November 2003
Presentation of GeoBase and the National Road Network (NRN) at Public Works and Governmental Services Canada (PWGSC)
On November 19, 2003, MM. Pierre Desjardins et Marcel Sabourin of CTI-S did a presentation on the GeoBase initiative to the representatives of the Geomatics Services from the Real Property Program Branch of PWGSC during a GIS Day showcase held in their facilities in Ottawa. This presentation aimed at giving an in-depth description of the GeoBase’s mission, stakeholders, governance model and data themes. A special emphasis was put on the National Road Network theme to the request of PWGSC. This presentation was really well received by PWGSC’s managers and technologists alike. Following the presentation, Julie Leese, Director of Geomatics Services, declared that ” it (GeoBase) represents a spirit of collaboration that has probably never been realized before in Canada's geomatics community”.

November 19, 2003 - Launch of the GeoBase Portal
The GeoBase portal is the first output stemming from the GeoBase initiative, a coalition of federal, provincial and territorial governments, which is overseen by the Canadian Council on Geomatics. GeoBase aims at ensuring the provision and access to a common, up-to-date, and maintained base of quality geospatial data for all of Canada. Version 1 of the GeoBase portal offers users access to sets of data related to: road network, landform/topography, place names, administrative boundaries, geodetic network and satellite imagery.

October 2003
National Road Network Project on ESRI Web site
Natural Resources Canada is mentioned on the ESRI Web site under Support Center Transportation Data Model ESRI notes that they are working on a Case Study with Natural Resources Canada to describe their National Road Network Project. The National Road Network Project falls under the GSDNR Program. Materials can be obtained from the Canadian National Road Network FTP Site. Currently ESRI is investigating the adaptation of their software to tap into the wealth of information that the National Road Network Program provides. ESRI has been a leader of the GIS software industry for an unprecedented 34 years. On any given day, more than 1,000,000 people around the world use ESRI's GIS to improve the way their organizations conduct business.

New Atlas Frameworks Available for Sustainable Development
Four new national framework data sets have been released as part of the Geomatics for Sustainable Development of Natural Resources (GSDNR)program of the Earth Sciences Sector. These data sets include watersheds/hydrology, road and rail networks and populated places at a scale of 1:1M. Of particular note is the integration of both human and environmental frameworks.

This product release represents the culmination of three years of partnership work involving the Atlas of Canada, the Centre for Topographic Information, Environment Canada, Statistics Canada and GeoConnections. These framework layers are available free of charge on-line via the GeoConnections Discovery Portal: http://geogratis.gc.ca

August 2003
56th annual NATPO conference
The 56th annual NATPO conference was held in Charlottetown PEI during August 24th to the 27th. Marcel Sabourin NRCan's Senior Project Officer with the National Road Network (NRN) project attended and also presented NRCan's NRN project. The presentation tied in well with the conference group. Planning officials quickly understood the benefits of making use of the NRN. Tying in their asset management information to the NRN would allow the management team to analyze, present, select and define the appropriate annual road asset improvement investment programs. The province of PEI (presented by Dan McDonald) demonstrated test bed results of how the Departments of Transportations (DOTs) would benefit by using the NRN with their (PEIDOT) road asset management and improvement programs.

The purpose of NATPO (North Atlantic Transportation Planning Official) is to facilitate the exchange of ideas and concepts relative to transportation planning among its membership. The primary focus is on highway planning activities, but all transportation modes are considered. The NATPO membership consists primarily of the North Eastern United States (Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Vermont) and Canadian Provinces east of Manitoba (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfounland).

July 2003
Around GSDNR - New Collaboration for North American Frameworks
On July 29 to 31, a series of meetings were held in Montreal and Ottawa involving representatives from the Atlases of Canada, the United States and Mexico. The Montreal meetings were hosted by the Commission for Environmental Co-operation, an organization funded by each of the three governments to study the environmental impact of the NAFTA treaty.

Collaboration is evolving between these groups to compile an integrated set of North American framework data. These base maps (transportation, watersheds, population, protected areas, etc) will be used to depict both human activity and environmental factors for monitoring, planning and communicating Sustainable Development activities.

Recent Symposiums - The National Road Network (NRN) makes its way to San Diego
Mr. Denis Boutin, from the Centre for Topographic Information-Sherbrooke, gave a presentation on the National Road Network (NRN) model at the last ESRI International User Conference held in San Diego, July 7-13, 2003. Mr. Boutin's presentation focused on the approach taken in Canada to manage the digital road network and was part of the Technical Workshop called "ArcGIS Data Models: Linear Referencing for Transportation". The presentation attracted more than 200 attendees and was followed by a very popular question period that lasted 30 minutes (until the participants to the next session threw them out!). The model presented during this conference was of interest for all the participants because it brings a solution that could be applied anywhere in the world - at least where a road network exists!

The ESRI International User Conference held each year in San Diego is the largest GIS conference in the world. This year the conference attracted more than 12,000 attendees. The development and maintenance of the National road Network is an activity of the National Transportation Network project under the GSDNR program. Contact: Denis Boutin

June 2003
Launch of GeoNames Website
June 25, 2003 - The Geomatics for Sustainable Development of Natural Resources (GSDNR) Program and Mapping Services Branch (MSB) of ESS are pleased to announce the launch of the new Geographical Names website.

The information available on the site is a result of close collaboration among partners at the Provincial, Territorial and Federal levels coordinated by the Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) and with the support of the GeoConnections Program led by Natural Resources Canada. On the GeoNames site you can search the Canadian Geographical Names database and find fascinating information about the origin of place names in Canada.

May 2003
May 26 and 27, in Victoria, representatives from NRCan (Sylvie Jodouin and Michel Gilbert) have pursued the discussions on the National Hydrographic Network (NHN) with partners from Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Yukon. This will lead to a Beta version of the technical specifications and the development of several prototypes to test the feasibility of the model.

May 19 to 22 - GEOIDE - Geomatics for Informed Decisions
Dr Thierry Toutin from CCRS has giving a course on High Resolution Satellites: mapping and other applications

GEOIDE is a research network established in order to consolidate Canadian expertise in geomatics. As a federally funded Network of Centers of Excellence, GEOIDE brings together many of the country's leading experts from academic, government and industrial institutions. Every spring, the GEOIDE Network holds its Annual Scientific Conference which allows all the members of the Network and the interested parties to acquire information on the progress made in different projects and to continue the networking through various activities (exposures, workshops, group meetings, conferences special, etc).