Going Mainstream

1
Going Mainstream
Geo Spatial Data Infrastructures with Open Source
What to expect from this presentation

• Mainstream IT components have reached a high
  level of perfection. They are used throughout the
  GIS context without us really noticing too much

• Thorough and useful standardization enables us to
  use mainstream technology in the context of GIS

• Spatial Data is turned loose. Currently a
  paradigm shift is on the way turning proprietary
  data free

2
WebGIS with Free Software Example

• Software components

• Free Operating System

• Free Web Server

• Free Web Map Server (WMS)

• Free Spatially Enabled Database

• Free Web Scripting Language

• Free Web Map Client Suite

• Standardisation
• Open GIS Consortium
• ISO Standardisation Organisation

This architecture can be seen at
work http//wms.ccgis.de
3
Databases

• Databases have developed enormously. They are
  used throughout all contexts and for all purposes

• With the SQL standard a common language has grown
  which is used throughout IT business

• It was only a question of time until databases
  would also start to understand geometry now
  they do

• More than that databases learn to manage spatial
  geometry with spatial operators (GEOS)

4
Spatial Operations

• What before was highly secret knowledge to some
  proprietary producer is slowly but distinctly
  becoming common knowledge

• In this context Open Source has an even larger
  impact on traditional business models than just
  by not charging money for licenses

• The possibility to access database operators
  directly with PHP opens the possibility to use
  them directly from the thin client front end

• GIS desktop systems are starting to have a hard
  time proving that they are really needed

5
Operating Systems

• It is very easy to install and maintain Operating
  Systems with very different specific features

• Operating Systems even come with basic GIS
  software components, for example databases and
  web services

• There are people organizing ports collections
  which make the installation of GIS software very
  easy

• Some Operating Systems even directly come with
  GIS software installed or have explicitly been
  compiled with it (GISIX GRASS on Knoppix)

6
Standardization

• SQL is not discussed any more, it is being used
  by any software and all applications

• SQL has been extended by spatial operations for
  Simple Features (PostgreSQL/PostGIS,
  Oracle/Spatial)

• It will only take little time until every large
  database has to support Spatial Data, if it wants
  to serve the market

• There is no difference between proprietary and
  Open Source Software when it comes to using
  standards

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Who is THE GIS USER

• The GIS user is and always will be the specialist
  working with strange software on strange data

• The spatial data is growing to be of interest to
  a much larger community

• Everybody living in the spatial data wants to
  have access to read and learn about it

• Politics are starting to understand this need for
  spatial data in a common context

8
Political activities

• Very interestingly political activities
  throughout the world point in the same direction

• It has been recognized that spatial data does not
  stop at national borders

• Processes on spatial data (pollution, traffic,
  energy) does not stop at borders either

• Governments must provide their people with
  spatial data for little or no cost else the
  people organize themselves and they already do
  -)

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Thank You for your attention
For more information please contact Arnulf B.
Christl arnulf.christl_at_ccgis.de CCGIS Christl
Stamm GbR Siemensstr. 8 53121 Bonn Germany Visit
our web sites at http//www.ccgis.de Visit the
Mapbender Project homepage at http//www.mapbende
r.org