Spatial Innovision Limited Named one of Jamaica’s Pioneers of Prosperity

Spatial Innovision Limited, a GIS/GPS consultancy, along with Totally Male Limited (a men’s spa business), are the first Jamaican winners of the Pioneers of Prosperity Caribbean Awards. The awards are for small companies with revenues over $50,000. The two Jamaican winners each won $40,000 and will now compete with winners from Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Haiti, and Trinidad and Tobago for the top prize of $60,000.

The competition is organised by the international competitiveness consulting firm OTF Group, and funded by the IDB and the John Templeton Foundation. This is the first year for the Carribean version, but an African event has been held since 2007.

- Jamaica Observer

Handbook on Geospatial Infrastructure in Support of Census Activities - from the UN

Did you know there’s a 2010 World Population and Housing Census Programme going on? It’s a United Nations program that offers support to countries to do a census and aims to gather information from them.

Among the resources is the “Handbook on Geospatial Infrastructure in Support of Census Activities” is now available in print and online from a page that includes other census related publications.

- Programme Page

Making Sense of Zer01 via Coverage Maps

You may have heard about new “too good to be true” wireless carrier called Zer01 over the last few days. There’s a lot of skepticism and various outlets try to figure out what’s going on. Laptop Magazine decided that the company must be piggy-backing off an existing carrier. How did they find which one it might be? By comparing coverage maps.

The coverage map of AT&T matches Zer01’s map, but AT&T states that there’s no relationship. T-Mobile would not comment one way or the other, but its map doesn’t match Zer01’s map.

I’m not sure this helps clarify anything (the coverage map could simply have been copied), but I do applaud trying to use maps as evidence.

- Laptop Magazine

Delta County Colorado Details Data Sale Policy

The entire policy is detailed in an article in the local paper.  It was written to help guide GIS director Paul Healy in dealing with requests for large datasets for commercial use. One such request came up in April.

The policy says in short that Board of County Commissioners Approval is needed for requests of data for more than ten parcels, though spatial data can be given to “government or community non-profit agencies or to companies doing contractual work directly for Delta County.“There are exceptions for surveyors, engineers, land developers and students.

The article goes on to say that the all of the geospatial data typically requested is available via the county website.

- Delta County Independent

Belize to Launch SDI Effort Next Week

The Land Information Center in Belize will lead the NSDI effort along with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, through the Land and Surveys Department, and in collaboration with Galen University, the Water Center for the Humid Tropics of Latin America & the Caribbean (CATHALAC), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The effort aims to “foster national development by promoting national competitiveness and productivity.” The inaugural conference will be held in San Ignacio Town on July 29 and 30, 2009.

- The Guardian