Geodata Warehouse
The vision comes true
CISS TDI has come quite a bit closer to the vision of a market-place for geodata. The geodata server as an instrument for the integration of data of different sources, for their management and customized delivery to any systems and users (from a central pot, so to speak) has been realised in all technical components.
Areas of application of the geodata server
Geodata server solutions are used wherever large datasets have already been produced and need to be managed, and where there is the intention to deliver these data to interested persons and customers in a way prepared according to user-defined criteria. An essential point for the acceptance is that the data is available in a format that can be immediately processed by the user's GIS. Potential users of such solutions include regional authorities, such as land surveying offices, large municipalities, private data producers or companies belonging to the field of public utility or waste disposal, traffic, telecommunication or industry.
Current situation
At the moment, a data exchange between different contract partners usually takes place in an individual manner. That means data exchange between different levels (administration and economics) is suboptimal. An overall concept with a spatial relation is rarely used as a basis.
Approach to a solution / technical concept of the geodata server
In order to use data efficiently they have to be available centrally and processed in a way to be delivered according to user-defined criteria. For this purpose data collected from the most diverse (special) fields and formats are translated into the neutral format CITRA, where they are modelled and prepared according to demand with the help of CITRA-tools. In a last step these data are filed seamlessly (redundance-free) in a database, for example Oracle Spatial.
On the one hand, this data base can now be accessed directly (e.g. company wide) on base of suitable systems, such as ArcView (with ArcSDE), GeoMedia, MapInfo or Smallworld. As an alternative, a translator to other formats can deliver the data into different target systems to other interested users, where a user-specific application is possible. For those users not wanting to analyze the data in their own GIS the presentation in a web-browser will be sufficient.
In this respect the application requirements of the customers, such as mere viewing, evaluation, purchase, inclusion into company-own processes etc. have to be met. For use and delivery of the data there are suitable and efficient mechanisms in the form of internet-, intranet and e-commerce solutions, as well as the CITRA-translators. User-specific requirements, such as the selection of certain areas and specific data contents as well as any other requirements need to be considered here. For instance, the sophisticated user will require more qualified information for analysis and evaluation in a GIS than the "typical internet user", who is likely to use the data for mere viewing and whose main requirements concern the performance, while the data model is less important in his case.
Universal data models
One of the essential prerequisites for the smooth operation of a geodata server is the organisation of the data by defining a suitable data model. The real trick lies in the definition of universal data models, which allow both an import into any target systems and a filtering of any data contents with minimal further (modelling) efforts, in order to be able to present the data to the end-user in the form required by him.
Sale via e-commerce
In the future also for GIS and geodata server e-commerce solutions will gain substantially significance. The Shop of CISS TDI is an comprehensive geoCommerce solution for the controlled distribution of products and geodata via intranet/internet. Besides software products the Shop makes available geodata for arbitrary systems.
