Esri • Spring 2010 www.esri.com/arcnews Vol. 32 No. 1 Building INSPIRE: The Spatial Data ArcGIS in the Cloud Cloud computing is viewed as the next evolution that will impact businesses and how they manage Infrastructure for Europe their IT infrastructures. Cloud computing has a direct impact on GIS and GIS users. Esri has already By Max Craglia, Joint Research Centre of the European Commission been leveraging cloud computing resources for a number of years and, in the coming months, will continued on page 2 This article is about the European spatial data infrastructure (SDI), which is called, formally, Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe, or INSPIRE. Many readers of ArcNews will be familiar with the concept of an SDI, as efforts in the United States to develop a National SDI (NSDI) have been under way since the mid-1990s (see also the article “Governance of the NSDI” by Will Craig in the Fall 2009 issue of ArcNews), and many other countries in the world are very active in developing their own. For the readers who are not so familiar with the concept of an SDI, it is easier to think of it as an extension of a desktop GIS. Whilst in a “normal” GIS most of the data we geospatial professionals use for analysis is our own or collected by the agency we work for, an SDI is an Internet-based platform that will make it easier for us to search and find data that may be relevant for our work and that may be collected, stored, continued on page 5 ArcGIS Online Web Mapping Services ArcGIS Server On Amazon EC2 ArcGIS.com Full Web GIS Now Coming Soon To Follow Geographic Knowledge Helps Peacekeepers, Humanitarians UN Uses GIS to Promote Peace and Provide Aid In 2010, ArcGIS will deliver a growing selection of online services and software. UN GPS training (photo: UN Photos). Founded in 1945 after the Second World War, the United Nations (UN) has a long history of working to maintain peace and security around the world. The international organization, composed of 192 member states, strives to improve relations among nations and protect human rights. In the UN Secretariat alone, approximately 40,000 staff members work each day to implement UN programs and policies. From Darfur in western Sudan, Africa, to Lebanon, Haiti, and beyond, GIS is continued on page 18 Why Geography Matters to Patients and Physicians Linking Health to Geography “Where do health care and medicine collide with brilliant minds and uninhibited imagination?” That was the slogan of TEDMED 2009, the Technology, Entertainment, and Design in Medicine conference (tedmed.com). The answer, according to the organizers of this gathering of forward thinkers in health care and medicine, was “At TEDMED.” But one of the presenters also wanted health care and medicine to collide with geography and the environment. Bill Davenhall, Esri’s global marketing manager for health and human services, used the metaphor of a train wreck to describe to a rapt TEDMED audience in San Diego, California, how each of these elements slammed together during his personal health care journey. His train wreck? A heart attack. continued on page 4 Virtual USA Emergency Initiative Esri announces support for Virtual USA, an initiative designed to improve decision making for local, state, tribal, and federal homeland security practitioners. Headed by the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, Virtual USA integrates existing resources to provide real-time access to operational information from multiple sources and jurisdictions. Data about weather, traffic, infrastructure, fuel supplies, emergency shelters, and medical facilities can be fully integrated, analyzed, mapped, and disseminated for interagency situational awareness. VIPER image showing real-time data. continued on page 8 New Training Offerings Training Without Travel Travel restrictions don’t have to mean missing out on important training. Via the online classroom, Esri offers instructor-led classes that GIS professionals can take from anywhere. Students gain the advantages of live instruction from an Esri professional trainer but don’t have to be away from the office or get travel approval. Classes are held in real time in an interactive environment that promotes learning. continued on page 41 Mumbai Selects ArcGIS for Its Enterprise GIS The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), India, is one of the largest local governments on the Asian continent. The organization caters to a service area of approximately 440 square kilometers, including seven islands and four island suburbs. The MCGM jurisdictional area houses approximately 12 million people, with a population density of about 27,000 people per square kilometer, making Mumbai the world’s most populous city. Like most city organizations, MCGM requires fast and easy access to digital maps and data. continued on page 2 Special in This Issue Humanitarian GIS ....................................................................................................Pages 14–19 GIS Helps Local Government Economies........................................................ Pages 20–23 Hydro Solutions with GIS .............................................................................. Pages 26–29 Better Transportation and Routing with GIS................................................... Pages 30–35