ESRI Selected for Next-Generation GIS Portal.REDLANDS, Calif. -- ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., Redlands, CA, www.esri.com) The world's leading developer of geographic information systems (GIS) software, including programs that plot ZIP codes and addresses, demographic information and detailed, color-coded data. announced today that it was selected by the Department of the Interior to develop the full implementation of the Geospatial One-Stop Operational Portal (GOS 2). This next-generation technology represents a dramatic advance not only for geographic information system geographic information system (GIS) Computerized system that relates and displays data collected from a geographic entity in the form of a map. The ability of GIS to overlay existing data with new information and display it in colour on a computer screen is used primarily to (GIS) on the Internet but also for the entire geospatial field. It will provide new ways of sharing geospatial information that will help improve the business of government and decision-making processes. Since its launch in July 2003, the prototype, developed by ESRI, has provided a central site for posting and discovering metadata about agency resources. More than 75,000 metadata records are compiled at the site. GOS 2 will provide an easier, faster, and more integrated implementation that creates a spatial marketplace, which supplies notification of planned data acquisitions as well as data needs. A new method for integrated spatial and subject searching uses the proven Google Search Appliance A rack-mounted computer from Google that is used to index documents for a company. Using Google's proprietary Google File System (GFS), appliances are available that index millions of documents, with entry-level units indexing up to a half million. and allows for subsecond metadata searches. Implementation of newly established Open Geospatial Consortium The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is an international voluntary consensus standards organization. In the OGC, more than 330 commercial, governmental, nonprofit and research organizations worldwide collaborate in an open consensus process encouraging development and Inc.(TM) (OGC OGC Office of Government Commerce (UK government) OGC Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. OGC Office of the General Counsel OGC Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (TM)) specifications improves the level of interoperability of GOS 2. The experience ESRI gained through administering GOS 1 has directly led to improvements in usability and functionality and the development of powerful, new tools for community building. GOS 2 will make searching for geospatial resources easier to use, while providing more advanced searching capabilities. GOS 2 employs IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) WebSphere Portal to provide a true, customizable portal framework for running portlet A small window on a portal page. Portlet technology allows a portal page to be customized more quickly either internally by the development team or by the end user. Portlet technology can come as an adjunct to a portal server or as optional interfaces to ERP applications. applications and creating a personalized user experience. WebSphere Portal enables and supports communities of interest, while managing which members collaborate, and how they interact through its user group management and secure login capabilities. "It is hard to overestimate the importance of GOS 2 and what this next generation of Web-standard technology will bring," said Jack Dangermond, ESRI president. "GOS 2 implements the GIS portal vision in a simple and standards-based environment that will provide a gateway for accessing GIS services and data. GIS will become accepted across the Web and information technology world as a platform for providing geographic knowledge." |
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