In late May 2007, GeoConnections/Natural
Resources Canada issued a Request for Proposal
(RFP) to procure geospatial technology and
related software engineering integration services
to advance core Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure
(CGDI).
The geoportal technology development
and related integration services will allow
an enhanced discovery, access and download
of geospatial information to support decision
making in areas such as environment and sustainable
development, health, safety and security and
matters of importance to aboriginal peoples.
Several proposed bids were
received from Canadian industry companies
and consortiums. The proposals were evaluated
using a rigorous assessment methodology and
criteria developed by both Natural Resources
Canada and Public Works Government Services
Canada. In late September 2007, PWGCS on behalf
of NRCan awarded a contract to Compusult Limited.
Under a multi-year contract
to NRCan/GeoConnections, valued of up to $2,000,000
millions dollars (includes contract options),
Compusult Limited will develop the new GeoConnections
Discovery Portal (GDP) and the new GeoGratis
portal. Compusult will also engineer the software
required to connect these portals to data,
systems, applications, and tools throughout
the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure
(CGDI). These next-generation web portals,
as well as the software engineering integration
services, will enable decision-makers, researchers,
and other CGDI users to quickly and easily
find and share location-based ("geospatial")
information and technologies.
Compusult will use its Web
Enterprise Suite software that will allow
GDP and GeoGratis, two core components of
the CGDI, to provide users with a single point
of entry on the web for finding, viewing,
and obtaining geospatial information and services.
Users will not have to know the location or
format of data or develop software to access
the services.
In addition, these advanced
web application portals will provide a personalized
user experience, supporting communities of
interest and helping users aggregate geospatial
and non-geospatial content from distributed
web resources.
The portals' architectures will
be based on CGDI standards for information
exchange, ensuring that these core components
of the CGDI interoperate with other geospatial
data infrastructures worldwide.
About Compusult
Compusult (www.compusult.net) is a world leading
developer of interoperable, location-based
portal systems, distributed geo-discovery,
earth observation and Web-mapping software
solutions. Compusult's flagship solution,
Web Enterprise Suite, is the most proven and
complete suite of standards-based, geospatially
enabled Web portal systems available. It meets
the growing demands of organizations around
the world looking to improve decision making
through more effective data access. Beginning
its third decade as an industry-leading geomatics
solution provider, Compusult continues to
deliver leading edge geoportal systems for
many different organizations in the government,
defence, and private sectors.
About the Canadian
Geospatial Data Infrastructure
The Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure
or CGDI is an open information technology
network infrastructure based upon publicly
available global standards and specifications.
It provides Canadians with on-demand access
to geospatial information through an interoperable,
connected standards-based network built by
a host of data, services, and technology suppliers.
About the GeoConnections
Discovery Portal
The GeoConnections Discovery Portal or GDP
is the Canadian gateway to millions of geospatial
data products and web services. Users can
easily browse records on metadata (data about
data), or they can search by subject, coverage
or product, and web services type to find,
evaluate, visualize, and access the geospatial
data they need. The GDP also connects Canadians
to the world and the geographic information
holdings of other nations.
About GeoGratis
GeoGratis is a web portal provided by the
Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources
Canada. The portal provides Canadians access
to the largest source of geospatial data available
at no cost. For example, the data has benefited
both general users, who may need geographic
maps for presentations, and private sector
expert users, who may want to integrate geospatial
data for business purposes such as environmental
assessments, location assessment or transportation
routing.
Background Information - Provided by GeoConnections/Natural
Resources Canada and Compusult
Press Information:
Robert Thomas, Compusult
Tel.: 888-388-8180, extension 212
E-mail: rthomas@compusult.net
rthomas@compusult.net
