Follow
Blog: Chris Harlow on ITSearch The Harlow Report Archives
CyberTech Systems and Software Inc. today announced CyberTech's recognition as an ArcGIS Cloud Services Specialty partner with location intelligence world leader Esri. CyberTech is the first Esri partner to achieve this designation. This designation signifies CyberTech's valued expertise in supporting the Esri Geospatial Cloud. With this milestone, CyberTech becomes a trusted partner for providing expert assistance for migrating and managing ArcGIS solutions in the commercial and compliance cloud.
With interest amongst many Esri customers for migrating to flexible and agile cloud or hybrid environments, Esri recently introduced the ArcGIS Cloud Services Specialty to distinguish and recognize experts in ArcGIS cloud services. CyberTech became the first partner to meet the comprehensive and rigorous requirements to achieve this specialty.
The ArcGIS Cloud Services Specialty designation recognizes CyberTech's expertise, high standards and best practices for driving the Esri Geospatial Cloud. CyberTech is ready and able to assist organizations across the globe by providing services for cloud deployments, system architecture design, managed services, and the implementation of cloud-based ArcGIS solutions.
 Learn more at CyberTech…
first published week of: 07/20/2020
Thousands of properties removed from flood zone
Sweeping changes to the FEMA’s revised 2020 flood maps will mean a 41 percent decrease in the number of unincorporated Dare County properties included in the flood zone. And the widespread re-classifications, county officials worry, could tempt some property owners to prematurely drop their flood insurance policies when the new maps go into effect on June 19.
“People like to save money, but the opportunity to save money shouldn’t come through your flood insurance policy based on these maps,” asserted Dare County Planning Director Donna Creef during a briefing to the Dare County Commissioners at their Jan. 6 meeting.
The new maps, which have received significant criticism for their reliance on what many characterize as outdated computer flood models that fail to take into account recent storm events, are used for insurance rating purposes to determine a property’s risk of flooding.
Creef said local experts are conducting outreach to urge property owners to consult their insurance agents before making any changes to their policies.
Under the current maps, which were last revised in 2006, there are 12,875 properties in unincorporated Dare County currently classified in the AE zone, which represents the base flood plain with a base flood elevation expressed as a number such as AE-8. Under the revised map, there are 8,493 properties in that zone, with the majority of those now having a base flood elevation designation of 4 feet.
Read full story at Island Free Press…
first published week of: 01/13/2020
Almost two years after the landmark passage of the Geospatial Data Act, geospatial information systems leaders in state government are pivoting to maximize the power of map-based data.
On the second episode of this season of GIS Addressed, experts from Minnesota, Wyoming and Utah said GIS teams need to use the engaging power of maps and the accessibility of map-based data to inform citizens and state agencies about the work they’re doing.
“We have a bit more of a focus on developing ‘maps-as-a-service’ for state agencies to consume,” Minnesota GIO Dan Ross says on the podcast. “Instead of having [agencies] create their own, and create web services and things like that, we’re publishing them centrally and anybody can pick them up and use them.”
Bert Granberg, the former director of Utah’s GIS office and current director of analytics at the Wasatch Front Regional Council, says GIS leaders need to continue to carve out a space in the data science ecosystem.
Read full story at StateScoop…
first published week of: 03/30/2020
A series of Sprints will build and test prototype implementations of four draft OGC API specifications to ensure that they are as developer-friendly, usable, and mature as possible
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) invites software developers to the next three OGC API Sprints for 2020. These sprints will each be held as two-day remote participation/web conferencing events during July, August, and September, 2020. Registration for the Q3 2020 OGC API Sprints is here .
The sprints will cover the draft OGC API - Common , OGC API - Maps and OGC API - Coverages specifications, as well as the draft Part 4 of the OGC API - Features standard.
These draft specifications come from OGC’s concerted effort to create modular, resource-oriented API standards that use OpenAPI for describing interfaces that offer geographic information over the web - known collectively as the OGC API family of standards.
More information and registration for the Q3 2020 OGC API Sprints is here . Registration closes on September 28th, 2020.
Read full story at OGC…
first published week of: 07/27/2020
The average citizen might not consider the role that geographic data plays when it comes to creating the ideal user experience in government’s digital services, but for geospatial information systems experts, the importance of that role is clear. In the latest episode of StateScoop’s GIS Addressed podcast, Karen Rogers, the current president of the National States Geographic Information Council and staff policy analyst at the Wyoming Department of Game and Fish, explains just how GIS can aid in optimizing user experience.
“So much of what government does is based on location,” Rogers says on the podcast. “Eighty to 90 percent of data has a geographic component. It just makes sense to start leveraging the technology to embed geolocation services into what we do.”
To do that, Rogers says, state GIS leaders should have regular discussions with developers — especially ones that are not well-versed in geospatial technologies — to encourage them to consider enabling location services in the apps and products they’re building.
Read full story at StateScoop…
first published week of: 02/17/2020
Drone mapping is replacing manned aerial flyovers, like those used in Google Earth, a technology the industry has relied on for decades.
Year to year, changes in computer technology can be staggering.
In most cases, the advancements give rise to disruption—and opportunities—in every industry. In real estate, one such disruption is being caused by drones, which have become an extremely effective means of mapping and marketing property. Drone mapping is replacing manned aerial flyovers, like those used in Google Earth, a technology the industry has relied on for decades. More than taking pictures, videos, and plotting property boundaries on a map, drone mapping provides buyers and sellers with low-cost, high-resolution, and frequently changed imagery.
Drone mapping
Drones autonomously capture overlapping images that are geo-referenced and stitched together to provide an orthomosaic. The orthomosaic is used just like any other layer in a GIS to serve as an accurate, high-resolution, revised aerial basemap. Data on boundary lines, trails, flood zones and topographic contours can be laid on top of the drone imagery for mapping. Informative data on things such as deer stands, utilities and hog damage can also be collected and plotted.
Read full story at The Daily Reporter…
first published week of: 11/09/2020