“This contribution advances OSGeo’s mission of supporting and building the highest quality open source geospatial software,” said Frank Warmerdam, president of the OSGeo Foundation. “Opening the CS-Map source code will ensure that all organisations and developers have access to this industrial-quality comprehensive library of map projections and coordinate systems, including several capabilities not previously available in open source.”

“Autodesk recognises the central values of open source community and enterprise development, including faster innovation, more frequent product updates and lower overall cost of ownership,” said Lisa Campbell, vice president, Autodesk Geospatial. “By contributing the code for CS-Map, Autodesk hopes to meet users’ needs while continuing to encourage community participation in software and application development.”

CS-Map is a coordinate system and map projection library that enables users to more easily support geographic coordinate conversions and allow accurate and precise geospatial analysis. It currently supports a library of more than 3,000 map projections and coordinate systems.

Coordinate systems are fundamental pieces of any mapping or geospatial application and are constantly being added and updated. With open source code, the open source community will be able to develop coordinate conversions as needed and give organisations and developers access to this critical piece of technology.

Autodesk acquired CS-Map through its acquisition of Mentor Software in September 2007. CS-Map is currently embedded in most Autodesk geospatial products, including AutoCAD Map 3D and Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise.

OSGeo currently hosts 15 open source geospatial projects, including MapGuide Open Source and FDO Data Access Technology. Since the organisation’s founding in 2006, its projects now represent code contributions from more than 200 developers including a base of more than 6 million lines of code.

The MapGuide Open Source project also announced the addition of MapGuide Maestro to the project, which is a new map authoring tool for MapGuide Open Source. MapGuide Maestro is a free application that eases the management of spatial data in MapGuide Open Source and has specialised interfaces for editing the following components of MapGuide Open Source: feature sources, Layer definitions, Map Definitions, Web Layouts and Fusion Layouts.

Organisations large and small are reaping the benefits of the continual updates from the community. The Resort Municipality of Whistler, British Columbia has adopted MapGuide Open Source to help promote Whistler2020—a program aimed at preserving Whistler’s environment with sustainable, eco-friendly practices. KidsGIS, an eco-friendly GIS portal developed by volunteers from the geospatial field to teach children about the environment, includes an online mapping application built on MapGuide Open Source. Both projects also draw on FDO Data Access Technology to incorporate data from multiple sources.

Autodesk has chosen to work with Salzburg to help it integrate its city data into a detailed 3D model of the city. Scientific personnel from Salzburg University’s Center of Geoinformation will assist with the implementation of Digital City for the city of Salzburg. This combination of city data with realistic visualization and simulation tools reportedly will allow Salzburg to view and interact with the city landscape and to analyze the impact of future urban planning, tourism, and economic development projects before they are built.

“I am very pleased to announce the launch of this pilot project which holds considerable significance for modern urban administration. With Autodesk as a leader in design innovation and the University of Salzburg drawing on its many years of experience in the geoinformation area, we have two internationally acknowledged partners joining forces to realize this future project. The digital city model will help cities like ours better understand the impact of proposed urban projects,” said Heinz Schaden, mayor of the city of Salzburg. “This type of pilot program will help us better understand how we can create an attractive and sustainable future for Salzburg and its people.”

“Salzburg is one of the most progressive, well known cities in the world and so they are a natural choice to participate as our first pilot city. Our Digital City technology can help the city and community of Salzburg communicate, collaborate, and deliver projects in a more effective — and sustainable — way,” said Lisa Campbell, vice president, Autodesk Geospatial. “We are proud to work with them and our longstanding partner, the University of Salzburg, to create a business tool that will help Salzburg plan and operate sustainable development essential for tomorrow’s high-performance cities and economies.”

The project has been in operation since 2005, and now have a protoype up and running, using data from a project where students collected their own data from a study area along the Willamette River and its tributaries. The plans are to improve and expand the functionality of the prototype GIS applications as they move into the next phases of the project.

Enhancements in AutoCAD Map 3D 2009, Autodesk MapGuide Enterprise 2009
and AutoCAD Raster Design 2009 software applications build on the solutions’ fundamental properties of open data access and interoperability with other design, GIS and IT systems.

In addition, the new products offer a user environment and new tools to help organizations quickly capitalize on their staff’s expertise with AutoCAD software and with existing spatial data.

“Global infrastructure is falling farther behind the needs of emerging and developed nations, and the organizations and agencies that must address the issue are grappling with a shortage of experienced workers,” said Lisa Campbell, vice president, Autodesk Geospatial. “Autodesk geospatial solutions combine design and geospatial information without requiring difficult customization, so that users can make fast, insightful decisions and improve engineering standards –and ultimately, accelerate project completion.”

With its 2009 geospatial solutions, Autodesk is expanding on two key principles that address customers’ needs: an open, flexible and interoperable geospatial platform, and tools that are easy to learn and use. The latest enhancements build on an open architecture that preserves data integrity and helps ensure that vital design and spatial asset information moves in and out of systems easily. The software applications and their open application programming interfaces serve as the basis for solutions purpose-built for utility companies by Autodesk and third-party software developers.