EasyTracGPS Debuts ComTracNVG “Pro” GPS Tracking and Fleet Management System

Lyons, IL - With the recent advent of the commercial vehicle handheld cell phone ban, fleets were presented with the challenge of communicating with their drivers without sacrificing effective management of their vehicles. EasyTracGPS’ ComTracNVG “Pro” addressed these concerns for fleet owners and managers nationwide.

Thru EasyTracGPS’ ComTrac™ Total Tracking Solution, the ComTracNVG “Pro” offers live 5 or 10 second GPS tracking position updates, reports and alerts. When integrated with any Garmin Nuvi 255, 265, and 465 Series device, the ComTracNVG “Pro” system also includes enhanced turn-by-turn voice navigation, interactive dispatching and routing, and 2-way one-touch communication capabilities.

“The handheld cell phone law shifted the landscape in fleet tracking and management technology,” stated Luis Vera, President of EasyTracGPS and also a fleet owner himself. “The use of handheld devices to communicate with dispatch can now lead to hefty fines for both the driver and the company. EasyTracGPS fully supports any initiative that promotes safer roads for everyone. Fleet operators had a new problem and we were committed to finding a solution. Our goal was to offer our clients a vehicle tracking and communications alternative that didn’t distract their drivers in the process. We are proud to say that the ComTracNVG 'Pro' accomplishes every goal that we had set for it from the outset.”

EasyTracGPS’ ComTrac™ line of GPS tracking systems are pioneering vehicle fleet and asset management, covert vehicle tracking, emergency and responder personnel tracking, and family GPS tracking. Their systems and solutions yield operational improvements and increased profits for clients worldwide. For additional information, visit www.easytracgps.com

ACE Launches New Global Mapping Tool to Help Clients Evaluate Catastrophe and Supply Chain Exposures

ACE and Willis Re Analytics launched the ACE Cat Web platform to help companies evaluate their own catastrophe exposures, as well as those of their suppliers and customers, as part of ACE’s commitment to help businesses prepare for changing risk in an increasingly globalised world.

Following the worst-ever year for global catastrophe losses in 2011, which highlighted the vulnerability of many companies’ operations to supply chain interruption, the web-based platform is designed to help businesses understand better their catastrophe risk profile and accumulations in different locations.

Using information on earthquake, storm and flood risk made available by risk modelling agency RMS along with information provided by the client, the ACE Cat Web Platform provides a unique on-line visualisation of the relative exposures that the client faces worldwide using a colour-coded global mapping feature. Satellite imagery can then be used to provide more detailed risk assessments of local risk by ACE’s engineering specialists. The platform can also be used to view past and current global natural hazard activity, including earthquake, storm and flood events, using data from USGS (the US Geological Survey). ACE will make the platform available to its risk engineers advising existing and potential new customers.

Commenting on the launch, Derek Talbott, Executive Vice President of ACE International said:

“2011 provided a wake-up call for many companies. Last year a number of disasters, from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami to the Thai floods, underlined the importance for every business of understanding the risk exposures they face from increasingly global and ever more complex production and supply chains.”

“The ACE Cat Web Platform allows us to help clients by identifying more precisely the natural catastrophe exposures they face as a result of doing business across multiple locations and working with suppliers and customers who may be exposed to the same risks. By pinpointing accumulation hot spots, companies can better assess the strengths and weaknesses of their supply chains and ACE can more easily work with them to develop the right programmes to manage the risks.”

Rowan Douglas, CEO Global Analytics, Willis Group, added:

"Willis is delighted to support ACE’s Cat Web Platform using our market-leading mapping and analysis technologies. Cat Web will provide rich insights for firms wanting greater control of their business continuity, underpinning ACE’s efforts to help clients manage their own catastrophe exposures and those generated by their supply chains.”

The ACE Group is one of the world’s largest multiline property and casualty insurers. With operations in 53 countries, ACE provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients.

ACE Limited, the parent company of the ACE Group, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ACE) and is a component of the S&P 500 index.

Willis Re Analytics helps clients around the globe quantify risk in order to support key business decisions. Professionals specialising in catastrophe modelling, actuarial science, financial analysis and enterprise risk management work as integral members of each client team, ensuring seamless access to their expertise. Using a range of advanced analytical techniques, Willis Re Analytics delivers actionable, practical results to address real-world business issues. The Willis Research Network offers further support through open academic research and the development of new risk models and applications.

U.S. Army Geospatial Center Provides Free Modeling and Simulation Terrain Databases

The U.S. Army Geospatial Center (AGC) is now distributing Modeling and Simulation (M&S) terrain databases along with operational geospatial products on its Common Map Background (CMB) website with the goal of providing a single repository for all geospatial products. There are 161 free synthetic terrain databases that support Live, Virtual, & Constructive (L/V/C) simulations used in training, testing and experimentation hosted on CMB. These M&S terrain databases are available in multiple formats suitable for use in Joint Semi-Automated Forces (JSAF), One Semi-Automated Forces (OneSAF), Virtual Battle Space 2 (VBS2) and other Department of Defense simulations. Available terrain databases include selected Army training areas as well as areas of recent Army deployments.

The terrain databases are available for download for free to the Department of Defense users with Common Access Cards at https://agcwfs.agc.army.mil/cmb_online/Default.aspx. CMB's graphical interface is easy to use and users can select M&S terrain databases using a simple map interface. The site also provides contact information to request new M&S terrain databases. Other M&S terrain database producers who wish to use CMB to redistribute their databases should contact the AGC's Geospatial Acquisition Support Directorate using the contact information on the site.

The U.S. Army Geospatial Center coordinates, integrates and synchronizes geospatial information requirements and standards across the Army, develops and fields geospatial enterprise-enabled systems and capabilities to the Army and Department of Defense, as well as provides direct geospatial support and products to Warfighters. To learn more about the AGC, please visit www.agc.army.mil.

TerraGo® Technologies Releases PublisherTM for ArcGIS® v.6 to Empower Esri Users

TerraGo® Technologies has released its PublisherTM for ArcGIS® v.6 software to enable Esri users to produce interactive, portable and intelligent TerraGo GeoPDF® maps, imagery and geospatial applications with unprecedented collaboration capabilities.

TerraGo Publisher for ArcGIS permits Esri users to extend, exchange and exploit their enterprise geospatial assets by producing multi-layer TerraGo GeoPDF maps and imagery. Users without sophisticated GIS tools or training can access, dynamically update and share compact geospatial information from any source and roundtrip it back to the enterprise GIS.

The new version of TerraGo Publisher for ArcGIS introduces enhanced collaboration capabilities and functionality that empowers users to:

Produce GeoPDF applications that are automatically enabled to allow anyone, anywhere using the no-cost v.6 TerraGo ToolbarTM with Adobe Reader® to update and share maps and imagery with georeferenced audio, video, notes, forms and Web services;

Support automated GeoPDF map book production using Esri data-driven pages;

Export ArcGIS map feature layers and attributes as geoforms into TerraGo GeoPDF maps. This new capability allows users to edit GeoPDF maps in the field with TerraGo Toolbar and Adobe Reader and return the updated geospatial information via Publisher to refresh the ArcGIS database.

TerraGo Publisher for ArcGIS software is complementary to and easily integrates with ArcGIS permitting large data-intensive geospatial files to be compactly shared, interactively updated and returned to the enterprise GIS to ensure more current and accurate geospatial information.

“TerraGo Publisher for ArcGIS v.6 promotes geospatial collaboration by making it easy to share geospatial intelligence in online and disconnected environments,” said Talbot Brooks, director, Delta State University Center for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Information Technologies. “Since 2005, we have relied on TerraGo geospatial collaboration software in our response to nearly 50 disasters worldwide and for producing thousands of on-demand maps for disaster planning, defense and other applications. The v.6 enhancements will further our ability to maximize the power of geospatial information across a multitude of applications.”

“The advanced collaboration and GeoPDF production capabilities of TerraGo Publisher for ArcGIS v.6 will help Esri users to more easily make geospatial information available to everyone,” said Rick Cobb, TerraGo president and CEO. “With the full suite of the newest versions of Publisher, Toolbar, ComposerTM for Adobe Acrobat® and SDK products now released, TerraGo looks forward to unleashing the power of enterprise geospatial information.”

TerraGo is a gold partner of Esri and Adobe is both a gold and development partner. TerraGo’s close partnership with these industry leaders facilitates its ability to fully leverage Adobe Reader, Acrobat PDF and ArcGIS capabilities to the benefit of Esri users and their customers.

To learn more about v.6 Publisher for ArcGIS, please register to join Talbot Brooks, director of the Delta State University Center for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Information Technologies, and TerraGo for an informative webinar at 2 p.m. Eastern May 15. For detailed product information and free trial software, visit http://www.terragotech.com/products/terrago-publisher-arcgis.

About TerraGo Technologies

TerraGo Technologies geospatial collaboration software and GeoPDF maps and imagery are among the most widely adopted solutions to produce, access, update and share geospatial information and applications with anyone, anywhere. TerraGo solutions enable enterprises to extend, exchange and exploit geo-referenced maps, imagery, audio, video and other intelligence in connected or offline environments. Trusted by government agencies and businesses worldwide, TerraGo solutions increase the use of geospatial data throughout and between enterprises and the return on geospatial investment through greater organizational efficiency, productivity and responsiveness. Founded in 2005, TerraGo is privately held and is an In-Q-Tel portfolio company. For more information, visit www.terragotech.com.

Intergraph Customer Wins ALGIM GIS Project of the Year Award

Intergraph® announces that Christchurch City Council (CCC) recently received the Association of Local Government Information Management (ALGIM) GIS Project of the Year Award. CCC received the award for implementing an innovative GIS solution in response to the devastating earthquake that took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, on February 22, 2011.

Christchurch City Council is New Zealand?s second-largest local government authority responsible for nearly 370,000 residents. A long-term Intergraph user, Christchurch City Council has implemented a suite of Intergraph solutions for managing and sharing up-to-date infrastructure services data with key stakeholders after the earthquake.

The serious level of damage from the earthquakes required solutions for managing the growing volumes of spatial data requests. Christchurch City Council needed to free up staff resources by removing any manual processes for data management and dissemination. The organization created a spatial data infrastructure (SDI) using web feature service (WFS) technology to make feeds of geospatial data continuously available to the various contracting organizations involved in quake recovery work.

"The "old? pre-quake process was very cumbersome, time-consuming and involved outputting snapshots of datasets into various formats, burning them to a CD or DVD and sharing them with many parties," said Kyle Dow, Senior Data Analyst, Corporate Data Team, Christchurch City Council. "This new implementation allowed us to share spatial data several times a day with minimal use of staff time, allowing us to free up our resources for other critical needs."

Through the use of a comprehensive product site license, the Christchurch City Council has a wide range of Intergraph geospatial products they can use including GeoMedia„¥, GeoMedia WebMap and GeoMedia SDI Pro. In addition, Intergraph donated local support services, as well as provided a global expert from its Canada office to help implement the SDI services functions of GeoMedia WebMap.

"In light of this tragedy, we are glad that we were able to support the response of the devastating earthquake in New Zealand last year," said Stephen Willson, New Zealand Country Manager, Intergraph Corporation. "We would like to congratulate the Christchurch City Council for winning the ALGIM GIS Project of the Year Award. The demands of the quake response have been huge on all staff at CCC, and this is deserved recognition of their efforts to deploy web services technology to speed up the quake recovery process."

The Christchurch City Council is now using this solution on a daily basis for increased efficiencies when sharing geospatial data with key stakeholders. Steps are also underway to stand up a Transactional WFS (WFS-T) to provide a read/write capability to and from external agencies.

Intergraph is the leading global provider of engineering and geospatial software that enables customers to visualize complex data. Businesses and governments in more than 60 countries rely on Intergraph’s industry-specific software to organize vast amounts of data to make processes and infrastructure better, safer and smarter. The company’s software and services empower customers to build and operate more efficient plants and ships, create intelligent maps, and protect critical infrastructure and millions of people around the world.

Intergraph operates through two divisions: Process, Power & Marine (PP&M) and Security, Government & Infrastructure (SG&I). Intergraph PP&M provides enterprise engineering software for the design, construction, operation and data management of plants, ships and offshore facilities. Intergraph SG&I provides geospatially powered solutions, including ERDAS technologies, to the public safety and security, defense and intelligence, government, transportation, photogrammetry, and utilities and communications industries. Intergraph Government Solutions (IGS) is an independent subsidiary for SG&I’s U.S. federal and classified business.

Intergraph is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hexagon AB (Nordic exchange: HEXA B). For more information, visit www.intergraph.com and www.hexagon.com.

DigitalGlobe to Present at the 40th Annual J.P. Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom Conference

DigitalGlobe (NYSE: DGI), a leading global provider of high-resolution earth imagery solutions, today announced that its management will be presenting at the J.P. Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 1:30 p.m. ET.

Live and archived audio webcasts of DigitalGlobe's presentation will be available on the investor relations portion of DigitalGlobe's website at www.digitalglobe.com.

DigitalGlobe is a leading global provider of commercial high-resolution earth imagery products and services. Sourced from our own advanced satellite constellation, our imagery solutions support a wide variety of uses within defense and intelligence, civil agencies, mapping and analysis, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure management, Internet portals and navigation technology. With our collection sources and comprehensive ImageLibrary (containing more than one billion square kilometers of earth imagery and imagery products) we offer a range of on- and off-line products and services designed to enable customers to easily access and integrate our imagery into their business operations and applications. For more information, visit www.digitalglobe.com

Cloud Based Public Crime Software Expands in North Carolina

Goldsboro, NC - MapNimbus.com, a cloud based public crime mapping software application, continues to expand its reach in the Southeast. Rockingham County, the City of Dunn, and the Town of Mayodan, North Carolina all have begun utilizing MapNimbus. Rockingham County recently underwent a change in their backend record management system (RMS) but continued with MapNimbus. MapNimbus is an Esri based tool developed by Geographic Technologies Group (GTG) in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Julio Garrido, Implementation Specialist for GTG points out that; “Rockingham County was concerned that a switch to their new RMS would impact their deployment of MapNimbus. They really love the interface and the public is extremely happy with the solution. Porting the application is seamless to the customer thus allowing uninterrupted service to the user community.”

Click here to read the full case study on MapNimbus being implemented throughout North Carolina.

About Geographic Technologies Group, Inc.

GTG is a full-service local government GIS consulting company offering specialized experience in the planning, design, implementation, and procurement of geo-technologies. GTG has unmatched technical GIS capabilities, demonstrated successes, international experience, and a reputation for successfully implementing the right solutions. GTG develops GIS products that spatially enable various enterprise solutions and integrates an organization's IT investment via a common interface. GTG also offers stand-alone products for land management, public safety, public access, touch screen technology, and utilities.

GTG has more than 700 clients located throughout North America and Europe and serves all levels of government as well as the private sector. To support our clients, GTG maintains four offices located across the United States: Headquarters in North Carolina, and regional offices in Texas, Florida, and Ohio.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting Geographic Technologies Group, Inc. at 888-757-4222 or you can access our website at www.geotg.com