In case you missed it, the Government of Manitoba officially announced the creation of GeoManitoba on its website on GIS Day - November 16, 2011. (Click here to see announcement)
“GeoManitoba brings together all government mapping and data management services, making it easier for the public and organizations to access these services,” said Conservation Minister Dave Chomiak. “It will also guide the use of geographic information services across government, ensuring the highest possible standards and the best use of new and emerging technologies.”
To the casual person in the public there is little different on the outside – so far. The Government web-site does not yet reflect the new organization and the establishment of GeoManitoba. But GeoManitoba has begun to make its presence felt ...
Underneath the surface GeoManitoba is undergoing a transformation that is good for all of us in the Manitoba GIS community. There is a reorganization and a revitalization of an area that was somewhat neglected for the last ten years. GeoManitoba is currently marshalling the human and geospatial resources to actively participate, and in some cases guide or lead, geospatial evolution in Manitoba. Some of the initiatives will take a year, two or more to develop, but the direction is positive and the impact on the GIS community will be huge.
The head honcho of GeoManitoba is Greg Carlson.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Thursday, 5 January 2012
2012 New Year's Wishes
A momentous year for GIS in Manitoba has come to an end. Now it is time to look forward to the New Year and what we can hope for in Manitoba:
A New Spatial Data Warehouse
The MLI was state-of-the-art once and is still a fantastic resource for data but it is time for an update with all of the modern services.
Another Big GIS Conference
Yes we all wish for an annual GIS conference in Manitoba to rival or exceed the one that MGUG put on this fall at Celebrations Dinner Theatre. MGUG has given themselves a tough act to follow, but we have expectations now.
Orthophoto Refresh Program
The current orthophoto refresh project is a tremendous update to the old orthos from the 1990s and the organizers and partners need to be commended. The orthos look great. The current refresh has been running for 7 years and we all wonder what happens when the current round of refresh ends? Will there be another round? How long do we have to wait before it starts? Shouldn’t there be an ongoing refresh of old orthos? A Provincial Image strategy that includes the North needs to be developed.
Oh I am sure there is more, but then I wouldn’t have anything to wish for next year.
A New Spatial Data Warehouse
The MLI was state-of-the-art once and is still a fantastic resource for data but it is time for an update with all of the modern services.
Another Big GIS Conference
Yes we all wish for an annual GIS conference in Manitoba to rival or exceed the one that MGUG put on this fall at Celebrations Dinner Theatre. MGUG has given themselves a tough act to follow, but we have expectations now.
Orthophoto Refresh Program
The current orthophoto refresh project is a tremendous update to the old orthos from the 1990s and the organizers and partners need to be commended. The orthos look great. The current refresh has been running for 7 years and we all wonder what happens when the current round of refresh ends? Will there be another round? How long do we have to wait before it starts? Shouldn’t there be an ongoing refresh of old orthos? A Provincial Image strategy that includes the North needs to be developed.
Oh I am sure there is more, but then I wouldn’t have anything to wish for next year.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
A GIS developed in Manitoba
Did you know that there was a GIS developed in Manitoba? It’s true! MAP II was developed in the mid-to-late 1980s at the University of Manitoba Geography Department. It was also the first (or one of the first) GIS built for the Mac.
As a member of the faculty at the University of Manitoba, Micha Pazner led the building of an Apple Macintosh-based Geography Laboratory in the mid-1980s. From there, Micha Pazner, Chris Kirby and Nancy Thies headed the team that developed MAP II, a Mac-based GIS. The first version was named MAP II, as it was based on the map algebra developed by Dana Tomlin, implemented in his Map Analysis Package (MAP) and was considered a second generation of MAP.
Back in the days when GIS were commonly grouped into the Raster or Vector camp, this was a raster-based GIS. MAP II was unique at the time as it was developed with an emphasis on user friendliness and map visualization. GIS software packages at the time were difficult to use and GUIs and user-friendly interfaces were not common. For example, the powerful ArcInfo system was command line driven.
One of the cool features that I remember was that maps developed in MAP II could be exported to other software programs, such as drawing packages. This was truly extraordinary for the time and a major advantage of being in the Mac world, as this was long before the days of Windows and integrated software suites in the PC world.
The developers distributed MAP II through John Wiley and Sons publishing company and documentation may still be available on Amazon. MAP II was used as a teaching GIS at the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg throughout much of the early 1990s.
Micha Pazner is an Associate Professor at the University of Western Ontario.
As a member of the faculty at the University of Manitoba, Micha Pazner led the building of an Apple Macintosh-based Geography Laboratory in the mid-1980s. From there, Micha Pazner, Chris Kirby and Nancy Thies headed the team that developed MAP II, a Mac-based GIS. The first version was named MAP II, as it was based on the map algebra developed by Dana Tomlin, implemented in his Map Analysis Package (MAP) and was considered a second generation of MAP.
Back in the days when GIS were commonly grouped into the Raster or Vector camp, this was a raster-based GIS. MAP II was unique at the time as it was developed with an emphasis on user friendliness and map visualization. GIS software packages at the time were difficult to use and GUIs and user-friendly interfaces were not common. For example, the powerful ArcInfo system was command line driven.
One of the cool features that I remember was that maps developed in MAP II could be exported to other software programs, such as drawing packages. This was truly extraordinary for the time and a major advantage of being in the Mac world, as this was long before the days of Windows and integrated software suites in the PC world.
The developers distributed MAP II through John Wiley and Sons publishing company and documentation may still be available on Amazon. MAP II was used as a teaching GIS at the University of Manitoba and University of Winnipeg throughout much of the early 1990s.
Micha Pazner is an Associate Professor at the University of Western Ontario.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Conference Season is Over
As we approach November, we can look back at a first for Manitoba – multiple GIS-related conferences within a six week period. In mid-September, we started with IHEEP, followed by MGUG and Intergraph. To finish the season, ESRI hosted a Public Infrastructure Leadership Forum at the Fort Garry Hotel on October 25.
All of the GIS events were good and useful to the GIS community. For me, the crown jewel of the lot was the MGUG conference on September 30. I found the presentations given by Microsoft to be extremely interesting and useful. Others I have talked to were extremely impressed with Taz Stuart and John Sauder. One of the most interesting presentations was given by Dr. Mohamed Abousalem of Tecterra who almost came across like Santa Claus. Even today, as I attend other events and talk with others, they are still referring to the MGUG event and how good it was.
The other events of this season were more focussed – each specializing in a different area. At IHEEP, the focus was on transportation but it did have a broader appeal to the Geomatics professional with a full day of sessions devoted to LiDAR. As mentioned in a previous blog, the feedback was excellent and that the LiDAR sessions were worth attending.
The Intergraph Regional Users’ Conference held at the Delta was a great opportunity to see Intergraph’s latest technology and their vision for the future. It was free and about 75 people attended. For me, the most interesting part of the conference was the presentation on Smart Client, a powerful thin client application that Intergraph will soon be releasing in North America.
Earlier this week, ESRI held a Public Infrastructure Leadership Forum. Again, this was a focused event that would not appeal to all GIS people, but was useful for those who are interested in asset management.
After all of the excitement of September and October, it looks like it will be a long winter, unless MGUG puts on a half day workshop sometime after the New Year. Otherwise, the next GIS events to look forward to are in March or later with WestMan GIS conference and the ESRI Regional User Group.
All of the GIS events were good and useful to the GIS community. For me, the crown jewel of the lot was the MGUG conference on September 30. I found the presentations given by Microsoft to be extremely interesting and useful. Others I have talked to were extremely impressed with Taz Stuart and John Sauder. One of the most interesting presentations was given by Dr. Mohamed Abousalem of Tecterra who almost came across like Santa Claus. Even today, as I attend other events and talk with others, they are still referring to the MGUG event and how good it was.
The other events of this season were more focussed – each specializing in a different area. At IHEEP, the focus was on transportation but it did have a broader appeal to the Geomatics professional with a full day of sessions devoted to LiDAR. As mentioned in a previous blog, the feedback was excellent and that the LiDAR sessions were worth attending.
The Intergraph Regional Users’ Conference held at the Delta was a great opportunity to see Intergraph’s latest technology and their vision for the future. It was free and about 75 people attended. For me, the most interesting part of the conference was the presentation on Smart Client, a powerful thin client application that Intergraph will soon be releasing in North America.
Earlier this week, ESRI held a Public Infrastructure Leadership Forum. Again, this was a focused event that would not appeal to all GIS people, but was useful for those who are interested in asset management.
After all of the excitement of September and October, it looks like it will be a long winter, unless MGUG puts on a half day workshop sometime after the New Year. Otherwise, the next GIS events to look forward to are in March or later with WestMan GIS conference and the ESRI Regional User Group.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
MGUG September 2011 Conference Review
The Manitoba GIS Users Group’s (MGUG) first all-day conference was last week on Friday September 30, 2011. Now that it is over, it’s time for an analysis of what was good and what could be improved.
First the positive:
- There was a great turnout. I did not get a number from MGUG, but there must have been 350 people at the conference. This is the best turnout we have seen for a Manitoba GIS conference. This is a credit to all of the hard work and organization of the current MGUG board. The current board should also pay tribute to those who established MGUG – the first sponsors, workshop attendees and board members who created MGUG out of nothing, nursed it along through the early years and helped create the MGUG brand. The current organizers have taken it to a new level and ensured that MGUG is THE GIS organization in Manitoba and the MGUG conference is the place to be for a GIS event.
- The exhibitor’s floor was amazing. I could not believe how many organizations and vendors had booths and exhibits. I have to admit that I skipped out of a couple of the presentations so that I could get some one-on-one time with the exhibitors.
- Another surprise was the great prizes that were given out – although I was disappointed not to win one.
- Although some may not agree with me I consider the entrance fee a positive. The amount was reasonable and should not have restricted access. Charging delegates gave MGUG added freedom to host at an interesting venue and run it like a “real” conference.
- I had a discussion with a few people at the end and the topic of how short the presentations were came up. This was seen as positive by all who discussed. In a conference like this where there are no alternative tracks, having presentations of 30 minutes or less is a good thing.
What could be Improved:
- I was pretty impressed with the conference, so my suggestions for improvements are pretty minor.
- The Lightning Talks almost all went over 10 minutes. Since the afternoon presentations were only 20 minutes, having 15 minutes presentations did not seem like “lightning”. There was also too long an intro for these short talks. Reading the biography (which is already written in the program) for two minutes before a short talk was excessive. These talks needed to be shorter with a shorter intro.
- When I was in the consulting world and working at conferences, we wanted to maximize the number of people who came by our booth. The best events had the food and refreshment service near or at the exhibitor floor. The MGUG event had quite a separation between breakfast, lunch and the exhibitors’ floor.
- Now that MGUG is established in the big time, is it time for a major league keynote speaker to open the conferences?
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Manitoba GIS Conference Update
It seems to be GIS conference season in Manitoba, with three events in about a one month period.
The first was IHEEP 2011 which ran the week of September 11 to 15, 2011. The focus of IHEEP (International Highway Engineering and Exchange Program) is the application of technology to the transportation industry and they held their annual conference in Winnipeg at the Fairmont. This conference had a broader appeal to the Geomatics professional with a full day of sessions devoted to LiDAR. Feedback is that it was an excellent conference and that the LiDAR sessions were worth attending.
The second conference of the season is the MGUG event scheduled for September 30, 2011. The conference is an all day event with an ice breaker on September 29, 2011. With more than 250 people already signed up, this conference is sure to be a success. Microsoft and John Sauder are headlining so it should be an excellent program that is well worth the time and small entrance fee. It will be great to see Microsoft’s vision of the future. We are looking forward to this event. For more information go to the MGUG web site http://www.mgug.ca/
The third conference of the season is the Intergraph Regional Users’ Conference on October 19, 2011 at the Delta. This is a great opportunity to see Intergraph’s latest technology and their vision for the future. You can’t beat the cost – it’s free. Intergraph is one of the big GIS players in Manitoba and internationally, yet somehow they seem to fly under the radar, with many in the GIS community unaware of their presence. Intergraph users include MTS, the City of Winnipeg, DND, Winnipeg Police, the RCMP, Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation and Manitoba Conservation. For more information check out: http://www.intergraph.com/global/ca/events/ICAN2011/winnipeg/default.aspx
The first was IHEEP 2011 which ran the week of September 11 to 15, 2011. The focus of IHEEP (International Highway Engineering and Exchange Program) is the application of technology to the transportation industry and they held their annual conference in Winnipeg at the Fairmont. This conference had a broader appeal to the Geomatics professional with a full day of sessions devoted to LiDAR. Feedback is that it was an excellent conference and that the LiDAR sessions were worth attending.
The second conference of the season is the MGUG event scheduled for September 30, 2011. The conference is an all day event with an ice breaker on September 29, 2011. With more than 250 people already signed up, this conference is sure to be a success. Microsoft and John Sauder are headlining so it should be an excellent program that is well worth the time and small entrance fee. It will be great to see Microsoft’s vision of the future. We are looking forward to this event. For more information go to the MGUG web site http://www.mgug.ca/
The third conference of the season is the Intergraph Regional Users’ Conference on October 19, 2011 at the Delta. This is a great opportunity to see Intergraph’s latest technology and their vision for the future. You can’t beat the cost – it’s free. Intergraph is one of the big GIS players in Manitoba and internationally, yet somehow they seem to fly under the radar, with many in the GIS community unaware of their presence. Intergraph users include MTS, the City of Winnipeg, DND, Winnipeg Police, the RCMP, Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation and Manitoba Conservation. For more information check out: http://www.intergraph.com/global/ca/events/ICAN2011/winnipeg/default.aspx
Monday, 5 September 2011
In Praise of Students
It is now early September and we recently said good-bye to a student that worked with us this summer.
We were a little worried that when we hired Adam, a University of Winnipeg student going into his second year, that he might be too immature. After all, he had only completed one year of University so he was still darn near a high school student.
Nevertheless we threw Adam into one of our most complicated business units to analyze some of their most complicated work. An ambitious set of written goals and tasks was compiled for Adam to complete this summer. The amount and complexity of the work that Adam was to later tackle was daunting even for long time professionals. I personally did not have a lot of hope … maybe I remembered my own student days too well.
What happened this summer surprised us all. Our student showed a knack for analysis and was articulate, mature and hard working. In addition to what he was supposed to do, Adam identified flaws, inconsistencies and issues within our business unit. What Adam achieved this summer will be useful to us long after he is gone.
I have reconsidered my opinion of students and look forward to hiring more in the future.
Good luck Adam.
We were a little worried that when we hired Adam, a University of Winnipeg student going into his second year, that he might be too immature. After all, he had only completed one year of University so he was still darn near a high school student.
Nevertheless we threw Adam into one of our most complicated business units to analyze some of their most complicated work. An ambitious set of written goals and tasks was compiled for Adam to complete this summer. The amount and complexity of the work that Adam was to later tackle was daunting even for long time professionals. I personally did not have a lot of hope … maybe I remembered my own student days too well.
What happened this summer surprised us all. Our student showed a knack for analysis and was articulate, mature and hard working. In addition to what he was supposed to do, Adam identified flaws, inconsistencies and issues within our business unit. What Adam achieved this summer will be useful to us long after he is gone.
I have reconsidered my opinion of students and look forward to hiring more in the future.
Good luck Adam.
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