Geomatics data perspective from the Centre of Geographic Sciences (COGS) Future of Geomatics Policy in Canada An educational perspective Bob Maher Applied Geomatics Research Group Nova Scotia Community College Middleton, Nova Scotia

Outline  Partnerships  Teaching  Applied Research –Data Sharing –Technology Access –Knowledge Exchange  Other Issues  Funding  Summary  Role of federal Geomatics agency

Partnerships  CFI : universities and colleges  AIF: universities and colleges or private sector  NSERC: new program for colleges  CCAF: Environment Canada lead

Teaching  Education agreement with SNSMR  Use for teaching and student projects  No redistribution of data sets  Copyright remains with the province  Value –added products acknowledge SNSMR

Applied Research  AGRG has recently submitted NSERC proposal with three types of partnership: –Data Sharing –Technology Access –Knowledge Exchange

Data Sharing  Educational institutions have capacity for data sharing. –Aerial photography –GPS –LiDAR –Climate data  Educational institutions acquire data through large federal awards e.g. CFI or AIF –CASI –LiDAR

Technology Access  Under CFI, AGRG will have its own LiDAR system  How and under what conditions will NSCC partner with the private sector and government e.g. pilot projects etc ?

Knowledge Exchange  AGRG can provide access to data  In return, partners provide science expertise –E.g. weather forecasting and access to climate network

Other Issues  The traditional focus has been on geographic data sets  The introduction of new capacity ( CFI-LiDAR) and new programs (NSERC for Community Colleges) in the region affects the potential types of relationships  Future policies should consider multi-agency partnerships for applied research, training, application development and technology, as well as data sharing.

Funding  Geomatics Canada should look at the different partnership models e.g. CFI, AIF, NSERC, CCAF.  More funding required in the areas of applied research vis-à-vis basic research

Summary  Educational institutions are no longer ONLY data users. They are also data providers.  AGRG, as part of NSERC proposal,will negotiate agreements for data sharing, technology access and knowledge exchange.

Summary  New data sets collected in real time can be made available over the web e.g. climate  Private sector may be creating value-added products based on AGRG and SNSMR data sets.  There will be a need for data sharing agreements with all partners

Role of federal Geomatics agency  To develop national standards  To provide access to base mapping  To develop multi-agency partnerships with private sector and educational institutions