(deadline for letters of intent November 9, 2005)

GeoConnections is pleased to release its first Announcement of Opportunity under its renewed mandate. The program is now soliciting proposals to develop online mapping portals or stand-alone applications that access geospatial data and information in real time from distributed sources over the Internet. The applications must make use of standards endorsed by GeoConnections and technologies that form part of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI).

Applications should support decision making in the following issue areas:

Public Health: Facilitating disease surveillance or population health analysis

Public Safety: Facilitating emergency management and response or critical infrastructure protection

Environment/Sustainable Development: Facilitating integrated land/marine management, including land/water-use planning, environmental assessment, and indicator monitoring

Aboriginal Issues: Facilitating land and resource management or community planning

Proposals will be accepted from government departments or agencies (local, provincial/territorial, or federal), Aboriginal organizations, Crown corporations, academic institutions, private sector organizations, or non-government organizations.

For more information, see the full Announcement of Opportunity for CGDI applications for communities of practice.

About Geoconnections

GeoConnections is a national partnership program led by Natural Resources Canada to build the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI). The CGDI is an on-line resource that enables Canadians to use and combine geographic information (e.g., maps, satellite images) over the Internet to gain new insights and aid in decision making.

About the CGDI

The Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure strives to provide Canadians with on-demand access to geospatial information through an interoperable, standards-based network built by a host of data, service, and technology suppliers. The infrastructure is designed to break down information silos by encouraging sharing, in pursuit of particular policy and business requirements. Through the infrastructure, users can discover, visualize, access and apply geospatial data and services. Ideally, replication of data is reduced and decision making is streamlined when people can access authoritative data with ease.

The CGDI comprises the following four key components: 1) national framework data—the base layers required to develop applications; 2) common data policies to make data easier to access; 3) technical standards that allow users to share data; and 4) technologies that enable people to develop on-line mapping applications. With these four key components, the CGDI serves as a common foundation for key government information systems, as well as for third-party service delivery.

http://www.geoconnections.org