Florida GIS Data

2008-11-14T20:51:00.002-05:00

Geographic Technologies Group Selected for Multiple Software Contracts Including Sanibel, FL

Geographic Technologies Group® (GTG®) was selected for multiple software contracts including: Sutter County, California—purchased one (1) additional seat of LGmobile Community Connect. City of Albany, Oregon—upgrading from LGdispatch to LGdispatch Community Connect. Yuba County, California—upgrading from LGdispatch to LGdispatch Community Connect and from LGmobile to LGmobile Community Connect. Wayne County, North Carolina—purchased Geo Blade Viewer. City of Naperville, Illinois—purchased Geo Blade AVL and ten (10) seats of Geo Blade Viewer including the pictometry module.

The City of Sanibel, Florida selected GTG to develop a GIS Needs Assessment and Strategic Implementation Plan.

Powhatan County, Virginia selected GTG for GIS location based Situs address collection and database development.

GTG is pleased to welcome Donald Lee to their North Carolina corporate office as a Software Support Specialist.

If you are looking for the right GIS software for your organization, then GTG offers something for you! Request information at www.geotg.com/webrequests.request.htm.

About Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG):

GTG is a full-service local government GIS consulting company offering specialized experience in the planning, design, implementation, and procurement of geo-technologies. GTG has unmatched technical GIS capabilities, demonstrated successes, international experience, and a reputation for successfully implementing the right solutions. GTG develops GIS products that spatially enable various enterprise solutions and integrates an organization's IT investment via a common interface. GTG also offers stand alone products for land management, public safety, public access, touch screen technology, and utilities.

GTG has over 700 clients located throughout North America and Europe and serves all levels of government as well as the private sector. To support our clients, GTG maintains four offices located across the United States: Headquarters in North Carolina, and Regional Offices in Texas, Florida, and Illinois.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. at 888-757-4222, or you can access our website at www.geotg.com.

Press Release - GTG
Copyright Geographic Technologies Group

2008-11-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

Libraries Sponsor Second-Annual Geographic Information Systems Day on Nov. 19th, 2008

The George A. Smathers Libraries will host an all-day event to showcase the use of geographic information systems (GIS) to the academic community and the public on Nov. 19. GIS Day is a global event that celebrates GIS and is held each year on the Wednesday of National Geographic Society’s Geography Awareness Week, held from Nov. 16 to 22.

The George A. Smathers Libraries will provide this opportunity for those curious about GIS to see its applications in action. It also will allow the many departments on campus who use GIS to come together to share the research projects on which they are working. Most importantly, it will highlight the many services and resources in the libraries’ Spatial Information Services Unit available for researchers using GIS.

The event will include speakers from a number of different departments across campus as well as a special guest from the St. Johns River Water Management District who will talk about using GIS in litigation. After the morning presentations, there will be a cake-cutting ceremony and opening of the exhibit hall area. This area will include information about the many resources in the libraries that support GIS from data and books to GIS consulting services. Also offered will be demonstrations of GIS software, as well as booths set up by various organizations across campus and in the community that use GIS or related technologies.

A poster session will be held from 12:30 to 1 p.m. The posters will showcase how GIS is used in actual research at the University of Florida. The day will conclude with a geocaching event from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m.

Pre-registration is required for geocaching on the GIS Day Web site, http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/msl/gisday2008/. Geocaching is a popular hobby that allows people to use GPS technology to locate hidden clues and treasures. Everyone, no matter what level of previous experience, is encouraged to sign up for this event.

For a complete schedule and list of exhibits for GIS Day, please visit http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/msl/gisday2008/ or call 352-273-2825.

UF News - Carol McAuliffe

2008-11-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

Stiles and BRA Team to Relocate Tortoises to Nature Preserve

Biological Research Associates (BRA ), a division of ENTRIX, Inc., one of the largest natural resource management firms in the nation, today announced the successful completion of a gopher tortoise relocation project for Stiles Corporation. Seven tortoises were moved from a commercial tract being developed by Stiles in Hernando County to a new home in a nearby nature preserve.

“Knowing that doing the right thing is not always the easiest and cheapest way of doing business, Stiles Corporation chose to take the high road to protect the tortoises,” said Lee Walton, senior project scientist for Tampa-based BRA . “Even after fulfilling all the conditions set in the original permit, which included a monetary contribution to the Wildlife Resource Mitigation Fund for the acquisition of protected tortoise habitat, Stiles chose to go the extra mile and requested our assistance to ensure that the tortoises on-site would be relocated out of harm’s way.”

For several months, BRA surveyed and marked tortoise burrows on Stiles’ Villages of Avalon commercial tract in the Spring Hill area, in preparation for the relocation to the 2.5-acre Tower Island preserve, located within Manatee County’s Emerson Point Park.

“The Tower Island site, managed by Manatee County Conservation Lands Management Department, is a good home for the tortoises because it is a protected site with plenty of suitable habitat,” said Walton. “The site also has a nature trail to allow the public to view one of the state’s oldest residences.”

Once a safe and permanent new home was identified for the tortoises, a petition to amend the original permit was submitted to the State of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which granted the request.

In September, BRA safely excavated every tortoise burrow on the site. Some of the burrows were 20 feet in length and up to 12 feet below existing grade. All the tortoises were transported to the Tower Island site and released to their new home.

A full-service environmental consulting firm providing a broad spectrum of environmental services, Biological Research Associates provides innovative solutions in regulatory permitting, environmental assessment, natural resource management, ecology, GIS and other related services. BRA serves all of Florida, the southeastern United States, Caribbean, and Central America from full-service offices in Tampa, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Destin, Panama City, Vero Beach, Fort Myers, and West Palm Beach, Florida. For more information, please visit www.biologicalresearch.com.

Press Release - BRA
© 2008 Biological Research Associates

2008-11-09T19:54:00.002-05:00

ArcGIS I Course Offered at Florida Community College's Technology Institute of the South

The Florida Community College's Technology Institute of the South will be offering a 16 hour "Introduction to Arc GIS I" course in downtown Jacksonville. The institute is located at 601 West State Street in Jacksonville, FL.

Dates: December 11th - 12th, 2008 (Thursday, Friday)
Hours: 8:30am - 4:30pm

This is an ESRI authorized course and is taught by an ESRI authorized instructor. Students will receive a certificate from ESRI upon completion of the course.

For more information and to register please contact Gwendolyn Ethridg at (904) 632-5059 or via email at gethridg@fccj.edu

Course Overview:

Introduction to ArcGIS I - Two days

Audience
This course is for those who are new to ArcGIS and new to geographic information systems in general.

Prerequisites and recommendations
Participants should know how to use windowing software. This course provides the fundamental ArcGIS knowledge and experience needed to enroll in Introduction to ArcGIS II.

GOALS

· Display feature and tabular data

· Work with georeferenced spatial data

· Query features using logical expressions

· Find features using spatial relationships

· Edit spatial and attribute data

· Associate tables with joins and relates

· Produce maps, reports, and graphs

TOPICS COVERED

ArcGIS overview: Capabilities and applications

Interacting with the interface

Basic display Spatial data concepts: Representing spatial data and descriptive information

ArcGIS data model: Geodatabases, Shapefiles, Coverages, Feature types, Attributes

GIS software: Components, Functions, Applications

Spatial coordinate systems and map projections: Georeferencing data

What map projections are

How ArcMap works with map projections

Querying data: Selecting and identifying features

Creating reports and graphs

Map displays: Creating, Symbolizing, Scaling, Adding map elements

2008-11-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

Geographic Technologies Group Welcomes Marketing Technician, Matthew McLamb

Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG) announces the recent addition of Matthew McLamb, Marketing Technician, to their North Carolina corporate office.

Matthew is in his final year at Mount Olive College and is majoring in Computer Information Systems. His background in technology will be beneficial to GTG’s clients.

“I enjoy working in the field of GIS technology and learning how it can impact and benefit local government organizations,” said Matthew. “I hope that my skills will be beneficial to GTG’s Marketing Department.”

As a Marketing Technician, Matthew will be responsible for ensuring that GTG is present in the media and that clients are aware of current happenings, along with new products and updates at GTG.

“Matthew’s background in technology coupled with his interest in marketing and business practices make him an asset to the GTG team,” said Curt Hinton, CEO of GTG. “Having Matthew on board will enhance our Marketing Department and ensure that clients are up-to-date on what is new at GTG.”

Press Release - GTG
Copyright Geographic Technologies Group

2008-11-02T18:54:00.002-05:00

Next Northeast Florida GIS User Group (NEFGIS) Meeting Scheduled for November 14th, 2008

The next Northeast Florida GIS User Group (NEFGIS) meeting is scheduled for Friday - November 14th, 2008 from 11am - 1pm at the offices of England, Thims, and Miller located at offices 14475 Old St. Augustine Road in Jacksonville, FL.

The meeting will include presentations on Field Data Collection from:

- Jim Robeson from GPServ about what's new with Trimble.

- Jeff Arnold from GeoAge on their FAST field data collection software.

If you need an further details, please feel free to contact Amy Miller (Information Systems Coordinator - St. Johns County Utility Department) at (904) 209-2636 or via email at amiller@sjcfl.us

Also be sure to join the NEFGIS Group if you are interested in keeping up with all GIS matters in Northeast Florida.

2008-10-30T18:38:00.000-04:00

Bay County, FL Launches New Website; GIS Interactive Map Included Under Online Services

Bay County, FL has recently revamped their website to make it more user-friendly. The "Online Services" drop down list on the left-hand side now includes a direct link to their GIS Interactive Map.

The application includes GIS layers for:

- Panama City
- Panama City Beach
- Callaway
- Facilities
- Infrastructure
- Property
- Political Boundaries
- Planning
- Emergency Planning
- Census
- Natural Resources
- Aerials

2008-10-29T18:45:00.000-04:00

ERDAS Raises Radar Mapping to a New Level

ERDAS announces the industry’s most advanced radar mapping technology in the latest release of the IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite. In the IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite 9.3, ERDAS continues to focus on operational software, taking the best of developmental algorithms and implementing these into a user-friendly environment, easily accessible for both the novice and the expert user. With intelligent defaults and optimized processing, the IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite is fully integrated into ERDAS IMAGINE, the world’s foremost solution for manipulating, processing and understanding imagery and vector data.

With over 15 years of experience in radar image processing, ERDAS continues to build partnerships with leaders in Radar worldwide. The IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite is currently being enhanced in collaboration with the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). Recently, the DLR-created SRTM unwrap algorithm was incorporated into the IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite. These new modules are flexible and can be customized to meet any organization’s needs.

“RADAR mapping offers a highly complementary alternative to traditional optical imaging and mapping methods, providing different perspectives on the Earth’s surface and information content that is unavailable in optical imagery,” said Brad Skelton, Chief Technology Officer, ERDAS. “The IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite provides specialized tools for processing radar data in a standard remote sensing or GIS environment.”

The IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite includes IMAGINE OrthoRadar, IMAGINE Radar Interpreter, IMAGINE StereoSAR DEM, IMAGINE InSAR and the newest module, IMAGINE Coherence Change Detection. IMAGINE Coherence Change Detection assists the analyst in detecting changes in interferometric SAR data. With tools for georectifying, filtering and calibrating radar images, analysts can derive elevation information regardless of cloud cover, day or night from stereo or interferometric image-pairs.

In the IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite, analysts can save their radar data in any raster format, create color images to emphasize the magnitude of change, derive binary images to detect the most dramatic changes, create shapefiles for GIS applications and more. Utilizing the power of ERDAS IMAGINE, these tools are interoperable, supporting all raster file formats, with the ability to seamlessly connect your radar data to any of ERDAS’ portfolio of solutions and many other geospatial products.

IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite supports a growing number of satellite sensors, including ERS-1, 2 and EnviSat, RADARSAT-1 and 2, TerraSAR-X (with one meter spotlight modes), ALOS Palsar and more. Data from other radar sensors is supported by a generic import interface. In early 2009, ERDAS will add a D-InSAR capability and COSMO support to IMAGINE Radar Mapping Suite.

Press Release - ERDAS
Copyright 2008 by ERDAS, Inc.

2008-10-27T00:01:00.000-04:00

Atlantic Beach, FL Crime Information Now Included in Online GIS Mapping Application

As per a recent article in "The Leader ", the City of Atlantic Beach, FL will be reporting all crime activity in near real time via a GIS mapping application on Crimereports.com.

Per Crimereport's website: "Crimereports.com is the flagship product of Public Engines, Inc. The CrimeReports.com service provides law enforcement agencies with an affordable and easy-to-use Web-based service for managing and controlling the sharing of crime data with the public, in near real-time. Community members can then access their neighborhood crime information for free, empowering them to make informed decisions to help improve the safety of their families, friends, property and the community at large."

2008-10-26T19:57:00.002-04:00

Topcon and GeoAge Expand Partnership

After just more than a year of working with OEM partner GeoAge, Inc., Topcon Positioning Systems (TPS) is expanding the company’s sales territory nationwide.

Florida-based GeoAge originally served as a Topcon certified GIS dealer in 10 states.

Richard Rybka, TPS’ GIS partner development manager, said, “Due to GeoAge’s success in deploying and supporting our bundled solution, this service is being expanded across the country. This move will bring valuable access to excellent resources for adopting and successfully deploying GeoAge software on Topcon’s GMS-2 mobile mapping receiver to private and public agencies all over the country.”

GeoAge, located in Jacksonville, Florida, delivers mobility solutions that allow business and government end-users to gain a competitive edge by “providing access to real-time information,” Rybka said.

GeoAge’s FAST software (Field Adapted Survey Toolkit), allows users to quickly create customized data collection forms that match exactly how their specific business processes work. The forms can be designed on site, capturing just the information the user requires in the format they need. When running on Topcon’s GMS-2mobile mapping handheld receiver, GeoAge FAST users can incorporate digital image capture and accurate GPS coordinate locations in addition to other pertinent business information in their custom forms.

TPS offers advanced tools for GIS field data collection and maintenance. The rugged, compact GMS-2 mobile mapping receiver is an integral piece of the TPS lineup of advanced GPS solutions.

The GMS-2 was the industry's first GIS-GPS product with:

-- An integrated digital camera linking photos to feature locations and attributes;
-- GNSS (dual-constellation) tracking;
-- An electronic compass for bearing and direction information; and
-- The functionality to be used as a standalone GIS mapping device or a field controller for high accuracy Topcon RTK systems and total stations.

Rybka said, “Our OEM partnership with GeoAge provides customers with a full-featured, time-saving GIS data collection solution. GeoAge developed a version of FAST specifically for Topcon's GMS-2 to take full advantage of our device's integrated image capture and dual constellation GNSS tracking capabilities.

"This is a great combination,” Rybka said. "We are pleased to expand our working relationship with GeoAge to market and sell our leading-edge hardware and software solutions."

Jeff Arnold, president and CEO of GeoAge, said, “Topcon was first on the market to integrate photos and high precision GPS. It has been a truly symbiotic relationship between our data collection software and the GMS-2. We are excited to have the ability to promote their GMS-2 nationwide. We also look forward to some exciting new devices coming from Topcon.”

For more information about Topcon’s GIS OEM Developer and Solution Partner Programs, contact: Richard Rybka, GIS Partner Development Manager, 925-337-7862, rrybka@topcon.com

Press Release - Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.
Copyright 2008 Topcon Positioning Systems, Inc.

2008-10-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

Munsys, Inc. Announces the Release of Munsys 10.1

Munsys, Inc. today announced the release of Munsys 10.1. The primary focus of this release is to provide compatibility with the latest releases of both the AutoCAD 2008 and 2009 family of products (AutoCAD, AutoCAD Map, AutoCAD Land Desktop, AutoCAD Civil 3D and AutoCAD Civil 3D Land Desktop Companion).

The Munsys 10.1 release has also incorporated all the new and enhanced functionality provided in the Munsys 10.0.1 and 10.0.2 Service Packs. This includes Oracle 11g compatibility and Munsys Google Tools, a new set of tools that streamlines the overlay of Munsys spatial data stored in Oracle into layers in Google Earth and Google Maps.

The continued provision of compatible versions is one of the benefits of buying a commercial off-the-shelf solution. Munsys 10.1 is available for download by customers who are participating in the Software Upgrade Subscription program.

The Munsys solutions include a central database with pre-defined Oracle Spatial data models and integrated applications for the management of water, sewer, drainage, cadastral, roads and electricity infrastructure. Autodesk design products are utilized for spatial data creation and editing.

Register for a free presentation of Munsys 10.1 at www.munsys.com/events.htm

For more information contact info@munsys.com

About Munsys, Inc.

Munsys, Inc., with offices in Florida and California, is the primary supplier of sales, services, and technical support for the Munsys suite of products in North America. The Munsys solutions include a central spatial database with pre-defined Oracle data models and integrated applications for the management of water, sewer, drainage, cadastral, roads and electricity infrastructure.

Munsys is a registered trademark of Munsys, Inc. in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Press Release - Munsys
© 2008 Munsys, Inc. All rights reserved.

2008-10-21T18:28:00.002-04:00

2007 Data Now Available on Florida CHARTS

The Florida Community Health Assessment Resource Tool Set (CHARTS) has recently been updated to include 2007 data for health statistics such as births, deaths, disease morbidity, population, and behavioral risk factors.

Also be sure to check out the Florida Department of Health Office of Planning, Evaluation & Data Analysis' Interactive Community Maps and County & State Profile Reports

2008-10-20T22:15:00.000-04:00

Treasure Coast GIS Use Group to be Held October 23rd, 2008 in Ft. Pierce, FL

The Treasure Coast GIS Use Group will be holding their next meeting at 2:30pm this Thursday, October 23rd, 2008, at the Ft. Pierce Utilities Department located at 1711 S. 37th Street in Ft. Pierce, FL.

The meeting will also include a presentation by Munsys entitled "Utilizing Oracle Spatial to integrate AutoCAD and ArcGIS".

Per their website - "The Treasure Coast GIS Use Group has been formed to facilitate communication among the GIS community in the region consisting of Indian River, St. Lucie, and Martin Counties. The goals of this group are to to identify and share data resources, and promote cooperation in regional data development efforts on a regional scale. The plan is to evolve the function of the group based on user needs and objectives. Any individual or organization having an interest in the spatial sciences and GIS is invited to join the Treasure Coast GIS User Group, and attend our meetings."

2008-10-18T22:34:00.003-04:00

Learn to Use OGC Web Services Integrated into ESRI's ArcGIS Server 9.3

ESRI will host an online live training seminar this month that will show how expanded support for Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC), Web service standards at ArcGIS Server 9.3 will foster greater collaboration when working with geographic information system (GIS) data and maps.

Leveraging OGC Capabilities in ArcGIS Server 9.3 will air October 23, 2008, at www.esri.com/lts. Participants can tune in to the no-cost seminar at 9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 3:00 p.m. (Pacific daylight time).

ArcGIS Server 9.3 software, released earlier this year, now includes support for publishing GIS vector data using the Web Feature Service (WFS) standard and raster data using the Web Coverage Service (WCS) standard. It also includes enhanced Web Map Service (WMS) functionality. ESRI's support for these standards promotes interoperability on the Web that allows GIS professionals to more widely share maps, images, and data with colleagues, enabling faster and more efficient decision making.

The seminar's presenters will provide an overview of OGC Web service standards and the role these standards play in Web GIS. They will then discuss how support for these services is integrated into the ArcGIS Server framework as service capabilities that can be easily enabled and configured using ArcGIS Server Manager or ArcCatalog.

The presenters will also explain Web service fundamentals and workflows for WFS-, WCS-, and WMS-enabled services and demonstrate how easy it is to publish maps and data using ArcGIS Server. These and other OGC services can then be consumed by a wide range of ESRI and third-party OGC-enabled client applications such as ArcMap, ArcGIS Explorer, Gaia, and Google Earth. For example, a WCS service can provide Web access to raster datasets, allowing a client application, such as ArcMap, to perform spatial analysis and geoprocessing directly with Web datasets.

The seminar also will cover two more advanced OGC Web service topics. One will be support for WMS Styled Layer Descriptors (SLDs), which allow clients to display map layers using a variety of symbologies or styles. The second will be Transactional Web Feature Service (WFS-T), which permits a WFS service to support OGC client-based editing of enterprise geodatabase vector data.

Seminar participants should have a basic familiarity with using and administering ArcGIS Server including knowledge about publishing and managing GIS services. An understanding of basic server and Web service concepts is also helpful.

A broadband Internet connection and an ESRI Global Account are needed to watch the seminar. Creating a global account is easy and free: visit www.esri.com/lts, click Login, and register your name and address. A few weeks after the live presentation, the seminar will be archived and available for viewing on the ESRI Training and Education Web site.

For more information about this free live training seminar, as well as upcoming classes, visit www.esri.com/training.

Press Release - ESRI
Copyright ESRI

2008-10-17T22:06:00.000-04:00

Industry Expert Charged To Expand Dewberry’s GeoSpatial Capabilities

Dewberry, a privately held professional services firm, has named Keith Patterson, PSM, senior project manager in the firm’s Tampa, Florida, office. In his new role, Patterson will be responsible for managing remote sensing projects requiring aerial imagery acquisition, aerial triangulation, field verification, photogrammetric processing, photo interpretation, automated feature extraction, and Geographic Information Services (GIS). Patterson is also charged with expanding Dewberry’s geospatial services into the field of environmental mapping, which includes such elements as mapping sub-aquatic vegetation habitats and coral structures.

Patterson has 30 years of experience in the fields of photogrammetry, mapping and GIS, where he has primarily focused on environmental thematic mapping, including wetland inventories, land use land cover mapping, vegetation mapping, and benthic habitat mapping. He is considered an expert in these fields and will bring his skilled content knowledge and experience with complex environmental mapping projects to Dewberry.

Patterson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography from the University of South Florida, where he graduated Cum Laude. A licensed Professional Surveyor and Mapper, Patterson also served as the Florida Region Director of the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

Press Release - Dewberry

2008-10-16T21:59:00.000-04:00

Geographic Technologies Group Selected for Multiple Contracts

Geographic Technologies Group (GTG ) was selected for multiple software contracts including: City of Elk Grove, California—purchased five (5) seats of LGviewer, one (1) seat of LGaddress for public administration, and one (1) seat of LG Work Orders. City of Lufkin, Texas—upgrading from LGdispatch to LGdispatch Community Connect. City of Bolingbrook, Illinois—purchased three (3) additional licenses of LGmobile. City of Folsom, California—upgrading from LGdispatch to LGdispatch Community Connect, purchased 40 seats of LGmobile Community Connect and one (1) seat of LGroute. St. Mary’s County, Maryland—purchased two (2) additional seats of LGdispatch Community Connect. City of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma—purchased one (1) seat of the LG Community Maintenance module. Virginia Commonwealth University—purchased five (5) seats of LGcrimes. City of Cocoa, Florida—purchased LG Geo Blade Viewer and one (1) seat of LGaddress for land management. City of St. Cloud, Florida—migrating existing GIS applications to ArcGIS Server. City of Great Falls, Montana—migrating existing GIS applications to ArcGIS Server.

The City of Jacksonville, North Carolina selected GTG to implement the ArcGIS Server software suite.

The City of Winston-Salem/ Forsyth County, North Carolina selected GTG to develop a GIS Enterprise Strategic Plan.

GTG will be presenting the GIS Manager’s Workshop at several upcoming GIS conferences. Visit www.geotg.com/training for a complete schedule.

GTG is pleased to welcome Matthew McLamb to their North Carolina corporate office as a Marketing Technician.

Press Releas - GTG
Copyright Geographic Technologies Group®

2008-10-14T00:01:00.000-04:00

Free Webinar - Today (October 14th, 2008) - "New Munsys Tools for Google Earth and Google Maps"

A free Munsys webinar will be held today, October 14th, 2008, from 2:30pm - 3:30pm EST time. Please register online in advance.

As easy to use applications and rich on-line data, like those provided by Google, become more widely accepted, utility and government users have been looking for ways to view their own data in these environments. The Munsys tools enable engineering design data created in AutoCAD Map and stored in Munsys Oracle tables to be viewed in Google Earth and Google Maps thereby adding real world context, while also enabling others to share the visualization.

Come and see how the tools streamline the overlay of Munsys spatial data into layers in Google Earth and Google Maps, allowing utility and government organizations to take advantage of Google’s rich graphic environment together with applications such as Street View.

2008-10-13T01:40:00.003-04:00

HAZUS Comprehensive Data Management System Web Portal Training in Three Florida Cities

The Florida HAZUS User Group, FEMA, and the Florida Division of Emergency Management announce training the week of November 17th-21st, 2008 at 3 locations in Florida. This free training will allow emergency managers and GIS managers to better build and share data for use with HAZUS.

The HAZUS-MH Comprehensive Data Management System (CDMS) web portal will make it much easier for HAZUS users to import and manage Level 1 datasets for use with HAZUS analyses. The CDMS web portal allows the user to manage the same datasets that are managed through the CDMS desktop version: 1) Site specific inventory; 2) General building stock; and 3) Building specific data, including building attributes. The CDMS web portal has two important features that are valuable to Florida applications: 1) as a web-based tool with little software requirements, it will increase the user base in Florida; and 2) the web portal has role based security feature, which means that user roles can be defined, an important feature in statewide data management. The hands-on training will highlight these features and capabilities in the CDMS web portal.

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 - Tallahassee, FL
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM EDT
State Emergency Operations Center
2555 Shumard Oak Blvd
Tallahassee, FL

Thursday, November 20th, 2008 - Daytona Beach, FL
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM EDT
Volusia County Emergency Operations Center
49 Keyton Drive
Daytona Beach, FL

Friday, November 21st, 2008 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
8:30 AM - 4:30 PM EDT
FAU Visual Planning Technology Lab
111 East Las Olas Blvd, HE 610
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

For more information on these trainings, please visit FDEM's GIS website.

For more information on the Florida HAZUS User Group, please visit here.

For more information on the HAZUS-MH CDMS, please visit here.

For those who are unfamiliar with HAZUS, please note that this course will only include a brief review of HAZUS and is not an Introduction to HAZUS course! But experience with HAZUS-MH is also not a pre-requisite!

City, county, and state GIS staff involved in building facility and property appraiser databases stand to gain the most from this training opportunity.

Please feel free to re-post and pass this along to others.

Press Release - FDEM Information Management Unit

2008-10-13T00:01:00.000-04:00

FACM’s Annual Meeting and Educational Workshop - October 13th-15th, 2008 in Cocoa Beach, FL

The Florida Association of Cadastral Mappers (FACM) annual meeting and educational workshop will be held this week, October 13th-15th, 2008 at the Hilton Beach Oceanfront Resort located at 1550 North Atlantic Avenue in Cocoa Beach, FL.

Workshops will include:

Advanced Cadastral Editing in the ArcMap Environment
By Frank Conkling of Panda Consulting

Introduction to FACM Course 02
By Carol Walker, Ellen Edwards,& Matt Kalus

Special Informational Sessions will include:

ArcGIS 9.3 Desktop ESRI Update on New Release
By Artie Robinson ESRI

DOR Update Mapping/GIS and Aerial Photography Program
By DOR Staff

2008-10-12T01:32:00.000-04:00

Marshall Supports Transportation Operations for Hillsborough County, Florida

Marshall and Associates, Inc. (Marshall) is working with Hillsborough County Public Works Department, (Hillsborough) to expand its successful stormwater field data collection program to transportation operations. Marshall implemented the stormwater data collection project for Hillsborough in 2006. Using this project as a guide, a similar program is underway to support transportation operations.
"Our goal is to bring Hillsborough County's transportation operations a return on investment in six months, as we did with the County's stormwater operations," said Ms. Elizabeth Marshall CEO/President of Marshall.

About Hillsborough County
Located midway along the west coast of Florida, Hillsborough County has 1,048 square miles of land and a population of 1,177,060. The Public Works Department's mission is to provide and manage safe, efficient, and environmentally sensitive transportation and storm water systems to satisfy diverse mobility needs and to provide flood protection to public lands.

About Marshall
Marshall is a nationally recognized software development company that streamlines resource management for our clients by applying GIS technology to their business. Marshall's GeoResults software suite improves business operations by integrating enterprise business systems with ESRI's leading GIS technology. GeoResults Mobile, Marshall's flagship software product, provides a mobile mapping and field automation solution for the enterprise mobile workforce.

Press Release - Marshall
Copyright 2000-2008, Marshall and Associates, Inc.

2008-10-11T01:23:00.000-04:00

Ted Grillo Joins Avineon as Business Development Executive for its Commercial Systems Division

Avineon, Inc., a successful provider of IT, geospatial, engineering and program management solutions, today announced the appointment of Ted Grillo as Business Development Executive for its Commercial Systems Division. With more than 25 years experience in operations, project management, and sales, Grillo will lead Avineon’s business development efforts for geographic information system (GIS) services in the public and energy utility sector. In his new position, Grillo will seek out new opportunities for Avineon to grow its business and will be responsible for building and maintaining relationships with electric, gas, water, and wastewater utility clients.

“We value the breadth of experience and knowledge that Ted brings to Avineon,” said Gary Wilkison, Senior Vice President of Commercial Systems with Avineon. “His exceptional sales track record will be an asset to our company, and I look forward to working with him to advance Avineon’s growth objectives in GIS.”

Grillo draws upon an impressive sales management background gained through his previous employment with AGRA Baymont, a provider of GIS services acquired by Avineon in 2002. As a Sales Manager and Project Manager at Baymont he successfully bid, won, and managed several multimillion-dollar projects for major utilities such as Commonwealth Gas in Massachusetts, Michigan Consolidated Gas Co., Consumers Energy, Kansas City Power & Light, and Southern California Gas.

“I am proud to be joining the Avineon team and am eager to help the company capitalize on the traction and demonstrated interest for Avineon’s comprehensive service offerings,” said Grillo.

Grillo holds a Bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla. He is a member of and regular conference speaker for the Geospatial Information Technology Association (GITA), Project Management Institute (PMI), American Water Works Association (AWWA), and Urban & Regional Information Systems Association (URISA).

Press Release - Avineon

2008-10-06T00:01:00.000-04:00

Florida's Strategic Plan for Statewide GIS Coordination Featured in Gov Tech Magazine

Florida's Strategic Plan for Statewide GIS Coordination has recently been featured in Government Technology Magazine, one of e.Republic, Inc's many publications which focuses on information technology for local and state government.

The article details how the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) initially took the lead in formulating a statewide GIS strategic plan following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons.

You can read the entire article via the link below:

"Come Together, Right Now"
By Matt Williams, Assistant Editor

2008-10-05T18:24:00.003-04:00

Timmons Group to Develop ArcGIS Server Application for South Florida Water Management District

Timmons Group, a leader in geospatial and engineering consulting services, is currently working with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to enhance their existing Environmental Monitoring Analysis and Planning System (EMAPS) application.

Timmons Group will develop the EMAPS application as a web-based mapping and analysis tool leveraging ESRI’s ArcGIS Server WebADF 9.3 technologies. The EMAPS application will be a quick, user-friendly, tool which provides SFWMD staff access to monitoring station location and attribution information as well as a host of other GIS base data needed for planning activities. Timmons Group will also be assisting the District in the development of ArcGIS Server Image Caches to optimize the performance of EMAPS and GIS System Architecture Design activities.

“We are extremely excited about the opportunity to partner with the South Florida Water Management District given their staff’s strong commitment to GIS, their advanced technical capabilities and geospatial vision for the future,” said Todd Pulsifer, Timmons Group's Southeast Technology Services Manager. “We see this as a great launch-point for the District, establishing Dynamic Map Caches, a solid Architecture and robust mapping application.”

Press Release - Timmons Group
Copyright 2008 Timmons Group

2008-10-04T17:42:00.000-04:00

Current Map Data and Intuitive Sales Tools Available in BusinessMAP 5

BusinessMAP 5, the latest version of ESRI's, affordable, easy-to-use database mapping solution, continues to transform information from databases, contact managers, and spreadsheets into colorful, information-rich maps. Maps created with BusinessMAP allow professionals in all industries to make more informed business decisions for territory design, demographic analysis, customer prospecting, route planning, and more.

Interactive features and data new to this release of BusinessMAPinclude

- Windows Vista Compatible — It now works with Microsoft's latest operating system and includes updates such as enabling zooming with the mouse wheel.

Up-to-Date Map Data — It ships with updated U.S. streets, ZIP Codes and other map data including D&B business listings, and demographic data with population estimates and projections.

- Connects Easily to Contact Management Software — Updated links for ACT!, GoldMine, Outlook, and Excel allow users to plot and query information geographically, creating groups for targeted mailings and other processes.

- Enhanced Spider Diagrams — Illustrate "many-to-one" relationships with spider diagrams or desire lines, further enhanced to show distance measurements for each line. For example, display lines to illustrate customer traffic to a retail store.

- Create Smart Polygons — Associate attributes to polygons drawn on a map. For example, draw a territory defined by major roads and assign a territory name, sales representative, total number of customers, or other attribute to the polygon.

- Edit Data and Include Latitude and Longitude in Database for Easy Geocoding — A new dual purpose tool permits the editing of data from within BusinessMAP 5 as well as saving the database with latitude and longitude fields. Use the lat/longs for faster geocoding in BusinessMAP or other ESRI applications.

- Add Photos to Maps — Include pictures, such as an office photo or proposed new site, to a specific location right on the map.

- Enhances Google Earth and Google Maps — Share maps by transferring your points and polygons from BusinessMAP 5 to Google Maps or Google Earth. Pull data created with Google Maps into BusinessMAP 5 for advanced customization and analysis.

Features such as color-coded analysis, territory design, ring studies, drive-time analysis and geographic queries along with the ability to bring in and analyze geographic points and information makes BusinessMAP a source of competitive advantage.

"People intuitively process and analyze information presented on a map with a speed and thoroughness that far exceeds looking at the same data displayed on a table, list, or spreadsheet," says Royce Hall, BusinessMAP product manager, ESRI. "BusinessMAP 5 is an excellent way to incorporate mapping into your daily tasks. Anyone who uses information with a geographic component and wants to look at business problems more clearly in order to improve service and enhance operational efficiency will find this software beneficial."

BusinessMAP is available for Windows Vista, XP, or 2000. For more information, visit www.esri.com/businessmap, call ESRI directly at 1-800-970-0033, or contact your local ESRI distributor. For a current distributor list, visit www.esri.com/distributors.

Press Release - ESRI
Copyright © ESRI

2008-10-03T18:40:00.000-04:00

Trimble Announces Real-Time Corrections Service for
In-the-Field, High-Accuracy Mapping in Florida and Colorado

Trimble (NASDAQ:TRMB) today announced the availability of high-accuracy, in-the-field mapping with its new Trimble® VRS Now™ H-Star™ service in the state of Florida and across Denver's Front Range in Colorado. A subscription to the Trimble VRS Now H-Star service gives users working in utilities, local government, natural resources, and land management the ability to obtain real-time, decimeter level accurate positions consistently and directly at the job site. With instant access to H-Star corrections on demand, field workers can be more efficient and high-accuracy mapping projects can be up and running in minutes to increase productivity.

By accessing proven Trimble VRS™ technology, subscribers can correct data in the field without setting up base stations, and there is no need for post processing data. Mapping and Geographic Information System (GIS) professionals with the Trimble H-Star compatible GPS receivers—the GeoXH™ 2008 series handheld receiver or GPS Pathfinder® ProXRT receiver—can take advantage of the service.

"Utilities personnel and other asset management professionals are under increasing pressure to complete high-accuracy mapping projects even more quickly," said Pierre Desjardins, manager for Trimble's GNSS Infrastructure business area. "Users equipped only with an H-Star compatible GPS receiver, a cellular connection and a subscription to the Trimble service can overcome these challenges in the field by tapping into H-Star corrections."

In addition, teaming the GPS Pathfinder ProXRT receiver receiver with the Trimble Nomad™ series of handhelds (800X, 800XC and 800XE models) removes the need for a separate phone. The Trimble Nomad handheld's integrated cellular modem allows users to connect directly from the handheld to the Trimble VRS Now H-Star service for optimal performance. With the GPS Pathfinder ProXRT receiver, users can also install the GLONASS option, which increases the number of GNSS satellites that can be accessed.

To learn more about the Trimble VRS Now H-Star service and about how to subscribe go to:

http://www.trimble.com/mgis_vrsnow_h-star.shtml

Press Release - Trimble
COPYRIGHT 2008, TRIMBLE NAVIGATION LIMITED

2008-10-01T00:05:00.000-04:00

15th Annual South Florida GIS Expo Starts This Thursday in West Palm Beach, FL

The 15th Annual South Florida GIS Expo will take place this week on October 2nd - 3rd, 2008 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center located at 650 Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach, FL.

Please check the South Florida GIS Expo website for:

Keynote Speaker Info

Expo Schedule

Expo Program

Exhibitor Floor Plan

Directions, Parking Info & Transportation

If you have yet to register, onsite registration is FREE!

2008-09-30T20:48:00.002-04:00

Georgia GIS Coordinating Committee (GISCC) Conducting Statewide Geospatial Strategic Planning Activities

The Georgia GIS Coordinating Committee (GISCC) is conducting statewide Geospatial Strategic Planning activities to elicit input from as many folks as possible in developing a Geospatial Strategic Plan for Georgia. This is an USGS/Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) federally-funded effort in partnership with the Georgia Tech Center for GIS. We want to hear the voice of friends and members of the Clearinghouse.

Some of the main goals include sustainable funding for the Georgia GIS Clearinghouse (FY09 funding is uncertain), an ESRI Enterprise License Agreement for Georgia and legitimacy for the Georgia GIS Coordinating Committee (GISCC).

Below is the Activities Announcement (which includes 5 regional Input Sessions, starting in ATL on Oct 1), invitation to an Executive Technology Briefing (Oct 20, Senior-Level Government Executives only) and a live online Geospatial Survey.

Activities Announcement
(i.e., regional Input Sessions)

Executive Technology Briefing:
"Connecting People, Places and Policy"
(Senior-Level Government Executives only, please)

Online Geospatial Survey

Strategic Planning Website

Results of the Online Geospatial Survey can be monitored through the end of November

If you're interested in seeing more GIS in action, the Georgia URISA Biennial Conference is next month, Oct. 14 - 17 (Georgia URISA is a non-profit GIS practitioner's organization). Hurry while registration is still open.

2008-09-29T00:05:00.000-04:00

Florida Division of Emergency Management Posts "HAZUS and Florida" Presentation

The Information Management Unit of the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) has recently posted their "HAZUS and Florida" presentation as given by Richard Butgereit, GIS Administrator for FDEM, at the CFGIS Workshop.

HAZUS-MH is FEMA’s Software Program for Estimating Potential Losses from Disasters.

Per FEMA's website: "HAZUS-MH can quantify the risk for a study area of any size by using GIS technology to combine hazard layers with national databases, and applying standardized loss estimation and risk assessment methodology. The GIS-based environment allows users to create graphics to help communities visualize and understand their hazard risks and possible solutions. The nationwide databases built into HAZUS-MH include datasets on demographics, building stock, essential facilities, transportation, utilities, and high potential loss facilities."

For current HAZUS-MH users, there is a Florida HAZUS User Group (FLHUG) which is intended to foster communication and collaborative efforts of the use of HAZUS software within communities in Florida.

Feel free to visit their site to learn more.

2008-09-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

FACM’s Annual Meeting and Educational Workshop - October 13th-15th, 2008 in Cocoa Beach, FL

The Florida Association of Cadastral Mappers (FACM) annual meeting and educational workshop will be held October 13th-15th, 2008 at the Hilton Beach Oceanfront Resort located at 1550 North Atlantic Avenue in Cocoa Beach, FL.

Please download the preliminary agenda and register today.

Workshops will include:

Advanced Cadastral Editing in the ArcMap Environment
By Frank Conkling of Panda Consulting

Introduction to FACM Course 02
By Carol Walker, Ellen Edwards,& Matt Kalus

Special Informational Sessions will include:

ArcGIS 9.3 Desktop ESRI Update on New Release
By Artie Robinson ESRI

DOR Update Mapping/GIS and Aerial Photography Program
By DOR Staff

2008-09-25T00:01:00.001-04:00

Munysy Offers "Utilizing Oracle Spatial to Integrate AutoCAD and ArcGIS" Webinar - September 26th, 2008

Munsys, Inc. will be offering a free GIS webinar entitled "Utilizing Oracle Spatial to Integrate AutoCAD and ArcGIS" this Friday - September 26th, 2008 from 2:30pm – 3:30pm EDT.

Per their website - "This demonstration will show how Oracle Spatial can be used as the central data store for both AutoCAD and ArcGIS and how edits from one system is immediately available in the other."

If interested in attending the free webinar, please register online today!

Also be sure to check their website frequently for other upcoming events.

2008-09-23T13:19:00.002-04:00

The City of Fort Pierce, FL Selects GTG to Develop GIS Strategic Implementation Plan

The City of Fort Pierce, Florida, selected Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG) to develop a GIS Strategic Implementation Plan. The multi-year, phased plan will evaluate current GIS operations in the City and make recommendations that will ensure an enterprise-wide GIS.

The project will include on-site interviews and presentations to all of the stakeholders. The resultant plan will serve as the step-by-step guide of how GIS is governed, implemented, and distributed throughout the City.

Also known as the Sunrise City, Fort Pierce is one of the oldest communities on the east coast of Florida.

“We at GTG are very excited to work with Fort Pierce,” said Curt Hinton, CEO of GTG. “The staff at the City is very receptive to expanding GIS to the enterprise. GTG is taking a detailed look at all of Fort Pierce’s current processes and seeing where GIS best fits.”

About Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG):
GTG is a full-service local government GIS consulting company offering specialized experience in the planning, design, implementation, and procurement of geo-technologies. GTG has unmatched technical GIS capabilities, demonstrated successes, international experience, and a reputation for successfully implementing the right solutions. GTG develops GIS products that spatially enable various enterprise solutions and integrates an organization's IT investment via a common interface. GTG also offers stand alone products for land management, public safety, public access, touch screen technology, and utilities.

GTG has over 700 clients located throughout North America and Europe and serves all levels of government as well as the private sector. To support our clients, GTG maintains five offices located across the United States: Headquarters in North Carolina, and Regional Offices in Texas, Illinois, and Florida.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. at 888-757-4222 or you can access our website at www.geotg.com.

Press Release - GTG
© Copyright Geographic Technologies Group

2008-09-23T13:09:00.002-04:00

ERDAS TITAN Experience Extended to Your Application

ERDAS announces ERDAS TITAN 2009, providing more flexibility to the industry’s most unique and powerful online network for sharing data. ERDAS TITAN 2009 provides true interoperability to leading geospatial solutions, including ERDAS IMAGINE®, ERDAS Image Web Server, ERDAS APOLLO and ArcGIS.

ERDAS TITAN is a permission-based tool for publishing, searching and retrieving geospatial information across organizations and end users. ERDAS TITAN Network participants include individual users as well as government and commercial data providers, GIS data clearinghouses, city/county and state/federal agencies, Defense, national mapping agencies and other organizations. ERDAS TITAN Network enables users and organizations to make their geospatial data available, while retaining digital ownership rights. ERDAS TITAN provides access to unlimited public and private data resources and enables consumption in a variety of desktop, Internet and 3D virtual globe applications. Utilizing an instant messenger, users can communicate and collaborate within the network.

ERDAS TITAN 2009 extends the TITAN experience into additional geospatial applications, allowing users to browse and load shared data directly within ERDAS IMAGINE and ArcGIS. An SDK is also provided to support embedding the IM experience into other geospatial applications as well. Data format support is extended for a select set of ERDAS IMAGINE raster formats and sensor models, available when a ERDAS IMAGINE 9.3 is installed on the same machine. Support has been added for querying a catalog and accessing layers made available as web services in ERDAS APOLLO. Appropriate for a global audience, the ERDAS TITAN Client is now localized for some languages, with a Translator Tool for any language.

“ERDAS TITAN 2009 provides additional support for sharing data with users and communities,” said Mladen Stojic, Senior Vice President, Product Management and Marketing, ERDAS. “Seamlessly connecting to ERDAS IMAGINE, ERDAS Image Web Server, ERDAS APOLLO and ArcGIS, ERDAS TITAN combines unique data sharing capabilities with the industry’s most powerful solutions.”

For more information about ERDAS TITAN 2009 and the ERDAS TITAN Network, or to download the free ERDAS TITAN Client, please visit: http://www.erdas.com/titan In addition, ERDAS is offering Four Seconds to Save the World, a free webinar highlighting ERDAS TITAN 2009 on Thursday, September 25. To register or find out more, please visit here

To learn more about ERDAS, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 877 GO ERDAS, or visit http://www.erdas.com.

Press Release - ERDAS
© 2008 ERDAS Inc.

2008-09-22T00:01:00.000-04:00

Second Annual Central Florida GIS (CFGIS) Workshop Starts Today in Altamonte Springs, FL

The Second Annual Central Florida GIS Workshop will be held starting today (September 22nd - 23rd, 2008) in Altamonte Springs, FL.

The workshop will be held at the Hilton Hotel located at 350 S North Lake Blvd in Altamonte Springs, FL.

The two keynote speakers will be David Gisclair, Technical Assistance Program Director of the LA Oil Spill Coordinator's Office and past Chair of the LAGIC, and Larry Harman, Director of the Geographics Laboratory at Bridgewater State College, Bridgewater, MA.

For full details, please check the workshop website for further information.

Also visit the CFGIS Site and download the latest CFGIS Newsletter to learn more about Central Florida's local GIS community.

2008-09-19T12:32:00.002-04:00

GTG’s Geo Blade Viewer Empowers Local Government Enterprise GIS

Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG), an industry-leading GIS solutions provider, announces the release of Geo Blade Viewer. It is ESRI compliant and operates with ArcGIS Server.

Geo Blade Viewer is a powerful GIS viewer application that allows local government agencies to easily query and analyze GIS data. Designed to be used by all staff, the core viewer application was designed for the end user and provides a set of GIS tools in an easy-to-use desktop application. Tools include portal setups, automatic mining of data from any record management system, and hot linking.

Geo Blade Viewer serves as the backbone of the many department-specific “blades” incorporated into the Geo Blade software suite. Blades are additional functionalities to the core viewer, specific to an agency’s departmental needs.

“Geo Blade Viewer is the foundation of the Geo Blade software suite,” said Curt Hinton, CEO of GTG. “It was designed to make GIS a realistic goal for all local government departments. Its easy-to-use interface and sophisticated integration capabilities make Geo Blade the best option for local governments searching for the perfect enterprise-wide GIS toolset.”

For more information on the Geo Blade software suite, visit www.geotg.com/geoblade.html or call 888-757-4222.

Press Release - GTG
Copyright Geographic Technologies Group

2008-09-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

Munsys Announces Support for Google Earth and Google Maps – Adding More Tools to Visualize Utility Information

Munsys, Inc. today announced the release of new tools utilizing Google Earth and Google Maps to better visualize utility information. The tools streamline the overlay of Munsys spatial data stored in Oracle into layers in Google Earth and Google Maps, allowing utility and government organizations to take advantage of Google’s rich graphic environment together with applications such as Street View.

As easy to use applications and rich on-line data, like those provided by Google, become more widely accepted, utility and government users have been looking for ways to view their own data in these environments. The Munsys tools enable engineering design data created in AutoCAD Map to be viewed in Google Earth and Google Maps thereby adding real world context, while also enabling others to share the visualization.

“The ability to easily add your own data to the rich graphic environment and easy to use applications provided by Google adds major benefits for Munsys customers” said Chris Tolken, Munsys President.

“Field crews and managers can view assets such as manholes, hydrants and poles on the map and in the picture. Using the Google Street View capabilities to get visual information about surrounding buildings and structures before sending work crews out into the field provides a new dimension on company data as well as a great way to visualize existing conditions or proposed changes.”

The Munsys tools for Google are being provided as part of Munsys service pack 10.0.2 and are available to all Munsys customers with a valid software upgrade subscription.

For more information please contact info@munsys.com.

To see Munsys in action, sign-up for a scheduled on-line presentation (webinar) here.

Press Release - Munsys
© 2008 Munsys, Inc.

2008-09-17T20:29:00.002-04:00

ERDAS Announces a Free Webinar — Four Seconds to Save the World

ERDAS is offering Four Seconds to Save the World, a free webinar on Thursday, September 25, 2008, highlighting ERDAS TITAN 2009. When every second counts, ERDAS TITAN users can consume data from multiple public and private sources into a variety of virtual globe, Internet and rich client applications. ERDAS TITAN 2009 rapidly enables multitudes of stakeholders to publish and consume geospatial data and location-based content in one online, collaborative network.

ERDAS TITAN is a permission-based tool for publishing, searching and retrieving geospatial information across organizations and end users. Four Seconds to Save the World will demonstrate this timely, unique permission-based tool’s true interoperability with ERDAS IMAGINE®, ERDAS Image Web Server, ERDAS APOLLO and ArcGIS.

Each month, ERDAS is offering at least two different webinar topics. To meet the needs of ERDAS’ global audience, most webinars will be hosted twice on a scheduled day. In addition to a live presentation and demonstration, each webinar also includes the opportunity for customers to interact directly with the presenter. Scheduled to last forty-five minutes, each webinar will include approximately thirty minutes of presented material and fifteen minutes for Q&A.

Below is a schedule outlining the next three ERDAS webinar topics and the solutions featured:

September 25 – Four Seconds to Save the World (ERDAS TITAN 2009)

October 9 – Modeling Massive Volumes of Data (ERDAS APOLLO Image Manager 2009)

October 23 – Bigger, Stronger, Faster! (ERDAS Image Web Server 2009)

To register for Four Seconds to Save the World, or find out more about other upcoming webinars, please visit: www.erdas.com.

Press Release - ERDAS
© 2008 ERDAS Inc.

2008-09-15T00:05:00.000-04:00

Florida Standard Urban Transportation Model Structure (FSUTMS)GIS Online Application Now Available

The Florida Standard Urban Transportation Model Structure (FSUTMS) GISonline application, a component of FSUTMSOnline, has recently been launched and is now available.

Per the FSUTMS website, the GIS application is "designed to serve as a central location for accessing and sharing GIS data for Florida's transportation modeling community. Developed using ESRI's ArcGIS Server, the system provides access to statewide GIS layers in both the Geodatabase and shapefile format."

The system currently provides the following functionalities:

- zoom-in, zoom-out, pan, and full extent

- identify features

- measure distance

- set layer properties

- clear layers

- add labels

- create thematic maps

- create charts

- search features

- select features by query setup

- download geodatabase or shape files with automated coordinate transformation

- view tables

- convert data from one layer to another (e.g., from Census blockgroup to TAZ)

- display Google's satellite images within application

- export KML files for Google Earth display

Please email Yongqiang Wu at yongqiang.wu@dot.state.fl.us with your suggestions on how to improve the application.

For technical support, please email Albert Gan at gana@fiu.edu or call him at (305) 348-3116.

2008-09-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

Northwest Florida GIS Users Group Meeting to be Held September 17th, 2008 in Destin, FL

The Northwest Florida GIS Users Group will be holding their next quarterly meeting from 9am - 12pm this Wednesday, September 17th, 2008, at the City of Destin City Hall.

The Destin City Hall is located at 4200 Two Trees Road in Destin, FL.

The meeting agenda includes the following presentations:

"Sharing FDOT Data"
By Deepali Patil, Data Systems Manager for Metric Engineering Inc.

"GISP certification: What is it? And how do I fill out the application?"
By Tripp Corbin, CFM, GISP, VP of GIS Services for Keck & Wood Inc.

"GIS in Natural Resources"
By Bob Swett of the University of Florida

"Crime Analysis Tools for GIS"
By Chris Harvey, Product Manager for Bradshaw Consulting Services Inc.

If interested in attending, please RSVP to Kimberly Steele at ksteele@co.okaloosa.fl.us

GIS Users in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, and Bay Counties can also join the NWFLGIS Yahoo Group to keep informed and become an active member of the local Northwest Florida GIS community.

2008-09-14T17:57:00.002-04:00

The Carbon Project Publishes Geospatial Videos on YouTube

The Carbon Project is pioneering innovative .NET technologies that make location-based information accessible and usable to everyone, everywhere and they are now publishing informative videos on YouTube.

The videos posted thus far include:

CarbonArc PRO - demo 1/3 - Adding Layers (with commentary)

CarbonArc PRO - demo 2/3 - Using the WFS Filter Tools

CarbonArc PRO - demo 3/3 - Using WFS Transactional Tools

CarbonArc PRO - How to edit WFS-T data

CarbonArc PRO - How to filter WFS data

CarbonArc PRO - How to add OGC SDI content

To learn more about CarbonArc® PRO, visit The Carbon Portal

CarbonArc® PRO eliminates barriers to SDI usability by providing advanced discovery, analysis and interaction tools for the OGC® Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) baseline - directly from the ESRI ArcGIS Desktop.

2008-09-12T00:01:00.000-04:00

Seats Still Available for ArcGIS 9.3 Desktop I, II, and III Courses Starting Next Week in Altamonte Springs, FL

There are still a few seats left for the new ArcGIS 9.3 Desktop I, II, and III courses which will be taught Monday through Sunday (Sept 15th - 21st) in Altamonte Springs, just north of Orlando.

- ArcGIS Desktop I: Sept 15th - 16th, Monday-Tuesday

- ArcGIS Desktop II: Sept 17th - 19th, Wednesday-Friday

- ArcGIS Desktop III: Sept 20th - 21st, Saturday-Sunday

The courses will be by taught by ESRI Authorized ArcGIS Instructor Miguel Garriga of Geographic Systems LLC. To register for one or more of these courses, please contact Miguel at 321-279-6019 or mgarriga@geographicsystems.com, or visit http://www.geographicsystems.com/register.php for more information.

The ArcGIS Desktop III class is being held as part of the Central Florida GIS Workshop. Online Registration is closed for Desktop III, but if you would like to attend, you can still contact Miguel no later than Wednesday September 17 to reserve a space.

Press Release - Geographic Systems LLC

2008-09-11T17:45:00.002-04:00

Mapping Florida Communities: An Introduction to GIS & Community Analysis - One Day Workshops

New Urban Research, Inc. has announced upcoming Florida GIS Workshops to be held in:

Miami, FL : October 16th & 17th, 2008

Tallahassee, FL : October 23rd & 24th, 2008

Orlando, FL : November 5th, 2008

Jacksonville, FL : November 7th, 2008

*One Day Workshops. Participants choose which one day to attend.

Register today!

Audience: Beginners, anyone interested in mapping their community
Focus: This workshop is customized for each location.

This hands-on workshop focuses on teaching the fundamentals of using a Geographic Information System (GIS) for community analysis. Participants will learn to create thematic maps with Census data, Geocoding (Address mapping) and Spatial Queries. Other features of the workshop are learning to extract Census data and good map layout and design.

For a detailed description of the Florida workshops, please visit http://www.urban-research.info/workshops/florida-gis.htm

Workshop Host: New Urban Research, a national professional research organization and ESRI Business Partner.

New Urban Research
© 2007 New Urban Research, Inc.

2008-09-09T00:05:00.000-04:00

MSCW Promotes Abigail Hegarty to Senior GIS Technician II

MSCW, Inc., an Orlando-based design firm, is pleased to announce that Abigail Fields Hegarty has been promoted to Senior GIS Technician II.

In her new role, Hegarty will maintain GIS data for several projects; architect, design and build Geodatabases; and advance GIS capabilities throughout MSCW by delivering end user tools, training and documentation.

“In addition to her day-to-day GIS responsibilities, Abby has played a key role in shaping the future of GIS at MSCW,” said Jay Evans, Information Systems & Technology Team Leader. “Her attention to detail, hard-work and unwavering commitment to MSCW are just a few of the many traits that make Abby such a special team member.”

In her previous role, Hegarty demonstrated proficiency in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software and helped architect the MSCW GIS Enterprise Blueprint, which is an enterprise approach to GIS Services that will be implemented over the next few years.

Hegarty joined MSCW in 2005 with extensive experience in the urban planning sector, with a strong emphasis on GIS. She is knowledgeable in various growth management disciplines including long-range planning and community development, local comprehensive policy planning, zoning codes, and development review procedures. Hegarty graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography with a concentration in Urban Planning from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has also earned her ESRI certification for both Arcview GIS 3X, ArcGIS 9.21, and building Geodatabases.

Press Release - MSCW
Copyright 2008 MSCW, Inc

2008-09-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

Global Map Systems Announces Release of LOGIQ PDF Map Publishing System

Global Map Systems today announced the release of their LOGIQ PDF product suite – GeoDataEmbed and GeoDataVu, the most advanced PDF map publishing tools available on the market. With these products, map- makers can create PDF maps that allow for powerful spatial analysis features typically found in products like ESRI’s ArcMap. This functionality is made available for free to Adobe Acrobat users.

LOGIQ PDF maps offer advanced spatial analysis features such as point-on-geometry analysis, attribute statistics, frequency tables and export to shapefile. LOGIQ PDF is a patent-pending technology that embeds the table schema, feature geometry, and other components of GIS data directly into the logical content of a PDF file representing a published map. By embedding data such as field definitions, data types, spatial references, attributes, and actual geometry in map coordinates, the PDF file contains all the essential GIS data behind the map, not only making it a potential medium of data exchange, but also enabling spatial analysis. These PDFs can be combined with existing PDF map books to extend even more GIS functionality to map users.

Embedding map data in logical content allows map publishers to export an ESRI ArcMap layout and all of the map data that went into its production into a single PDF file. The PDF file acts as a medium of GIS data exchange. PDF map users with the free Adobe Acrobat plug-in can for the first time ever:

- Perform point-on-geometry analysis to identify features on any layer. Not only are embedded attributes displayed, but also the length and area of the feature geometry in map units.

- Query map features in any embedded layer based on attribute values.

- Analyze and calculate attribute statistics for feature geometry length or area.

- Generate a frequency table for any embedded layer.

- Export any layer to shapefile, allowing the map data to be imported into other GIS applications for true round-trip GIS data exchange.

"The most exciting aspect of our technology is the potential for disconnected users to perform classic GIS analysis on the spatial data underlying a PDF map document”, said Mark Cederholm, CTO of GMS. “The power and flexibility of LOGIQ PDF will eventually provide our customers with nothing less than a mini-GIS for Acrobat."

LOGIQ PDF is available for immediate download at the low introductory sales price of $399 at www.globalmapsystems.com

Press Release - Global Map Systems
Copyright 2008, Global Map Systems

2008-09-08T00:01:00.001-04:00

ArcGIS 9.3 Seminar—Improving Your Entire GIS Workflow to Be Held in Miami, FL and Orlando, FL in Early October

ESRI will be holding a free ArcGIS 9.3 Seminar — "Improving Your Entire GIS Workflow" at two separate locations in Florida in early October.

October 7th, 2008
Miami, FL - Hyatt Regency Hotel
Check-in 8:30AM - 9:00AM
Seminar 9:00AM - 3:30PM
Register Today

The Hyatt Regency is located at 400 SE 2nd Aveue in Miami, FL.

October 9th, 2008
Orlando, FL - Omni Orlando Resort at Champions Gate
Check-in 8:30AM - 9:00AM
Seminar 9:00AM - 3:30PM
Register Today

The Omni Orlando Resort is located at 1500 Masters Blvd in Champions Gate, FL.

Topics to be covered at the seminars include:

- Data Management

- Creating Better Maps/Planning and Analysis

- Disseminating Information/Mobility

If you have further questions, please contact ESRI via email at 93seminars@esri.com

2008-09-05T00:03:00.000-04:00

GIS Used to Dissolve Cedar Grove, FL...... Good Thing It Was Not Used to Clip, Intersect, Join, or Merge

It's about time we finally had some negative news about GIS. Afterall, it seems to have infiltrated just about every industry in a postitive and productive manner thus far.

Ryan Burr of the Panama City News Herald reports on the backlash as to how the city used GIS to determine that Cedar Grove is 42% surrounded by other municpalities and thus is ripe for dissolution.

Coalition: Dissolution ordinance illegal (see DOCUMENT)

2008-09-05T00:01:00.000-04:00

CCIM Institute Selects ESRI to Deliver New Commercial Property
Listing and Data Exchange Platform

CCIM Institute, the largest commercial investment brokerage real estate network in the world, will implement an innovative geographic information system (GIS) solution developed by ESRI at the heart of its new commercial property listing and data exchange service platform.

The portal will manage commercial property listings for sale and lease throughout the United States and will make it possible for CCIM members to more easily share property information, repurpose data through innovative means for marketing and analytic purposes, and collaborate more effectively on property decisions.

CCIM awarded ESRI a 20-year contract to create, manage, and maintain major portions of the property portal . "This is the most innovative, effective, and efficient portal in the market, and we needed to find the best vendor to support our vision for the commercial real estate market," said Tim Hatlestad, 2008 president of the CCIM Institute. "ESRI is the right partner for creating this revolutionary portal. Real estate professionals want easy access to rich datasets, analytics, background mapping, and intuitive financial and site evaluation tools. With its breadth of experience and relationship with our partner companies, ESRI will enable us to turn our vision into reality."

The first version of the property portal, planned for release in spring 2009, will contain commercial property information, intelligent maps, photographs, and detailed building and property information input from CCIM. The portal is the first open standards, data neutral repository of its kind and will allow CCIM members to access property information as well as seamlessly integrate the data into other property analysis software and marketing tools.

ESRI's professional services team will create, maintain, and host the commercial property portal using ESRI's ArcGIS Online, a family of Web-based products and services that provides GIS functionality, analysis, and data that can be easily integrated into other online, desktop, and enterprise systems. There will be no need to change data formats or enter data more than once during the life cycle of the property.

The portal will ensure all CCIM members optimize their property marketing and selections process and gain the greatest insight in the commercial investment arena. This is imperative, since CCIM members need a reliable system they can depend on to successfully complete the thousands of transactions made annually, representing more than $200 billion in value.

"There is little margin for error in the real estate market," said Jack Dangermond, president, ESRI. "Commercial real estate professionals need the best tools to assist them in navigating the marketplace, no matter what type of real estate. CCIM is a true leader in the industry, and members have a tough job of understanding, communicating, interpreting, and predicting the business of location. ESRI is pleased to be a part of CCIM's vision to make this easier and more open, setting a standard for information exchange and collaboration in commercial real estate worldwide."

Based in Chicago, Illinois, the CCIM Institute confers the Certified Commercial Investment Member designation to commercial real estate professionals through an extensive curriculum of 200 classroom hours in addition to professional experiential requirements. Currently, there are 9,500 CCIM members in 1,000 markets worldwide. An additional 9,500 practitioners are pursuing the designation.

Learn more at the CCIM and Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) Success Series 2008, October 17–18, at the Chicago, Illinois, Hilton. Dangermond will kick off the conference with a keynote presentation discussing the value of GIS in the world today and how it impacts real estate professionals and their market.

For more information on ESRI and its products, visit http://www.esri.com/realestate.

Press Release - CCIM
© 2008 CCIM Institute

2008-09-04T22:33:00.001-04:00

MAPPS Members Given Rare Opportunity to Sit on Floor of the United States House of Representatives

A delegation of MAPPS members were provided the rare opportunity to sit in the members seats on the floor of the United States House of Representatives yesterday, occupying seats usually reserved for members of Congress. MAPPS members were the guests of House Republican Whip, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), to sit in the House chamber and hear Republican members of Congress discuss the need for national energy legislation.

Members Capitol DomeSince Congress recessed on August 1, Republican members of the House of Representatives have been speaking in the House Chamber on the national energy policy, objecting to Congress recessing without debating or voting on energy legislation.

Members of Congress have been bringing groups of citizens into the House chamber to witness the debate. MAPPS members yesterday heard from Representatives John Carter (R-TX), Vernon Ehlers (R-MI), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), and Randy Kuhl (R-NY).

MAPPS does not have a position on the energy bill and is not endorsing the Republicans' actions.

Following their time in the House Chamber, MAPPS members enjoyed a working lunch at the Capitol Hill Club with guest speaker Ms. Erin Kanoy, Legislative Director to Representative Tom Feeney (R-FL). Ms. Kanoy briefed MAPPS members on new contracting out/government competition legislation, the Competitive Open Markets Protection (COMP) Act, to be introduced when Congress returns to Washington, DC later this month. The COMP Act requires Federal agencies to put commercial activities currently performed in-house out for competitive procurement involving the private sector.

"The intention of the COMP Act is to create more opportunity for private sector businesses to compete for government contracts using the 'Yellow Book' test," said John Palatiello, MAPPS Executive Director. "The test simply says, 'if you can find a business in the Yellow Pages that can do something, the government does not need to be doing it'."

MAPPS Washington Policy Forums are held on a quarterly basis in Washington, D.C. allowing for MAPPS members to gain information on legislation, policy and Federal agency initiatives throughout the year.

Press Release - MAPPS
MAPPS Copyright 2008

2008-09-03T00:05:00.000-04:00

Yet Another Florida GIS Group Resource - The Florida GIS Group on LinkedIn

In addition to The Florida GIS Data Sharing Network, we have created another Florida GIS related resource, The Florida GIS Group, on LinkedIn.

Please feel free to join both groups to discuss GIS topics of interest, share GIS data sources, inquire about GIS application/software issues, etc.

At nearly 700 combined members, mainly within Florida, both groups are great forums to provide answers directly from others within the local GIS industry.

Both groups are free and will be accessable from the Login / Subscribe page on Find GIS.

2008-09-03T00:01:00.000-04:00

Hurricane Tracking in the State of Emergency

About that time of year to update your list of GIS related hurricane resources.

See the list below and please feel free to contact us if you may know of any other informative sites or resources.

IbisEye

Stormpulse

Weather Conditions on Google Earth

Shelter Mapper

2008-09-02T22:30:00.002-04:00

GeoEye-1 Satellite Launch Slips Due to Hurricane Hanna Impacting Launch Crew Availability

GeoEye, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOY), announced today a slip in the launch of its GeoEye-1 satellite from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. While the launch vehicle and satellite are on the pad and ready for a launch later this week, United Launch Alliance (ULA) advised the Company today that Hurricane Hanna's projected path off the east coast of Florida has impacted the availability of certified Delta II launch specialists available to travel to VAFB to support the GeoEye-1 launch. ULA is currently planning the launch for no earlier than September 7 and is taking all of the steps necessary to support this date. GeoEye will announce a new date as soon as it is confirmed by our launch provider.

The 45th Space Wing at Patrick AFB, Fla., has declared HURCON 4 (Hurricane Condition 4), meaning that there is a storm with sustained winds of greater than 50 knots anticipated within 72 hours at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). Under this condition, personnel may elect to remain with their families for the duration of the storm instead of travelling to California for the GeoEye-1 launch. ULA frequently shifts personnel from coast to coast to support launches.

Bill Schuster, GeoEye's chief operating officer, said, "Unfortunately, Hurricane Hanna has created this 'perfect storm' where despite having the spacecraft and booster ready and expected favorable weather on the West Coast, we are unable to launch due to lack of launch personnel because of weather on the East Coast. We expect to confirm a new launch date very soon, but it's dependent on Hanna's storm track and other storms currently in the Atlantic approaching the U.S. landmass."

The Flight Readiness Review was successfully completed on August 28 establishing that all elements were ready for the upcoming launch and this remains the case as soon as this staffing shortfall caused by the hurricane is resolved.

Press Release - GeoEye
Copyright 2008 GeoEye

2008-08-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

Seminole County Environmental Studies Center is Looking for GIS Day Event Volunteers

Jami Finnerty of the Seminole County Environmental Studies Center is in the process of organizing a GIS Day event at the center and is currently looking for GIS Professionals interested in volunteering their time and effort toward the event.

The event will take place on Saturday, November 22nd, 2008, at the Seminole County Public Schools Environmental Studies Center located at 2985 Osprey Trail in Longwood, FL 32750.

In coordination with the help of Deborah Harris, the Environmental Studies Center Manager, Jami is planning several GIS Day events, which will include GPS usage, map demos, and hands-on GIS on approximately six computers set up with ArcView.

The event will be registered with ESRI, and it is an incentive as the volunteers would earn points towards gaining / maintaining a GISP certification.

If interested in volunteering, please contact Jami Finnerty at (407) 547-3010 or via email at jfinnerty@hntb.com

2008-08-29T20:17:00.002-04:00

Sidwell Selected by Clark County, Nevada

Clark County, Nevada recently committed to the modernization of their internal land records and mapping operations to support accurate GIS analysis and ease of maintenance. The County needed to improve the efficiency of their operation and their ability to better serve a greater number of users within the jurisdiction. Clark County selected The Sidwell Company, of St. Charles, Illinois, for this important project based on Sidwell’s experienced geodatabase migration team, and their expert understanding of the complexities of land records and land records management workflows. Sidwell is an employee-owned provider of geographic information systems, aerial photography, and photogrammetric and mapping services.

In the initial phase of the project, Sidwell will work with the County to thoroughly define a target workflow, and establish a new Geodatabase design which will streamline the process of restructuring their existing Geodatabase to optimize it for cadastral editing. Sidwell’s team will provide a county-wide geodatabase with restructured cadastral data, a parcel inventory database with both current and historical parcel records, all necessary plotting files, and on-site installation and configuration of the completed geodatabase. Clark County has also chosen Sidwell’s industry-acclaimed Parcel Builder™ software as their map maintenance solution of choice; Sidwell will install and provide training to County staff on this ArcGIS® compliant mapping productivity toolkit and on cadastral map maintenance. Additional project components will center around custom workflow integration tools designed specifically to enhance Clark County’s GIS experience.

Press Release - The Sidwell Company
© The Sidwell Company

2008-08-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

Doing GIS Research Until the Cows Come Home

An interesting post on Google's Lat Long Blog.

While doing research on Google Earth, "zoologists observed the grazing tendencies of thousands of cattle from hundreds of different herds around the world and concluded that the vast majority of these animals position themselves according to our planet's magnetic poles, facing almost due north or south.

The credited researchers are:

- Sabine Begall
- Jaroslav Červený
- Julia Neef
- Oldřich Vojtčch
- Hynek Burda

2008-08-27T20:54:00.002-04:00

Aerials Express Announce the Release of Miami Metropolitan Imagery for 2008

Aerials Express is proud to announce the release of its Miami Metropolitan imagery for 2008.

Shipments of the industry's latest imagery to our valued partners starts this week, so call toll free now for immediate delivery (888)-482-2336.

Also be sure to check out Aerials Express recommended software:

ECEY View - Easy-to-use mapping application delivered with every imagery purchase.

VIEWgl - Import the latest imagery directly into Google Earth

WebMap - View and download the latest imagery through the Aerials Express website

2008-08-26T00:01:00.001-04:00

Update - Broward County GIS Users Group Meeting Cancelled

The Broward County GIS Users Group monthly meeting previously scheduled for August 27th, 2008 has been canceled.

The next meeting is scheduled for September 24th, 2008 and will include a presentation by South Florida Water Management District's Maryam Mashayekhi on the ArcHydro initiatives at the District.

Please confirm the meeting time and location via this month's agenda on their website.

For more information on the Broward County GIS Users Group, please contact Vicki Morrow, Broward County GIS Manager, at vmorrow@broward.org

2008-08-25T22:19:00.002-04:00

GTG’s GIS Manager’s Workshop Coming to Forsyth County, Georgia

Geographic Technologies Group, Inc.’s (GTG) GIS Manager’s Workshop is coming to Forsyth County, Georgia, on Thursday, November 20, 2008. The workshop will be held at the Forsyth County Public Safety Complex and is ideal for GIS and IT professionals.

The GIS Manager’s Workshop will occur in conjunction with GIS Day, which takes place the day before the workshop. Forming part of the Atlanta metropolitan area, Forsyth County’s location will provide students with the practical knowledge many GIS managers must have to succeed.

Forsyth County is just one location in the series of workshops that “GTG’s owners, Curt Hinton and David Holdstock, are offering nationwide this year. Topics covered in the workshop include Managing GIS, The Governance of GIS, The Enterprise Implementation of GIS, and The Business Case for GIS. All topics focus on local government. Learn how to effectively find funding for your GIS, like Forsyth County has.

“GTG’s long lasting relationship with Forsyth County, as well as the County’s devotion to a successful GIS, makes them a perfect host for the GIS Manager’s Workshop,” said Curt Hinton, GTG’s CEO. “Together, we will provide insightful and practical examples of how a GIS can be successfully implemented.”

For more information on this GIS Manager’s Workshop, visit us online at www.geotg.com/training or email training@geotg.com.

Press Release - GTG

2008-08-21T00:10:00.000-04:00

Free 2008 ESRI Water Seminar to Be Held in Tampa, FL on September 11th, 2008

ESRI will be holding a number of Water Seminars throughout the country in the coming months. The Florida stop will be held in Tampa, FL from 8:30am - 3pm on September 11th, 2008.

The event will be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel located at 211 North Tampa Street in Tampa, FL.

The full seminar agenda and brochure can be viewed online. If interested in attending, please register today.

If you have further questions, please contact ESRI via email at water_seminar@esri.com

2008-08-21T00:01:00.000-04:00

Gulf County, FL Launches New Interactive Mapping GIS Site

The Gulf County GIS Department has recently launched a new interactive GIS website. Although the site is still being expanded upon, it will include a variety of layers pertaining to a number of county departments.

These layers will include:

- Base Layers

- Facilities

- Parks/Recreation

- Municipal

- Property Info

- Water Related Info

- Mosquito Control

- Critical Habitats

- Planning

- Emergency Preparedness

- B.O.C.C. Layers

2008-08-20T00:05:00.000-04:00

FLURISA LIDAR Concepts, Principals and Applications Workshop to be Held Today in Tampa, FL

The Florida Chapter of URISA in conjunction with the Annual Florida Surveyors and Mapping Society Conference will be holding a "LIDAR Concepts, Principals and Applications Workshop" today, August 20th, 2008 in Tampa, FL.

This URISA International certified workshop will be held at:

Marriott Tampa Waterside Hotel
700 South Florida Avenue
Tampa, FL
Telephone 813.204.6338

Fee: $60

We invite all FLURISA members and others interested in LIDAR technology who want to get a basic understanding of how the tool works, what map production is like and how they are able to incorporate this type of data into their GIS.

The workshop is separate registration from the conference. We encourage you check the offerings at the FSMS conference but you are not required to register for the FSMS conference to attend this workshop. You can register for this workshop by filling out the attached flier and submitting it to FSMS.

For more information on FSMS’s conference please use this link:

http://www.fsms.org/ConferenceInformation.cfm

As you are all aware, URISA International Workshops can be used for Continuing Education credits toward maintaining your GISP certification. We look forward to seeing many of you at this workshop.

Course Description:

Instructor: Brian Raber, Merrick & Co.

LIDAR Concepts, Principals and Applications

LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) has become widely accepted tool to generate accurate terrain models used in a variety of GIS applications. This workshop will provide an overview of this exciting technology. A history of this advanced mapping tool will be discussed as well as a review it’s current and future trends. The workshop will describe potential applications and will provide case studies of how this data has been used by agencies throughout the United States.

Specific topics include:

• LIDAR technology summary and how it works

• Mapping workflow and processes

• Quality control and potential error

• Future trends

• Case studies

2008-08-20T00:03:00.000-04:00

Munsys, Inc. Announces the Release of Geo-scan Tools for Managing Scanned Images as Part of Utility Asset Inventory

Munsys, Inc. today announced the release of the Munsys Geo-scan tools for AutoCAD Map based products. These tools enable the capture, integration and use of scanned images for utility asset inventory recording and other applications.

“In many cases the source data for the attributes of utility infrastructure is still on the paper plans, the Munsys Geo-scan tools provide a powerful way for engineers to have the “data of record” at their fingertips while working with their utility maps,” says Mike Fucile, Munsys Sales Associate. “These tools not only improve work efficiency, they also provide a way to do a spatial query on what source documents cover a specific geographic area.”

The Munsys Geo-scan tools provide a mechanism for Munsys users to capture previously scanned images, for example as-built plans, as part of their Munsys data model. While the image content remains on disk (such as a mapped drive on a central server) the image boundaries are stored in the Oracle database as spatial polygon objects with associated meta-data.

Using the Geo-scan tools, users are able to query previously captured image boundaries from the database to view the coverage of images. The Geo-scan tools are designed in such a way that the steps required for inserting, geo-referencing and creating spatial object boundaries are simplified as menu items appended to the existing Munsys Spatial Data Manager application. By changing the associated attribute information, the user can assign an image category to the image boundary for classification purposes or add other meta-data as desired. The tools also allow the user to show hyperlinked images and open them in the associated software to view/edit the image.

The Munsys Geo-scan tools are being provided on a complimentary basis, for a limited time period to existing customers that have a valid software upgrade subscription license for Munsys Spatial Data Manager 10.0.

Register for a free 45 minute presentation of Munsys at
http://www.munsys.com/events.htm

Press Release - Munsys
© 2008 Munsys, Inc.

2008-08-20T00:01:00.000-04:00

Free Webinar — Simplify Your Image Processing and Compression with ERDAS ER Mapper

Can you quickly and easily color balance, mosaic, combine and compress your imagery? After processing your imagery, how do you then handle large files? ERDAS announces Simplify Your Image Processing and Compression with ERDAS ER Mapper, a free webinar on Wednesday, August 27, 2008 at 2 a.m. and 11 a.m. (EDT).

ERDAS ER Mapper is a wizard-based, low cost image processing solution used extensively throughout the extractive industries. With ERDAS ER Mapper, imagery can be quickly enhanced and then used in GIS, CAD, desktop or server applications. Along with a powerful projections engine, ERDAS ER Mapper also includes a 64-bit compressor, equipped to handle images more than 5 TB in size. Offering unlimited JPEG2000 and ECW compression, you can shrink your image dataset to as little as 5% of its original size, retaining the visual quality.

Each month, ERDAS is offering at least two different webinar topics. To meet the needs of ERDAS’ global audience, most webinars will be hosted twice on a scheduled day. In addition to a live presentation and demonstration, each webinar also includes the opportunity for customers to interact directly with the presenter. Scheduled to last forty-five minutes, each webinar will include approximately thirty minutes of presented material and fifteen minutes for Q&A.

Below is a schedule outlining the next three ERDAS webinar topics and the solutions featured:

· August 27 – Simplify Your Image Processing and Compression with ERDAS ER Mapper

· August 28 – What’s New in ERDAS Photogrammetry

· September 11 – Bigger, Strong, Faster!! (ERDAS Image Web Server 2009)

To register for Simplify Your Image Processing and Compression with ERDAS ER Mapper, or find out more about other upcoming webinars, please visit: http://www.erdas.com.

Press Release - ERDAS
© 2008 ERDAS, Inc.

2008-08-19T00:03:00.000-04:00

2008 Florida GIS Data Discovery Workshop Presentations Now Online

The presentations from the 2008 Florida GIS Data Discovery Workshop hosted by the Florida Division of Emergency Management on July 15th, 2008 are now available for download.

The presentations include:

"Supporting Geospatial Data Discovery Florida"
United States Geologic Survey
Lou Driber, Geospatial Liaison to Florida, Puerto Rico, & US Virgin Islands

"USGS Emergency Operations Geospatial Information Coordination"
United States Geologic Survey
Brenda Jones, Disaster Response Coordinator

"June 2008 Midwest Flooding"
United States Geologic Survey
Brenda Jones, Disaster Response Coordinator

"GIS Data Directory"
"Federal Aid Highway Maps"
Florida Department of Transportation
Paul O'Rourke, GIS Support Section Manager, Transportation Statistics Office

"ETDM EST Repurposed to Support Emergency Management"
Florida Department of Transportation
Peter McGilvray

"CFGIS Data Discovery Workshop"
"CFGIS Website Demo"
Central Florida GIS
Claudia Paskauskas, GIS Manager, East Central Florida Regional Planning Council

"Data Discovery - Jacksonville District"
Army Corp of Engineers (Jacksonville District)
Rory Sutton

"The Florida Geographic Data Library FGDL & ETDM"
UF's Geoplan
Lex Thomas, ETDM Systems Manager

"Online Mapping and Image Data"
FSU's FREAC
Stephen Hodge, Director of Technical Assistance Program

"GIS Portal and Data Download"
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Jonathan Watson, Chris Williams, Dan Zimmerman, Ken Carter, and Gary Cook

"Parcel Data Download"
Florida Department of Revenue
Kevin Gorham, Revenue Program Administrator

"SWFWMD/SJRWMD"
Florida Water Management Districts
Steve Dicks, Mapping and GIS Program Director

"EOC Data Discovery and Situational Awareness"
Florida Water Management Districts
Kurt Saari, GIS Manager

"FWC FWRI Data Discovery Workshop 2008"
Florida Fish & Wildlife Research Institute
Rene Baumstark, GIS Librarian

"Geospatial Technologies in Wildland Fire Management"
Florida Division of Forestry
Scott Taylor and Karen Cummins

"Florida Department of Health Websites for Emergency Operations"
Florida Department of Health
Calvin Desouza and Bill Alfred

"GIS Data Discovery"
Florida Division of Emergency Management
Richard Butgereit, GIS Administrator

2008-08-19T00:01:00.001-04:00

Palm Beach Countywide GIS Forum to Meet This Thursday - August 21st, 2008

The Palm Beach Countywide GIS Forum will hold a meeting this Thursday, August 21st, 2008, at 10am at the Palm Beach County Vista Center complex located at 2300 N. Jog Road in West Palm Beach, FL.

The planned presentation will be a “Summary of Florida Strategic Plan for Statewide GIS Coordination”

Presenters: Martin Roche (Fugro EarthData, Inc.), Diana Umpierre (SFWMD)

This presentation will provide a summary of the Strategic Plan, including the following:

· results of workshops/ interviews conducted across the State

· overview of the main recommendations

· current status & challenges

· highlights from a recent Data Discovery Workshop

2008-08-15T00:05:00.000-04:00

South Florida GIS Expo - West Palm Beach, FL on October 2nd-3rd, 2008 - Free Registration Now Open

The GIS Expo is always a positive community event. At a time when everyone can use an uplifting experience, we are delivering that to you with this year's theme: GIS: Find your Happy Place!

You will be WOWed with the interactive presentation from our keynote speaker, David J. Pollay, and that enthusiastic energy will continue throughout the 2-day event. Here are some updates:

- Expo registration is (really) now open. Please forgive our slight delay and visit this site again to register today: www.sfgisexpo.com

- You will be able to to work on your GISP at this year's conference. Gather your documents and use this time to not only see the latest and greatest in GIS, but to further your career as well.

- The deadline has been extended to August 27th for you to submit your presentation abstract. See details below.

- You can now submit your poster registration online Your poster could win an award. Show us your work! Everyone benefits from seeing the various ways GIS is used in different organizations.

- Once again, Volunteers are needed to help organize this event. Please contact Chris Benkly at cbenkly@pbcgov.com with your name or the names of your employees that could volunteer to help out with moderating sessions, registration, etc.

- As always, the GIS Expo is FREE to attend. Don't miss out - Find your GIS Happy Place!

SF GIS Expo 2008 Call for Abstracts:

It’s not too late to submit an abstract for the SF GIS Expo 2008. Since we have not filled out the schedule for this year, we are extending the deadline for abstracts until Wednesday, August 27, 2008. If you have thought about presenting, either as a repeat presenter from previous years or would like to share your experiences for the first time at the Expo, we invite you to fill out the abstract submittal form and get on the schedule!

· 15th Annual South Florida GIS Expo

· At the Palm Beach County Convention Center

· 45 min presentations for the entire day on Friday, October 3, 2008

· If 45 min is too long, choose to do a 15 min presentation

· Encouraging topics of interest to GIS beginners or upper-level management

· Submit abstract by August 27, 2008

Submission Process:

· Complete abstract submittal form

· Submit form to Patrick Lockwitz at plockwitz@deerfield-beach.com or through the Expo website at www.sfgisexpo.com

Acceptance Process:

· The submitter will receive the first email confirming the submission was successfully received by Patrick

· A second email will be sent to the submitter confirming the acceptance after the subcommittee has reviewed the content of the abstract submittal form

2008-08-15T00:01:00.000-04:00

How to Financially Justify Your Geospatial Projects - Two-day Workshop in Tampa, FL

The Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) will present the “How to Financially Justify Your Geospatial Projects” Two-day Workshop in two cities this fall—Denver, CO on November 13th-14th, 2008, and Tampa, FL on December 11th-12th, 2008.

All types of organizations now have a unique opportunity to learn from GITA's landmark research project, “Building a Business Case for Geospatial Information Technology: A Practitioner’s Guide to Financial and Strategic Analysis.” The methodologies and processes for developing a solid, well researched business case to substantiate geospatial implementations have been adapted to help you make financial sense of your geospatial projects.

Full details about the workshop are available at the GITA Web site, located at www.gita.org/roi_workshop, or by contacting GITA headquarters at (303)337-0513; e-mail info@gita.org.

Press Release - GITA
Copyright GITA

2008-08-14T00:01:00.000-04:00

Munsys to Offer Free GIS / Utilities Webinars in August and September

Munsys, Inc. will be offering a number of free GIS webinars over the next two months, the first of which be held today Thursday - April 14th, 2008. Please see the following presentation dates, times, and descriptions. The presentations are typically 60 minutes with some time for questions.

You can register in advance by clicking on the "Register Now" link following each description.

- - - - FREE GIS WEBINARS - - - -

Thursday - August 14th, 2008 at 2:30pm EDT

"How Utilities Can Spend Half the Time on the System Base Map and Have Infinitely Better Data Quality and Availability"

Your existing data is what it is. However, how effectively you update and improve your data determines the data quality and currency. This has a significant impact on the operational efficiency of your organization. This presentation shows how a tried and tested solution based on OpenGIS data standards delivers tools that enable you to work smarter not harder and deliver a completely attributed and connected system base map in half the time it usually takes. The positive impact on your organization has far reaching effects financially and operationally.

Register Now

Thursday - August 28th, 2008 at 11:30am EDT
"Integrating Scanned As-built Plans as GIS Reference Data"

As-built drawings and record plans are typically scanned and archived as the data of record for utility and infrastructure projects. However, just archiving the documents still creates an issue when anyone needs to know what was done where, when and by whom. Without a good system in place it takes time to find the data of record in any given area. This presentation reviews the challenges faced by a number of organizations and a solution used to register as-built plans with the system base map thereby ensuring that engineers can simply select any area and see all the relevant projects and record plans.

Register Now

Wednesday - September 10th, 2008 at 2:30pm EDT
"Case Study: How a Small Utility Switched to a New Generation Mapping and Maintenance Management Solution"

Join us in a case study overview of the steps, effort and costs required to switch a small utility over to a new generation mapping and management solution. See how a small utility switched from a set of CAD drawings and spreadsheets to a fully connected and attributed network which is integrated with an easy to use work order system.

Register Now

Thursday - September 25th, 2008 at 2:30pm EDT
"Utilizing Oracle Spatial to Integrate AutoCAD and ArcGIS"

Most organizations today need to work with spatial data in various different formats ranging from scanned plans to design drawings to proprietary GIS files. By sharing a central database different departments can effectively share data with each other without the constant need for data conversion and data updates. One of the biggest advantages of this approach is that the latest information is always readily available. This demonstration will show how Oracle Spatial can be used as the central data store for both AutoCAD and ArcGIS and how edits from one system is immediately available in the other.

Register Now

2008-08-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

Charlotte County, FL Awards Accela $1.7M Contract to Increase Efficiencies in Delivering Public Services

Charlotte County, Florida has selected Accela Automation® from Accela, Inc. as its primary software solution for delivering services to the public. Staff in its Building Construction Services and Growth Management departments will use the solution to streamline land management and licensing processes and provide Charlotte County citizens and the local development community with a user-friendly, easily accessible system for conducting business via the Internet.

Building Construction Services and Growth Management have responsibility for a wide range of activities, from plan review, permitting, and building trade and occupational licensing, to zoning, comprehensive planning, code enforcement, and concurrency management. Staff in both departments will be able to access and share land use and licensing information from a centralized database, ensuring faster and more accurate response to the public.

Charlotte County also selected additional Accela applications that will enhance the functionality of Accela Automation to manage licensing activities, enable sharing of GIS information from a centralized database, empower field staff to work more efficiently in conducting inspections, and provide residents online access to services:

Accela Licensing & Case Management™ automates and fully integrates a wide range of licensing and case management processes, including building trade and occupational licensing. It supports document management, automated license renewal, and flexibility in creating unlimited types of licenses based on an agency’s unique regulations, requirements, and internal procedures.

Accela GIS™ seamlessly integrates with Accela Automation to provide powerful real-time visual analysis to enhance land use, zoning, and infrastructure data. It allows creation of multiple map layers, automated map analysis, parcel and asset inventory management, direct editing of GIS data or files, and auto-distribution of information to mailing lists. It is built on the ArcIMS™ platform by ESRI®.

Accela Wireless™ is a mobile government software application that allows government staff to perform their jobs from the field for inspections, code enforcement, work orders, and service requests. Optimized for Intel Centrino® Mobile Technology, Accela Wireless is compatible with PDAs, laptops, and Tablet PCs running on the Microsoft Pocket PC 2003, Windows Mobile 5, Windows 2000, or Windows XP operating systems.

Accela Citizen Access™ provides real-time, direct access via the Internet to agency permit and land management activities. Online permit applications can be configured to allow citizens and businesses access to apply and pay for permits, schedule inspections, check the status of a permit or inspection, or print an approved permit directly from the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Charlotte County joins a growing number of government agencies committed to delivering high standards of customer service through the best technology available,” said Maury Blackman, Accela president and CEO. “We welcome the County as a new customer and look forward to helping them realize the many and far-reaching benefits that Web-based technology can provide.”

Press Release - Accela
© 2004-2008 Accela, Inc.

2008-08-13T00:01:00.000-04:00

Florida Utility User Group (GIS for Utilities) This Thursday - August 14th, 2008 in Pompano Beach, FL

The Florida Utility User Group (GIS for Utilities) will be holding their next meeting at 2pm this Thursday - August 14th, 2008.

The event will be held at the Pompano Emergency Control Center (2nd Floor) located at 1205 NE 5th Avenue in Pompano Beach, FL.

Dominic M. Strollo II, GIS Administrator, will do a presentation on the use of GIS at Bonita Springs Utilities, Inc.

If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Leigh Barron at (954) 730-0707, ext. 107 or via email at lbarron@chenandassociates.com

For more information or further details on the Florida Utility User Group, please contact James Barton, PE at (954) 914-8488 or via email jbarton@chenandassociates.com

2008-08-12T00:01:00.000-04:00

The University of West Florida (UWF) is offering a GIS Course August 18th - 19th, 2008

The University of West Florida Division of Continuing Education would like to remind you of our up coming Geographic Information Systems (GIS) course “Introduction to ArcSDE for SQL Server”.

The “Introduction to ArcSDE for SQL Server” will be offered on the UWF main campus in Pensacola, Florida starting August 18th, 2008 through August 19th, 2008 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost to attend this session is $499.

Register Today!

The UWF Continuing Education short courses are targeted at working professionals new to GIS or those wishing to explore the further potential for their GIS software. All courses use current Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) software and provide a certificate of completion. Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) may be earned for these courses.

The course will be taught by Mrs. Kristal Walsh, GISP. Mrs. Walsh earned her MS degree in Environmental Studies and has provided GIS support for the UWF Department of Environmental Studies and the Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation since 2000. She is experienced in topographic data collection and mapping, raster analysis for environmental impact studies and the integration of spatial data with AutoCAD drawings. Most recently, she has developed a continuing education course for professionals that focuses on GPS data collection and mapping in a GIS.

For more information or for express enrollment, contact the UWF Division of Continuing Education at (850) 474-2914 or visit ContinuingEd.uwf.edu.

2008-08-11T13:20:00.001-04:00

Geographic Technologies Group’s Geo Blade Web Keeps Citizens Informed

Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG) continues to build upon their GIS expertise to improve citizen access to government. Their newly released Geo Blade Web is guaranteed to make a difference in communities and local government organizations across the nation.

Geo Blade Web, a highly customizable web application, gives the public the ability to access a variety of information about their community through any given number of websites set up by a local government organization. These sites can include public safety information (crime statistics and sex offender information), tax centric information (property and assessment values), as well as other information such as parks and recreation data, voting precincts, school systems, bus routes, hospital locations, and land marks. Since this information is available through a web interface, citizens can access it 24/7 from any computer with Internet access.

Geo Blade Web gives the public the ability to quickly gather information about their community with a few simple clicks. Along with the standard GIS functionality, Geo Blade Web contains a sophisticated toolset which includes: querying both spatial and attribute data, reporting capabilities, navigational tools, spatial analysis, and report generation. It also has the ability to be integrated with known mapping sites, such as Google Maps, MapQuest, and Microsoft Live Maps. Geo Blade Web provides an easy-to-use administrative tool which allows for generation of customized searches, popup map tips, and consumption of web services.

“Geo Blade Web is unique in its ability to connect citizens with government 24/7,” said Curt Hinton, CEO of GTG. “It is possible for the public to access any information about their community. Local government agencies will find that Geo Blade Web presents a clear return on investment, saving them time and money by providing citizens the ability to access information on their own.”

For more information on the Geo Blade software suite, visit www.geotg.com/geoblade, or call 888-757-4222.

About Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. (GTG):

GTG is a full-service local government GIS consulting company offering specialized experience in the planning, design, implementation, and procurement of geo-technologies. GTG has unmatched technical GIS capabilities, demonstrated successes, international experience, and a reputation for successfully implementing the right solutions. GTG develops GIS products that spatially enable various enterprise solutions and integrates an organization's IT investment via a common interface. GTG also offers stand alone products for land management, public safety, public access, touch screen technology, and utilities.

GTG has over 700 clients located throughout North America and Europe and serves all levels of government as well as the private sector. To support our clients, GTG maintains three offices located across the United States: Headquarters in North Carolina, and Regional Offices in Texas and Florida.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. at 888-757-4222 or you can access our website at www.geotg.com.

Press Release - GTG
©Copyright Geographic Technologies Group

2008-08-08T00:38:00.002-04:00

Seventh Annual SHRUG GIS Workshop in Tallahassee, FL - Only 3 Weeks Left for Early Registration

There are only 3 weeks left for early registration for the Seven Hills Regional Usergroup for GIS (SHRUG ) Seventh Annual GIS Workshop - “GIS Revolution”.

The event will be held at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center in Tallahassee, FL on November 19th-20th, 2008.

Please visit the workshop website for further details.

2008-08-08T00:17:00.002-04:00

Northwest Florida GIS Users Group Meeting - Agenda Update for September, 17th, 2008 Meeting

The NWFL GIS User's Group invites you to attend their upcoming quarterly meeting which will be held on September 17th, 2008 at the Destin City Hall Annex from 9am - 12pm.

The meeting will be co-hosted by Bay County GIS and the Walton County Cooperative Extension Office. Please mark your calendars for this date.

Topics will include:

- "Sharing FDOT Data"

- "How about this GISP certification: What is it? And how do I fill out the application"

- "Using GIS in Natural Resources"

- "Crime Analysis Tools for GIS".

There will be a continental breakfast from 9 - 9:30, so please come early and mingle. Maybe you'll meet someone new so be sure and bring your business cards.

Lunch is being sponsored by CDM (Camp, Dresser and McKee) and is being catered by the Hog's Breath Saloon, Boss Hog Bar-B-Q. Thank you Andy Baranowski, of CDM, for your support of the NWFL GIS User's Group!!!!!!!

Please RSVP to Jennifer Morgan at jmorgan@co.bay.fl.us to let them know if you will be attending.

2008-08-08T00:04:00.002-04:00

Hernando County, FL Featured in Summer 2008 Edition of ArcNews

Hernando County, FL has been featured within an article in the Summer 2008 issue of ESRI's ArcNews.

The article,"Hernando County, Florida, Develops Central GIS", gives an overview of the benefits they have achieved through their Hernando County Central GIS (HCCGIS) program under the direction of the Hernando County Property Appraiser's Office.

Also see the Hernando County Planning Department's GIS website for available data and various maps of interest.

2008-08-06T00:01:00.000-04:00

GITA Extends Call for Presentations Deadline to August 11th

The Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) has extended its Call for Presentations deadline to Aug. 11, 2008, for its 2009 Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference, slated for April 19-22, at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Fla. The association extended the deadline because the Call for Presentations process has changed for the 2009 conference.

Potential speakers can visit www.gita.org/cfp to access the submission form.

GITA has relaxed the minimum paper requirements for the Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference, as we are sensitive to the time constraints of today’s professionals. Attendee survey results from GITA's Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference, which was held in Seattle in March 2008, indicate that published papers are highly valued for their detailed content. In a continued effort to provide valuable content, accepted speakers for the 2009 Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference must a) submit a biography b) submit a two- to four- page executive summary, which will be published in the Conference Proceedings, and c ) submit a computer-generated presentation. Full paper submittals are still highly regarded and recommended. There is no limit on paper submission size.

Complete information on the abstract submission process and an online submission form is available at www.gita.org/cfp.

Press Release - GITA
Copyright © GITA

2008-08-04T00:35:00.002-04:00

Nassau County, Florida Deploys Geo-Visus Inc’s DCI©™ Solution for Rapid Field Data Collection

Geo-Visus Inc. announces Nassau County, Florida chose their Data Collection Infrastructure (DCI©™) as its Mobile GIS standard. DCI©™ was selected because of its simple user experience and management process for their mobile deployments so that each field worker did not require large amounts of training or specialist devices to capture as much information as possible about new and existing infrastructure throughout each department.

Nassau County has rolled out the DCI©™ with the Utilities Department in a pilot project over the last month to collect the locations and information of all Fire Hydrants in their Water Utility Network using Trimble GeoXH field devices. They are able to quickly download their daily projects, access only the GIS data they need for that project directly over the network (Cell/WiFi) without having to go to the office every time, and they can upload their work throughout the day ensuring that nothing is lost.

“With Geo-Visus’s assistance, Nassau County successfully deployed the DCI©™ solution to our field personnel,” states John Crowder, Support Services Director. “Using the DCI©™ solution, we are able to extend our investment in ESRI’s ArcGIS Server by facilitating rapid data collection for both the Building and Utilities Departments and keep data synchronized between the office and field.”

DCI©™ leverages the ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS Mobile products from ESRI and is ideal for firms looking to take advantage of online mapping, wireless data collection, and hosted QA/QC tools for supporting a range of business processed that require accurate and fast access to infrastructure maps in a highly-scalable hosted environment.

About Nassau County
Nassau County is located in the North East corner of Florida. The county is growing at a rapid rate and experiencing increased demand for managing the critical infrastructure to support its growth. It is a rural county that now has approx 35, 000 citizens as of 2007.

The County has a single GIS Administrator using ArcGIS Desktop and Server products to manage their geographic information. The GIS Administrator is responsible for providing mapping services to the Board of County Commissioners, Growth Management, Utilities, Building, Emergency Management, Health, Ocean, Highway and Port Authority, Sherriff departments and the General Public. More information can be found on the web at: www.nassauflbuilding.com

About Geo-Visus Inc
Headquartered in Plantation, Florida, Geo-Visus Inc. specializes in Web-GIS Solutions and GIS Management Services. They lead the way in ArcGIS Server On-Site and Remote, Installation, Monitoring and Management. They are building Business Integration Tools to support client spatial data collection, analysis and decision-making needs. Geo-Visus commitment to excellence combined with their responsiveness has gained them an outstanding reputation in the GIS industry and more importantly, the trust and confidence of their clients. Incorporated in 2007, Geo-Visus Inc. has one (1) additional office location in Jacksonville, Florida. More information can be found on the web at: www.geovisus.com

Geo-Visus, DCI and www.geovisus.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of Geo-Visus in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

Contact:
Martin Copping, GISP
GEO-VISUS Inc.
E-mail: mcopping@geovisus.com
Tel: (888) 724-4447 Ext. 401

Press Release - GeoVisus Inc.
Copyright GeoVisus Inc.

2008-08-04T00:24:00.003-04:00

Geo-Visus Inc. Awarded Contract by the Government of Jamaica

Geo-Visus Inc., in partnership with GeoNet Technology Services Inc. (GeoNet), has been awarded a contract by the Government of Jamaica, to provide GIS Consulting Services to be used in support of the Ministry of Transport & Works (MTW) Enterprise Geographic Information System (EGIS). Deliverables include an Enterprise Geodatabase, the roll-out of ESRI’s ArcGIS Server and preliminary training and support for MTW’s IT and GIS Staff.

“The aim of developing an EGIS System at the MTW is to provide better awareness, quantification, and assessment of transportation problems, while assisting policy makers and planners in making informed, effective decisions. It is envisioned that the system will serve the MTW as a whole and other interest groups,” says Dr. Alwin Hales, Permanent Secretary.

About the Ministry of Transport and Works
The MTW’s primary responsibility is Jamaica’s land, marine and air transport as well as the main road network. The MTW has regulatory responsibility for the safety of a 15,394 km road network; 800 bridges; 330 km of rail track; large fleets of public passenger buses; two international airports; four domestic aerodromes; ten specialized seaports and three public deep-water ports. Visit the Ministry of Transport and Works on the Web at: www.mtw.gov.jm

About GeoNet Technology Service Inc
GeoNet is a company specializing in the provision of GIS enabled information technology software solutions for the land management, real estate and utility industries in the Caribbean. Their use of technologies based on GIS software standards and open systems architecture make them uniquely positioned to unleash the infinite possibilities of GIS and Internet technologies to help their customers succeed. More information can be found on the web at: www.geonett.com

About Geo-Visus Inc
Headquartered in Plantation, Florida, Geo-Visus Inc. specializes in Web-GIS Solutions and GIS Management Services. They lead the way in ArcGIS Server On-Site and Remote, Installation, Monitoring and Management. They are building Business Integration Tools to support client spatial data collection, analysis and decision-making needs. Geo-Visus commitment to excellence combined with their responsiveness has gained them an outstanding reputation in the GIS industry and more importantly, the trust and confidence of their clients. More information can be found on the web at: www.geovisus.com

Geo-Visus, GISLite and www.geovisus.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of Geo-Visus in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

Contact:
Martin Copping, GISP
GEO-VISUS Inc.
E-mail: mcopping@geovisus.com
Tel: (888) 724-4447 Ext. 401

Press Release - GeoVisus Inc.
Copyright © GeoVisus Inc.

2008-08-03T00:01:00.000-04:00

Responder OMS in Production at Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU)

Telvent (NASDAQ: TLVT), the IT company for a sustainable and secure world, announced today that Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) in Florida has completed the conversion from its legacy OMS (outage management system) to Responder, the OMS extension of ArcFM™ Enterprise GIS Solution developed by Telvent Miner & Miner. Implementation of Responder began on July 1, 2008, after a period of parallel operation with the legacy system and successful performance in simulation challenge.

Community-owned GRU is a multi-service utility providing electric, natural gas, water, wastewater, and telecommunications services to the City of Gainesville and surrounding unincorporated areas. As the 5th largest municipal electric utility in the state of Florida, it serves nearly 90,000 electric customers alone. Responder is now used daily by GRU's electric service dispatch staff, including the system operators responsible for equipment and switching and the operations assistants who interface with customers. The service’s construction maintenance managers also interface with Responder, via VPN (virtual private network) connecting laptop PCs to office desktops, to track dispatched crew activity.

Since 2001, GRU - the most comprehensive utility service provider in the state - has taken advantage of its comprehensive ArcFM geodatabase to streamline mapping functions for all of its utilities. Now, with the implementation of Responder, GRU’s electric service integrates mapping data with outage management and eliminates the routine and time-consuming data importation that was necessary with the non-integrated legacy OMS. GRU also leverages its open-architecture ArcFM GIS with the implementation of Designer, to support cost estimating and compatible units and make work order design and GIS posting more streamlined, consistent, and accurate.

Press Release - Telvent Miner & Miner
Copyright Telvent Miner & Miner

2008-08-02T19:07:00.002-04:00

Intermap Offers Free Webinar, "The Risks of Outdated Flood Data", on August 13th, 2008

The Risks of Outdated Flood Data - Webinar

When risk management and flood modeling professionals base their projects on unreliable flood mapping data, the consequences can be severe – for individuals and insurance companies alike. This Webinar focuses on the inadequacies of current flood maps and the potential costs, both human and financial, associated with reliance on outdated elevation data. Discussion topics include current map modeling techniques, what individuals and companies need to know regarding the FEMA National Flood Insurance Policy, and how accurate data can help enable address-specific flood modeling.

Date: August 13th, 2008
Time: 11am EDT

Free Registration

Panelist Information:

Primary Speaker: Kevin Little (Intermap Technologies)
Subject Matter Expert: Kea Marie Beiningen (Intermap Technologies)
Kevin Thomas (Moderator)

About the Subject Matter Expert:

Kea Marie Beiningen, CFM, Intermap Technologies
Kea Beiningen graduated from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs in 2004 with a BA degree in geography and environmental studies with an emphasis in geographical information systems, remote sensing, and hydrology. Since graduation, her experience includes GPS field mapping, creating Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRM) for FEMA, and developing environmental assessment maps for the Colorado Department of Transportation. She now works for Intermap in the Insurance Solutions Group for the Product Development Team. Ms. Beiningen received her Certified Floodplain Management certificate in 2006 and has continuously taken classes to maintain this status.

Events Release - Intermap Technologies
© 2008 Intermap Technologies

2008-08-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

GITA - Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference - Call for Papers Deadline August 4th, 2008

The deadline for papers for GITA's 2009 Geospatial Infrastructure Solutions Conference is fast approaching. Please consider submitting any abstract presentation ideas you may have today.

The conference will be held on April 19th - 22nd, 2009 in Tampa, FL.

GITA has been the association for geospatial applications to infrastructure for more than 30 years. Attendees will be able to explore the latest in geospatial innovation through an extensive program of over 100 sessions, half-day seminars, and an extensive products and services exhibition.

Sign up for free to receive conference updates.

2008-07-30T00:02:00.000-04:00

Treasure Coast GIS User Group Meeting to be Held this Thursday, July 31st, 2008, in Vero Beach, FL

We invite GIS users and interested individuals to the next meeting of the Treasure Coast GIS User Group, to be held at 2:30pm, Thursday, July 31st , 2008. This event will be held at the City of Vero Beach City Hall located at 1053 20th Place in Vero Beach, FL.

Our agenda is to announce the completed list of the Steering Committee and potential dates for an August Kick-off meeting for the Steering Committee among other items.

This month, we are fortunate enough to have three presentations. The presentations will be on: The Status of GIS at Indian River County by Will Rice; GIS Manager of Indian River County, Innovative Uses of Open Source GIS Tools by Allen Ibaugh of Data Transfer Solutions and Sergio Requena of Burns & McDonnell, and a Summary and Status of the Statewide GIS Strategic Plan Initiative.

Please view the draft agenda and directions at our website: http://treasure.edats.com

There will also be a Poster Session again, so plan to bring something to show off! Please come prepared to discuss, share, and interact with fellow GIS users from your community. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

2008-07-30T00:01:00.000-04:00

Mapping Out Pollution-Related Beach Closings and Advisories in Florida

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) recently published the Beachgoers Water Quality Map, an informative map to reference prior to your next trip to the beach.

The data sets incorporated within the Google mashup are taken from the NRDC's "Testing the Waters 2008" survey and from individual reports to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

A beach water quality summary report specifically for Florida is available through Gannett News Service.

2008-07-29T00:03:00.000-04:00

Broward County GIS Users Group Meeting - Wednesday July 30th, 2008 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

The Broward County GIS Users Group will be holding their monthly meeting this Wednesday, July 30th, 2008, from 2:30pm - 4:30pm.

The meeting will take place in Room #430 of the Broward County Government Center located at 115 S. Andrews Avenue in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

Mark Campbell of the Broward County Highway Construction & Engineering Division GIS will be the guest speaker.

Please check the future meeting schedule for dates of additional upcoming meetings.

For more information on the Broward County Users Group, please contact Vicki Morrow, Broward County GIS Manager, at vmorrow@broward.org

2008-07-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

Ecology and Environment, Inc Announces Major Management Changes

Ecology and Environment, Inc., (E & E), the Lancaster, NY-based international environmental consulting firm, announced today that Kevin S. Neumaier, P.E., will become its new president and chief executive officer effective August 1, 2008. Mr. Neumaier succeeds his father, Gerhard J. Neumaier, who co-founded the firm in 1970 and remains as chairman of E&Es board of directors. Kevin Neumaier has been the companys senior vice president of environmental sustainability and chief information officer.

Mr. Neumaier holds a B.S. in Civil/Environmental Engineering from Clarkson University and is a registered professional engineer. He joined E & E in 1986, shortly after receiving an M.S. in Natural Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He has worked for the firm in 22 countries in all aspects of its business including project/program management, finance, business development and IT services. He is a director of E&Es Brazilian subsidiary, E&E do Brasil, whose revenues have grown tenfold in the past five years. Mr. Neumaier has fostered the growth of E & Es extensive IT programs, incorporating data management, geographic information systems (GIS) and web development into its engineering and environmental services, as well as championing efficiency measures for internal processes.

Mr. Neumaier was born in Buffalo, grew up in East Aurora and graduated from East Aurora High School. He resides in Lancaster with his wife Michelle, who is a computer systems development specialist at E & E and their 10-year old twins Steven and Jenna. The Neumaiers often walk to and from the companys Platinum LEED-certified headquarters building from their nearby, ecologically sophisticated home.

Earlier this year, Kevin Neumaier received the 2008 Executive of the Year award from infoTech Niagara, a Western New York professional association, for his work on the development of innovative, scalable solutions to climate change and environmental sustainability, such as E & Es GreenRide, GreenMeter, and Project Earth programs.

Gerard A. Gallagher, III, has been promoted to senior vice president of environmental sustainability. He has been based in Tallahassee, FL as a vice president in charge of E & Es operations in the southern U.S. Mr. Gallagher earned a B.A. in Physical Geography at Buffalo State College and joined the company in 1981. He worked on energy development projects in several western states and served in E & Es Dallas, TX office. He subsequently moved to Tallahassee to direct the firms environmental planning work for the State of Florida, the U. S. Department of Defense and other clients. He also directed projects addressing environmental policies applying to offshore energy development and on the environmental effects of proposed energy facilities around the Gulf of Mexico and in the Caribbean. Like Mr. Neumaier, Mr. Gallagher is a graduate of East Aurora High School and is looking forward to relocating back to East Aurora with his wife Beverly and their two children as he begins his new position.

Regarding his new role in the company, Kevin Neumaier stated: It is an honor to take the job as president of Ecology and Environment, Inc. Our founders -- Frank Silvestro, Gerry Strobel, Ron Frank, my father Gerhard, and a number of others -- displayed amazing vision and drive to create this great organization. My goals are to continue to build upon the companys successes, to attract and retain talented professionals, to provide top-quality, broadly based environmental services to our clients, to introduce services and technologies that help improve the global environment, and to achieve all this while providing a return for our shareholders. In addition to a great set of existing customers and markets, domestic and international, E&E is well-positioned in a number of exciting and growing market sectors such as energy, renewable energy, green services and clean tech, and emerging economies such as Brazils, and Chinas.

E & E is one of the worlds leading businesses pioneering innovative yet practical solutions to a wide variety of environmental issues, from mitigating environmental damage to fighting global climate change. Over the past 38 years, the company has successfully completed over 35,000 environmental projects in 83 countries.

Press Release - Ecology and Environment, Inc.
© Ecology and Environment, Inc.

2008-07-28T21:41:00.002-04:00

Intermap Technologies and FS Dreamscapes Release NEXTMap ProMesh Elevation Data for Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Intermap Technologies and FS Dreamscapes today announced the release of the first products in the NEXTMap® ProMesh™ series for California, Hawaii, Mississippi, Florida, and the United Kingdom.

NEXTMap® ProMesh™ features terrain mesh and photoscenery downloads optimized for Microsoft® Flight Simulator X, and is based on terrain data collected as part of Intermap’s country-wide NEXTMap 3D digital mapping program.

“This is the first major milestone reached since forging our partnership in early 2008. Thanks to Intermap’s wide area, high-resolution elevation data, the ProMesh product enhances the terrain in Microsoft Flight Simulator X with elevation data that is eight times the resolution and sixty-four times more detailed than the default FSX terrain,” said Dean Mountford, president and CEO of FS Dreamscapes.

“Additionally, the datasets go far beyond the quality, detail and currency of the United States Geological Survey’s 10-meter National Elevation Dataset and NASA’s 90-meter Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, upon which all other previous terrain products for Flight Simulator have been based,” Mountford continued.

“Never before has 5-meter posted elevation data, accurate to 1-meter vertically, been broadly available for both the United States and Europe,” said Kevin Thomas, vice president of marketing for Intermap Technologies. “We’re extremely excited to provide the geospatial foundation for a product that will revolutionize the way users see the world in both Flight Simulator X and Train Simulator 2.”

Microsoft flight simulator photoscenery and terrain mesh products are available for purchase and download at: www.fsdreamscapes.com/store.

Press Release - Intermap Technologies
©2008 Intermap Technologies

2008-07-25T00:01:00.000-04:00

ERDAS Announces a Free Webinar—Workflow Solved: High Fidelity Mosaics

ERDAS announces Workflow Solved: High Fidelity Mosaics, a free webinar on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 3 a.m. and 11 a.m. (EDT).

Successful photogrammetric projects are highly dependent upon an organization’s efficiency in creating and editing seamlines, photogrammetric dodging, tonal balancing and mosaicking. The ERDAS workflow integrates the editing/balancing/mosaicking process, reducing the time and effort required to create high quality orthomosaics. This webinar will feature images captured using a medium format camera. Beginning with a challenging data set, this webinar will illustrate how to produce radiometry improvements and deliver seamless mosaics.

Each month, ERDAS is offering at least two different webinar topics. To meet the needs of ERDAS’ global audience, most webinars will be hosted twice on a scheduled day. In addition to a live presentation and demonstration, each webinar also includes the opportunity for customers to interact directly with the presenter. Scheduled to last forty-five minutes, each webinar will include approximately thirty minutes of presented material and fifteen minutes for Q&A.

Below is a schedule outlining the next three ERDAS webinar topics and the solutions featured:

June 31
Workflow Solved: High Fidelity Mosaics

August 6
Huge Images? Too Many Users? No Problem (ERDAS IWS)

August 14
Simplify Your Image Processing and Compression with ERDAS ER Mapper

To register for Workflow Solved: High Fidelity Mosaics, or find out more about other upcoming webinars, please visit: http://www.erdas.com.

Press Release - ERDAS
©2008 ERDAS Inc.

2008-07-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

Munsys GIS Webinars - Bridging the Gap Between CAD and GIS – Today, July 24th, 2008 at 2:30pm

Munsys, Inc. will be offering a free GIS webinar today, Thursday, July 24th, 2008, at 2:30pm EDT entitled "Bridging the Gap Between CAD and GIS".

Please see the following description for further details. The presentation is approximately 30 minutes plus some time for questions.

You can register in advance by clicking on the "Register Now" link following the description below.

- - - - FREE GIS WEBINAR - - - -

Thursday - July 24th, 2008, 2:30pm EDT, 11:30am PDT

"Bridging the Gap Between CAD and GIS"

Many organizations face the challenge of duplicated effort by trying to maintain both drawings and GIS data in two different systems. Munsys bridges the gap between Engineering and GIS departments by allowing these departments to effectively share this data using Open GIS standards. This presentation will demonstrate how easy it is to maintain your engineering information in an open accessible format.

Register Now

2008-07-23T00:01:00.000-04:00

City of Garden Grove California Selects Munsys to Map and Manage Water and Wastewater Networks

Munsys, Inc announces that the City of Garden Grove Public Works Department has purchased the Munsys® Water, Sewer and Mapbooks applications. These are part of an integrated family of solutions that solve the asset mapping and management needs of utility and local government organizations.

“The Munsys applications have enabled us to maintain the system map data as well as the engineering attributes. Having the data stored in a single central database also means that changes we make are able to be seen in the web-based mapping applications in real-time,” says Marian Dan, Senior Engineering Technician “Being able to maintain connected and attributed water and sewer networks in AutoCAD that are hydraulic modeling-ready is something we were not able to do previously.”

The Munsys solutions include a central database with pre-defined Oracle® Spatial data models and integrated applications for the management of water, sewer, drainage, cadastral, roads and electricity infrastructure. Autodesk® design products are utilized for spatial data creation and editing. Traditional GIS software and other databases are easily integrated using OpenGIS® and gateway technologies.

“As a relatively new product to the North American market, Munsys provides an off-the-shelf solution that enables engineers to continue to use CAD, but creates data that is not only fully attributed and connected but that is seamlessly available to other GIS systems,” says Colin Hobson, Munsys Director “Munsys is very cost effective for small to medium sized organizations with limited budget and personnel who need a complete solution with strong functionality and a proven data model.”

Register for a free 45 minute presentation of Munsys at
http://www.munsys.com/events.htm

For more information contact info@munsys.com

About Munsys, Inc.

Munsys, Inc., with offices in Florida and California, is the primary supplier of sales, services, and technical support for the Munsys suite of products in North America. Munsys, Inc. provides database-driven geospatial solutions to utilities and government for the management of cadastral, drainage, electricity, roads, sewer, and water infrastructure.

For more information visit www.munsys.com

Press Release - Munsys
© 2008 Munsys, Inc.

2008-07-22T19:40:00.002-04:00

ERDAS Adds Support for WorldView-1 Satellite Data

ERDAS Inc. has announced support for WorldView-1 satellite products in ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS. By supporting WorldView-1 imagery, ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS will empower ERDAS users such as GEOINT and military analysts, state and local governments, civil organizations, first responders and non-governmental organizations to transform the satellite information into timely, relevant and accurate geospatial intelligence.

ERDAS support for WorldView-1 data in most available formats is included in the ERDAS IMAGINE and LPS 9.2 releases. SP1 completes this capability by providing specific support for the NCDRD rigorous model format. Users benefit from the ability to exploit WorldView-1 imagery with ERDAS products, as the minimal pre-processing requirements combined with sophisticated ERDAS production capabilities allows them to maximize efforts geared toward delivering actionable intelligence and highly accurate terrain, feature and image products.

“Commercial satellite imagery, such as that generated by WorldView-1, has been consumed at a rapidly increasing rate for Department of Defense, intelligence and civil applications,” said Tom Lobonc, Director of Photogrammetry and Defense Products, ERDAS. “We have added support for WorldView-1 imagery to ensure that our users immediately benefit from an unprecedented pairing of this high-resolution, high-accuracy satellite stereo imagery with the most sophisticated, comprehensive and flexible geospatial solutions available.”

Owned and operated by Digital Globe, WorldView-1 was launched in 2007 to provide highly detailed imagery for precise map creation, change detection and in-depth image analysis. WorldView-1 is a panchromatic imaging system featuring half-meter resolution imagery.

To learn more about ERDAS’ solutions, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 866 534 2286, or visit http://www.erdas.com.

Press Release - ERDAS
©2008 ERDAS Inc.

2008-07-20T20:45:00.003-04:00

Free Preview of the ArcGIS 9.3 Seminar Series on Thursday, July 24th, 2008

ESRI will be offering a free preview of what GIS users can expect to learn during their upcoming ArcGIS 9.3 Seminar Series. The seminar series will be held in over 30 cities worldwide starting this September, so be sure to check back to find a location near you.

The free preview of the seminar will be offered at 12pm, 2pm, and 6pm (EDT) on Thursday, July 24th, 2008.

Per ESRI's website:

"This technical seminar will offer a preview of what to expect at the ArcGIS 9.3 Seminar including an overview of new features available with ArcGIS 9.3. It will focus on enhancements to ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Server and will show demonstrations highlighting developments in data management, mapping/visualization, and spatial analysis."

2008-07-18T00:03:00.000-04:00

Safe Software Partners with WeoGeo to Bring Spatial ETL Technology to the Cloud

Safe Software, the leaders in spatial ETL and the makers of FME today announced that they have partnered with WeoGeo, known for its marketplace and cloud computing expertise, to bring the powerful data transformation capabilities of FME technology to the cloud. This combined offering will make it easier than ever before for spatial data to be accessed when, where, and how it’s needed.

This partnership will be the first offering of spatial ETL on the cloud. The first phase will strengthen WeoGeo’s data download web site by introducing the data transformation power of FME Server on www.WeoGeo.com. The next phase will provide organizations with the option to deploy FME Server through WeoGeo’s cloud computing expertise using the resources of Amazon Web Services (AWS). This innovative approach will enable organizations to use FME’s powerful data integration and distribution capabilities on the cloud for sharing spatial data with online data consumers on an infrastructure that automatically sizes to match current demand.

“Spatial ETL is the backbone for effective spatial data sharing, enabling data to be distributed in a structure and format that is immediately usable to end consumers.” says Paul Bissett, CEO of WeoGeo. “As the leaders in spatial ETL, Safe Software was the clear choice to partner with in our quest to build a more efficient spatial data exchange solution. Together, our combined expertise will provide a powerful and innovative way for organizations to share spatial data online.”

WeoGeo will use FME technology as the basis for its spatial ETL offerings in the marketplace, providing users with the ability to restructure their spatial data into the required format and data model. Specifically, organizations will be able to author spatial data flows that convert and integrate spatial data using FME Desktop and then push the resulting datasets to the cloud for distribution using FME Server.

“This is another example of our commitment to providing leading-edge solutions that enable the GIS industry to access data no matter how it’s structured or where it’s located,” says Don Murray, President of Safe Software. “By working with WeoGeo, we will enable organizations to take advantage of the cloud’s infrastructure to distribute usable data to those who need it.”

To learn more about this announcement and see FME Server and WeoGeo in action, visit the Safe Software booth #6 and WeoGeo booth #7. See also Safe Software’s and WeoGeo’s presentations at the GeoWeb conference on Thursday, July 24, 2008, including:

Don Murray’s “Integrating 3D, BIM, Vector & Raster Data with Spatial ETL” at 10:45am

Plenary Session “Visions of the GeoWeb” at 2:30 pm

Safe Software Vendor Spotlight at 4:20 pm

WeoGeo Vendor Spotlight at 4:30 pm

You can also learn more about FME Server by visiting www.safe.com/fmeserver or by contacting fmeinfo@safe.com to request a personalized web demo.

About Safe Software and FME

Safe Software powers the flow of spatial data with its software platform, FME. The recognized standard in spatial ETL (extract, transform and load), FME is the only complete solution for data conversion. It delivers the most extensive format support for data translation and integration, and provides unlimited flexibility in data model transformation and data distribution.

FME is used by thousands of customers worldwide in a variety of industries including government, utilities, and petroleum. Its powerful data access technology also makes FME the choice of leading GIS, CAD, and database vendors for integration into their own solutions. Designed for true data interoperability, FME unleashes spatial data so people can use it where, when, and how they want to. For more information, visit www.safe.com.

About WeoGeo

WeoGeo creates a one-stop marketplace for the mapping industry. It supplies surveyors, engineers, cartographers, and scientists with the ability to conveniently store, search, and exchange global mapping and geo-content. Geo-content providers can easily list their data for sale, and users can quickly find the data they need. For more information, visit www.WeoGeo.com.

###

Media Contact:

Lakhvir Brar
Marketing Communications Manager
Safe Software Inc.
(604) 501-9985 ex 274
lakhvir.brar@safe.com

Daniel Dye
Technology Evangelist
WeoGeo
(813) 574-3141 ex 106
ddye@WeoGeo.com

FME is a registered trademark of Safe Software Inc. WeoGeo is a registered trademark of WeoGeo Inc. All other product and company names herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Press Release - WeoGeo
Copyright WeoGeo

2008-07-18T00:02:00.000-04:00

NWFL GIS User's Group Quarterly Meeting to be Held September 17th, 2008 in Destin, FL

The Northwest Florida GIS Users Group will be holding their next quarterly meeting at the City of Destin City Hall at 9am on September 17th, 2008.

The Destin City Hall is located at 4200 Two Trees Road in Destin, FL.

If interested in attending, please RSVP to Kimberly Steele at ksteele@co.okaloosa.fl.us

GIS Users in Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Holmes, Washington, and Bay Counties can also join the NWFLGIS Yahoo Group to keep informed and become an active member of the local Northwest Florida GIS community.

2008-07-18T00:01:00.000-04:00

Open Geospatial Consortium Elects Two New Directors

The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC®) has held its biennial election and two new directors, Lisa Campbell and Dr. John C. Curlander, have been elected to the Board of Directors.

Lisa Campbell is vice president in charge of Autodesk's Geospatial Solutions. In her role at Autodesk, she is responsible for the company's vision and strategy for geospatial technologies and solutions serving the Utility, Telecommunications and Government markets. She brings over 20 years of marketing and software industry experience to the Board's deliberations, and she brings fresh insights into the convergence of geospatial and Computer Aided Design (CAD), 3D and facilities management technologies. These convergence efforts are manifested, in part, through the Architecture/Engineering/Construction/Owner/Operator (AECOO) testbed that Autodesk will play a key role in. The AECOO testbed is being managed by OGC with the buildingSMART alliance and others.

Dr. John C. Curlander is internationally recognized for his work in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems and data processing. His research led to many of the operational techniques currently used in today's SAR processors. Prior to joining Microsoft, as President and CEO of Vexcel Corporation he led the company to significant growth in the areas of satellite ground systems, photogrammetry and radar signal processing. Since the May 2006 acquisition of Vexcel by Microsoft, Dr. Curlander has served as General Manager of what has come to be called Microsoft Boulder. In this role, Dr. Curlander oversees the execution of the vision that Microsoft has for the group's role in the success of Virtual Earth, and thus he brings an important perspective to the Consortium's "mass market geo" activities.

David Schell, Chairman of the Board of the OGC, said, "The most important decisions we make are the decisions that bring the right people onto the Board, people who know how to work with innovative new technologies in a constructive way, who look ahead and who are capable of seeing new industry horizons. Our strategic positioning and direction are strongly influenced by our directors, and thus we are fortunate to have two new individuals who bring such a relevant and important mix of business and technical capabilities and who are also seasoned and innovative managers."

The OGC® is an international consortium of more than 365 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. OpenGIS® Standards support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. OGC Standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org/.

Press Release - OGC
© 1994 - 2008 Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.

2008-07-17T00:02:00.001-04:00

15th Annual South Florida GIS Expo - Online Registration Begins August 1st, 2008

The South Florida GIS expo is happening soon and we wanted to make sure everyone adds this great event to their calendars for 2008. The expo will be held October 2nd and 3rd at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach. You can get quite a bit of information on this year’s event at our website www.sfgisexpo.com.

Registration

We will be open for online registrations beginning August 1st, 2008.

Poster Session

Join us this year for our biggest Poster Exhibit ever! There will be three categories to choose from and prizes in all, plus the highly coveted “Best in Show” - voted on by the conference attendees! Each attendee may submit one poster, for additional guidelines and contact information please see the South Florida GIS Expo website. Don’t forget to submit your poster entries by September 1st! For questions please contact Jennifer Marangos at jmarangos@ci.boca-raton.fl.us

Presentations

Call for Abstracts

In preparation for the 15th Annual South Florida GIS Expo to be held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on October 2-3, 2008, we invite you to share your recent GIS projects and/or experiences with your colleagues through a presentation at this year’s Expo. Presentations are scheduled for the entire day on Friday, October 3, 2008. The presentation may be either 45 or 15 minutes long. Presentations may focus on any aspect of GIS; however we are especially encouraging those who may have a topic of interest to GIS beginners or upper-level management to submit a presentation. Examples of the presentation tracks we are looking to have again this year include:

· Beginner GIS

· GIS for Management

· Data

· Database Development

· Web GIS

· Map Publishing

· GPS

· Enterprise Systems

· Remote sensing

· Strategic Planning

· Geospatial Analysis

· Governmental

· Transportation

· Environmental

Finally, we are strongly encouraging all those who have thought about presenting to get your abstract submission in early this year. Due to the high demand to present last year, we will be enforcing our policy more this year on prioritizing abstracts based on a first come first serve basis. The cutoff date is August 15, 2008 so abstracts submitted before this date will have a higher priority on getting into the program, but those submitted after it will continue to be accepted.

Submission Process:

If you are interested in presenting at this FREE and well attended event, please submit a completed Abstract Submittal Form to Patrick Lockwitz at plockwitz@deerfield-beach.com. The Abstract Submittal Form is now available for download.

Acceptance Process:

Once an Abstract Submittal Form has been received, the submitter will receive an email confirming the submission was successfully received. A second email will be sent to the submitter confirming the acceptance or denial of the abstract after the committee has reviewed the content of the Abstract Submittal Form.

Press Release - SF GIS Expo Committee

2008-07-17T00:01:00.000-04:00

ERDAS Offers Geospatial Tools to Facilitate Response During 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season

As part of its commitment to helping organizations better prepare and respond to natural disasters and emergency situations, ERDAS is offering ERDAS TITAN to emergency management agencies at no cost.

TITAN is a tool for publishing, indexing, searching, and retrieving geospatial information across entities and end-users. TITAN GeoHubs enable organizations to rapidly share imagery and vector data to develop a real-time common operating picture by allowing emergency management planners and responders to dynamically publish and consume geospatial data in a permission-based, collaborative online network. Deployed ahead of an emergency, state agencies, Fusion Centers, emergency operations centers, and other groups can leverage TITAN to better disseminate information required for collaborating and preparing complex plans. During an actual event, TITAN provides ready access to data essential to situational awareness and management of emergency response efforts.

“When disaster strikes, homeland security and emergency management agencies need a means of developing a common operational picture that can be shared among responders,” said Eddie Pickle, Director of Content Development at ERDAS. “By making it easy to distribute the most recent imagery and vector data in a wide range of formats, TITAN enables stakeholders with data such as imagery, flood data, fire perimeters, parcel data, or other geospatial data associated with medical services, shelters or evacuation routes to publish and share data from headquarters, field offices, or directly from laptops on site.”

ERDAS is making TITAN GeoHubs and Places2protectTM data available at no charge to qualified U.S. federal, state, and local government entitles throughout the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, which concludes November 30. To further enhance the capabilities available to emergency management teams, ERDAS has partnered with MCH GeoPoints to offer data on medical facilities and other key institutions such as schools and nursing homes at no charge. This data is currently supplied to the federal homeland security community as part of the HSIP program, and ERDAS and MCH offer it to state and local officials as Places2protect and People2notifyTM.

Agencies wishing to take advantage of this offer can order a free ERDAS TITAN GeoHub with online access to Places2protect data by calling 1- 877-GO ERDAS (then choose option 4) or they may email Angela Miele at http://angela.miele@erdas.com

To learn more about ERDAS’ solutions, please call +1 770 776 3400, toll free +1 866 534 2286, or visit http://www.erdas.com

Details about Places2protect are at http://www.places2protect.com

More information on MCH is available at http://www.mchgeopoints.com.

Press Release - ERDAS
© 2008 ERDAS Inc.

2008-07-16T00:03:00.000-04:00

Seminole County GIS Users Group Meeting to be Held Tomorrow, July 17th, 2008, in Sanford, FL

The Seminole County GIS Users Group will be holding their next meeting tomorrow, July 17th, 2008, at the Seminole County Public Safety Building located at 150 Bush Boulevard in Sanford, FL.

For further information, please contact Melvin Barnes at (407) 665-7378 or via email at mbarnes@seminolecountyfl.gov.

2008-07-16T00:02:00.000-04:00

Sanborn Land Cover Products - Economic Return on Use of Land Cover Solutions

The Sanborn Map Company now offers Land Cover products.

Sanborn Land Cover products are designed specifically to provide local planners with a useable dataset that provides important information about both the land cover and the way the land is used (land use). Attached is a brief description of the types of land cover products that Sanborn provides and how you can use them.

Maximize the value of you aerial photography with impervious cover, vegetation and tree cover and land use products that are all critical to land management and land planning.

Understanding, current land cover and how it is being used, along with accurate means of monitoring change over time is vital to anyone responsible for land management.

For further information, please contact Brenda Burroughs within Strategic Accounts of Sanborn's Orlando, FL office at (407) 273-4114

2008-07-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

Walton County GIS Department Moving to Courthouse Annex

A brief mention in The Walton Sun Newspaper about the Walton County GIS Department's transition on July 17th, 2008 to a new location within the Courthouse Annex located at 45 North 6th Street in DeFuniak Springs, FL.

2008-07-15T00:03:00.001-04:00

Treasure Coast GIS User Group Meeting to be Held July 31st, 2008 in Vero Beach, FL

We invite GIS users and interested individuals to the next meeting of the Treasure Coast GIS User Group, to be held at 2:30pm, Thursday, July 31st , 2008. This event will be held at the City of Vero Beach City Hall located at 1053 20th Place in Vero Beach, FL.

Our agenda is to announce the completed list of the Steering Committee and potential dates for an August Kick-off meeting for the Steering Committee among other items.

This month, we are fortunate enough to have three presentations. The presentations will be on: The Status of GIS at Indian River County by Will Rice; GIS Manager of Indian River County, Innovative Uses of Open Source GIS Tools by Allen Ibaugh of Data Transfer Solutions and Sergio Requena of Burns & McDonnell, and a Summary and Status of the Statewide GIS Strategic Plan Initiative.

Please view the draft agenda and directions at our website: http://treasure.edats.com

There will also be a Poster Session again, so plan to bring something to show off! Please come prepared to discuss, share, and interact with fellow GIS users from your community. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

2008-07-15T00:01:00.001-04:00

The City of Fernandina Beach, Florida Selects Geo-Visus Inc’s GISLite©™ Solution to Increase Operational Awareness

Geo-Visus Inc. announces the City of Fernandina Beach, Florida implements their Hosted Application Solution, GISLite©™ as its Web-GIS standard. GISLite©™ was selected because of its low cost of ownership; City maps are available via the web; users have anywhere, anytime access to selected functionality, from Viewing to Analysis thus extending GIS capabilities to the whole Enterprise.

“With Geo-Visus assistance, the City successfully rolled-out the GISLite©™ solution to both our Staff and the Public,” states Mike Rooney, IT Director. “Using the GISLite©™ solution, we are able to extend our investment in GIS Technology by providing access to infrastructure data through a Web-based interface, thus deploying a unified platform for operational awareness.”

GISLite©™ is a Simple, Scalable ArcGIS Server Map Management and Deployment Tool. Built on ESRI’s ArcGIS Server technology, GISLite©™ allows clients to: Store and Access – GIS Maps and Data; Manage – Users, Tools and Map Access; Edit and Analyze GIS Data. It is implemented in one of three ways: As a Hosted Application (ASP); As a Hosted Server Solution; As an Installed Product.

About the City of Fernandina Beach
If you measured history per square mile, and graded it by the beauty of the natural backdrop, Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach might be able to claim the most spectacular heritage in Florida. Eight national flags have flown over this magnificently beached and forested spit of land, the most southern of the Sea Islands that trail down the Carolina and Georgia coasts.

Business & Industry:
Fernandina Beach is the birthplace of the modern shrimping industry - shrimp boats depart the docks most days. The 50 block historic district with classic Victorian architecture make a stroll through the city a delight. The oldest saloon in Florida can be found on Centre Street.

History & Nature:
Fort Clinch, built before the Civil War, is open daily and is perfect for a bicycle ride down tree-lined roads, catching the view of a nuclear submarine nosing through the sound, just relaxing on the beach or fishing from the shore or pier. Wide beaches on the east frame the Atlantic Ocean, where shrimp boats prowl among the whitecaps, whales calve in the fall and sea turtles nest in the summer. The Amelia River and a long sweep of salt marshes, looking a bit like mislocated western prairies, act as a moat against the mainland west. Forested dunes anchor the middle, offering haven to birdlife.

About Geo-Visus Inc

Headquartered in Plantation, Florida, Geo-Visus Inc. specializes in Web-GIS Solutions and GIS Management Services. They lead the way in ArcGIS Server On-Site and Remote, Installation, Monitoring and Management. They are building Business Integration Tools to support client spatial data collection, analysis and decision-making needs. Geo-Visus commitment to excellence combined with their responsiveness has gained them an outstanding reputation in the GIS industry and more importantly, the trust and confidence of their clients. Incorporated in 2007, Geo-Visus Inc. has one (1) additional office location in Jacksonville, Florida. More information can be found on the web at: www.geovisus.com

Geo-Visus, GISLite and www.geovisus.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of Geo-Visus in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

Contact:
Martin Copping, GISP
GEO-VISUS Inc.
E-mail: mcopping@geovisus.com
Tel: (888) 724-4447 Ext. 401

Press Release - Geo-Visus

2008-07-14T20:19:00.003-04:00

GEO Announces Call for Participation in GEOSS Pilot

The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.(OGC®) announced that a Call for Participation (CFP) in Phase 2 of the GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) Architecture Implementation Pilot (AIP) has been issued by the GEO (Group on Earth Observations).

Phase 1 of the AIP demonstrated GEO Portal and Clearing house solutions.

Phase 2 will establish "operational, research and technical exemplars," services that support the GEOSS Societal Benefit Areas (application domains).

The CFP invites GEO Members and Participating Organizations to:

- Provide components and services relevant to GEOSS "Societal Benefit Areas" (application domains).

- Participate in interoperability testing of the services including use of the GEOSS Common Infrastructure Components in order to validate the architecture.

- Participate in the collaborative refinement of societal benefit scenarios to guide testing, demonstrations and operations of interoperable services.

The CFP document is available at http://www.earthobservations.org/geoss_imp.shtml.

Responses to the CFP are requested by 1 September 2008 to support a planning workshop scheduled for 25-26 September 2008 in Boulder, Colorado, USA. To register for the teleconference or ask questions about the CFP, please contact George Percivall, percivall@opengeospatial.org. The OGC efforts in AIP is supported by the European Commission, Northrop Grumman, and ERDAS. Additional information is available at http://www.ogcnetwork.net/AIpilot.

The OGC® is an international consortium of more than 365 companies, government agencies, research organizations, and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geospatial standards. The OGC's OpenGIS® standards support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. These standards empower technology developers to make geospatial information and services accessible and useful with any application that needs to be geospatially enabled. Visit the OGC website at http://www.opengeospatial.org.

GEO (Group on Earth Observations) is a voluntary partnership of 124 governments and international organizations, launched in response to calls for action by the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and by the G8 (Group of Eight) leading industrialized countries. GEO is coordinating efforts to build GEOSS. See http://earthobservations.org/about_geo.shtml.

Press Release - OGC
© 1994 - 2008 Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc.