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SpatialNews Press Release
Sydney Company delivers breakthrough in
webmapping technology
Thursday 15 March 2001 -- A small Sydney IT company, Social Change Online, has developed
an innovative internet technology that promises to revolutionise the
way we see information on the web.
The first large scale usage of the technology, the NSW
Government's online 'Community Access to Natural Resources
Information' (CANRI) project (www.canri.nsw.gov.au), was
launched today at Parliament House by the Deputy NSW Premier,
Dr Andrew Refshauge.
According to Dr Refshauge, "CANRI places the NSW Government
at the forefront of international efforts to provide its citizens with
the most current environmental information available. It is a one
stop-website for environmental information."
Social Change Online's technology, which formed a keystone of the
project, has attracted worldwide interest from the US Government,
Commonwealth agencies such as the mapping authority, Auslig and
Greenpeace New Zealand.
"This technology solves one of the most frustrating problems faced
by Government and business data managers: how to take data in
different formats from across the web and display it graphically on
a single web page," said Sean Kidney, CEO, Social Change Online.
Social Change Online's software provides the tools to readily stitch
together and display on the web hundreds of separate data sources,
from historical records and live water level readings to maps - at a
low cost.
The technology builds on common standards for publishing
map-based and other data that have been adopted globally over the
past year. As a leading researcher in this field, Social Change
Online has played a key role in developing these standards.
"Map-based information is critical for decision-making across
government, industry and the community, and 80% of the data on
the web has a geographic dimension.
"This technology will unlock the vast amount of data that's hidden
away in all sorts of government and community organisations," said
Mr Kidney.
Social Change Online is now developing projects ranging from
pavement and street management, to emergency services
management for disasters like the NSW North Coast floods.
"By providing ready access to varied and complex government
information, this project will help realise Bob Carr's commitment to
a whole-of-government approach to access to services for citizens.
"It could also save millions of dollars by enabling better
coordination between government agencies," said Mr Kidney.
According to Mr Kidney, "savings are not just for Government.
Imagine a builder being able to check on the web the exact and
current location of sewage, gas and electricity lines before digging -
all via the one web page. That alone would save thousands of hours
of work for everyone from home owners to the construction
industry."
Social Change Online's technology is also being used by the US
Government, Commonwealth agencies such as the mapping
authority, AusLig, and Greenpeace New Zealand.
For demonstrations see http://webmap.socialchange.net.au/
CANRI website: www.canri.nsw.gov.au
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