OpenStreetMap vs. Google Map

Since its launch in February 8, 2005; Google map has revolutionised the world of on-line mapping. Google made it challenging for GIS professional around the world to build system as quick at the Google Map.

But actually nearly a year earlier OpenStreetMap was born (July 1, 2004).  It is only over the last 2 to 3 years that OpenStreetMap has started to gain some level of memento, providing a great base map support with a refresh frequency more rapid than some of the National Mapping Agency and certainly more up to date than Google / Bing Map in many places.

OpenStreetMap’s rate of contributions is accelerating with four times as many people contributing to the project in 2008 compared to 2007. During the year, edits were made by some 20,000 individuals and there were bulk imports of data for many places, including the USA, India, Italy and Belarus which are clearly visible in the animation.

OpenStreetMap gained some interest from the media over the recent years, and particularly with the quake in Haiti where the Wiki map was providing great help the rescue team on the ground.  The video made for the ITO world shows how OpenStreetMap developed in Haiti.

http://vimeo.com/9182869

OpenStreetMap has never stop growing and over the last few years in Europe and has now got a great coverage. The following few videos from Skobbler shows how the OpenSreetMap is moving fast.

A great example for the instant mapping capabilities and how both powerful and useful the OpenStreetMap project can be found at the visualizations gallery of ITO World.

Quite clearly OpenStreetMap is now a great alternative to Google Map, and the like of Skobbler has come up with a nice way of rendering OpenStreetMap like Google Map especially for those who are use to Google Map look and feel.

OS OpenData – New PSMA Aggreement

The full text of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) between the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and Ordnance Survey has been placed online by the Intra-governmental Group on Geographic Information (IGGI).

The Agreement, which comes into force 1 April, specifies the OS OpenData datasets. It appears that OS does not plan to provide for free any further datasets.  The proposed list of datasets supplied under the OS OpenData Licence agreement remains identical to what was release last spring.

• 1:250K Scale Colour Raster
• 1:50K Scale Gazetteer
• Boundary-Line
• Land-Form PANORAMA
• Meridian 2
• MiniScale
• OS Street View
• Strategi
• Code-Point
• OS Locator
• OS VectorMap District

The full document can be found on the IGGI web site.

LinkedIn Maps – Visualise your network

After the facebook map or the world, it is now possible to visulise your LiknkedIn network.

Here is an example based on my profile. Each colour shows contact from specific companies or university I have worked for or studied at.

Give it a go on : http://inmaps.linkedinlabs.com.

File Geodatabase API Available

Today sees a major step in the progressive replacement of the good old ESRI Shape File as default mean to store and mange your geospatial data.  The File Geodatabase API provides a non-ArcObjects based means by which advanced developers can work with File Geodatabases. A common user scenario is to open File Geodatabase tables in non-ESRI applications to view or modify data. This API provides access to the low-level File Geodatabase file I/O modules.

It can do the following:

• Create, Open and Delete file geodatabases
• Read the schema of the geodatabase
  • All content within a geodatabase can be opened for read access
• Create schema for objects within the simple feature model
  • Tables
  • Point, Line, and Polygon feature classes
  • Feature datasets
  • Domains
  • Subtypes
• Read the contents of datasets in a geodatabase
  • All dataset content within a geodatabase can be read
• Insert, Delete and Edit the contents of simple datasets:
  • Tables
  • Point, Line, Polygon, Multipoint, and Multipatch feature classes
• Perform attribute and (limited) spatial queries on datasets
  • Spatial queries will be limited to the envelope-intersects operator

As per reported by James Fee: “First off there is no raster support. Second you are totally on your own here. You have total control over screwing up your geodatabases here.” Obviously ESRI would still recommend using ArcObject as the best approach for handling data in the geodatabase. I notice that it does not either handles the topology rules or class relationships. This means that this API is very much aimed at a replacement to the shapefile, to store your vector data.  I still think that the release of this API will provide a great mean to enhance interoperability with ESRI and other product. This provides a mean to manage your geospatial data without having to pay a high price for the ESRI product.

The ArcGIS File Geodatabase API is being made available through the ArcGIS Resource Centre. The API comes packaged with everything you need to get started including samples and a readme

Football Supporter Map of London

I am a big believer that geospatial technology can be applied to virtually anything. Here is another great example, the “football supporter Map of London”, as initially reported by big think.

Football Supporter Map of London

Tribal community may not be so more obvious in our western society, but one can wonder. London is a fast city in continuous change, however this illustration clearly demonstrate the attachment that each areas in London have to a specific football club.

This map was initially reported on this forum, and it has clearly generated further debates on which area one leaves and its attachment to a specific football club.

FME 2011

The new release of FME 2011 is just about to be released. Hot of the press, Roger Aikema from FME has kindly sent me some early news on this new version. I thought I would share this with you too.

A few of the highlights from today’s FME 2011 release will include:

• New ability to work with LiDAR / point cloud data
• Major improvements with handling XML data
• REST API and scheduling added to FME Server
• Faster debugging with new “Inline Inspection”
• 9 new formats including LAS and ESRIJSON

You can expect more details from Dale Lutz on their blog at around 10am PST (and a press release at about the same time).

Once more FME demonstrates the major move of the geospatial industry toward the cloud. As a matter of fact FME announced support for all the major cloud platforms available; including: Windows Azure, Google Spreadsheet, etc

ESRI Certfication

Starting on 17th January, Esri has openned the Esri Technical Certification Program examinations.

The program recognizes people skilled in desktop, developer, and enterprise use of Esri technology. Certifications are currently being offered for

• • ArcGIS Desktop Associate
• • ArcGIS Desktop Professional
• • Web Application Developer Associate
• • Enterprise Geodatabase Management Associate
• • Enterprise Administration Associate

Note that eight more certifications will be added to the program later this year and into 2012.

To learn more or register for a certification examination, listen to ESRI podcast. Exams are offered in English and are available at 5,000 locations in 165 countries.  ESRI announced that the Certification exams cost $225 USD.