Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications

In this article, authors Jantien Stoter, Joris Goos and Athina Trakas describe CityGML and take a look at how National Spatial Data Infrastructure stakeholders in The Netherlands worked together to establish a national 3D standard that aligns to both the existing national 2D standards and the international OGC standard for 3D geoinformation, CityGML.

Last week a memorial event was held in Ottawa for Wolfgang Bitterlich, one of the early technical innovators in spatial analyics. Here is a retrospective provided by Geoff Zeiss, one of Bitterlich's former colleagues.

"Geospatially speaking, we’ve created a bit of a mess in this country. Over time, we’ve developed a mish-mash of conflicting policies and laws across all levels of government," says David Hocking, president of the Spatial Industries Business Association in Australia. But in this article, Hocking supports a "coherent legislative framework for sharing government-held spatial information between agencies."

Editor in Chief Joe Francica spent time on the Hexagon 2012 exhibit floor getting product updates from Intergraph’s GIS solutions managers. Here’s his report on the latest product innovations.

Hexagon's senior management discussed a "connected world" where it will be important to leverage the tools that can "model the world" in order to understand "the real world."

From the death nell of Lightsquared to the explosion of exploration activity in the Marcellus Shale, geospatial technology has been at work to solve some of the most crucial issues related to energy and telecommunication policy. These resources provide a review of the hot topics from the first part of 2012.

In a letter distributed this afternoon, GITA executive director, Bob Samborski, provides information about the future of the organization

Floods are considered the number one natural hazard, causing more deaths and damage year after year.  The National Science Foundation (NSF) provided funding to a college in North Dakota for GIS and remote sensing technology and training.  That college, in turn, created a study to assess risks to local communities and facilities in the path of potential flooding. Jacqueline Stenehjem, former assistant professor at Williston State College, Williston, North Dakota and Dr. Peter G. Oduor, associate professor of geology and geography at North Dakota State University, describe how the grant from NSF benefited that population on many levels.

Patrick Melancon, Public Safety GIS manager for the state of Tennessee, attended the National Emergency Number Association (NENA) development conference last week in Orlando, Florida. He was pleased by the focus on GIS for Next Gen 9-1-1, but fears not all are as prepared as they will need to be.