoft Virtual Earth and Microsoft Map Point, announced the introduction of CENTURY 21 Property Search Gold, a platform that combines rich, satellite mapping functionality with the ability for users to view CENTURY 21 property listings based on their personal search criteria. For consumers, this means they can conduct property searches including mapping a potential neighborhood and researching local neighborhood information without ever leaving their home. This feature was launched on Century21.com.
Matrox Graphics announced EpicA series dual- and quad-display graphics cards designed for thin clients and other mission-critical systems. EpicA products have new, innovative, server-based software from Matrox to manage multi-display configurations in remote sessions. The cards also feature support for 2 or 4 digital and analog monitors at a time, small form factors, low power consumption, passive (fanless) cooling, and PCI bus interfaces.
Letters to the Editor
Intergraph User Conference
Hi Susan,
I attended Intergraph's inaugural international users conference this past week in Orlando, Florida. It was well worth going, if anything, just to see the broad range of Intergraph technical solutions. Ben Eazzetta, President of Intergraph SGI (Security, Government, Infrastructure) made a point that Intergraph is not trying to be all things to all people. From a geospatial perspective, they seem to be very focused on selected markets (public safety, land information systems, communications and utilities, photogrammetry, transportation, security, defense, among others). Intergraph appears to have a very loyal customer and partner base - I am a long-time user of Intergraph GIS products, namely the GeoMedia product suite (GeoMedia Pro, GeoMedia Grid, GeoMedia WebMap, etc.). Under the leadership of Halsey Wise, Intergraph seems to moving in the right direction. Like the Intergraph days of old, this conference brought together all Intergraph organizations under one roof including Process, Power, Shipbuilding and Offshore. General Colin Powell provided the keynote address - his down-to-earth style was refreshing considering his background and experiences. He received a standing ovation many times over from an audience that was represented by users from more than 60 countries. The hands-on workshops were very informative and useful and the overall conference setting was excellent. I would have liked to have heard more customer success stories, similar to that which was done at past conferences, and less about the financial status of the company, but I understand the point Intergraph was trying to make. I was also impressed with how seemingly young Intergraph leadership appears to be - I'm 43 and don't consider myself old by any means except when I'm trying to play basketball against my 12-year old son. Physical characteristics aside, Intergraph's youthful leadership appears focused with plans to grow the company.
Given that Intergraph is a leader in this marketplace, I honestly expected more press coverage from folks like yourself. I understand, however, that it is difficult to attend all the many and varied conferences available to the geospatial user community.
Thanks and have a good day.
Vincent H. Nicchitta
Essex Corporation, GeoSpatial Solutions Group
GIS Program Manager
Fort Belvoir GIS Center
Directorate of Public Works
Dear Vince,
Re: our attendance. We have attended the Intergraph Conference for many years running (and I was in regular attendance during the IGUG years), but this year our company chose not to send an editor and to put our resources elsewhere.
Thanks for your interest in GISCafe.
Susan
Upcoming Events
European Science Foundation and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Climate Change Meeting
Date: June 24 - 29, 2006
Place: Nynashamn, Sweden
Climate change caused by global warming represents one of the greatest challenges of the 21st Century, necessitating the engagement of all sections of society, local and global. This conference will address the climate variability at different time and spatial scales by taking into account the coupling between the atmosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere-cryosphere and geosphere. Beyond the comprehensive analysis of climate variability and its causes, the conference will address the predicted effects of climate change on ecosystems, agriculture, human health and infrastructure. This ESF-JSPS Frontier Science Meeting for Young Researchers will bring together leading researchers and young scientists from Europe and Japan to review recent progress and future prospects in their areas of expertise. An interactive session among participants will give the opportunity to discuss future trends and needs in climate research. Poster sessions are planned, with posters on display for the whole duration of the conference.
GRAFEPHS 2006
Date: June 27 - 29, 2006
Place: Hong Kong, Japan
Geospatial Research and Application Frontiers in Environmental and Public Health Systems The 1st International Conference in GIS and Health hosted by HKU and LREIS of Beijing
Summer Institute on Geographic Information Science
Date: June 26 - July 7, 2006
Place: Fattoria Montebeni Florence, Italy
Celebrating the fifth centenary of Vespucci's discoveries, the Vespucci Initiative recaptures his spirit of multi-disciplinary intellectual enquiry to explore new frontiers of knowledge. To that end it organizes and conducts a range of research and teaching activities, bringing together senior scientists and promising young researchers from around the world. This unique interdisciplinary mix creates what has been called the Medici Effect. (Perhaps it is no coincidence that the summer institutes are held in Florence!) What these particular researchers have in common is a special interest in the locational aspects of societal challenges.
AGIT 2006 -Conference and Exhibition on Applied Geoinformatics
Date: July 5 - 7, 2006
Place: Salzburg, Austria
Every year in early July, Salzburg is the centre of the German-speaking World of GIS: The 18th Conference and Exhibition on Applied Geoinformatics (AGIT 2006) serves as a venue for the exchange of ideas, learning about new developments and presenting innovative projects in Applied Geoinformatics.
Accuracy 2006 - The Seventh International Symposium on Spatial Accuracy Assessment in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
Date: July 5 - 7, 2006
Place: Lisbon, Portugal
Accuracy 2006 is the 7th meeting in a series of biannual symposia organized by the Spatial Accuracy Research Group, that focuses on how to measure, model and handle uncertainty in spatial data, specifically originating from the fields of environment and natural resources. This group involves both researchers and GIS specialists who share a common interest on the use of spatial data and the management of its uncertainty.
IGNSS 2006
Date: July 17 - 21, 2006
Place: Holiday Inn Surfers Paradise Gold Coast , Australia
This is a great opportunity to see the latest products offered in Australia by leaders in the field of equipment, services and applications in positioning, navigation and more.
GeoWeb 2006
Date: July 24 - 28, 2006
Place: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Make plans now to attend GeoWeb 2006, the premier conference for Web-based geographic information systems-featuring 13 half-day workshops, nearly 70 paper presentations, keynoters, and a products and services exhibition that bring together the world of professional GIS and the broader world of the Web.