Newsletter
February 2008
DNF Roadshow programme 2008
In conjunction with AGI, the DNF Expert Group is planning to run four one day DNF Roadshows this year in Cardiff, Manchester, Edinburgh and London.
The 2008 Roadshows will be centred on three key themes:
. DNF is the foundation for meeting INSPIRE directives for handling public sector data
. DNF is key to achieving transformation across central and local government
. DNF is able to achieve business efficiencies through better quality for commercial organisations
The programme has been designed to address these important issues through a mixture of presentations, workshops and a supporting exhibition. More information on the programme and sponsorship opportunities will be posted on the AGI and DNF websites as soon as it becomes available.
Roadshow Dates for your diary:
Cardiff - The Millennium Stadium, 7 May 2008
Manchester - University of Manchester, 4 June 2008
Edinburgh - Dynamic Earth, 5 June 2008
London - Royal Statistical Society (RSS), 10 June 2008
Expert Group update
The last Expert Group was held at the British Geological Survey's [BGS] offices in Keyworth, near Nottingham on the 28th November. The Technical Forum included a presentation of the DNF Demonstrator that Manchester Geomatics have been developing, given by Ed Scrase and an update on the progress of the Implementing Rules being developed as part of the EU INSPIRE Directive.
Technical update
The DNF Technical Group has continued its work on the DNF technical architecture and the supporting documentation and services. The Group has nine members and has met once since the last Newsletter. The sub-groups working on feature cataloguing, cross-referencing and coordinate referencing systems and transformations have been active. A successful workshop on the nature of the DNF Reference Base was held in early February (see separate item).
For a roadmap of the activities of the Technical Group see the DNF Overview document.
Click here to find the document which has been revised recently.
The Feature Cataloguing sub-group have now:
. Completed work on the DNF cataloguing tool based on Microsoft® Office Access which conforms to the ISO standard for feature cataloguing (ISO 19110) - the tool will be available on the website shortly;
. Created an area on the DNF Registry to allow organisations to register their feature catalogues. These can be displayed via the DNF website using a DNF stylesheet. Currently there is one entry from Ordnance Survey who has catalogued the Topography Layer of OS MasterMap®. To view
Click here it gives a very good idea of the potential and benefit of creating feature catalogues.
The sub-group is now working on a Technical Guide for feature cataloguing.
The Co-ordinate Referencing Systems sub-group have established an area on the DNF Registry which gives an overview of all the common spatial reference systems in use in the UK. The defining parameters for:
. ETRS89
. WGS 84
. OSGB 1936 / British National Grid
. OSNI 1952 / Irish National Grid
. IRENET95 / Irish Transverse Mercator
. TM75 / Irish Grid
.
are provided Click here. The intention is to develop a more comprehensive service with links to other definitive sources.
Work on the Technical Guide on cross-referencing has also continued. The scope has been widened following sub-group meetings.
The Technical Group has maintained a strong interest in INSPIRE (the initiative for developing a regional SDI) since it aligns closely to it. DNF is a registered SDIC (Spatial Data Interest Community) and has commented on the Implementing Rules as they have issued in draft form.
The Technical Group would welcome your participation in the group or sub-group activities, please Email.
Workshop on the nature of the DNF Reference Base
This DNF workshop held on 1st February had the aim of examining the current definition of the DNF Reference Base and the practicalities that this presents for some DNF users. These are principally those working in the earth sciences and other communities where a base using topographic objects presents practical difficulties when cross-referencing. The workshop was attended by 14 people drawn from a number of agencies concerned with the environment in UK, English Heritage, local authorities and Land Registry.
The main conclusions from the workshop were that more flexibility was required and that particular user communities could create their own reference bases developed within a common framework of DNF principles and guidance e.g. use of common coordinate referencing systems, feature catalogues, object identification and defined life-cycles. Where possible and feasible, the geometry of the object representations should be shared. There was also the potential to improve the quality of the "topographic" reference base.
These quite radical ideas need to be developed further. Before this, the principles need to be accepted by the Expert Group. A presentation of the results of the workshop will be given at the next meeting in March and approval sought to take these ideas further.