Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/59336
NEWSLINK Volunteers Head Out for GIS Missions Worldwide Twenty-five volunteers from an initiative known as GISCorps recently deployed to seven countries to tackle missions that will see them using GIS tools and techniques to help improve a variety of circumstances and conditions, from enhancing disaster-simulation capabilities in Samoa to identi- fying refugee camps in Somalia. The missions, nine in total, are being assisted by GISCorps volunteers with support from the initiative's sponsoring organization, the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), a nonprofit association of GIS professionals. Missions include a "data-cleansing" project for locat- ing health centers in Libya, with GISCorps' help being requested by the World Health Organization; collect- ing building information from satellite imagery in and around earthquake-rattled Padang, Indonesia, with the goal of digitizing building footprints; work on disaster- management and emergency-response projects geared toward a disaster-simulation exercise in Samoa; and mapping the locations of international and national nongovernmental organizations in Sierra Leone. Missions also include testing of a geospatial applica- tion involving landmine data for the Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Demining; assistance with a United Nations Institute for Training and Research pilot project using free and low-resolution imagery to iden- tify locations of "internally displaced persons" camps in Somalia; and a wildlife/natural-resources conserva- tion project in Zambia. Autodesk and Pitney Bowes Software Collaborating 3-D and engineering software maker Autodesk Inc. forged a strategic alliance with customer-data services firm Pitney Bowes Software Inc. The part- nership will give the two companies a framework to use when collaborating on projects for infrastructure owners as well as for architecture/engineering/con- struction (AEC) organizations, with work expected to involve services and products for clients to use in making more-informed decisions and increasing efficiency when planning, designing, building and managing infrastructure. "AEC experts will be able to take advantage of unique solutions, which will shorten the model- ing and construction phases within projects," said James Buckley, general manager for customer data and location intelligence at Pitney Bowes Software. Competition Seeks Ideas to Benefit Energy Industry Spatial Energy, which specializes in digital imagery and solutions for the energy industry, unveiled a new "challenge" competition that will see commercial entities and students competing to identify new remote-sensing technologies that can aid oil and gas companies as they seek to fulfill energy demands. The company announced its inaugural Remote Sensing Energy Challenge in early February 2012, designating $10,000 in total awards for winners. Entries for the challenge should relate to one of A map from a wildlife/natural-resources conservation project in Zambia shows elephant mortalities for 2009. The project was one of several recent missions assisted by volunteers from GISCorps. 8 GEO W ORLD / MA R CH 2O12 four energy application areas: exploration, seismic/ nonseismic surveys, engineering or environmental. A panel of judges from Spatial Energy and other energy companies will evaluate entries based on criteria such as potential benefits to the oil and gas industry. The deadline for entry is May 15, 2012. More details are available online at www.spatialenergychallenge.com. GISCORPS