Volume 26 • No 07 • 2003
ISSN 0742-468X • Since 1978
On-line Since 2000
GIS Enterprise
Interoperability Kits
Imagine a GIS life that wan not vendor dependant. Imagine not caring what the file format or creator looked like. Just imagine a GIS world where one size finally fit all.
The lack of interoperability within the GIS community is among the several reasons why GIS has not moved out of its comfortable niche market. To be fair, it is not the only reason, but it does play a major part.
Technology forces interoperability
As a GIS user, you naturally welcom interoperability. It means that you you can use data that was created by someone else on another platform as if you created it. GIS suppliers automatically broaden their market, because they do not have to knock out the core GIS supplier just to sell data or other complimentary GIS products.
The big winners in interoperability are government agencies that deal with disasters and homeland security. What was once eye candy to impress the politicos, GIS is now a standard tool for disaster and homeland security response teams. The problem isn’t GIS expertise, it is getting compatible data.
A customer driven initiative
As it is with most smart ideas, interoperability is a customer driven initiative. This initiative was taken up by Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions, Autodesk, laser-Scan, MapInfo and Oracle Corporation. The idea is to to facilitate interoperable data sharing and access using the Oracle Spatial, an open, enterprise database technology. A first–of–its–kind collaborative effort positioned to develop and submit open specifications to OGC’s consensus standards process, this initiative takes steps to enable additional seamless data exchange capabilities at the database level in organizations where separate departments require a range of applications.
“Intergraph has been championing enterprise-wide interoperability through OGC since the introduction of GeoMedia®,” said Preetha Pulusani, President, Intergraph Mapping and Geospatial Solutions. “… In addition to our core products that implement OpenGIS specifications, we can now offer our customers the ability to access and maintain, within an Oracle environment, a variety of geospatial data sets including features and descriptions, in application formats provided by all of the participating vendors.”
The price is right
According to Intergraph’s Rita Roberts, “Each vendor will provide free Interoperability Kits for complete data access through Oracle between Intergraph, Autodesk, Laser–Scan and MapInfo’s tools and technologies, regardless of the application used to create, analyze or view the spatial data. Now, organizations with previously implemented systems, software and training that are “mix ’n’ match” to best fit their budget and information requirements can experience the benefits of interoperability. Using the new kits, customers can eliminate complicated data transfers or the storage of multiple copies of the same geospatial data between departments, thus preserving data integrity and enhancing productivity.”
The purpose of the Interoperability Kits is to automatically convert text and oriented point features across the different applications. For example, a land use feature class with descriptive text being maintained by a local government's planning department using GeoMedia Professional can be read by Autodesk Map or MapInfo Professional as part of the land use information. Likewise, pipe or valve descriptions and labels of a water network being maintained by a public works department using Autodesk Map can be read with GeoMedia or MapInfo Professional.
Conclusion
This is an important step in moving GSI into the mainstream, where it belongs. We live in a world where information is taking over in every aspect of our lives. Yet with the exception of the Internet, interoperability is still a dream. Do you think the Internet could have flourished if every page had to be designed specifically for each user that wanted to access it?
Right now, ESRI is not directly involved in this initiative. Frankly, they are probably the target of it. Be that as it may, given proper implementation and publicity the GIS community may actually become a community.
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