1. SOLVING THE
CHALLENGES OF DATA
INTEROPERABILITY:
A practical approach
Darwin Jayson Mariano
Location has always been an important element in understanding the activities that
are happening around us. Mapping specific locations has been an important way for
humans to understand each other and the world around them. With the progress of
modern technology, new tools have been developed to expand the breadth of this
capability and make geospatial information more powerful and much more useful.
One of the key challenges faced by military and defense organisations in the area
of geospatial intelligence is the interoperability issue that still continues to hound
various levels of the military hierarchy.
In building spatial data infrastructure, it is important to consider whether it can
achieve a level of interoperability, enough to render the entire infrastructure useful
and much more meaningful. The ability to exchange information between disparate
systems is an absolute fundamental principle of modern defense systems and of
GIS.
“The geospatial community has a number of mature standards bodies across Defense
and the international community such as DGIWG and OGC. These standards bodies
are absolutely essential to interoperability and will continue to be so into the future,”
says Brett Dixon, Asia Pacific Defense Business Development Manager for ESRI,
leading provider of Geographic Information System (GIS) software and geodatabase
management applications. “Whilst the geospatial community has led the way in
terms of standards-based interoperability, it is a continuous journey. Geospatial
organisations in Defence and industry must make an ongoing commitment to
standards development to ensure they remain relevant and effective.”
Brigadier-General Dato’ Zaharin bin Din, Director, Defence Geospatial Division for
Department of Survey and Mapping Agency (JUPEM), Malaysia shares a similar
view: “Our focus is on building the foundation for interagency interoperability with
the public and government domains as well as with the Security/Defence domains.
Our enterprise development programmes were geared towards bridging this gap.
Since we launched our development programme in 2007, we have progressed into
the intermediate phase. As a result, we are able to make sure that all of our systems
can fit into that.
“We’ve spent a good amount of effort breaking down the issues and we’ve worked
hard to make information very discoverable and accessible to our customer.”
www.GeospatialDefenceAsia.com

2. SOLVING THE CHALLENGES
OF DATA INTEROPERABILITY:
A practical approach
Dealing with multiple data models,
no longer a big issue
There has been much debate about the creation of single, enterprise data models to enable
interoperability. Key proponents for and against it present substantive arguments that could
sway the debate to either direction. However, dealing with multiple data models these days,
may not necessarily be as bad as before.
“Data models are created to optimise the data’s application in particular environments,
operations and systems. In the realm of geospatial intelligence we are dealing with data
models for a variety of environments and, military and intelligence activities. So, I think we
will be dealing with multiple data models for a long time to come. In many ways, it is now
less of an issue when you consider the many exchange standards, technologies and practices
in place to support the dissemination and fusion of disparate datasets. We only need look
at the evolution of web services and their ability to normalise differing datasets into a single
view.
“A good example of this is the fusion of hydrographic, topographic and meteorological
information to support amphibious operations. Multiple, disparate datasets published as web
services and fused to provide a recognised environmental picture” says Esri’s Brett Dixon.
During periods of wartime or natural disasters, poor
system efficiency will inevitably lead to misguided decisionmaking or indecision. A crisis could easily blow up into a
catastrophe.
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3. SOLVING THE CHALLENGES
OF DATA INTEROPERABILITY:
A practical approach
Upgrading your GIS system
A major challenge with Asian geospatial systems is in combining multiple data types into a
single, readable picture. It is often the case that data sets are either incompatible or require
too much time to incorporate with existing intelligence. During periods of wartime or natural
disasters, poor system efficiency will inevitably lead to misguided decision-making or
indecision. A crisis could easily blow up into a catastrophe.
Given that many defence organisations still deal with legacy systems and perhaps thinking
of refining/upgrading the existing GIS system, it is timely that Anthony Griffiths of the
Department of Environment & Primary Industries (DEPI), Australia will be conducting
a workshop entitled “SOLVING THE CHALLENGES OF DATA INTEROPERABILITY AND
POOR SYSTEM EFFICIENCY” at the coming Geospatial Defence & Intelligence APAC 2013
happening on 17-18 September in Singapore.
In addressing issues related to data interoperability, it is important to consider fresh options
for refining your existing GIS system to operate as efficiently and as effectively as possible.
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4. SOLVING THE CHALLENGES
OF DATA INTEROPERABILITY:
A practical approach
1.
Engage in open discussions about
your systems true capabilities.
An open and candid discussion about the strengths and
limitations of your system’s true capabilities is essential in
identifying ways to further improve it. In this exercise,
it is important to get key stakeholders involved and include
subject matter experts in running the dialogue.
2. Benchmark what other GIS experts
are doing to get the most out of their
data.
Benchmarking with other experts who have encountered
challenges similar or even far worse than you have ever
encountered, is a good way to strengthen your own
GEOINT capabilities. By hearing first-hand what experts’
experiences were and how they were able to address
specific issues, you can avoid a costly errors that could
affect your organization.
3. Understand exactly what types of
cost-effective upgrades are available
now.
Upgrading your systems’ capabilities is always ideal but
not necessarily practical. By knowing the types of costeffective solutions available out there, you can realize
exponential growth in benefits and a more scalable
organization moving forward.
Be part of Asia’s most important geospatial intelligence event of the year. Hear directly from
NATO, USA, UK, Australia, South Korea and other organisations for expert insights on the most
up-to-date sensing technologies and Identify how your geospatial processes can be cost-effectively
improved and optimized. For more information, visit www.geospatialdefenceasia.com
REGISTER NOW! enquiry@iqpc.com.sg ¡ +65 6722 9388
Darwin Jayson Mariano is the Digital Content Manager and Regional Editor for IQPC Worldwide. You can contact him on
Twitter @whoisdarwin or email darwin.mariano@iqpc.com.sg
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