SMAP Technologies Inc. is an electronic map supplier, providing navigation system, LBS, Internet Map, and GIS projects for applications in various fields.

Besides Taiwan, SMAP digital map database also includes Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, etc. Moreover, SMAP is eagerly planning to establish the map data of the countries in southeast Asia and looks forward to being one of the main digital map suppliers in southeast Asia.

SMAP collects the map data mainly in 2 ways; one is to collect field data, and the other is to purchase the latest satellite imagery. However, in order to have the appropriate data for cartographers to draw maps, it takes the enterprise a huge amount of money and much manpower to store and manage the map data. Also, the enterprise spends a great amount of time transferring and copying the data. 

However, the traditional workflow not only takes the enterprise a great amount of money and time to manage and transfer the data but also decreases the efficiency of making maps. Due to the reason, SMAP adopts SuperGIS Server to be the centralized platform of data storage, management, and distribution. All of the data that would be needed in the mapping process are integrated to the server. Through the web, the cartographers can directly download the data they need from the server. Consequently, the workflow of data management and distribution can be simplified.

 Goal During the process of digitalizing and editing the maps, it usually takes a great amount of time to manage and categorize large quantities of complicated data, such as POI files of GIS formats, satellite imagery, digital line layers, etc. Then, according to the work each cartographer in charge of, the related data will be copied to the cartographer’s computers for mapping. As a result, large space and manpower are needed for storing and managing the map data; also, the enterprise might spend plenty of time transferring files. What’s worse, the data might be transferred incorrectly or incompletely in the process of data transferring, and then the data should be transferred once more. As a result, the work efficiency may decline.

SMAP Technologies Inc., an electronic map supplier, provides digital maps of many countries, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, etc.

SuperGIS Server supports to effectively integrate and manage all of the needed files and data in the centralized server architecture and publish the data through the Internet. Therefore, the cartographers can apply the client applications supported by SuperGIS Server, like SuperGIS Desktop, to download the data from the server to the localhost to draw the maps. Then, the cartographers can upload the maps to the server for central storage through the Internet. In this way, enterprises can considerably simplify the workflow of data management and distribution and cut down the costs and have the data shared.   Solutions

In the past, when digitalizing the maps, the cartographers needed to store the imagery and various types of data which would be the references in the standalone computer. Then, the cartographers could open the needed data in the standalone computer to draw maps. However, in this way, the enterprise had to repeatedly purchase the same data for multiple cartographers; also, the computer performance might easily decline because large quantities of spatial data were opened in the standalone computer. As a result, the work efficiency became decreased.

Now, SMAP adopts SuperGIS Server as the platform to centrally store, manage, and publish imagery and types of map data so that the cartographers can obtain the data centrally stored in the server via the Internet. Then, collaborating with SuperGIS Desktop used as the front-end platform for editing map data, the cartographers can edit and update the digital maps in a more effective way. Furthermore, the enterprise neither needs to spend much money purchasing map data nor creates enough space for storing images and data.

Results

SMAP digital map database covers the maps of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, etc. To deal with large volumes of map data and the references needed in digitalizing maps, it takes considerable efforts to manage and apply the map data.

In the past, when digitalizing the maps, the cartographers needed to copy the needed data to the computer. Then, the cartographers opened the data to digitize according to their work progress and saved the digitized results to a specified place through some transfer tools. However, the mechanism of digitalizing maps easily resulted in data transferring incorrectly or incompletely; also, it would be hard for enterprises to control the data. Because of the reason, SMAP applies SuperGIS Server to be the platform centrally storing, managing, and publishing the map data and centrally stores the data that would be needed during the process of digitalizing maps in the server, including each type of POI files, satellite images, etc. Then, the cartographers can connect to the server through the web and download the data to the local machine to draw maps. After finishing drawing, the cartographers can upload the digitized maps to the server via the Internet. Consequently, the enterprise can not only clearly manage the map data but also easily control the versions of the map data. If the data need modifying, the cartographers only need to download the latest files from the server and can modify the maps.

The cartographers can download the data from the server to SuperGIS Desktop and directly digitize or modify the m

As to the front end map editing platform, SMAP adopts SuperGIS Desktop as the front end application. The cartographers can download the data from the server to SuperGIS Desktop and directly digitize or modify the maps. Furthermore, SuperGIS Desktop combines abundant GIS tools and provides an efficient environment in which the cartographers can display, edit, manage, and query the spatial data and related information. Therefore, the cartographers can edit the map data and expand the attribute data in a convenient and effective way and also provide the correct digital map meeting the current condition.

Using SuperGIS Server can improve the accessibility and management of digital maps and also greatly decreases the time and money used in creating maps. As a result, SMAP can enhance its own competitiveness to be one of the map supplier leaders in Southeast Asia and even the whole Asia.