Useful Tips For
Resources & Tools
Key Documents, Studies & Reports
If you want to know about the CGDI’s evolution and the strategies behind its creation, you’ll find all of that and more in this section. Studies, policy research, reports, presentations, action plans, summaries, overviews, they’re all here for your research and enlightenment.
Aug. 28 2007 - Understanding Users' Needs and User-centered Design
This guide assists organizations in understanding approaches for user-needs assessments and user-centered design, which are required for some projects that GeoConnections funds. (PDF: 1.17MB)
Jul. 3 2007 - Building a Business Case for Geospatial Information Technology: A Practitioner's Guide to Financial Strategic Analysis (Executive Summary)
Geospatial Information Technology (GIT) is a complicated investment. The initial costs can be high, the tangible benefits can take several years to materialize, and the technical intricacies can be overwhelming. Often, officials do not have time to delve into the finer points of the technology before being asked to make an investment decision. The AWWA Research Foundation, GeoConnections, the Geospatial Information Technology Association, and the U.S. Federal Geospatial Data Committee funded this study to develop and document a formal methodology for preparating business cases for GIT within a water utility, as well as compatible other utility sectors, such as telecommunications, transportation agencies, and municipal-wide geospatial projects. The full report, including a workbook, is available for purchase from the GITA bookstore.
Apr. 30 2007 - Integrated Approaches to Community Awareness - Defining Regional Atlas
GeoConnections defines a regional atlas as a body of integrated information, built by multiple stakeholders, directed by the needs of a fully engaged user community, covering a user-defined, continuous piece of geography that feeds public awareness processes and that communicates issues and solutions with rich, contextual information that is relevant to many users of diverse background. (PDF: 154KB)
Mar. 26 2007 - User Needs Analysis
(PPT: 4.52MB)
Mar. 26 2007 - User Centered Design
(PPT: 5.58MB)
Dec. 13 2006 - Geospatial Information Needs for Integrated Land/Marine Management (IL/MM): Workshop Report
The Policy Research Initiative conducts research in support of the Government of Canada's medium term agenda. Its core mandate is to advance research on emerging horizontal issues and to ensure the effective transfer of acquired knowledge to policy-makers. (PDF: 1.22MB)
Dec. 7 2006 - Public Health Directions: Overview & Opportunities - GIAC Webcast
(PPT: 4.91MB)
Nov. 9 2006 - Annual Report 2005-2006
(PDF: 2.1MB)
Oct. 2006 - Survey of Geographic Information Decision-makers
The findings from this research indicate that GeoConnections has successfully laid much of the required groundwork for promoting the CGDI as a geospatial information hub for organizations operating in the four theme areas.
Executive Summary (PDF: 99KB)
Executive Summary (DOC: 206KB)
Final Report (PDF: 9.13MB)
Oct. 18 2006 - Web Feature Services, Considerations for CGDI Government Partners Version 1.0
This document reviews the WFS standard, how it has been addressed by other government organizations, and the business and technical implications in engaging WFS within the broader CGDI. This document also provides recommendations. (PDF: 163KB)
Sep. 20 2006 - Environment & Sustainable Development: Overview & Opportunities - GIAC Webcast
(PPT: 1.66MB)
Jun. 9 2006 - Public Safety and Security Directions - GIAC Web Cast
(PPT: 5.9MB)
Sep. 2005 - CGDI Target Vision and Implementation Plan (Version 2.0)
Vision: Better knowledge for better decisions (HTML: 53KB)
Vision: Better knowledge for better decisions (PDF: 334KB)
Roadmap: Achieving the Vision of the CGDI (HTML: 96KB)
Roadmap: Achieving the Vision of the CGDI (PDF: 617KB)
Architecture: Architecture Description Version 2.0 (HTML: 114KB)
Architecture: Architecture Description Version 2.0 (PDF: 584KB)
Feb. 2005 - Archiving, Management and Preservation of Geospatial Data: Summary Report and Recommendations (GeoConnections Policy Advisory Node: Working Group on Archiving and Preserving Geospatial Data)
Archiving, Management and Preservation of Geospatial Data: Summary Report and Recommendations (GeoConnections Policy Advisory Node: Working Group on Archiving and Preserving Geospatial Data)
PDF Version (PDF: 199KB)
HTML Version (HTML: 73KB)
.doc Version (DOC: 127KB)
Feb. 11 2005 - The Dissemination of Government Geographic Data in Canada - Guide to Best Practices
The Dissemination of Government Geographic Data in Canada - Guide to Best Practice
PDF version (PDF: 616KB)
HTML version (HTML: )
Oct. 5 2004 - Better knowledge means better decisions: Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure
Low resolution (PDF: 1.05MB)
High resolution (PDF: 8.10MB)
Aug. 1 2004 - CGDI online training
This online course is designed to introduce you to the various components of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure, their functionality, and the standards and specifications necessary to implement them. (HTML: )
Feb. 2004 - A Developers' Guide to the CGDI: Developing and publishing geographic information, data and associated services
(HTML: )
Jan. 2003 - Intro to CGDI
Powerpoint Presentation (PPT: 7.89 MB)
Powerpoint presentation in HTML format (HTML: )
Jul. 2002 - Exploiting the Innovation Potential of Geomatics: A Geomatics Sector Response to Canada's Innovation Strategy
Geomatics is an enabling technology. The geomatics sector specializes in identifying the geographical locations of physical phenomena and human activities and presenting this information to decision-makers, on desktop computers and over the Internet, in the form of intelligent maps.
HTML pages
Feb. 1 2002 - Marine User Requirements for Geospatial Data Summary 2001
(PDF: 529 KB)
Dec. 11 2001 - Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure — Architecture Overview
This architecture description document is one of a trio of evolving documents that describe the CGDI: The CGDI Target Vision; The CGDI Architecture Description; and the CGDI Implementation Plan. (PDF: 677 KB)
Oct. 22 2001 - Proposed Canadian Government Action Plan on Geospatial Data Policy
The objective of this report is to evaluate the recommendations of the April 2001 KPMG Study on Canadian Government Geospatial Data Policy, with a view to exploring areas of agreement - as well divergence - among Canadian Council on Geomatics (CCOG) members... (PDF: 454 KB)
Aug. 16 2001 - Canadian Geomatics Accord
(PDF: 159KB)
Jun. 2001 - CGDI Framework Data Definition
(PDF: 138 KB)
May 4 2001 - Geomatics Sector - Human Resources Study
(PDF: 9.73 MB)
Presentation of the Geomatics Sector Human Resources Study (PPT: 1.31MB)
Mar. 28 2001 - Canadian Geospatial Data Policy Study
The Canadian Geospatial Data Policy Study was commissioned in order to provide empirical information on the impact of current geospatial data policies on all three levels of government (federal, provincial, municipal) and the users and distributors of the data in the business sector and in the community at large. (PDF: 136 KB)
Mar. 27 2001 - CGDI Target Vision and Implementation Plan (version 1)
Geospatial information today is pervasive and a core component of our society and our economy. It should not be strange to think of geospatial information as an infrastructure any more than we think of highways, telecommunications, health care, air traffic control, and policing as infrastructures that we depend on and use daily. The concept of a Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) is born of this recognition.
PDF version (PDF: 1.35MB)