Geodan news

Selected by Microsoft

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:12:00 +0200

Eagle has been selected by Microsoft to be their worldwide solution within the Microsoft Citizen Safety Architecture. Eagle will deliver a suite of applications and services that allow multiple agencies to collaborate seamlessly. The purpose is to increase responsiveness and realize a single Common Operational Picture to support fast and effective decision-making in a highly complex environment.

Read more about the Eagle Suite

Further information

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Henk J. Scholten receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:12:00 +0200

Dr. Henk J. Scholten has received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contribution to advancing the science and technology of geographic information systems (GIS) throughout his career. The award is an ESRI-initiative and is presented for the 29th time. Dr. Henk Scholten has received the award on 13 July 2009 at the ESRI User Conference in San Diego, CA, from ESRI president Jack Dangermond.With this award, ESRI recognizes dr. Scholten�s accomplishments as �one of the first adopters of GIS in the world and a prolific author of books on spatial analysis.� ESRI also pays tribute to his prominence in the field, and his research work as scientific director of the Spinlab, the Spatial Information Laboratory at the Free University of Amsterdam.

How it all started

Dr. Scholten studied mathematics and geography at the Free University of Amsterdam and obtained his Ph.D. in 1988. Since 1990 he has been professor in spatial informatics at the Faculty of Economics of the Free University of Amsterdam and director of the Spinlab. Henk Scholten brought GIS from the USA to Europe and developed it further.

Books and publications

Dr. Scholten has written various articles about GIS for publication in international books and journals. His latest book �Geospatial Technology and the Role of Location in Science� is about bringing together the expertise of leading GI-Scientists. The book traces the adoption and dissemination of Geospatial Technology in a range of disciplines. It examines the impact this technology has had, and is likely to have, on the explanation of spatial behaviour, phenomena and processes.

Co-founder Geodan

Dr. Scholten is co-founder and CEO of Geodan in Amsterdam, one of the largest European companies specialised in Geospatial Information Technology. Since its foundation in 1985 Geodan has grown into an independent group of companies with more than 130 employees, giving form and contents to all the aspects of the Geographical Information Systems. In his role as director of Geodan, dr. Scholten has been supervisor on a large number of national and international GIS projects. Dr. Scholten is advisor for several ministries in different countries.

Press release (PDF) Henk J. Scholten receives Lifetime Achievement Award

Further information

Would you like further information about the services and products that Geodan offers, please contact us. We will be pleased to help you out.

Eagle operational at Middle Gelderland Emergency Service

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Since the start of 2009, Eagle has been operational in the Middle Gelderland Emergency Service Region (HGM), an agency responsible for coordinating fire & health safety issues in the central Gelderland region. Eagle CMS is being used in the ROT room (Regional Operational Team) with the Police, GHOR (accident and disaster relief), Fire Services, Local Authorities, the Ministry of Defence, Logistics and other third parties. Additionally, Eagle has been installed in the control room at all COPIs (operational incident coordination), in 35 fire tenders and 10 special intervention teams have also been equipped with Eagle Mobile.Geodan is currently responsible for installing the Eagle CMS system in 16 local authorities in Gelderland. The Middle Gelderland Emergency Service Region has equipped the Regional Management Team with special boxes (with various connection options), as a result of which Eagle CMS can be used anywhere. Even for local authorities which are not connected, HGM Eagle has made special boxes available with an internet connection, so that these can be brought to the local authority in the event of an emergency.

Eagle in day-to-day work

Eagle is operational in the control room for controlling minor incidents on a day-to-day basis and has also been successfully used for a number of major incidents over the last few months. These are so-called GRIP2 situations (coordination of regional incidents). These may include fire-fighting incidents where Eagle is used by the ROT, the COPI and the special intervention teams. Eagle mobile has been used on fire tenders this year for combating several heathland fires in the Veluwe region.

Visit our Eagle page for more information

Further information

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Geoserver.nl

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:24:00 +0200

Are you looking for digital map backgrounds for your web application or digital maps for your GIS system? Then you have come to the right place! Geoserver.nl is Geodan's portal for online geographical map services.At Geodan Geoserver.nl, you can easily use maps such as street maps, route calculations or address coordinates through the Internet in your own application.

Geoserver.nl is ideal for applications within Service Oriented Architectures, the perfect new standard for geo-systems. But also for users of desktop GIS systems such as MapInfo Professional, ArcGIS and GeoMedia who are looking for additional map material.

Click here for more information about Geoserver.nl

Further information

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Fighting Disasters by Working Together

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:20:00 +0200

Time is one of the most crucial factors in emergency situations. Efficient coordination and sharing of information are essential in a multi-disciplinary emergency response.This shared information is known as the Common Operational Picture. A Common Operational Picture can enhance operations, assist in faster and more effective decision making, and control and minimize damage and possibly even save human lives.

Click here for more information about Eagle

Further information

Would you like further information about the services and products that Geodan offers, please contact us. We will be pleased to help you out.

Geodan Movida

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:12:00 +0200

Geodan Movida is the most sophisticated platform available on the market to create real-time location awareness applications for business and enterprise customers.

With Geodan Movida, organizations can:

Identify and locate in real-time people or assets, seamlessly, wherever they are: on the road, in buildings or warehouses;
Generate information and alert-based intelligence to support the most demanding mission-critical applications;
Generate extensive reports, to analyze assets use, resource allocation and operations efficiency;
Provide rich visualization capabilities, including 3D, for coordination and supervision.
Click here for more information about Geodan Movida

Further information

Would you like further information about the services and products that Geodan offers, please contact us. We will be pleased to help you out.

Meet Geodan: Book Presentation during the GSDI conference

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Geospatial Technology and the Role of Location in Science �At last, long held but unverified hypotheses about the importance of locational and spatial variable can be tested. We are at the dawn of a revolution in a spatially oriented social science�This quote by Norman M. Bradburn (NSF, USA, 2004) has given the journey of
the three authors a special dimension. Technological developments in the location industry are so fast now that no one blinks an eye. At the same time the use of this technology in social traffic is growing at a very quick pace. Scientists have also discovered these tools � with more than 100 disciplines using Geospatial Technology.

Over the last three years Henk Scholten, Rob van de Velde and Niels van Manen
(SPINlab, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) have studied the role of Geo‐ICT in science. This book is the outcome of a special explorative journey.

Bringing together the expertise of leading GI‐Scientists, the book traces the adoption and dissemination of Geospatial Technology in a range of disciplines. It examines the impact this technology has had, and is likely to have, on the explanation of spatial behaviour, phenomena and processes. At the same time, stressing innovative usage, it explores scientific contributions to technology advancement and how Geo‐ICT helps to build bridges to partners outside academia.

The book will be presented at the GSDI World Conference in Rotterdam on June 19th by two of the editors: Niels van Manen and Henk Scholten.

Click here for a handout of this press release.

Book published by: Springer

NEW: Movida 1.5

Mon, 18 May 2009 13:49:00 +0200

April 2009 Geodan Mobile Solutions has released a new version of Movida, version 1.5. This new release extends visualization and search capabilities, introduces support for new location technologies, improves performance and makes the installation of Geodan Movida easier.Geodan Movida 1.5 drills down and organizes location information based on any attribute of the asset of person tracked, simplifying even the most complex location analysis. The visualization and playback of this information has been enhanced and graphically extended. The release provides full support for the Motorola Wi-Fi infrastructure, allowing organizations to exploit existing wireless networks for location services.

XML client

Geodan Movida can now use any XML client, such as Google Earth of Virtual Earth. A new importer module also facilitates the integration of Geodan Movida with enterprise systems, such as access control.

Movida is now capable of handling tens of thousands locations per second. The architecture is now more robust and extremely scalable.

Release 1.5 introduces new functionality for industrial safety, including work zones and permit of work management as well as tools for managing temporary staff and visitors. It also supports additional tracking devices with ATEX functionality.

Further information

Would you like further information about the services and products that Geodan offers, please contact us. We will be pleased to help you out.

ESRI International User Conference

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:25:00 +0200

The weeklong geographic information system (GIS) conference in San Diego (USA) offers sessions, exhibits, and unique highlights, such as the multimedia Map Gallery, special displays, unbeatable networking and collaboration opportunities, and preconference seminars held the weekend prior. Prof. dr. Henk Scholten is invited as keynote speaker at this event and will give several presentations. For more information, please visit the event's website.

Further information

Would you like further information about the services and products that Geodan offers, please contact us. We will be pleased to help you out.

Microsoft's Citizen Safety Architecture Helps Governments Improve Public Safety and Address Security Threats

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0200

Today at the Worldwide Public Safety Symposium, Microsoft Corp. announced two ways the company is helping governments increase multiagency operational effectiveness, reduce costs, and improve collaboration and information sharing to help combat threats to public safety and security.Introducing software solutions and services designed to help governments respond in real time to threats to public safety, Microsoft launched the Citizen Safety Architecture. Also today, Microsoft announced support of the International Criminal Police Organization's (INTERPOL) Global Security Initiative (GSI), which addresses international security challenges. Both Citizen Safety Architecture and GSI are designed to improve public safety, reduce crime and bring humanitarian relief to crisis situations demanding collective action across multiple disparate groups.

"Given the direct correlation between the declining economy and the rise of public safety concerns, there is a pressing need for innovative, collaborative and integrated solutions, like Citizen Safety Architecture, that deliver to governments the tools they need to ensure the safety of their citizens," said Tim Bloechl, managing director for worldwide public safety and national security at Microsoft. "Microsoft and INTERPOL recognize the strong synergies between Citizen Safety Architecture and GSI, and our pledge to develop a long-term relationship with organizations like INTERPOL supports the overall goal of Citizen Safety Architecture."

Microsoft's Citizen Safety Architecture equips law enforcement, intelligence agencies and emergency services with a platform that allows access to services and rapid partner solution development. The result is a fast and economical deployment of software and services solutions specifically designed to improve public security and safety. By design, Citizen Safety Architecture is based on familiar, proven Microsoft tools to cost-effectively extend and augment organizations' existing IT investments. These tools include Microsoft Single View Platform, (SVP), Microsoft FusionX, "Eagle," Microsoft Intelligence Framework, the Microsoft Incident Response Platform and Global Security Operations Centers (GSOCs).

While the initiatives are independent, the goals of Citizen Safety Architecture and INTERPOL's GSI are similar: They both create enhanced information-sharing and connectivity frameworks addressing the need to protect citizens both physically and virtually, and address the need to synthesize data from a variety of sources. These common interests, along with today's ceremonial signing of an agreement that Microsoft will provide its Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor (COFEE) tool free of charge to INTERPOL for international distribution, demonstrate the steps Microsoft and INTERPOL are taking to develop a broader relationship. COFEE is a Microsoft-developed application that uses common digital forensics tools to help officers at the scene of a crime gather volatile evidence of live computer activity that would otherwise be lost in a traditional offline forensic analysis. Through the agreement, COFEE will be distributed to INTERPOL's participating 187 countries around the world to aid global law enforcement in addressing cybercrime.

"To meet 21st-century security threats, and equip global police forces with cutting-edge tools, INTERPOL is forging strategic long-term partnerships with global industry leaders such as Microsoft," said Elaine Dezenski, managing director of INTERPOL's Global Security Initiative. "As the world's global police organization, INTERPOL launched the GSI to partner with the public and private sectors to establish initiatives that will address security threats common to all stakeholders. Our broad, long-term collaboration with Microsoft will raise security standards globally against IT crime, and with COFEE will deliver a vital tool to law enforcement on the front lines."

Both Citizen Safety Architecture and GSI are grounded in international best practices and embrace the latest government and commercial standards to underpin agile intra-agency and inter-agency collaboration and information gathering. They are focused on delivering enhanced capabilities for intelligence-gathering and investigation, but Citizen Safety Architecture also delivers emergency response, transportation and border control, physical security, and disaster and crisis management.

In addition, Citizen Safety Architecture draws upon Microsoft's collective knowledge and expertise of a vibrant and growing ecosystem of both international and local partners committed to developing powerful, cost-effective Microsoft-based solutions tailored to public safety needs. Scyron, a provider of security and surveillance solutions, is a Citizen Safety Architecture partner currently working with the policing community and is seeing the impact of Citizen Safety Architecture firsthand.

"Scyron is delighted to join Microsoft in the CSA initiative. We have a special interest in the Microsoft Intelligence Framework, which offers significant collaborative and information-sharing capabilities to assist in 'Intelligence-Led Policing,'" said Michael Wilks, CEO of Scyron Ltd. "This fits in well with Scyron's DEMON suite of intelligent surveillance and digital evidence management solutions already in use by many law enforcement organizations around the world, such as Derbyshire Constabulary presenting at the symposium."

By focusing on interoperable solutions that can work well in mixed environments, evolve over time and serve the needs of constituents, Microsoft's Citizen Safety Architecture is helping governments face global security challenges.

"Gartner is seeing its public safety clients face more global threats of both crime and terrorism, which defy previously understood neat boundaries for certain government agencies," said Jeff Vining, research vice president at Gartner Inc. "Effective action to foil criminals and terrorists demands collective action across a disparate phalanx of groups. Technology that enables diverse groups to communicate, collaborate and share critical information holds the key to mobilizing effective resources against these types of threats."

Solutions addressing critical infrastructure protection and major event management will be added to Citizen Safety Architecture later this year.

About Microsoft's Worldwide Public Safety Symposium and Citizen Safety Architecture

Microsoft's Worldwide Public Safety Symposium, running today through April 16, 2009, brings together more than 300 national security operatives, public safety professionals and criminal justice officials. Microsoft is using the forum to demonstrate how the company is already delivering on the Citizen Safety Architecture with a set of innovative software solutions and services to help governments proactively plan for and effectively respond to terrorist attacks, criminal acts and natural disasters:

Microsoft Single View Platform (SVP). SVP helps governments by providing them with a single view of information and data, enabling users to turn situational awareness into action. The platform can be agency- or program-defined, depending on the program requirements and the kind of information needed by the user or agency. Microsoft SVP is an open, industry standards-based technology that provides a highly integrated foundation for data visualization solutions in the area of business intelligence, information sharing, workflow and business processes, project management, and network systems. SVP partners include Advantage Factory Inc., GreenLine Systems, IDV Solutions, Information Strategies Inc., Infusion Development, I.S. Consulting (ISC), The Mariner Group LLC, MicroLink LLC, Planet Technologies, Projility and Twisted Pair Solutions Inc.

Microsoft FusionX. Built to support fusion centers, Microsoft FusionX takes data from disparate sources across federal, state, local and tribal governments, in addition to the private sector, and fuses it into one complete picture to enhance awareness, planning, prevention and incident response. Microsoft, in partnership with the Illinois State Police and other law enforcement agencies, has designed a technology platform and architecture for the sharing of law enforcement intelligence that fills a critical void and could make the world a safer place.

"Eagle." In the Netherlands Microsoft, Geodan and ESRI have been working on an implementation of the Microsoft Citizen Safety Architecture to deliver a suite of applications and services that allow multiple agencies to collaborate seamlessly. The purpose is to increase responsiveness and realize a single Common Operational Picture to support fast and effective decision-making in a highly complex environment. This cooperation has resulted in the "Eagle," a solution where Microsoft Office Groove, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Geodan Movida and ESRI ArcGIS are integrated together into a disaster management information system winning the prominent Dutch Public Safety Award 2008. Jan (J.Th.W.) Slakhorst, deputy director of the fire brigade and chief of disaster management for Crisis Region Gelderland Midden, notes that the "Eagle" system is a perfect collaboration platform for disaster management, saying, "It is user-friendly, based on the daily routine. It is usable in different scenarios, from railroad incidents up to extensive flood scenarios."

Microsoft Intelligence Framework. The Microsoft Intelligence Framework (IF) helps local, national and international law enforcement and intelligence-related organizations share information and work together to provide a coordinated approach to preventing and detecting acts of terrorism, and solving organized and major crime cases. The IF is the result of a five-year collaborative partnership between Microsoft, its partners and law enforcement agencies from around the world that faced a common threat from cybercrime. The framework gives investigators the tools for all-source analysis, which means they can store, search and analyze a broad spectrum of potentially related investigative information.

The Microsoft Incident Response Platform. The Microsoft Incident Response platform provides an effective solution to provide process and role guidance to incident responders, while the built-in geospatial information viewer delivers timely situational information. Microsoft Incident Response Platform is composed of solutions from established Microsoft partners such as E*SPONDER, IDV Solutions, Infonic and CRN Solutions Inc. These solutions help capture structured data and facilitate the movement of this data both vertically and horizontally.

Global Security Operations Centers. Microsoft maintains three world-class 24x7 operations centers to monitor, communicate and coordinate responses for more than 700 Microsoft sites worldwide. The centers, located in the U.S., the U.K. and India, leverage solutions such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Microsoft Office InfoPath, Microsoft Office Communicator and Microsoft Virtual Earth.

Additional information on the Public Safety Symposium and Microsoft's vast Citizen Safety Architecture can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/pss/default.aspx.

Download here the PDF: 'Microsoft's Citizen Safety Architecture Helps Governments Improve Public Safety and Address Security Threats'.