Update: Does a Vancouver proposal related to open source mean a new GIS?

Update: Passed.

——original post 5/15/09——

I’m not making that connection, Ralph Grabowski is on his blog WorldCADAccess. The proposal “Open Data, Open Standards and Open Source” (pdf) aims to put open source and proprietary software (it says commercial, actually) on the same footing when “when replacing existing software or considering new applications” (among other open things). It’s got the mayor’s support.

One of the things in the text of the motion notes that Vancouver is not part of a non-profit spatial data sharing organization called the Integrated Cadastral Information Society (ICIS). [Corrected per Paul’s comment] Per the proposal Vancouver would join.

That leads Grabowski to ask: “I wonder: does this desired change in mapping supplier indicate some kind of backlash against Digital City?” Vancouver is the third city to be involved in Autodesk’s pilot program Digital Cities.

Three geoblogs cover the topic, with a different perspective: Fuzzy Tolerance, Between the Poles, and Paul Ramsey.