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Compusult leverages CGDI standards to build business in Canada and around the world
When opportunity came knocking, Compusult Limited of Mount Pearl, Newfoundland, answered the door. This information technology company has capitalized well over the years on its work with GeoConnections and the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI).
Today, Compusult offers a suite of solutions to help organizations build and manage enterprise data warehouses and data marts. And a number of the company's customers come from outside Canada–organizations such as the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and other U.S. military organizations.
For instance, Compusult developed an interactive Internet-based application for Space Imaging of Thornton, Colorado, called CARTERRA Online. This application enables Space Imaging's customers to view, analyze, and order satellite images and aerial photographs over the Internet. Compusult developed CARTERRA Online using a suite of Internet-based applications and toolkits that support information cataloguing, discovery, retrieval, and delivery services.
"Working with GeoConnections enabled us to add new standard features to our line of products," says Mr. Barry O'Rourke, president of Compusult. "Our main focus was to enhance our product line and make it more attractive for our international clients."
Compusult builds its data management solutions around a core software system, Web Enterprise Suite–a package of e-commerce applications for data product access, discovery, and delivery via the web.
Building a digital shoe box
How do you store millions of photographs? The National Air Photo Library (NAPL) in Ottawa, Ontario, grappled with this very question. NAPL houses more than six million aerial photographs for all of Canada, some dating back to the 1920s. The Library functions as an archive, record centre, and order office for photographs of Canada.
But when someone used to ask for a photograph, NAPL had to search its records manually to find the desired item. This process was time consuming, labour intensive, and inefficient.
Consequently, NAPL hired Compusult to design a web-based application that would make searching for, finding, and retrieving aerial photos much easier. Employing its Web Enterprise Suite software, data services, and professional services, Compusult turned the manual photo-retrieval process into an automated web-based process. Today, NAPL serves its customers faster and at less cost.
To maximize the value and versatility of the NAPL application, Compusult incorporated the Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC™) standards that the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) uses. The company has invested substantially in ensuring that its products adhere to these internationally recognized standards.
"Standards-based products are more marketable because they provide interoperability," says Mr. O'Rourke. "Our products are all portal based. If they can interoperate with a wide variety of data sources and fuse them together, our products become more attractive. And once we build in the standards, we can focus on enhancing the products to make them even more valuable to our customers."
Situation awareness
Military commanders need to know what's going on at the front lines to make decisions that can save Canadian lives. That's why Compusult Limited was contracted to design and develop a Situation Awareness Portal for Defence Research and Development Canada. This portal will provide access to a variety of information sources, and exploit a number of leading-edge technologies and resources, such as information and knowledge management, battle visualization, and geospatial information. The goal is to provide commanders with up-to-date and accurate assessments of real-time military activity.
Completing this project will require delivering large-scale system architectures that integrate commercial and legacy applications, creating specifications, and designing and delivering spatial solutions. The project will use Compusult's Web Enterprise Suite, which will again capitalize on OGCTM standards endorsed for the CGDI.
"As a result of our work with GeoConnections to make our products standards based, we've been successful in installing our products in various portals, both nationally and internationally," says Mr. O'Rourke. "Of worthy note is our recent involvement with military organizations in Canada, the USA, and abroad."
A multitude of benefits
How could other information technology companies benefit by working with GeoConnections?
"That depends on what they are doing," says Mr. O'Rourke. "If they're developing a product, and they want to make it standards based and have it fit into the CGDI, GeoConnections can offer excellent advice. If they plan to promote or sell a geospatial data service, then GeoConnections can provide expertise to get their idea, application, or process on the rails."
Whatever their motivations, as Compusult has shown, Canadian companies can capitalize on their association with GeoConnections in many ways, both at home and around the world.
| GeoConnections is a national partnership initiative led by Natural Resources Canada to build the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) and make Canada's geospatial databases, tools, and services readily accessible on-line. |