ArcGIS - Geoportal Extension 10

The DATA+ company announced in September, 2010 that the ArcGIS family product – Geoportal Extension 10 – will be available to all Russian users of the geographic information systems constructed based on Esri technologies. Now, thanks to Geoportal Extension 10, any Russian organization will be able to unroll the managed scalable safe system of the publication of metadata about the geoinformation resources. At the same time, due to support of technology of web services and the majority of standards of metadata this product will sharply simplify work of employees with external and internal geoinformation services.

Geoinformatsiony web services are a new and most perspective mode of work with the various data having a space binding. Standardization of protocols of information exchange and structure of metadata (the formalized descriptions of the geoinformation resources represented by suppliers) allows to integrate easily within one interface a cartographic substrate and additional layers of data "imposed" on it, for example, about results of sales, distribution of consumers, a status of natural resources, production facilities, transport infrastructure. The thematic card created thus, in turn, can be supplied with metadata and is published in the form of geoinformation web service. The relevance of such approach increases and because in recent years as a part of modern ICs geographic information systems even more often are responsible for integration of diverse information resources at levels of divisions, the enterprises in general, transnational industry clusters and the regional infrastructures of space data (ISD).

The server line of software of ArcGIS completely supports all set of technologies for creation and combination of web services, the publication of geodata in the Internet and the intranet and, thereby, implementations of all IPD components. At the same time, growth of popularity of geoinformation web services, permanent emergence of the new dynamically updated information resources bring to the forefront of a problem of search and cataloguing of sources of geographical information and also automation of support of these directories in current status. Software of ArcGIS Geoportal Extension is the most effective tool of the solution of all these tasks.

Given software allows to create at enterprise one or several geoportals with directories of the metadata describing geoinformation resources of the enterprise, his partners, any providers of commercial or public services. At the same time directly from a source it is possible to import the general description and specific characteristics of the provided information. All these data can automatically be updated on the schedule set for each resource. Besides, in the directory it is possible to enter additional data, adding, for example, a key word from the standard corporate dictionary or access restriction both for employees, and for external users.

One more distinctive feature of software of ArcGIS Geoportal Extension is the flexible search mechanism. So, in search query it is possible to set not only usual filters of text information, but also space constraints (coordinate of area, the name of geographical objects), masks of the addresses or the name of trunks, hotels, restaurants, etc. and also to consider belonging of objects to theme groups (for example, a road network, power, communication, life and entertainments, etc.).

It is easy to visualize the received set of links, using the client software or online-services supporting work with geoinformation (for example, ArcGIS.com). Let's note that the Esri company offers it to software and for standard PCs, and for smartphones and tablets: ArcGIS for iOS (mobile devices of Apple company), ArcGIS Mobile and ArcPAD (devices based on Windows Mobile).

Support of standards of the metadata applied to the description of geoinformation resources is considerably expanded by ArcGIS Geoportal Extension 10. Besides, thanks to a full integration with the ArcGIS server software initial setup and administration of storages of metadata considerably became simpler. At the same time the majority of functions on creation, administration and use of storages metedanny can be executed via the browser – using the built-in web applications. At last, there was a feedback mechanism of suppliers of resources with users who can assign scores through storage of metadata and enter comments.