SDI Snapshot – April 2017
Here’s a look at what’s happening in Canada and globally in the world of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). This post contains a collection of the latest and most significant SDI news, data, products and events.
Canada ranks eighth in open data inventory for statistical data
Open Data Watch is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, which publishes the Open Data Inventory (ODIN) that assesses the coverage and openness of official national statistics to help identify gaps, promote open data policies, improve access and encourage dialogue between national statistical offices and data users. For the 2016 inventory, Canada ranked eighth out of 173 countries with a score of 75 out of 100. View and download the complete ODIN rankings.
Service New Brunswick publishes water levels to warn of potential flooding in Saint John River Basin
GeoNB is currently posting water levels for the Saint John River Basin via the River Watch app. This flood mapping information includes the following: alert, watch and warning levels; flood lines; extents; flood risk areas; and areas flooded in previous (1973 and 2008) events.
2017 federal budget puts a focus on digital transformation
Canada’s Minister of Finance unveiled the 2017 Canadian budget in the House of Commons recently, and innovation was a clear top priority. Items of note include supercluster and startup investments, Innovation Canada and fast-tracking talent, capital gain taxation, and cyber security.
1000 GIS applications and uses from over 50 industries — How GIS is changing our world
Struggling to find GIS projects for you or your students? Paralyzed when someone asks what GIS can really do? Looking to diversify your business and services? One year in the making, this GIS applications list from GISGeography showcases GIS student project ideas, GIS case studies, GIS projects and GIS uses. This jam-packed guide of 1000 GIS applications will open your mind to our amazing planet and its interconnectivity.
Data
Spatial Data on the Web Best Practices Note published by W3C
The Spatial Data on the Web Best Practices document is intended for practitioners, including web developers and geospatial experts, and is compiled based on evidence of real-world application. These best practices suggest a significant change of emphasis from traditional spatial data infrastructures by adopting a linked data approach.
A series of indicators have been selected to measure Open Data maturity across Europe. These indicators cover the level of development of national policies promoting Open Data and an assessment of the features made available on national data portals as well as the expected impact of Open Data.
Changes to data sourcing in modern times — the new data paradigm
Seaports, waterways and climate are inextricably linked. Weather anomalies change sea bottom contours and destroy aids to navigation, compromising safety. In the past decade, maritime applications, maturing marine technologies and crowdsourcing have given mariners access to near real-time hydrographic data.
Data governance as an accelerator, not a roadblock
Historically, data governance, the management of data access within an enterprise, has been seen as a time-consuming, complex task with minimal long-term value to an organization. Yet along with the emerging role of the Chief Data Officer (CDO), integrated and unified data governance is becoming a critical strategy for data-driven organizations.
Products
OGC requests public comment on proposed Indexed 3D Scene Layers (I3S)
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is requesting public comment on the proposed Indexed 3D Scene Layers Community Standard. An I3S dataset, referred to as a Scene Layer, is a container for encoding and transporting large amounts of 3D geographic data. Indexed 3D Scene Layers was submitted by Esri for consideration as an OGC Community Standard. The submission was supported by 13 OGC member organizations.
Explore the Earth with Esri’s new Landsat Explorer web app
Use Landsat Explorer to both visualize our planet and understand how the Earth has changed over time. Now, users can instantly analyze more than 500,000 Landsat 8 and GLS scenes from around the globe. The analysis tools enable users to perform change detection, create custom masks, make their own indexes, generate spectral and temporal profiles and more all in real time. The app is free with no download or installation required.
An introduction to hosting your own story map
Esri Story Maps are open source. This means you can download the code for any of the story map apps from GitHub, host it on your own server and even customize it. While the needs of most story map authors will be served using the versions of these apps that are hosted on ArcGIS Online (or Portal for ArcGIS), there are a few reasons to consider self-hosting.