Atlantic — a remote sensing, surveying and consulting business — has purchased a Phase One Industrial 280MP large-format aerial solution to better serve its clients. The upgrade substantially increases Atlantic’s ability to efficiently capture a large area with extreme accuracy and quality.
Photo: Phase One Industrial
The massive Phase One Industrial 280MP aerial solution is a large-format camera system that easily integrates with smaller gyro-stabilized mounts creating a compact d lightweight system for use in a wide range of aircraft.
At its heart, the iXM-RS 280F is a dual-lens metric camera, with 90mm lenses for capturing RGB information, adding a near infrared (NIR) camera generates a four-band configuration, useful in agriculture, forestry and pipeline monitoring missions.
The iXM-RS280F camera has an image coverage width of more than 20,000 pixels whilst the cameras’ backside illuminated CMOS sensor supports very high dynamic range at 83dB. Its high light sensitivity provides superb image quality in challenging low light conditions, enabling operators to take advantage of more flight hours per day and more flight days per year.
“We’ve been using Phase One’s camera technology for over two years combined with our Optech lidar systems,” said Brian Mayfield, president and CEO of Atlantic. “We are very impressed with the technology and applaud Phase One’s innovative approach to designing a high-quality large format camera that produces exceptional results. The Phase One 280MP is yet another forward-looking technology resource that we’ve added to provide the most complete and cost-effective geospatial solutions for our clients.”
The LC29D is a sub-meter level GNSS module that integrates dead reckoning (DR) and multi-band (L1/L5) real-time kinematic (RTK) algorithm technologies with fast convergence times and reliable performance. The module supports dual-band GNSS raw data output and integrates 6-axis IMU sensor to deliver high-accuracy positioning performance in seconds.
Based on the Broadcom BCM47758 GNSS chip, the LC29D can concurrently receive signals from up to six constellations (GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, IRNSS, BeiDou and QZSS) at any given time, which maximizes the availability of sub-meter level accuracy.
Combining GNSS signals from dual-frequency bands (L1/L5) and RTK technology enables the LC29D to achieve high performance even in difficult conditions such as dense urban canyons. The module can also mitigate multipath effects in urban cities.
The LC29D offers a position update rate of up to 30Hz (fusion output), enabling dynamic applications like shared eMobility, delivery robots and precision agriculture to receive position information with lower latency. By enabling easy integration of advanced RTK multi-band algorithms, the module helps developers quickly bring their devices to market.
The high-precision module offers better performance than products in the market in positioning precision, sensitivity, time to first fix (TTFF), update rates and latency.
Embedded with 6-axis MEMS sensor, devices powered by the LC29D can quickly report motion, which enables consistent high-precision positioning capabilities when combined with the DR algorithm, even in weak-signal environments such as tunnels and underground parking structures.
According to the association, the interactive mapping-based app shows how jurisdictions have taken actions to reopen certain business sectors by issuing statewide orders. It also shows how jurisdictions are undertaking regional-based approaches or implementing statewide orders with authorization for localities to place additional restrictions.
The map also allows users to explore public health actions governors have taken during the pandemic, including statewide stay-at-home orders, limits on gatherings, state employee travel restrictions, quarantine orders for interstate travel and more.
The map, which is updated on a daily basis, features data collected from states and territories. The data is based on an evaluation of state executive orders, directives, guidance, legal and non-legal documents, and news sources, the National Governors Association said.
Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, completed the first guided release of a StormBreaker smart weapon from an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, which will become the second fighter jet to add the weapon when the program reaches initial operational capability later this year.
StormBreaker features a try-mode seeker that uses imaging infrared and millimeter wave radar in its normal mode. It can also deploy its semi-active laser or GPS guidance to hit targets.
During the U.S. Navy flight test, StormBreaker safely separated from the jet and successfully received guidance data from the plane, enabling it to be directed to its target while in flight, the company said.
“StormBreaker is the only weapon that enables pilots to hit moving targets during bad weather or if dust and smoke are in the area,” said Cristy Stagg, StormBreaker program director. “Super Hornet pilots will be able to use poor visibility to their advantage when StormBreaker integration is complete.”
Eos Tools Pro implements powerful new features that enables users to exploit all four global GNSS constellations and a state-of-the-art NTRIP client to access real-time kinematic (RTK) bases and RTK networks all over the world via NTRIP, Direct IP and wireless radios.
“This is a huge step forward in functionality and flexibility for our Windows users,” said Jean-Yves Lauture, CTO of Eos. “We implemented the latest support for Windows Geolocation and other features offered by Microsoft in order to allow our customers to use high-accuracy locations directly into their apps.”
Eos Tools Pro includes new features for both field professionals and application developers.
For field professionals
RTK network/RTK base connectivity. Eos Tools Pro implements state-of-the-art NTRIP connectivity to connect to any RTK network or RTK base in the world. For geographic areas without cellular coverage, Eos Tools Pro supports Bluetooth wireless radios (UHF/VHF, etc.) for base/rover connectivity.
The software supports all new BeiDou and Galileo satellites in addition to GPS and GLONASS as well as SafeRTK functionality for areas with marginal cellular coverage.
Eos Tools Pro for Windows shows all current satellites in use from GNSS constellations such as GPS, Galileo, BeiDou, GLONASS and QZSS. (Screenshot: Eos Positioning)
Geoid models. Eos Tools Pro implements the latest geoid models for many regions in the world, providing survey-grade orthometric heights directly into any Windows applications.
Datum shift. Eos Tools Pro adds a new feature to apply a simple X, Y, Z shift to the current location to match any local datum.
Alarms. A vast number of audible alarms can be set to warn the user if parameters such as estimated accuracy, differential status, correction age, Bluetooth connectivity, are not met.
For Windows developers
Geolocation/Sensor API. Eos Tools Pro supports apps that rely on the Windows geolocation service to retrieve accurate latitude, longitude and altitude from their Arrow receiver. In addition, the Sensor API allows programmers to access the wide array of GNSS metadata while removing the laborious task of parsing NMEA data.
Virtual COM port and TCP/IP server. Eos Tools Pro features a built-in duo of virtual COM port and TCP/IP server to output streams of standard NMEA sentences. This enables multiple apps capable of parsing NMEA messages to have simultaneous access to the Arrow GNSS location and metadata.
“Eos Tools Pro for Windows enables users and developers to benefit from our leading-edge, high-accuracy GNSS receivers,” Lauture said. “When Windows tablets are the device of choice among our customers, the combination of Eos Tools Pro and Arrow GNSS receivers provide the absolute latest GNSS technology for GIS, engineering, construction, and surveying users. When Windows tablets are the device of choice among our customers, the combination of Eos Tools Pro and Arrow GNSS receivers provide the absolute latest GNSS technology for GIS, engineering, construction and surveying users.”
Eos Tools Pro for Windows is available for free to users of Arrow GPS and GNSS receivers. It is compatible with any Windows 10 desktop, laptop or tablet computer via Bluetooth or USB.
By Alexander Meisel, automotive cybersecurity engineer at intive
Alexander Meisel
When it comes to connected cars, automakers are innovating fast. Consumers are experiencing increasing amounts of futuristic features, be they passenger connectivity, automated speed regulation, or autonomous driving capabilities.
However, these innovations and their integration with cloud connectivity come with a heightened risk for cyber attacks. A recent study conducted by U.K. self-driving hub organization, Zenzic, found that becoming cyber-resilient will be the biggest technical obstacle to successfully deploy self-driving cars on roads by 2030. This mountain will be a big one to surmount, and it’s only growing in size: The auto industry has seen a 94% year-over-year increase in hacks since 2016.
So, how can automakers prioritize security while keeping up with the demand for innovation in today’s connected cars?
Carmakers must consider security from day one
To make sure that security is built into the very foundations of a car, automakers must make it a priority from the first day of design. This focus is lacking amongst carmakers at the moment. In fact, 19% respondents to one survey said they don’t do enough security testing in the design phase, and only 28% said that they do a lot of the testing during the design stage.
Automakers can use design principles to build in security from the outset. For example, the principle of complete mediation allows for enhanced security as it ensures that a software stem “requires access checks to an object each time a subject requests access.” This means that attackers are only invited to exploit a system on one single occasion due to checks on subjects’ permissions.
Carmakers can also ensure that they are not sacrificing security by considering its importance when purchasing components from separate suppliers. These components must be specific enough to enable security in the system, but generic enough to allow for innovation.
Here, companies can leverage the software engineering principle of interface segregation. This means that a shrunken, clear interface should be supplied by the vendor, so that the customer only uses the methods that are of interest to them. In turn, this allows systems to remain decoupled and thus easier to then build a rich interface on top of. However, carmakers will have to stay on top of the security of the part in the development phase, and ensure that dormant functions are not abused by at least logging their execution once somebody tries to call them out of context.
Developers and cybersecurity experts must become a core part of the team
Software development is relatively new territory for carmakers. Now, cybersecurity is a key component of building connected cars, and automakers need to embrace developers that have expertise in this area and make them part of the core team.
This cultural change must be championed by the business leaders to allow car security to advance alongside the innovative features that the industry is building. This can be done by implementing DevSecOps ideology into the team, in order to “build the mindset that everyone is responsible for security.”
Car development teams will likely need a group of cybersecurity experts who can educate the rest of the developers and are willing to participate in the development process in order to check and implement safe and secure functions. If a company doesn’t have this kind of expertise in-house, they can partner with an expert third-party to help them along this journey.
Innovation and security can complement each other
Cybersecurity doesn’t mean sacrificing feature innovation: developments are being made in the field of security too, such as biometric technologies that can be integrated into car design.
For example, Blackberry’s QNX technology “has built in concepts for hardware and software trust validation, hypervisor to maintain a separation between the safety critical and infotainment systems, and a core operating system which passes all the functional safety standards,” according to the company’s senior VP SVP, head of QNX, John Wall. Innovation need not suffer at the hands of security, and vice-versa.
In addition, the world’s leading electric vehicle provider, Tesla, ensures security in its cutting-edge, connected cars by sending security updates to cars’ operating systems overnight, and even providing awards for hackers that manage to hack its cars.
Looking ahead to the possibilities of autonomous vehicles (AV) that can drive passengers without needing to have their owner inside, innovation in GPS will be necessary to ensure security and accountability of the car. Potential AV thieves would first look to use GPS data to disable or falsify a car’s GPS system, making it untraceable.
However, carmakers can make this impossible for hackers by not just logging the data in its raw form, but also combining it with other car data using cryptographic algorithms. This ensures that the GPS data remains traceable even after the hardware has been taken apart and sold on the auto-parts black market. In this way, the signature of the original data combined with the GPS position adds an additional layer of security.
Integrating security into connected car design is no simple feat, but it’s a necessary one for carmakers that want to ensure the safety of their passengers while on the roads. By using design principles, diversifying expertise within development teams, and understanding that security and innovation need not be a trade-off, they can do just that.
Alexander Meisel is an automotive cybersecurity engineer at intive. Alexander has a Computer Networking diploma from Hochschule Furtwangen University, and he has developed as a CTO and Development Team Director in previous companies. He has experience with venture capital, successful M&As, product and technical marketing strategies. Meisel is also a public speaker at technical conferences and trade shows.
Latest inertial navigation system serves new customer requirements in autonomous vehicles, mobile mapping, surveying and more
Photo: Honeywell
Honeywell is introducing the HGuide n380, an inertial navigation system (INS) that communicates position, orientation and velocity of an object — such as an autonomous vehicle or unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) — even when global navigation satellite signals are unavailable.
Smaller, lighter and lower priced than previous Honeywell inertial navigation systems, the HGuide n380 is built using Honeywell’s rigorous design standards to withstand harsh environments in the air, on land or at sea.
“We recognized a need for a small, high-performance inertial navigation system in areas like 3D mapping, surveying and other applications where space is at a premium and performance cannot be compromised,” said Chris Lund, offering management senior director, Navigation and Sensors, Honeywell Aerospace. “We responded by developing the HGuide n380 inertial navigation system, which provides our customers with proven, cost effective inertial sensor technology, created for aerospace applications, but that can be integrated into almost any architecture.”
The new inertial navigation system is composed of Honeywell’s HGuide i300 inertial measurement unit (IMU), a GNSS receiver and Honeywell’s proprietary sensor-fusion software, which is based on the algorithms used for navigation on millions of aircraft every day.
Inputs from these components are fused together to determine position, orientation and velocity to deliver critical navigation information even in areas where a satellite signal is degraded or altogether unavailable, such as canyons, bridges, tunnels, mountains, parking garages or dense forests.
“As the industry evolves, Honeywell’s HGuide suite of IMUs and navigators will be a key enabler of emerging segments like autonomous vehicles, mobile mapping, precision agriculture, robotics and surveying,” Lund said.
During its development, the new product was placed in extreme environments to test ruggedness and was exposed to extensive factory calibration and compensation procedures that help ensure measurement accuracy and performance.
Honeywell has extensive experience in designing and building high-end inertial sensor and navigation systems and has used that expertise to develop a lower-cost portfolio of HGuide offerings to serve new markets and customer requirements.
To date, Honeywell has delivered more than half a million high-performance inertial sensors to serve as navigation aids on an extensive list of manned and unmanned vehicles, which include many air and spacecraft in use today.
Bad Elf LLC has completed transition of all Bad Elf Flex receivers to the Hemisphere GNSS Phantom OEM module.
Photo: Bad Elf
As one of the first partners to incorporate the Phantom, Bad Elf Flex offers significantly enhanced capabilities and further exemplifies the company’s commitment to future-ready GNSS designs.
“We tested the Phantom OEM modules extensively, and confirmed they deliver the promised power savings and performance improvements when integrated with the Bad Elf Flex,” said Larry Fox, Bad Elf’s vice president of marketing and business development. “Hemisphere’s technology allows us to democratize GNSS through Bad Elf Flex.”
The new Phantom modules deliver a 30% gain in battery life, superior performance and scalable access to every GNSS constellation and signal, including GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou, QZSS, IRNSS, SBAS and Hemisphere’s Atlas L-band, Fox said.
Photo: Hemisphere GNSS
Bad Elf Flex is a scalable-accuracy GNSS receiver with a daily option to choose between L-band and real-time kinematic (RTK). In standard configuration, it achieves 30-60 cm accuracy in real-time for GIS use.
Consuming a Bad Elf Flex Token unlocks a full RTK workflow for a 24-hour period to deliver 1-cm horizontal accuracy. Bad Elf Flex stores the tokens directly on the receiver, making them available for use anytime and anywhere. Customers requiring high accuracy at all times can purchase the Bad Elf Flex Extreme bundle, with RTK capabilities permanently unlocked, for a one-time upgrade fee.
Surveyors and their crews now have a scalable-accuracy, survey-grade receiver. GIS managers can focus on flexible field choices for work crews with varying skill levels. Bad Elf Flex falls within most capital expense budgets, allowing businesses to obtain operational and financial efficiencies.
“Bad Elf saw an opportunity to offer the GIS community a product lineup with better than 3-meter accuracy for under $3,000,” said John Cunningham, Bad Elf’s chief executive officer. “We began three years ago with our 2-meter ($300) and 1-meter ($600) mapping-grade product offerings. Our customers continued asking us to address the 50 cm, 10 cm and 1 cm requirements for their businesses. We worked hard over the past two years to build a platform, Bad Elf Flex ($3,000), that addresses these needs without breaking budgets. We have a solution that works today and provides a foundation to meet future customer requests. We love learning from our customers and look forward to continuing this conversation and extending high-accuracy GNSS for all.”
“Hemisphere is excited that Bad Elf’s Flex series now features our latest generation GNSS receiver,” said Miles Ware, director of marketing at Hemisphere. “We believe the scalable accuracy option made possible by our high-performance Atlas L-band correction service will be a game-changer in their served markets.”
Eos will announce compatibility of its Arrow GNSS receivers with the inaugural ArcGIS Field Maps beta release, the expansion of Eos Locate underground mapping locator-device compatibility, as well more exciting updates for users of high-accuracy GPS with ArcGIS apps.
Eos Positioning Systems, manufacturer of the high-accuracy Arrow Series GNSS receivers for the GIS market, has announced several new releases ahead of the 2020 virtual Esri User Conference.
The announcements include the expansion of the availability of the Eos Locate
underground mapping solution, compatibility with the new ArcGIS Field Maps, the inaugural release of Eos Tools Pro for Windows, and a “special surprise” for virtual attendees of the 2020 Esri UC.
Image: Eos Positioning
Expansion of Eos Locate
Eos Locate is a high-accuracy, real-time underground mapping solution for Esri
ArcGIS apps users. It allows organizations to accurately map already-buried assets straight to ArcGIS Online via either ArcGIS Collector or ArcGIS Field Maps.
Eos has expanded Eos Locate compatibility with additional models from Vivax-Metrotech, Subsite and Radiodetection.
Compatibility with ArcGIS Field Maps beta
ArcGIS Field Maps is the newest Esri mobile application, which combines the functionality of several existing Esri mobile applications, such as ArcGIS Collector, ArcGIS Explorer, and ArcGIS Tracker.
The ArcGIS Field Maps beta release this month is already fully compatible with Arrow GNSS receivers (all models). This means organizations with Arrow GNSS receivers can immediately start taking advantage of survey-grade Arrow GNSS locations and metadata within ArcGIS Field Maps for data collection, markups, read-only routine field work (e.g., utility locates), GPS tracking, and more.
In addition, two Eos solutions previously exclusive only to Collector also already work with ArcGIS Field Maps. These include:
Eos Tools Pro is a free GNSS monitoring application for Arrow GNSS receivers. For the first time, this app is now available for Windows 10 users.
Eos Tools Pro allows fieldworkers to:
Connect to an RTK network or base station via NTRIP
Get elevations in orthometric heights via geoid model conversions in real time, in the field (directly into an Esri app)
Apply a simple X, Y, Z datum shift to the current location to match any local datum
Set a vast number of audible alarms
In addition, developers using Windows 10 will now be able to access the wide array of Arrow GNSS metadata while eliminating the task of parsing NMEA data.
Finally, Eos Tools Pro features a built-in duo of virtual Com Port and TCP/IP server to output streams of standard NMEA sentences. This enables multiple apps to have simultaneous access to the Arrow GNSS location and metadata.
Special surprise for eligible 2020 Esri UC attendees
In support of the inaugural virtual Esri UC, Eos is offering a one-time-only chance to win an Arrow 100 submeter GNSS receiver. To enter to win, eligible attendees must both
Complete a meeting with an authorized Eos representative during the 2020 Esri UC (July 13-16), which can be achieved by visiting the Eos virtual booth (V103), and
Fill out a special contest contact form made available by that representative.
Both the meeting and special contest contact form submission must be completed no later than July 16.
The following people are not eligible to win: Employees of Eos and Eos distributors, employees of Esri and Esri distributors, employees of other exhibiting/sponsoring companies, employees of other GPS manufacturers or vendors, registered media, and others whom we deem to have a similar affiliation.
Visit the Eos virtual booth (V103) to talk with sales, marketing, and technical support staff during the event expo hours.
GMV will take charge of the command and control and C4ISR interoperability system under the Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS).
The European Commission’s European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) has assigned 30.6 million euros to the iMUGS project for the development of an unmanned ground system. This makes it one of the European Commission’s biggest defense investments to date.
The Integrated Modular Unmanned Ground System (iMUGS) project will be carried out by a consortium primed by Milrem Robotics, with another 11 high-tech defense firms, including the technology multinational GMV.
The common development of this vehicle will build from Milrem Robotics’s previous program called THEMis, with the addition of various mission systems and autonomy solutions.
The aim is to develop a valid scalable architecture applicable to both manned and unmanned vehicles, with the idea of standardizing Europe’s ground and air systems and its command-and-control and communications systems, sensors, payloads and autonomy algorithms.
The system will consist of a robust and modular ground vehicle fitted with an electronic-warfare-resistant command, control and communications system and secure autonomous mobility software to allow the operator to control many different ground and air platforms securely and simultaneously.
iMUGS will include several components:
system cybersecurity
autonomous mobility
advanced communications systems and further driving-related developments
manned-unmanned teaming (MUT) including swarms.
iMUGS will enable European countries to use unmanned vehicles with logistics and ISR functions, trimming the load and increasing troop security.
With this joint initiative, the European Defence Fund meets member states’ requirements and draws on the skills of Europe’s industry to boost defense capabilities and strategic autonomy.
European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP)
The European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) is the first initiative of the European Union’s 2019 and 2020 defense research window of capabilities. Announced on June 7, 2017, EDIDP can be considered the “preparatory action” of defense research to prove the feasibility of a joint defense-capability development and procurement program.
EDIDP’s aim is to drive the European Union’s strategic autonomy and cooperation between member states, making it possible for armed forces to carry out high level operations, with special attention to intelligence, secure communications and cybernetics.
Under the EDIDP 2019-2020 program, GMV is participating in the iMUGS, GEODE, ESC2 and PANDORA projects.
GMV‘s iMUGS role
GMV will be coordinator of the command and control and C4ISR interoperability subproject. GMV is bringing to the table experience in C2 ground systems and JISR (joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance interoperability).
The overall aim is to develop the C2ISR tactical component for planning and carrying out joint manned and unmanned systems operations, using and distributing sensor data from the unmanned ground vehicle.
JISR interoperability synchronizes and integrates the planning and operation of all information-obtaining capacities with operation and processing capacities, sending on the resulting information to the assigned person at the right time in the right form and in direct support of present and future operations.
The Boxer Mechanised Infantry Vehicle (MIV) is used by many allied forces. (Photo: U.K. Ministry of Defence)
The C2 command and control subsystem will be fitted in a Boxer 8 x 8 vehicle for manned-unmanned teaming (MUT) coordination tests.
GMV’s participation in iMUGS is based on its experience in C2 ground systems, dismounted soldier C2 systems and JISR interoperability, areas where GMV is one of the leading companies in Europe. GMV is a supplier of Artillery and Dismounted Soldier Command and Control Systems for the Spanish MoD.
Since 2016 it has been responsible for maintenance and upgrading of the EUCCIS C2 system of the European External Action Service (EEAS).
Cohda Wireless has partnered with u-blox to produce an advanced V2X solution for the global Cooperative Intelligent Transport market. With the partnership, Cohda’s V2X software stack will support the u-blox UBX-P3 DSRC/802.11p V2X chip.
Cohda Wireless and u-blox have a long-standing relationship and share a common vision of leveraging wireless technology to reduce the number of road accidents and fatalities across the globe.
The u-blox chip enables wireless vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, now enhanced with Cohda’s hardware-agnostic software applications.
Cohda said its software is widely deployed in the industry, providing 360° awareness and detecting hidden threats beyond anything a driver or on-board sensors can see.
Cohda Wireless Chief Engineer Fabien Cure said that the partnership offers the market an advanced V2X solution that will be of particular interest to Tier 1 auto makers, OEMs and road authority suppliers.
“In order to progress vehicle safety, OEMs need to produce vehicles that have embedded V2X wireless communication technology as a standard inclusion,” Cure explained. “Likewise, cities around the world are preparing for the introduction of wide scale cooperative intelligent transport systems.”
Cohda’s V2X software is in production vehicles of GM and Volkswagen.
“Connectedness is the key to safer roads and highways around the world and a technology solution of this calibre is an enabler of further trials and development in this sector that we warmly welcome,” added Mr Cure.
“The porting of Cohda’s leading V2X onto our high-performance UBX-P3 chip is an important proof point that both our solutions are interoperable and enable a swift integration into automotive platforms,” said Herbert Blaser, senior director, Product Center Short Range Radio at u-blox.
Cohda’s software products are applied in more than 60 percent of all V2X field trials in the world today in compliance with U.S. Federal Communications Commission and European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standards.
“When we connect vehicles to each other and to roadside infrastructure, we are creating an intelligent and integrated road transport system that has the potential to reduce road accidents simply because the technology is capable of things humans aren’t,” added Cure.
“Addresses are created by local address authorities in city, county, and tribal agencies,” explained NSGIC Executive Director Molly Schar. “The data support delivery of services like utilities and emergency response, so getting it right is absolutely critical. NSGIC advocates the process of rolling up local address point records to the state to aggregate and then to the national level to save lives, reduce costs, avoid duplication, increase revenues, improve service and foster efficient and effective government.”
The roll-up process is at the heart of an effort led by the U.S. Department of Transportation and supported by NSGIC to develop a National Address Database. Only 23 states have provided statewide address data to the national database, with five states providing partial data, and three states in the queue.
For this publication, NSGIC tapped state geospatial information officers in Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Utah and Vermont to identify key factors to the successful organization and coordination necessary to create and maintain strong address programs. These honor roll states scored in the top of the country in the area of address data in NSGIC’s 2019 Geospatial Maturity Assessment (GMA).
NSGIC recently finalized an interactive GMA geospatial web map application with dashboards customized for each data theme allows users to take a deeper dive into the 2019 results, interacting with individual state and collective national results to bring to life the visual patterns and trends in the data.
Geospatial data dashboards have become much more familiar to the public in recent months as most states and municipalities have adopted the interactive platforms to transparently display coronavirus information.
Launched in 2009 to document geospatial development practices and uses, the GMA has provided a biennial snapshot of each state’s geospatial maturity. Inspired by the National Spatial Data Infrastructure theme grading undertaken by the Coalition of Geospatial Organizations (of which NSGIC is a founding member), an entirely new process was developed for the 2019 GMA.
Nine-grade “report cards” were produced for individual state spatial data infrastructures and state geospatial coordination, in addition to overall theme and topical analysis.
Over the next 18 months, additional focused guidance will be issued in the areas of overall statewide coordination and the key datasets for next generation 9-1-1, transportation, parcels, hydrography, elevation, and orthoimagery.
“Collaboration, transparency, and increased efficiency in government are hallmarks of mature state GIS programs,” Schar said. “Through the Geospatial Maturity Assessment research and products, NSGIC is helping states set goals, identify opportunities for collaboration, shine a light on areas requiring attention, and build resources.”
A report issued by the