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Web mapping - exploiting location based information through eGovernment

By David HaywardConsulting PrincipalAjilon

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» What is location information?

» What is web mapping?

» Typical web mapping technology

» What problems can you solve?

» Where is web mapping used?

» Web Mapping in e-Government: Benefits? Challenges? Case study – NSW Government SIX Viewers

Agenda

Aim – provide overview of how web mapping can be successfully delivered through e-Government

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to the NSW Department of Lands for giving permissionto feature the SIX portal within this presentation

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Simple definition: Information about anything that is referenced to the Earth. Also known as “spatial information”

Location data is comprised of:

» Location (where)

» Attributes (e.g. road name, road type etc)

» Spatial context – point, linear, area

Where does location data come from?:

» Maps (used since 2300 BC – Babylonian clay tablets )

» Aerial photographs & Satellite imagery

» Surveys

» Address information

» “Geotagging”

What is location information?

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2 key types of location data

Source: www.innovativegis.com

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Delivery of location based information via the internet» But it’s more than just a map!» Fundamental to the development of the “Geoweb”

Characteristics» Leverages Web 2.0 concepts / philosophy – location can be

considered as a key element for making the internet closer to the real world.

» Strong visualisation of information» Large amounts of information stored/delivered» Potentially rich with functionality» Interactive» Distributed & dynamic» Bandwidth intensive

Examples:» Commercial – Google maps/Earth, Whereis.com.au» Government – SIX portal, WA SLIP portal, GA Sentinel & GA Map

Connect

What is web mapping?

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AJAX (group of technology: Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)

Server side technology (thin client) Rich Internet Application Spatial Web services that follow the Open GIS Consortium

(OGC) eg WMS, WFS Web services e.g. SOAP Mash ups (content derived from third parties)

Typical web mapping technology

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How does it work?

Presentation

Database

Web map server

Services

Data store

Browser

Typical web mapping architecture

Files

Web map server

Internet

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What questions can be?

» Location: what is at, where am I, how do I get to?

» Temporal: what has changed since?

» Proximity: what assets are located within x km of…?

» Query: where is something found…?

» Modeling: what if….?

What business questions can you answer?

Source: www.lagunasalada.biz

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Google Maps & Google Earth, Whereis, livemaps, Multimap Mobile phone (location based services) Government portals- e.g.:

Where is web mapping used?

Demonstration of SIX Viewer portal…..

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Nielsen report that Google maps had 71.5 million unique hits during October 2007, & GE 22.7 million users.

Microsoft have purchased the UK “Multimap” web mapping site

Nokia purchased Navteq for > USD $8 Billion “Location information is worth $1.37 billion to the

Australian economy & adds up to $12.6 billion to the GDP” (source – SEGS’08 conference)

How big is the web mapping market?

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Why use web mapping in e-Government?

. . . And Making It All . . . And Making It All AccessibleAccessibleManaging Complexity . . .Managing Complexity . . .

Location – answering the where is?Location – answering the where is?

accessibilityaccessibility

UseUse

Source: www.esri.com adapted by NSW Department of Lands

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How does Government use web mapping?Industry Use of location information

Forestry Inventory and management of resources

Police Crime mapping to target resources

Epidemiology To link clusters of disease to sources

Transport Monitoring routes

Utilities Managing pipe networks

Mining Exploration license location, ore movement

State government Manage land titles

Health Health impact assessments

Environment agencies Identifying areas of risk from e.g. fire, flood

Emergency departments Planning quickest routes, asset management

Source: Adapted from www.esri.com

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Benefits of web mapping in e-Government?

Massive demand for timely, relevant information – “picture says a 1000 words”

Support decision making

» Provide users with all the information required to make an informed decision (Simple complex)

» Ability to integrate vast amounts of data within one environment (direct links to source of truth Govt DB’s)

» Exploit visualisation techniques to present information according to user preference (Raster, vector, 3D, tabular etc)

» Visualise /identify patterns/trends etc

» Personalisation

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Identify clear business purpose (who are you targeting?)» What information & functionality to provide?

Information» Up to date, accurate, supported with metadata» How to deliver 1000’s of datasets?» Volume of data (storage) …pressure on bandwidth

Usability» Balance needs of Business users & “Mums & Dads”

Technology» What to use?» Information architecture?» Storage» Client bandwidth

Data access» Governance» Security, Privacy, Policy & copyright

Challenges to web mapping in e-Government

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Case Study – NSW SIX Portal

How can these issues be addressed?

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The Spatial Information eXchange is a cross government initiative to spatially enable NSW

Spatial Information eXchange (SIX) has 3 main functions:» Search and discover spatial (location based) information.

This includes options to search and display data using specialised viewers or through direct access via web service channels)

» Real time access to up-to-date government information. Key base data include: addresses, cadastre, topography and high resolution imagery

» It is a secure gateway to spatial information, government registers and land and property related searches

NSW SIX Portal

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NSW SIX Portal – six.nsw.gov.au

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Display up to date Govt data tailored to users specific needs Find and display areas of interest Integration of imagery, geographic theme and textual

information with supporting metadata Query Govt databases to display descriptive information on

geographic themes Personalisation for different business users Empower users to diagnose system issues Mash up

» Consume other Govt web services eg BOM weather info

» Empower users to mark up areas of interest and share with others

SIX Viewer(s) key functions

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Government information

INFRASTRUCTUREElectricitySub-stationsGasWaterHydrantsSewerageStormwaterTelecoms

LOCATIONALPoliceFireAmbulanceSESSchoolsHospitalsAged careCommunityCentresIconsKey buildingsPeople @risk

ECONOMIC & RISKDemographyEmploymentValuationsPublic transportschedulesPedestriansFloor plansHazard models

FUNDAMENTALCadastreRoadsImageryTopographyCensusAdmin. Bdys.

Source: NSW Department of Lands

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SIX Viewer – Business Channels

Demonstration of SIX Viewer channels

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Federated data» Ideally data remains with source agency

» Delivery enabled between agencies by fast bandwidth

» Opportunity to leverage secure Govt extranet

Federated authentication» Trusted clients

SIX Information architecture

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SIX Viewer – Whole of Govt Access

Channels Programs Data

Lands

Planning

Lands

Planning

Lands

People-first channel

Govt Property channel

Planning Channel

Lands

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SIX Viewer solution architecture

ER Mapper Image Web Server

Presentation

File based storageECW / JPEG 2000 ArcSDE / Informix

Storage Area Network (SAN)

Vector Spatial Service

ESRIArcIMS

Raster Spatial Service

ECWPECWP / WMS / ArcXML

ArcXML / WMS ArcXML

WMS / ArcXMLServices

SAN /Database

Browser GIS Client

SIX Viewer Solution Architecture

Address service

JDBC

IBM WebSphereApp Server

SOAP

SDM 3 eSDM

Source: NSW Department of Lands

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Choice of technology was driven by:» Information architecture

» Leverage existing Govt architecture

» Need to scale

» Need to provide direct access to Govt source of truth systems

» Functionality to display and query Govt databases

» Leverage Web 2.0 concepts

Technology – needs to be fit for purpose

SIX Technology

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Need to balance needs of “Mum’s and Dads” users with “professional users”

Develop a “lite” version of the site.

SIX Lite design approach» Independent review by usability expert» Balance user convention with innovation» Ideally minimise buttons without reducing functionality» Empower users to mash up and extend interface themselves» Provide framework for interface to scale with user experience

SIX Lite – target “Mums & Dads users”

Source: http://bayramannakov.wordpress.com/2007/06/

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SIX Usability – SIX Lite interface

Demonstration of SIX Lite

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NSW Government policy & SIX

Linkages with NSW State Plan

» Maintain and invest in infrastructure

» A higher productivity economy

» Housing affordability

» Building harmonious communities

» Simplifying Government processes e.g. tailoring electronic services

Linkages with GCIO People First Plan

» Integrated with Channels and Access

» Government Shared Service

» Consolidates spatial information and property holdings

» Provides equitable (fairness) access to core information stores

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Ongoing review of usability SIX Lite toolbox – empower users to enrich user

experience by adding additional tools to interface Increased integration (mash up) of information.

» Enhance mash up tools (empower agencies/users to add more of their own data)

» Expose / consume more web services More channels – support for whole business sectors Increased visualisation – 3D

SIX API:

» Demand from Govt to provide a configurable API to embed in Business applications

SIX Viewer - Future plans

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Increased exploitation of visualisation technologies» 3D eg. Google streetview

» Video display rather than static imagery» Indoor visualisation

Future trends in web mapping

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Location based services proliferation -

Increased availability of web services (push/pull) New technology to empower users to extend their user experience

e.g. new cameras with geotag capacity

Greater empowerment of users to add & integrate location information means that the future direction of web mapping is in their hands

Future trends in web mapping

Source: www.edparsons.com

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More information – some key search words

Web 2.0Geoweb NeogeographyAJAXVector dataRaster dataMash upOGC WMS, WFS, WCSWeb services

NSW State planNSW People FirstNSW GovernmentNSW LandsSIX ViewerSIX Lite

Web mapping related: NSW Government specific:

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Any questions?

David HaywardConsulting Principal (Spatial Solutions National Lead)Ajilondavid.hayward@ajilon.com.au