Congratulations to the recipients of the 2022 People's Choice MApps Award:

Best App: City of Mississauga - eParks Interactive Map Viewer Application

Best Map: Shahzaib Saleem - City of Rotterdam Thematic Map

For more details, visit MApps Award

Since 1999, VertiGIS Studio products and services have addressed common GIS application development challenges. VertiGIS offers pragmatic solutions to improve developer productivity, help solve complex business problems, and enable a better user experience when deploying Esri web GIS technology. The most popular capabilities of VertiGIS Studio can also be used from within modern Esri platforms such ArcGIS® Web AppBuilder, Experience Builder, and ArcGIS Online to allow you to accomplish even more with your Esri investment. 

Cansel is Canada’s largest supplier of geospatial and engineering field equipment, integrating sensors, field supplies and office processing software. Cansel helps clients capture, transform and manage data leading to increased field to finish efficiency and profitability. We have been providing tailored solutions to our clients for over 50 years in Canada.

Check out the Full list of BeSpatial Sponsors and Exhibitors

Angus GeoSolutions Inc. (AGSI), since 1993 as a Canadian corporation, has been solving business problems with strategic technology and information solutions, empowering government, electrical utility, telecommunication, oil and gas, agriculture, and public safety industries to make better, more informed decisions.

AGSI is headquartered in Halton Hills, Ontario with data collection and verification field staff across Canada. AGSI provides Technology and Data.

Please visit our BeSpatial 2022 Event Sponsor page to view the Exhibit Hall and profiles of our exhibitor and sponsors.

Environics Analytics (EA) is the premier marketing and analytical services company in Canada, helping thousands of customers across every industry sector turn data and analytics into strategy, insights, and results. Established in 2003, we specialize in using best-in-class data, analytics expertise, and purpose-built software to address key challenges in areas such as consumer profiling and segmentation, multichannel media planning and execution, trade area analysis, merchandising strategies and site location decision-making. Our ENVISION platform provides quick and easy access to our comprehensive and privacy-compliant databases—including the latest mobile movement data. Environics Analytics is a Bell Canada company.

It is with deep and profound sadness that we share the loss of our  colleague and friend John Bacon. John has been an active BeSpatial / urisa ontario board and committee member for many years. His contribution to BeSpatial and the geospatial and information community was extraordinary and will be remembered. We could always rely on John’s positive, friendly and supportive approach. He will be deeply missed.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Good Shepherd or Neighbour 2 Neighbour would be appreciated by the family.

Please sign the online Book of Condolences at Bay Gardens Funeral Home (www.baygardens.ca), Hamilton (905-574-0405).

Mapping the future of public health with GIS

Alexander (Sandy) Watts

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed once again that location matters when it comes to our health. As we transform Canada’s public health system, it’s clear that GIS has the potential to bolster and enhance public health strategy.

In our keynote talk, we will walk through case studies to demonstrate how recent innovations in location intelligence and geospatial technology can enhance a wide spectrum of public health workflows, improve public health research and evaluation using novel sources of high-resolution spatio-temporal data, and help engage with communities using GIS dashboards and hub sites.

We will highlight how GIS can facilitate collaboration and engagement between multi-institutional health teams, decision makers, and the public. We will discuss the value GIS brings to the ongoing digital transformation of Canada’s public health systems to facilitate data sharing across jurisdictions, improve access to essential health services for all Canadians and ultimately, to help reduce health inequity.

Alexander (Sandy) Watts is the Public Health Industry Manager for Esri Canada. He is the lead of Esri Canada’s Public Health program, designed to support Canada’s public health community through the power of GIS and location intelligence. With a background in ecology, spatial statistics and infectious disease research, he has led various geospatial research projects for epidemic planning, preparedness, and response, developing GIS solutions that influenced policy decisions at the Public Health Agency of Canada, the US-CDC, and the World Health Organization. Sandy is passionate about the potential for location intelligence and GIS innovations to solve longstanding and future public health challenges, especially to reduce health inequity.

How Niantic is building the real-world metaverse

Niantic's mission is to build products and experiences that encourage people to explore the world, exercise, and be social together in the real-world. Our current endeavor is centered around developing AR technology on top of a rich geodata platform that enables developers to build compelling augmented real-world experiences. In this session I'll walk through how we're collecting geodata and building a unique global map of the world in order to realize a real-world metaverse in AR; highlight of the complexities we are facing; and inspire you with the endless opportunities ahead.

Danbi Lee, GISP - Senior Product Manager, Niantic Labs

Danbi is a Senior Product Manager for the Geodata Platform at Niantic - owning the growth, management and delivery of geo-location data for Niantic’s published games such as Pokémon GO, Ingress and Pikmin Bloom. Her passion and curiosity for the built environment has led her down many career paths, including environmental science, urban planning and design, municipal parks planning, geospatial analysis, and information management in Canada, the Netherlands, and the US. Danbi works closely with Niantic game teams to help design and deliver features for Niantic Wayfarer, a community mapping program for players of Niantic games. 

[le français suit]

Dear Colleagues,

GeoConnections announces the Announcement of Opportunities for the Fiscal Years 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. 

For this Announcement of Opportunities for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 fiscal years, the GeoConnections Program is focussing its funding on contribution projects totaling $1,000,000.

GeoConnections will fund eight projects and provide $125,000 per Project.

Objectives:

• Keep Canada at the leading edge of accessing, sharing and using geospatial information over the Internet.
• Coordinate the development of national policies, standards and mechanisms and support their implementation to ensure maintenance and updating of geospatial data and compatibility with global standards.

Interested proponents are invited to submit a Proposal to GeoConnections no later than June 2, 2022 - 23:59, Pacific Time

Please visit this web page to download the Announcement of Opportunities documentation.

GeoConnections would appreciate if you could share this information with your stakeholders.

Chers collègues,

Le programme GéoConnexions annonce la publication de l’avis d’offre de participation de GéoConnexions pour les exercices 2022-2023 et 2023-2024.

Via cet avis d’offre de participation, le programme GéoConnexions concentre son financement sur des projets de contributions pour un total de 1 000 000 $.

GéoConnexions financera huit projets qui recevront chacun 125 000 $.

Objectifs:

• Garder le Canada à la fine pointe de l’accès, du partage et de l’utilisation de l’information géospatiale sur Internet.
• Coordonner l'élaboration de politiques, de normes et de mécanismes nationaux et à appuyer leur mise en œuvre afin d'assurer le maintien et la mise à jour des données géospatiales et leur compatibilité avec les normes mondiales.

Les promoteurs intéressés sont invités à soumettre une proposition à GéoConnexions au plus tard le 2 juin 2022 – 23 h 59, heure du pacifique.

Veuillez visiter cette page web pour télécharger la documentation reliée à l’avis d’offre de participation.

Partager cette information avec vos parties prenantes serait opportun et apprécié.

---------------------------------------------------

GeoConnections | GéoConnexions

Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation | Centre canadien de cartographie et d'observation de la Terre

Natural Resources Canada | Ressources naturelles Canada

560 Rochester Street | 560 rue Rochester

Ottawa (Ontario) Canada K1A 0E4

Email | Courriel : geoconnectionsca-acgeoconnexions@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca

Volunteer Board of Directors Opportunity

BeSpatial Ontario is looking for a BeSpatial Event Director for our annual event. This is a Board position and requires a 2-year commitment. If you are a Project Manager, excel at project management, and, even better, if you have event coordination skills or experience, this rewarding volunteer position is for you!
 
With the support of our Board of Directors, our BeSpatial Event Director is responsible for coordinating our annual event. This would include:
Using Asana Project Management software (easy to use and we will train);
Venue coordination
In-person; coordination of event location (in consultation with, and approval from, the board), hotel block booking, catering, contract review, logistics, etc.;
Virtual; work with the Web Directors to manage and populate PheedLoop virtual event application, QC event website;
Coordinating with Directors to complete their assignments:
Programs Director to collect presentations, session scheduling, receive digital presentations;
Executive Director and Director Strategy and Outreach to secure exhibitors and Sponsors;
Communications Director to ensure all information is properly conveyed in the eNewletters to members;
Director of Finance and Membership Director to plan the AGM portion of the event;
Director of Education to coordinate the Student Bursary
Directors at large for any related special projects or assignments
Manage sessions; moderators;
Volunteer coordination leading up to event and on the day of the event.
 
The Board has a monthly meeting in which you would report progress, distribute assignments and receive whatever support is required (this meeting is typically 2-3 hours during business hours)
The time commitment varies, with more time being required in the 2 months prior to the event, May-February 5 hours a month, March/April 10-15hrs a month.

You will work closely with the outgoing Event Director and the Board for training
 
Please email your interest, with a cover letter, to Sandra Crutcher, Executive Director at info@bespatialontario.ca and a virtual interview meeting will be scheduled at your convenience. Please have BeSpatial Event Director in the subject line. Extended - Responses to this opportunity must be received by Friday July29, 2022.

The new Director should plan to attend the Board of Director’s annual full-day Strategy Session on August 23rd. The meeting will be a hybrid of in-person and virtual attendance.