GTAQ 2015 conference

Mapping Sciences Institute, Australia

PresenterJohn McCormack

Senior Spatial Information Officer

Topics

• Interest in Maps and Children’s mapping competition

• Mapping resources and data downloads• GIS mapping applications• GIS in education

• International Map Year 2015-2016

• The International Map Year (IMY) is a worldwide celebration of maps and their unique role in our world. Supported by the United Nations, IMY provides opportunities to demonstrate, follow, and get involved in the art, science and technology of making and using maps and geographic information.

• Why an International Map Year?• The purposes of the International Map Year are …• making maps visible to citizens and school children in a global context,• demonstrating how maps and atlases can be used in society,• showing how information technology can be used in getting geographic information and

producing one’s own maps,• displaying different types of maps and map production,• showing the technical development of mapping and atlas production,• showing the necessity of a sustainable development of geographic information

infrastructures,• increasing the recruitment of students to cartography and cartography-related disciplines.• The International Map Year shall become a trademark for mapping. It shall also boost the

identity of the ICA to highlight its mission in an international context. It is also an opportunity to give ICA affiliate members a possibility to advertise their services in mapping. Hopefully, IMY will make maps and its implications on our lives more obvious to the society.

Who is the International Map Year targeted at?Target groups for IMY are …• the general public,• school children,• professionals and• government employees.When does the International Map Year take place?International Map Year will be officially opened at the ICA conference in Rio de Janeiro in August, 2015 and then continue until December 2016. Of course, preparation has to start earlier, especially activities to get national contributions for the Barbara Petchenik Competition or encouraging contributions to the ICA Map Exhibition.

The Mapping Sciences Institute, Australia is the Australian representative member of the International Cartographic Association.

Useful web links

• We love mapswww.mapyear.org/about-international-map-year/

• International Cartographic Associationwww.icaci.org/

• Mapping Sciences Institute, Australiawww.mappingsciences.org.au/international-map-competition-2015/

School childrens map competition

6 to 8 year category

9 to 12 year category

13 to 15 year category

Free Spatial Data Resource

• In Queensland we have available many geo spatial datasets that can be downloaded from our Qspatial data delivery service and used freely by the user.

• The Queensland Spatial Catalogue - QSpatial link is

http://qldspatial.information.qld.gov.au/catalogue/custom/index.page

The Qspatial Home page

Other open data sites•

• Commonwealth government• www.data.gov.au • • Queensland government• www.data.qld.gov.au • • ACT site• www.data.act.gov.au • • South Australian government• www.dpti.sa.gov.au/open_data_portal •

• Queensland state library• www.slq.qld.gov.au/about-us/corporate/open-data• • New South Wales government• www.data.nsw.gov.au/links

• Western Australia government• www.integratedplanning.dlg.wa.gov.au/Content/.../OpenData

.

Free Training Resources

• International Cartographic Association provides a free on line training resource.

• Resources for Cartography• http://

lazarus.elte.hu/cet/resource/vol-2012.pdf

International Cartographic AssociationFree GIS Course

• http://lazarus.elte.hu/cet/

Free course under Cartographic Resources

The Value of GIS in Education

What is GIS

• A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data

Five benefits that demonstrate the value of GIS in education

• 1. GIS provides students with an interactive way to learn about the world

• 2. GIS can be used across the curriculum to provide a holistic view of how the world works.

• 3. GIS brings learning out of the classroom and into the real world

• 4. GIS teaches valuable technology skills• 5. GIS empowers learners with skills that are

in-demand in the workforce

ESRI , MAPINFO and QGIS

• Esri have been a long-time supporter, through technology donation and mentoring, of the national Spatial Technology in Schools (STIS) competition. A powerful GIS system.

• Mapinfo is a popular GIS for smaller business which performs well.

• QGIS is a free open source GIS which performs well and has a lot of community support.

GIS technology

• GIS technology was very much the domain of Cartographers, spatial data research, surveyors, land management agencies and the military

• The private sector are adopting GIS technology solutions to bring a fresh perspective to their business information

The Queensland globe

• This is a very useful application which displays a considerable amount of government data in its spatial context very similar to a Geographic Information System. The globe only displays the data it cannot be further manipulated but layers can be turned on and off.

The Queensland Globe

This is the Roads and Railway centrelines layer inthe Queensland globe

Categories in the Queensland globe

QGIS GIS software

• QGIS is a free open source GIS software program which is quite powerful.

• www.qgis.org

• QGIS tutorials• www.qgistutorials.com/en/