Naslov
Open Source based Spatial Data Infrastructure - Why and How?

Autori
Medak, Damir ; Pribičević, Boško ; Đapo, Almin ; Medved, Ivan

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u zbornicima skupova, cjeloviti rad (in extenso), znanstveni

Izvornik
Proceedings of the ISPRS WG VI/3 workshop: Geoinformation for Practice, Vol. XXXIV, Part 6/W11 / Bačić, Željko ; Biljecki, Zvonko ; Landek, Ivan - Zagreb : State Geodetic Administration and Croatian Geodetic Society, 2003, 193-196

Skup
Geoinformation for Practice

Mjesto i datum
Zagreb, Hrvatska, 15.10.2003. - 18.10.2003

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
OpenGIS; Open Source Software; Java; PostgreSQL; PostGIS

Sažetak
The standards for spatial data were either vendor- or nation-specific. Recent efforts of international bodies like European Committee for Standardization (CEN), ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) paved the way to interoperability and openness of geodata and applications which handle it. Open specification enabled open-source community - which is the main alternative to corporative monopoly, especially but not only in developing countries - to develop their own software industry. The key area to start with is the investment in database technology, where the academic-rooted PostgreSQL is the cutting edge in object-relational database management systems, matching the best commercial products in both reliability and performance. Since spatial datatypes are incorporated in PostgreSQL, it is perfect for the development of spatial databases where high performance and security is a must. PostgreSQL is based on Linux platform, but portable to Windows as well. Talking about operating systems, many governments are migrating to Linux these years, stipulating the educational system to advance the level of knowledge about free software in general. Beside databases and operating systems, the third phenomenon is the programming language Java. Thanks to its open specification, platform independence, scalability, object-orientation and inherent Internet nature, Java is the first choice for development of external schemata for spatial data infrastructure. The goal of this paper is to expose the ideas of open source technology to the wider audience, because that technology is going to be the basis of future networked society of knowledge. Spatial data posed so many challenges in the past resolving of which lead to the technology push. The need to put the spatial data into open-source arena must be recognized as soon as possible to avoid neglecting of spatial data applications again. Finally, a complete list of tools which are necessary to build the spatial data infrastructure is enumerated with comments about its status and future prospects. These tools are freely accessible and distributable to both developers and users interested. It is natural that the first pilot-projects should be adopted at the universities, both for educational and practical purposes. It is, however, of the highest importance that such pilot-projects are shown to the public in order to show that there is a viable alternative to the proprietary, licensed software solutions. This paper reviews all efforts done in this direction and gives the check list for Croatian academia and practice in long-term dealing with spatial data infrastructure.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Geodezija, Informacijske i komunikacijske znanosti

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