Other actors involved: Member departments of the Federal Committee on Geomatics and Earth Observations (FCGEO) supporting the Federal Geospatial Platform (FGP)
Commitment description
What is the public problem that the commitment will address?
Over the last five years, federal departments have worked together to establish a single platform to collect and share geospatial data. This effort enables Canadians to more easily discover, view, and understand geospatial data. Building on this strong foundation, the focus in the coming years will be to increase the quality and usability of geospatial data to derive additional information, solve problems, help with context setting, and assist with evidence-based decision-making.
What is the commitment?
The Government of Canada will make more high-quality, authoritative, and useable geospatial data available in open formats to support better services to Canadians.
How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?
The geospatial data collection is being expanded, and the technologies to access that data are being improved, thereby fundamentally changing the way geospatial assets can be accessed and used by government and the public. The single window to federal geospatial data, open maps, is supporting progress towards a modern, networked, and tech-enabled society. It will ensure effective program delivery, improve services to Canadians, and support them in their day-to-day activities.
Relevance to OGP values
This commitment relates to the OGP values of transparency.
Status update
Deliverables in Action Plan
- Improve access to open geospatial data
through the expansion of open maps:
- Increase the number of federal geospatial datasets available through a single window enabling Canadians to more easily find relevant geospatial data that can be mapped and visualized;
- Provide access to satellite imagery through an open licence; and
- Work with researchers, data enthusiasts, and developers who use geospatial data to share their work through the open maps gallery.
- Develop geospatial data and web service
standards:
- Increase the quality and standardization of critical geospatial data assets through strategic investments;
- Implement a management and investment framework for high value federal geospatial data assets; and
- Participate in geospatial standards bodies to ensure that Canada’s data continues to be accessible and interoperable nationally and internationally.
- Develop Geospatial Applications:
- Build mobile applications to disseminate key information to Canadians in an interactive format, which makes complex and large amounts of information easy to understand;
- Provide targeted applications, which use open geospatial data to address the policy priorities of government; and
- Provide the ability for Canadians to share data they collect through standardized tools.
Expected result
Canadians will be able to find and use high-quality maps.
Description of results
- As of June 30, 2017, there are 573 federal geospatial datasets available through a single window enabling Canadians to find geospatial data.
- Participated, on an ongoing basis, in
the following geospatial standards bodies to ensure that Canada’s
data continues to be accessible and interoperable nationally and
internationally:
- US Federal Geographic Data Committee
- Open Geospatial Consortium (OCG)
- United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management
- World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
- Targeted applications, which use open geospatial data to
address the policy priorities of government, are available:
(on-going through June 2018)
- DFO Marine Spatial Data Infrastructure
- Demonstration Application of Arctic Food Security Policy
- Clean Energy Resources and Projects (CERP) in Canada
- North American Cooperation on Energy Information (NACEI)
-
Ten years of Drought in Canada
Provided the ability for Canadians to share data they collect through standardized tools (on-going)
- Crowdsourced Geographic Information Pilot Project – validating remotely sensed flood and ice-jam map products.
Next steps to June 2018
- Next steps to June 2018 include:
- Release a total of 750 federal geospatial datasets through standards based web services and open formats;
- Continue to release high-resolution digital elevation and surface models derived from Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) and optical imagery (ArcticDEM) through an open license;
- Provide open licensed access to consistent national scale cloud free imagery mosaics of Canada;
- Work with researchers, data enthusiasts, and developers who use geospatial data to share their work through the open maps gallery.
- Next steps to June 2018 include:
- Strategic investments to improve quality and coverage;
- Implementing a management and investment framework for geodata (FCGEO departments participation in Federal Geospatial Platform Data Work Committee meetings currently limited public visibility of results);
- Continuing to participate in the Open Geospatial Consortium Quality of Service and Experience Domain Working Group over summer 2017 with publication of an Open Geospatial Consortium best practices document by June 2018;
- Joining the W3C/OGC Spatial Data Interest Group as charter member when it convenes in August 2017.
- Continue to provide and maintain targeted applications and to provide the ability for Canadians to share data they collect through standardized tools, as noted above.
Completion level
- Substantial
- Substantial
- Substantial