Time Travel Maps

[Bob Gibson]

A wonderful illustration of the progressive effects of data liberation!

Trouble is, without these demonstrations, the opposite (the retrograde
effect of restricting data access) is never brought to light. In the
eighties the Canadian government clamped restrictions on its GPS data
properties (it still restricts access) which had the same effect on the
Canadian information industry as did the cancellation of the Avro Arrow on
the aerospace industry and Canadian R&D in general. If the Canadian
government had had any foresight, we could have led the world in this field,
thanks to the headstart we had from the resource and forestry industries who
were pioneers in this area. As it turned out, US and UK firms took the lead,
because they could access government data easily. This story, which as far
as I know has never been told in print, deserves its own chapter in
"Collosal Canadian Failures."

I'd be interested in your thoughts on this, Marcel. Is my impression
correct? Is there any sense of missed opportunity in the Canadian GPS world
over this? Any attempt to correct the federal government's misguided
thinking?

Bob Gibson
[hidden email]

[Marcel Fortin]

Bob,
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the restriction on GPS accuracy due
to American encryption or degradation of satellite signals for security
reasons? The result being inaccurate GPS readings by several hundreds of
feet. Bill Clinton overturned this in May of 2000.

To answer your question, absolutely we missed a great opportunity in
Canada. The Canadian government was a leader in GIS and with its
restrictive policies and price gouges they crippled any kind of business
or research innovation that could have occurred in the geospatial
industry in Canada. It's hard to do market, population analysis, or draw
a map for that matter without data, or without being able to afford
data. For a great article on the history of the restrictive data
policies of Canadian Governments and the severity of their impact over
the years, see
Klinkenberg, Brian. 2003. The true cost of spatial data in Canada. The
Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe canadien 47 (1):37-49.

As for failure, I wouldn't qualify it as that. We have to realize that
the American model is not the one used around the world. Other countries
have similar policies to ours as well. Some countries don't even have
data to restrict. As well, the Canadian Federal Government has made huge
strides in making data available following the creation of the Canadian
Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) and Geoconnections in the late
1990's. One simply has to look at the huge amounts of data available on
geobase.ca and geogratis.ca (yes, low resolution data for the most part,
but it's a really good start with great new, better resolution additions
recently such as the Digital Elevation Model product at 30 metre
resolution) Many provincial and some municipal governments are also
allowing downloads of their geospatial data for free. Manitoba has most
of its current data online for instance, Ontario is also making several
of its core topographic layers available for a very small fee.  The
National Capital Commission allows downloads of their geospatial data if
I'm not mistaken. I could go on and on.

So, a failure? I don't think so. I think we have to build on some of
these successes and not try and compare ourselves to the U.S. too much.
The federal government is not oblivious to the fact that data are mostly
free in the US. In many cases federal and provincial hands are tied
because of Crown Copyright and licensing policy, or they think their
hands are tied See Werschler's "Dissemination of Government Geographic
Data in Canada : Guide to Best Practices" at
http://cgdi-dev.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/publications/Best_practices_guide/Guide_to_Best_Practices_v12_finale_e.pdf 
Our data cultures are different and we can't change that overnight.

The Association of Canadian Map Libraries and Archives (ACMLA) along
with the Canadian Association of Public Data Users (CAPDU) have worked
hard at negotiating data deals over the years. What we in the ACMLA have
done is demonstrate the need for their data, how they can be used
(something they don't always know), and how we intend to use them. The
most effective argument we often have, however, is the ability to
demonstrate to them a similar deal with another organization (this also
works with industry). The strategy is often used at the provincial and
local level. I realize again that these are academic deals but it does
demonstrate the power of negotiation and communication and the
usefulness of building on past successes.

Marcel

Bob Gibson wrote:

> A wonderful illustration of the progressive effects of data liberation!
>
> Trouble is, without these demonstrations, the opposite (the retrograde
> effect of restricting data access) is never brought to light. In the
> eighties the Canadian government clamped restrictions on its GPS data
> properties (it still restricts access) which had the same effect on the
> Canadian information industry as did the cancellation of the Avro Arrow on
> the aerospace industry and Canadian R&D in general. If the Canadian
> government had had any foresight, we could have led the world in this field,
> thanks to the headstart we had from the resource and forestry industries who
> were pioneers in this area. As it turned out, US and UK firms took the lead,
> because they could access government data easily. This story, which as far
> as I know has never been told in print, deserves its own chapter in
> "Collosal Canadian Failures."
>
> I'd be interested in your thoughts on this, Marcel. Is my impression
> correct? Is there any sense of missed opportunity in the Canadian GPS world
> over this? Any attempt to correct the federal government's misguided
> thinking?
>
> Bob Gibson
> [hidden email]
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> CivicAccess-discuss mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://civicaccess.ca/mailman/listinfo/civicaccess-discuss_civicaccess.ca

--
------------------------------
Note: I am currently on research leave.
I am monitoring my email, but it may take longer than usual for me to reply.
If you require help with maps or Geographic Information Systems, please
contact [hidden email]
------------------------------
Marcel Fortin
GIS and Map Librarian, University of Toronto
130 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 1A5 416 946 0522