Thursday, November 19. 2009

Oregon Data Portal Opens

Phase One of the The Oregon Spatial Data Library was launched in November 18 for GIS Day. "The Oregon Spatial Data Library provides easy and convenient ways to find, access and share geospatial data."

It's all ESRI-based, including an ArcGIS Server viewer. Strangely, the basemap that appears has "For Official Use Only" stamped on it. I could not find out why. You can download data (it's actually e-mailed to you) in many formats (MIF, shapefile, E00, KML, GML, GeoJSON, DWG) from the download page, but the viewer only exports bitmaps from what I can tell.

- press release (Note to PR people: this release has not made it to any news sites yet!)

Tuesday, November 17. 2009

Geo Soft Launch Central

Last week USGS made public its new viewer for The National Map (TMN). It's build on NGA's Palanterra 3. I'm confused by the site which says: "Beta URL not ready for wide-distribution until stability testing is completed prior to the end of the calendar year." Thus, I'll not include the URL. Another concern: there's no form to submit suggestions after you test it out. I did contact USGS; I was encouraged to note the upcoming features that are planned (you'll find them noted on the site...) and to stress that it's beta. Expect big news on Dec 3, when USGS celebrates the 125th anniversary of the national mapping program.

Today ESRI soft launched a GIS wiki at wiki.gis.com. A tweet prompted Caitlin at GIS Lounge to explore it. Perhaps it will be formally announced on GIS Day? (Wednesday)

Wednesday, November 11. 2009

LINZ Interested in Public/Private Data Options

Land information minister Maurice Williamson and Land Information NZ (LINZ) chief executive Colin MacDonald noted being open to working with private companies to secure data for the citizenry of New Zealand. In one exercise, all the attendees at the ESRI NZ user conference were asked to stand, then to sit if they didn't want to cooperate with LINZ. Reportedly, just one person sat.

Also interesting, private company Critchlow Ltd, Director Steve Critchlow noted his willingness to make some of his IP available.

"If it's on the right terms" Critchlow Ltd would be prepared to transfer some of its intellectual property to government, says Steve Critchlow.

Critchelow himself was there as he chairs the Spatial Industries Business Association of NZ and was as I understand it, invited to speak on a panel. Stuff.co.nz reports: "ESRI and Critchlow Ltd are competitors so no Critchlow staff attended the bulk of the conference."

- Stuff.co.nz

New ESRI Viewer to Play With

Check out #ESRI #Geoportal #Flex Data #Finder Widget: http://geoss.esri.com/geoviewer - supports AGS, ArcIMS, WMS & GeoRSS.

@martenhogeweg

I didn't have much luck running it in Safari - could not zoom in...and could not figure out how to clear a search. (The help is not yet implemented.)

Friday, November 6. 2009

ESRI Keywords: Authoritative Data, Generic Services

Wyatt Kash, editor in chief at Government Computer News was on the questioning side of the latest interviewwith ESRI's Jack Dangermond.

Dangermond highlights the differences between Google Earth-based Virtual Alabama and ESRI-based Virginia Interoperability Picture for Emergency Response, VIPER. The former copies data to central repository for visualization while the latter is built on a services framework that pulls live data and analyzes it. He recounts the history of online mapping (it started wtih MapQuest). He evaluates how Vivek Kundra is doing and lays out his vision for Web GIS.

A few things stand out in this interview:

- many repeated uses of the terms "authoritative data" and "generic services"
- discussion of a hosting option for ArcGIS online which provides "users additional options to extend their systems"
- a reference to the recent integration of data.gov and geodata.gov (I don't think I was aware of that)

- Government Computer News

Monday, November 2. 2009

Maryland #1 in ARRA GIS Sites, But...

A Computerworld article lauds Maryland's use of GIS in reporting on the state of stimulus funding, but also notes some warts.

The article notes:

StateStat has the potential to show citizens the return on investment they get from get from government programs, and it could be used to hold agency chiefs accountable, O'Malley says.

During biweekly meetings with department heads, the governor uses GIS maps to track projects and the performance of departments. O'Malley says he uses GIS maps to quickly assess which divisions are performing well and which need new leadership. "That ability to recognize who the leaders are is what gets your entire organization to lean forward. That's what makes it go," he says.

The article does not explain how that potential to show ROI would be met, nor how GIS shows which divisions are performing well and which need new leadership. I hope Maryland staffers or the publication can detail those processes and share them with other states.

The daily challenges of the StateStat effort are detailed by Beth Blauer, director of the program. On her list are:

Data:
Says Blauer: "Those issues include data ownership, accuracy, age, how often data is refreshed and whether it will be meaningful to decision-makers."

Interoperability:
"Because the state agencies use many different GIS servers and databases, they export data in Excel format and give it to Blauer's staff, who must import it manually. It has been particularly difficult to maintain data integrity and get updates automated, she says."

Deeper Analysis:
"Another goal is to add performance data that could, for example, illustrate the impact of a program by showing the effect of spending on the unemployment rate.

Blauer says that eventually, StateStat will be used at all levels of government and available to the public. "You'll be able to see where we are spending money in education and whether the test scores are getting better.""
And of course, that means showing causation, not just correlation.

(Future) Public Participation:
"They will be able to engage in a dialogue with government using the data," she says."

Also on the Governors list: an app to show how state funds are allocated and downloadable data.

Hat tip to Computerworld for going beyond the shiny maps.