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Mastering the Mapping of Jamaica

Map makers in Jamaica have just released their most advanced and versatile geographic data thanks to inspiration from the Cambridge Conference series.

Intelligent digital mapping of Portmore near Kingston is based on database principles already adopted by Ordnance Survey for its OS MasterMap data of Great Britain.

Trevor Shaw, Director of Surveys and Mapping at Jamaica's National Land Agency, saw a presentation on OS MasterMap at the 2003 conference and has now introduced similar style-data back home.

The first release allows business and government users to license a common geographic context for Portmore supporting all kinds of decision making and services. The multi-layered interface offers attribute information for around 50,000 residential and business properties in what is one of the fastest growing commuter towns in the Caribbean.

The object-oriented data allows users to switch between ten information layers including buildings, road networks, contours, drainage, survey control and vegetation.

"It was inspired by OS MasterMap, " says Mr Shaw, who showed samples of the new data to delegates attending CC: The Exchange. "Like the British data, our mapping is multi-layered, intelligent and flexible. This geographic information will make decision making easier for planners, transport managers, environmentalists and many other people. It is the most comprehensive map that has ever been made in Jamaica. We used existing information and supplemented it with new field surveys compatible with GPS referencing."

The plan now is to improve the data with further attribution and roll it out across Jamaica, creating seamless coverage of the whole country over the coming two years.

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EU and Israel sign agreement on Galileo

On 13 July, negotiations between the European Union and the State of Israel reached final approval and agreement on the European satellite radio navigation programme was signed by both parties. This agreement provides for co-operative activities on satellite navigation and timing in a wide range of sectors, notably science and technology, industrial manufacturing, service and market development, as well as standardisation, frequencies and certification. Israel is also invited to take part in the programme financially through a stake holding in the GALILEO Joint Undertaking, the body managing the programme.

After the recent signatures of the agreements between the EU, the People's Republic of China and the United States, the signature of the agreement with Israel represents a big boost for the GNSS market which is indeed potentially considerable: 3 billion receivers and revenues of some €250 billion per year by 2010 worldwide, and the creation of more than 150.000 high qualified jobs in Europe alone.By the end of this year, the Commission is expected to sign further agreements with the Russian Federation on the compatibility between the GALILEO and GLONASS systems, and with other third countries such as India, Ukraine, Brazil, South Korea, Mexico and Australia.

Full press release on the EU web site.

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INSPIRE proposal adopted and unveiled

The European Commission has now adopted a proposal for a Infrastrucuture for a Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE). This is a major milestone for the use of Geographical Information in Europe as a contribution to environmental policy and sustainable development. This is a first step in a co-decision procedure that should lead to the formal adoption of the INSPIRE Directive, which then has to be implemented in every EU Member State.

The INSPIRE Proposal will also be used as a starting point for the practical preparations of the future implementation of the INSPIRE Directive. For these preparations, a working programme is now being put together in order to make progress at the technical level in parallel with the negotiation of the Directive.

For further information, please visit the INSPIRE web site.

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Please send your press releases to nmonetwork@ordnancesurvey.co.uk.