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Earth Observation essential for geohazard mitigation
More than 250 scientists from around the world gathered for a five-day workshop at ESA's Earth Observation Centre in Frascati.
Resources & Tools
Read Articles on GeoConnections and CGDI
This section contains links to articles written by not only GeoConnections but also by our partners and various geomatics publications. These articles often feature geomatics applications, technologies, or developments, and explain how GeoConnections or the CGDI relate to the topic at hand.
October
9
2007 - CBC News
Study pinpoints Ottawa's dirtiest air
Pedestrians walking along Carling Avenue near the Queensway suck in some of Ottawa's most polluted air, according to early findings of the City of Ottawa's air-pollution mapping project.
September
2007 - ESRI Canada
Spatial Data Infrastructure Monthly Newsletter - Vol. 2, No. 4, September, 2007
Sylvain Latour was recently appointed Director of
GeoConnections at Natural Resources Canada.
Sylvain has kindly answered a few questions
about GeoConnections and the Canadian
Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI).
September
16
2007 - The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health and Minister for FedNor
Canadian Public Health Association Speech for The Honourable Tony Clement Minister of Health and Minister for FedNor
GeoConnections is an evolving and expanding online geospatial resource for decision-makers. As part of that effort, it is now providing approximately $1.6 million to help fund 14 research projects in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and New Brunswick.
August
29
2007 - Directions Magazine
The National Land and Water Information Service - Canada's New Agri-Environmental Web Portal
Canadians have one-stop access to information and decision support for agriculture and the environment through a new Web portal developed by the Government of Canada.
August
9
2007 - Ducks Unlimited Canada
Technology, water mix in MOU
Water planning authorities will soon have a new toolkit to help them in the complex and important process of watershed planning.
July
26
2007 - Canadian Institute of Geomatics - Geomatica
Charting a path for Geomatics Growth in Canada
(PDF:2.65MB)
Decision makers in government are increasingly using location-based data to answer critical planning and policy questions more effectively. Some examples include public health, health care, the environment, sustainable development and emergency preparedness and response for disaster
mitigation.
July
4
2007 - Model Forest Network
Stewardship Planning Atlas for Natural Areas: Eastern Ontario Model Forest
The Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) is leading an innovative project that will combine modern technology and biophysical data to create an online atlas.
June
15
2007 - GeoInformatics
The GeoConnections Initiative - Canada's Online Geospatial Resource
GeoConnections is a national partnership program that was launched in 1999, with the express purpose of making available online the vast amount of Canadian geographic information produced by the Canadian government and the private sector. This was accomplished by designing and building the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) and making the information accessible via the internet. Now eight years later, the program has entered a second phase of expansion. A sign of success?... most definitely.
May
2007 - NRCan - Natural Elements Newsletter
Decision Makers Gain the Big Picture … and Canadians Gain the Big Benefit
Canadians can now get a bird's-eye view of their communities by tapping into the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure and its databases of topographic maps, air photos, satellite images and more.
January
15
2007 - The Source
A Digital Perspective
(PDF:146KB)
Decision-makers are increasingly turning to the national partnership led by NRCan that provides tools to help them make smarter decisions, including life-saving ones, more efficiently and quickly.
October
14
2006 - Les Affaires
GéoConnexions veut positionner le Canada comme
un leader mondial de l'information géospatiale en ligne
(PDF:388KB)
(French Only)
Le programme GéoConnexions
constitue la contribution la
plus significative du gouvernement
fédéral au développement
de la géomatique.
August
25
2006 - GEOInformatics
All Information and Data Available in Standardized For mats
Together with provincial and territorial government and other partners the federal government's Agriculture and Agri-food department has announced the development of an Internet-based National Land and Water Information Service. With federal government funding of CDN$100.1 million, the service will provide geospatial information and tools to assist in agri-environmental decision-making across the country.
June
22
2006 - IT Business.ca
Natural Resources to improve satellite imagery of Canada: GeoBase portal provides data on roads, vegetation free to public
Renewed funding for a satellite imaging portal project by Natural Resources Canada will mean Canadians get a closer look at the country?s roads, wetlands and vegetation.
June
12
2006 - Directions Magazine
O Canada! Canadians and Open Source
It is nearly common knowledge that GIS finds its origins in government agencies in that great northern territory we know as Canada. I say "nearly" because there are still those who believe that GIS was created by proprietary software vendors ... which I'll bet makes the marketing guys at these companies more than happy with themselves.
March
16
2006 - Statistics Canada
Geomatics Industry Survey
Just over 2,200 firms in Canada provide geomatics products or services according to data from the 2004 Geomatics Industry Survey. Revenue earned strictly from geomatics products or services totalled $2.8 billion in 2004. Revenue from geomatics activities rose 15.6% from 2003, up from the 13.2% gain the previous year.
February
1
2006 - Coordinates: Vol II, Issue 2
Canada partners India to unleash the power of GIS
India and Canada face similar data fragmentation challenges as a result of similar parliamentary systems and the division of decisionmaking authorities between levels of government. As a result, the approaches and expertise that our countries develop are comparable.
September
5
2005 - Rebecca teBrake - The Source
Connecting the Dots
(PDF:82 KB)
Canadians are able to access a rapidly increasing number of datasets as GeoConnections and its partners work together in building an online resource for using and combining geographic information (e.g., maps and satellite images) to gain new insights into social, environmental, and economic issues.
July
2005 - Canadian Space Agency - Earth & Environment Newsletter
GeoConnections Funding Renewed
(PDF:454KB)
The Government of Canada has renewed its commitment to providing access to high-quality maps, satellite images and related data and technologies. John Efford, Minister of Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), announced on June 16th that the Government of Canada has allocated $60 million in its 2005 budget for a second, five-year phase of GeoConnections, a national partnership initiative led by NRCan to make Canada's geospatial databases, applications and services readily accessible on-line.
July
15
2005 - GeoConnections Secretariat
Cross-Canada workshops focused on partnerships and solving business problems
This spring, in tandem with the Geomatics Industry Association
of Canada, GeoConnections representatives conducted a series
of one-day consultation workshops across the country.
July
14
2005 - GeoConnections Secretariat
GeoConnections' renewal: Charting a new course
On June 15, 2005, the Minister of Natural Resources Canada,
the Honourable R. John Efford, announced $60 million in funding
from the federal government to continue the GeoConnections initiative
for another five years.
June
24
2005 - Municipal Information Systems Association (MISA)
Misa - Municipal News - York Region Launches New YorkAtlas
NEWMARKET, Ontario, June 24, 2005 ? At its first Information Technology Day, York Region launched a new enhanced version of YorkAtlas, a component of YorkExplorer, the Region?s popular Internet mapping site that provides users with the ability to view or create regional maps based on their topic of interest.
June
16
2005 - GISuser.com
GeoConnections: Funding Renewed - $60 million in Budget 2005
OTTAWA, June 16 - The Government of Canada has renewed its commitment to providing access to high-quality maps, satellite images and related data and technologies.
June
1
2005 - Earth Sciences Sector - Staff News
Farmers Harvest the Benefits of GeoConnections
(PDF:150KB)
GeoConnections projects regularly bring the ESS S&T Strategy directly into communities to enhance planning and management decisions by diverse users. Map Your Farm is just one of many such projects, displaying the partnerships, leadership, innovation, efficiency, outputs and outcomes that exemplify what the S&T Strategy is all about.
April
2005 - NRCan:Natural Elements
GeoConnections: saluting a partnership success
Working with all levels of government, the private sector and academia, GeoConnections and its partners have truly put Canada?s geospatial industry on the map. Canadians are benefiting from this collaboration by using geospatial information to improve health care, protect the environment and develop communities. These are but a few of the far-reaching benefits of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI), which aims to make geospatial databases, tools and services readily accessible on-line.
April
28
2005 - Drew Gough - The Source
GeoConnections Celebrates Completion of First Phase
The first phase of GeoConnections has come to an end, an event marked with a celebration on March 30 in Ottawa where exhibits by companies who had benefited from partnerships with NRCan's GeoConnections program were featured.
March
8
2005 - NRCan On Line
Map Your Farm
(PDF:151KB)
Map Your Farm - Farming is a lot more complicated than it was a generation or two ago. Today's farmers must work within a complex regulatory framework set up to protect drinking water resources and the environment.
February
8
2005 - GeoConnections Secretariat
CARTS to bring management of Canada's protected areas to new heights
CARTS to bring management of Canada's protected areas to new heights - The challenge of managing and safeguarding Canada's thousands of land and marine protected areas will be facilitated by CGDI tools and services when the Canadian Council on Ecological Areas introduces its new web-based Conservation Areas Reporting and Tracking System (CARTS).
February
7
2005 - GeoConnections Secretariat
Lung association to map environmental impacts on citizens' health
Lung association to map environmental impacts on citizens' health - Researchers, academics, policy makers, and the public will all breathe a little easier this spring, at least figuratively. That's when the New Brunswick Lung Association plans to launch its new environmental health web-mapping application.
January
28
2005 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
GeoNOVA brings geospatial information and services to clients' desktops
GeoNOVA brings geospatial information and services to clients' desktops - Nova Scotia business people, academics, researchers, policy makers, and citizens can now access a broad range of provincial geographic resources from a single, convenient location known as the "GeoNOVA Portal."
December
16
2004 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
New tools now available for developers and potential users
GeoConnections' GeoSkills program recently produced two new CGDI resources to help people learn about and use the CGDI:
- For those who want a general overview of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI), GeoSkills developed an online training course.
- For those keen to delve even deeper into the CGDI's mechanics, GeoSkills updated the existing CGDI technical manual and changed its title to 'CGDI Developers' Guide.?
December
16
2004 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
GeoBase poised to blanket Canada
GeoBase is a collection of current, accurate geospatial data about Canada?roadways, administrative boundaries, and other geographic characteristics. Geographic information systems (GIS) specialists use this framework data to build applications that support sustainable resource development, public safety and emergency response, and environmental protection, to name but a few priority issues.
December
1
2004 - CIO Canada Government Review:Vol 6 Issue 10
All over the map:Geospatial project has a long reach
(PDF:68KB)
If you're familiar with MapQuest, you're familiar with the notion of geospatial information. Which would make you entirely comfortable in a session at this year's Lac Carling Congress. It was about how technology and partnerships work together to provide geospatial information through the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI).
November
12
2004 - NRCan On Line
Service Transformation Case Study: Low-Income Families in Winnipeg Benefit From Geospatial Data
An innovative project, developed by the Winnipeg School Division in partnership with GeoConnections, will help low-income families find new affordable housing within their existing school zones so that their children won't have to change schools.
October
21
2004 - The Ottawa Citizen
View from above - Ottawa has become a world leader in geospatial technology and remote sensing, analysing everything from ice floes to the tiles on a space shuttle
(PDF:146KB)
Ottawa has become a world leader in geospatial technology and remote sensing, analysing everything from ice floes to the tiles on a space shuttle
October
20
2004 - The Source
Conception Bay South: Mapping a course for the future
(PDF:96KB)
Conception Bay South: Mapping a course for the future
October
4
2004 - CIO Canada Government Review
Geomatics gets government largesse:
Funded projects to improve location-based tracking, decision-making, response times
(PDF:73KB)
Finding the proverbial needle in a haystack isn't that daunting if you can identify the location of the needle.
For many public sector organizations coast to coast that's going to be way easier to do - thanks to the federal decision to fund 29 crucial geo-spatial projects.
Federal government funding for the projects comes from GeoConnections, a national alliance dedicated to building a Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) that provides online access to Canada's geospatial databases, tools and services.
August
24
2004 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
GeoConnections and GIAC conduct geomatics policy seminars across Canada
To get a strong sense of regional geomatics priorities and the future of geomatics policy in Canada, GeoConnections and the Geomatics Industry Association of Canada (GIAC) have partnered with provincial and territorial agencies to conduct a series of cross-Canada workshops. These workshops cater to a variety of stakeholders, including members of industry, federal agencies, the provinces and territories, municipalities, academia, and emerging end-user communities.
June
1
2004 - Commission for Environmental Cooperation
A new North America
June
1
2004 - Centre de Développement de la Géomatique
(CDG)
L'industrie discute d'avenir - (BULLETIN EXPRESS)
(French Only)
May
2004 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
Communities of practice poised to reap rewards of CGDI investment
"If you've got it, flaunt it!" That's the thinking behind a push to capitalize on four years' worth of investment in the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI).
May
2004 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
Working together is theme of Inter-Agency Committee on Geomatics
It may be a golden oldie, but the 1970's hit "Let's Work Together" would be an ideal theme song for the Inter-Agency Committee on Geomatics (IACG).
May
2004 - Business Edge
Students lured to careers in geomatics
March
2004 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
Web mapping service to spark online mapping revolution
Suppose you?re a municipal planner in charge of expanding the public transit system. Wouldn?t your job be simpler if you could create a map showing potential transit routes, local conservation areas, and proposed housing developments?all in one?
March
2004 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
Users embrace single source for real property data
Attracted by the fact that they can get the information they require more quickly and less expensively, federal departments and agencies are embracing the Geomatics Community of Practice for Real Property.
December
2003 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
How Sharing Information Can Preserve Our Oceans
If the oceans represent our final frontier, they may also represent our final opportunity to protect and manage what many believe is the Earth's most diverse environment.
December
2003 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
For Communities of Interest, a Source of Help
Joanne Frappier, head of Policy and Partnerships Development at GeoConnections, remembers when she first saw the movie, Field of Dreams. "I was especially struck by the line, 'build it and they will come,'"
September
2003 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
New GeoConnections web site mirrors progress in building the CGDI
Recurring visitors to GeoConnections.org will notice that much has changed on the GeoConnections web site.
September
2003 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
CIPI Pilot Program Thrives on Cooperation
The first real test of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative (CIPI) was nothing short of amazing, says Jennifer Sokol, Project Advisor for Disaster Management at GeoConnections. "It was really something to see six levels of government from two different countries in one room, all working toward a single goal."
September
2003 - Open Geospatial Consortium
Sharing Forestry Data: The Canadian Forestry Service's Distributed Interoperability Solution
July
2
2003 - Directions Magazine
OGC's Mandate
March
2003 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
Canadian GeoProject Centre to help put Canada on world map
The Geomatics Industry Association of Canada and the Canadian Centre for Marine Communications have announced the launch of a new not-for-profit corporation to promote Canada's geomatics expertise and capabilities internationally. Known as the Canadian GeoProject Centre (CGC), this organization will partner with Canadian industry, government and academia to seek and secure large multidisciplinary geomatics projects worldwide.
March
2003 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
Clients exploring new Canadian Geoscience Knowledge Network
With the advent of the Canadian Geoscience Knowledge Network (CGKN), geoscientists now have an Internet portal to Canadian geoscience information.
December
2002 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
National Forest Information System and Land Information Ontario streamline geospatial data collection and access
Organizations can produce mountains of important geospatial data, but if this information sits isolated and largely inaccessible, its value drops considerably.
November
2002 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
The CGDI Development Network - An innovative community for public- and private-sector collaboration
The Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) Development Network is a forum for stakeholders to foster the continued growth, evolution, and interoperability of the CGDI in a supportive environment.
November
2002 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
Sustainable Communities Initiative Partners with Rural, Remote and Aboriginal Communities
What is SCI?
GeoConnections is funding (800,000$ per year) the Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI), a national program that aims to provide rural, Aboriginal and northern communities with modern mapping technologies so that they can make informed decisions for sustainable development.
July
2002 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
Communities of Practise
In simple terms, GeoConnections defines a 'community of practise' as a community, or group, of users that share common interests, have common requirements of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) and will develop applications.
July
2002 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
Atlas of Canada Releases New Geographic Information
In partnership with GeoConnections, The Atlas of Canada (atlas.gc.ca) has just released exciting new reusable on-line geographical information, services and tools. During June 2002, a major redesign of The Atlas'
May
2002 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
CGDI Architecture Document is Published and Distributed
The Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) is a distributed set of data, as well as services and applications that enable the sharing and use of geospatially referenced information. The CGDI is being developed by the GeoConnections programs. A complete introduction to the CGDI and its various aspects is found in the CGDI Target Vision .
May
2002 - GeoConnections E-Newsletter
GeoBase — Working in Partnership
GeoBase is an effort to provide the fundamental geographic information that will describe the Canadian landmass above and below water, which provides context, a reference, and underpinning for geospatial applications.