Past funded projects

2020-2021 Contributions

Agreement Title: Municipal Energy and Emissions Database (MEED)

Recipient Legal Name: Sustainable Solutions Group (SSG) Workers Cooperative

City: Tatamagouche

Recipient Province or Territory: Nova Scotia

Agreement Value in CAD: $ 79,797

Project Objective and Expected Results:

The Municipal Energy and Emissions Database aims to develop energy and emissions inventories for municipalities in Canada using standardized data sources and to make the resulting baseline energy profiles and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventories openly and freely available to download and view with web-based visualizations. Municipalities will be able to leverage the value in this offering but in particular, small-to-medium sized municipalities will gain access to a tool otherwise out of their financial or technical reach. This project represents a significant enabling and accelerating opportunity for municipal GHG reductions in Canada and requires the integration of diverse geospatial datasets on a common platform. The project addresses issues of data findability and discoverability, interoperability and geospatial analysis-ready data.

The recipient will develop and deploy an integrated geospatial platform that tracks GHG emissions for municipalities using advanced data processing, integrating diverse open data sets into a common data visualisation platform. SSG`s platform will be open source and incorporate Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).

2018-2019 Contributions

• Utilizing Optical Earth observation Data to Support Maritime Domain Awareness in Canada
• Adoption of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure for Real-Time Air Quality Monitoring in Canada’s Urban Environments
• Polar Code Application – Decision Support and Compliance
• Delivering scalable Open Geospatial Consortium data services in the Cloud
• Development of a Prototype Multi-Temporal Climate Change Analysis System for Earth observation and Supporting Geospatial Data for Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Standards-based System for Near Real-Time 3D Online Mapping of the Globe by Integrating

 

Agreement Title: Utilizing Optical Earth observation Data to Support Maritime Domain Awareness in Canada through Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure Based Web Framework

Recipient Legal Name: 4DM Inc.

City: Toronto

Recipient Province or Territory: Ontario

Agreement Value in CAD: $65,316

Project Objective and Expected Results:

The main objective of the Project is to apply satellite imagery in near real-time to support maritime surveillance for vessel monitoring in Canadian waters and disseminate the geospatial data using Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) web services.

The Recipient will develop a web framework for Object Motion Mapping (OMM) based on Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure adopted standard technologies and operational policies to support interoperable dissemination of geospatial data developed in the project through the web/internet. OMM is a precommercialized, patent pending desktop software that has the capabilities of providing ship information with respect to detection, characterization, motion, position, and tracking depending on the data source used.

The key output of the Project will be:

• A web framework for OMM based on CGDI. The web framework will include Web Map Services, Web Coverage Services, and Web Feature Services (WMS, WCS, WFS) for access to the data using a secure connection.

The Recipient will build components that will web enable OMM content into a Cloud/Server environment to provide Software as a Service (SaaS). The project will focus on monitoring of ships for situational awareness. The Recipient will utilize Sentinel-2 data to create a process to automate the retrieval, processing and extracting of ship locations and characteristics using components of OMM. Sentinel-2 data provides a coverage area of 100km x 100km for each tile at 10m spatial resolution and on average is made available approximately 5 hours after sensing through the Open Access Hub Application Programming Interface (API) provided by the European Space Agency. Image sample will also be available to the collaborative partners using web services. The type of information includes identifying naval, cargo, fishing ships, and small crafts both in open ocean and near-shore. Compiled vessel traffic data for the tile area will also be made available by the Recipient through the web services.

 

Agreement Title: Adoption of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure for Real-Time Air Quality Monitoring in Canada’s Urban Environments

Recipient Legal Name: A.U.G. Signals LTD.

City: Toronto

Recipient Province or Territory: Ontario

Agreement Value in CAD: $80,000

Project Objective and Expected Results:

The main objective of the Project is to develop and evaluate sensor-based methods for utilizing geospatial air quality data, in preparation for Canada’s future smart cities. By generating and providing online standards-based high-density air quality data, compliant with global standards, the Project will integrate geospatial data in near-real time on the Internet.

Sensor-equipped smart cities are expected to emerge over the upcoming decade and relevant infrastructure is being planned and installed; a case in point is the smart lighting systems that many cities investing in. This project will give the opportunity for the cities to accelerate their effort in transitioning to the smart city for a smarter, more environmental friendly city.

The Recipient will demonstrate the feasibility of using sensor technologies to collect and communicate geospatial air quality and demonstrate the integration of sensor and spatial data infrastructure data to create maps of air quality in urban centres. The Recipient will translate the knowledge derived from the Project to government clients and stakeholders to promote the use of a spatial data infrastructure for environmental monitoring, health studies and urban planning.

This key outputs of the Project will be:

• An interactive website that demonstrates the feasibility of creating sensor-based geospatial information that may be integrated into Canada’s future smart cities.
• Maps of air quality that integrate data from conventional monitoring and innovative sensor technologies with other CGDI-based data.
• A final report that will be shared with relevant stakeholders in federal, provincial, regional and municipal government agencies.
• Conference presentations and journal publications that will help promote Canada’s international profile as being at the leading edge of using novel geospatial information over the Internet.

 

Agreement Title: Polar Code Application – Decision Support and Compliance

Recipient Legal Name: C-CORE

City: St John’s

Recipient Province or Territory: Newfoundland and Labrador

Agreement Value in CAD: $145,882

Project Objective and Expected Results:

The main objective of the Project is to build a Polar Code Application software to integrate Synthetic Aperture Radar data of Arctic sea ice with vector based eastern Arctic sea ice products from Canadian Ice Services. It will provide access to historical as well as near real-time data sets over the Internet in a bandwidth challenged environment that is intermittently offline. This Project will address a gap in availability of an “offline” function for various satellite imagery types that require frequent updates. The Polar Code Application will be used as a decision support tool for ships navigating in polar regions with the highest level of safety for human life and protection of polar environments in compliance with the Polar Code. The Recipient will promote the Polar Code Application online as well as through specific demonstrations to shipping ice pilots.

The United Nations’ agency responsible for the safety and security of shipping adopted the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code), which became effective in January 2017. The Polar Code requires vessels to have “up to date” nautical information such as ice charts, and the ice extent available for safe navigation. The application has an immediate identified need and will be tested in 2019-2020.

The Recipient will develop the Polar Code Application, which will provide an easy to use interface to act as a conduit for a broader audience access to radar based satellite imagery as well as vector-based ice chart products.

The Recipient will implement the Project and accomplish the task of transferring large raster data as well as relevant vector products using open standards. The Project will use industry best practices and emerging geospatial data standards in a bandwidth challenged environment that is intermittently offline, allowing users the option to download data when connectivity is available. The Project scope includes a desktop and mobile application version of the solution. The Recipient has developed a business plan for the commercialization of the Polar Code service.

The service will be expandable to incorporate more of Canada’s geospatial information, including the upcoming RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM).

 

Agreement Title: Delivering scalable Open Geospatial Consortium data services in the Cloud

Recipient Legal Name: CUBEWERX INC.

City: Gatineau

Recipient Province or Territory: Quebec

Agreement Value in CAD: $268,273

Project Objective and Expected Results:

The primary objective of this Project is to reduce the time required to access, process, and publish satellite and geospatial content to a broad audience on the Internet, and considerably reduce the process flow from collections to decision-making.

As part of this Project, the Recipient will deliver new web mapping service products that can automatically aggregate imagery content from other Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) compliant map servers and scale up and down to serve maps to more than hundreds of thousands of concurrent users. The Recipient will achieve this by releasing a new pre-commercial product that is compliant to OGC standards and respond to the needs of integrating various sources of satellite and geospatial data by developing a Web Integration Service (WIS) that can aggregate geospatial content from remote OGC compliant Web Mapping Services and Web Map Tile Services.

The key project outputs will be:

• The ability to keep a web mapping service current through on-going image uploading activities.
• The ability to automatically integrate web-mapping data services by aggregating other compliant map services.

 

Agreement Title: Development of a Prototype Multi-Temporal Climate Change Analysis System for Earth observation and Supporting Geospatial Data for Environment and Climate Change Canada

Recipient Legal Name: PCI GEOMATICS ENTERPRISES INC.

City: Gatineau

Recipient Province or Territory: Quebec

Agreement Value in CAD: $143,782

Project Objective and Expected Results:

The primary objective of this Project is to integrate disparate sources of Earth observation data over multiple decades for the Pollutant, Inventories and Reporting Division of Environment and Climate Change Canada, to make them accessible over the web for analysis by decision makers and other interested stakeholders in near real time.

As part of this Project, the Recipient will develop a porotype web-based system that dramatically improves access to pre-processed satellite imagery to support evidence-based methods to guide decision making through a process known as multi-temporal analysis.

The key project outputs will be:

• advancement on how multi-sensor satellite imagery is integrated to support decision making for Canadian policy stakeholders
• improved access to information derived from satellite imagery through the systematic processing and organization into spatio-temporal data cubes
• a demonstration web interface that can be used to assist with the Recipient’s commercialization efforts in positioning it as a provider of innovative solutions to leverage big Earth observation data stacks
• a public awareness and marketing campaign within the Recipient’s marketing reach to showcase Canadian technology and know-how with respect to geospatial data and infrastructure as demonstrated via this project

 

Agreement Title: Standards-based System for Near Real-Time 3D Online Mapping of the Globe by Integrating

Various Sources of Satellite Data and Geospatial Data

Recipient Legal Name: University of New Brunswick

City: Fredericton

Recipient Province or Territory: New Brunswick

Agreement Value in CAD: $166,349

Project Objective and Expected Results:

The main objective of the Project is to improve the speed of a global 3D online mapping technology to effectively access and integrate various sources of satellite data and geospatial data. The Project will focus on the development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) supported and standards-based system for near real-time 3D online mapping of the globe.

The Recipient will enhance the processing speed and efficiency of their 3D online mapping system by adding standards-based solutions to achieve near-real-time 3D online mapping of the area of interest in the globe, using various sources of satellite data and geospatial data.

The key outputs of the Project will be:

• A functional prototype of a modern online 3D mapping system.
• Modern analytic tools that can do Line-of-Sight 3D analytics.
• Software apps that can use 2D and 3D computers, Virtual Reality, glasses-free 3D smartphones/laptops to see in 3D.

The Recipient will explore the development of 3D content and 3D technology specifically in 3D online mapping. The Recipient will integrated existing 2D mapping and 2D geospatial data standards into the generation of 3D mapping contents and the application of newly emerging 3D tools. The Recipient will enhance its 3D online mapping system to effectively use geospatial data for a wide range of applications nationally and internationally. The Recipient describes its 3D mapping technology as being groundbreaking and disruptive in the geospatial industry of 3D generation and online mapping. The Recipient’s solution will effectively utilize the existing Earth observation images and geospatial data to create 3D mapping information, distribute the 3D information through the internet, and visualize and analyze the information using modern 3D devices.

2016-2018 Contributions

• Mapping for Sustainable Cities: Creating a National Urban Geomatics Information Network for Smart Cities in Canada
• Open Smart Cities in Canada
• Geospatial Decision Support Platform
• Smart Citizens for Smart Communities: IoT-based Smart Cities Sensor Networks for Canadian Cities and Arctic Communities

Project: Geospatial Mapping for Sustainable Cities: Creating a National Urban Geomatics Information Network for Smart Cities in Canada

Lead Proponent: International Institute for Sustainable Development

Project Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba

GeoConnections Contribution: $40,021

Project Total: $61,888

Theme: Increase access of municipal indicators and geospatial data that supports effective decision making to a broad user base.

Project Objective and Expected Results
The primary objective of this project is to increase access of city-specific geospatial data that supports effective decision making to a broad user base including non-governmental organizations, educators and teachers, community leaders, private industry and the media.

The project plans to:

• Develop a nationwide network of practitioners with increased knowledge of geospatial data and indicator use:
• Work with collaborators to provide input into the development of a web-based tool;
• Develop a streamlined process to convert spatial and tabular data from public, private and charitable sectors into a standardized format with institutional arrangements and purpose-built software tools:
• Develop a web-based tool for municipalities to integrate and communicate spatial data to interested parties;
• Develop a tool that will increase the interactive nature of maps; and
• Increase the public's use of the data.

The expected result is the development of a spatial data infrastructure tool, as a proof of concept, with end-user communities training, testing and implementation in Winnipeg (MB), Peterborough (ON), Bridgewater and Cumberland County (NS).

Project: Open Smart Cities in Canada

Lead Proponent: Open North Inc.

Project Location: Ontario

GeoConnections Contribution: $109,735

Project Total: $177,350

Theme: Innovative adoption and further development of CGDI in Canada’s urban environments (also known as Smart Cities)

Project Objective and Expected Results

The objective of this project is to develop a guideline for interoperable Open Data and Smart City deployment policies, practices, standards and systems to inform smart city procurement processes, and support their implementation in ways that ensure the maintenance and updating of geospatial data in compliance with global standards. Through this guideline, the project aims to increase awareness of tools, processes, and procedures to produce open geospatial data, and aid in determining the priority data that will become public and contribute to the Smart Cities Initiative.  The expected results are:

• Creation of a gap analysis of Open Data standards and policies in Smart City systems.
• Development of a Canadian Open Smart City Assessment Report that will be presented and disseminated to City networks and associations.
• Development of an inter-jurisdictional framework and the Policy and Technological Guidelines for City managers to be shared via a webinar.

This project will engage key cities and provinces in a structured engagement process that will lead to open geospatial guidelines and standards for Smart Cities that could be scaled across Canada for cities of all sizes. The project will help Canadian cities to increase their awareness of tools, processes, and procedures to produce open geospatial data, and will contribute to the development of national policies, standards and mechanisms in relation to open municipal data. The project will be informed by expert professionals and Open Data specialists in urban administrations and the Province of Ontario, which governs some of Canada’s largest cities. This will insure that the analysis and recommendations can be operationalized by cities across Canada in accordance with global best practices. The implementation of these guidelines and recommendations will create enabling conditions for increased service delivery efficiency, as well as creating greater access to Open Data for both the public and private sectors.

Project: Geospatial Decision Support Platform

Lead Proponent: AMITA Corporation

Project Location: Toronto, Ontario, Ottawa, Ontario and Vancouver, British Columbia

GeoConnections Contribution: $180,000

Project Total: $202,298

Theme: Innovative adoption and further development of CGDI in Canada’s urban environments (also known as Smart Cities)

Project Objective and Expected Results

The objective of this project is to develop a Geospatial Decision Support Platform (GDSP) to enable city planners the ability to answer advanced geospatial questions through Open Data. The GDSP is to target everyday problems of managing a city, specifically the questions that affect the efficiency of municipal operations and ensure minimal impact to citizens and businesses. Expected results include:

• The production of user and system test reports for 2 prototype systems and the delivery of a Minimum Viable Product of the Geospatial Decision Support Platform.
• The development and testing of the GDSP in conjunction with Canadian cities.
• The identification of key requirements for geospatial solutions and the development of question sets that will be the basis of GDSP knowledge.
• Securing and connecting data sets from the municipalities via the GDSP to beta test the GSDP and implement any revisions.

This project will demonstrate how geospatial based solutions are cost effective and efficient, thus fueling the demand for geospatial data, applications and standards while keeping Canada at the leading edge of accessing, sharing and using geospatial information over the Internet.

Project: Smart Citizens for Smart Communities: IoT-based Smart Cities Sensor Networks for Canadian Cities and Arctic Communities

Lead Proponent: SensorUp Inc.

Project Location: Calgary, Alberta

GeoConnections Contribution: $350,000

Project Total: $621,570

Theme: Innovative adoption and further integration of sensor data with the CGDI in Canada’s Arctic (also known as Sensor Web or Internet of Things)

Project Objective and Expected Results

The objectives of this project are: to demonstrate that Smart Cities Internet of Things (IoT) platforms can be developed efficiently and effectively with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards and become an integral part of the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) and Arctic SDI; to demonstrate interoperability through implementing standards and policies based on citizen sensing data from multiple Canadian cities and northern communities; to empower Smart Citizens by collecting and understanding data through IoT sensor nodes and publishing data through the application of OGC standards and open data policies; and to create, promote, sustain and grow the SC_Squared Open Source and an Open Data community to sustain geospatial IoT data and compatibility with global standards. The expected results for this project are:

• Establishment of the Smart Citizens for Smart Communities Sensor Network (SC_Squared) platform. SC_Squared will connect 500 citizen-based IoT nodes across ten Canadian communities including northern communities using OGC standard SensorThings API;
• Delivery of air quality monitoring data and the analysis of results from 1,500 sensor data streams continuously, as open data in real-time using OGC standards SensorThings API and WMS;
• Recruitment of 500 citizens from 10 Canadian cities/northern communities to install air quality monitoring sensors and monitor air quality information via the SC_Squared platform. These Smart Citizens are expected to increase citizen understanding of Smart Cities and spawn citizen participation; and,
• Development of SC_Squared software libraries, using OGC SensorThings API, for accessing the sensor information; and release the source code of SC_Squared software libraries via Eclipse Whiskers and public GitHub code repository, under open source licenses.

This project will deliver an open standards based IoT Network for air quality monitoring and analysis. Through this project, CGDI will help cities and communities overcome the fragmented market and island solutions they are facing. This project will increase the awareness of the benefits of using standards based geospatial data and tools to achieve goals for social, economic and environmental priorities.