Newsletter
October 2006
Spreading the word at AGI2006
DNF had a significant presence at AGI 2006 in September with a dedicated Forum running all
three days of the conference. It provided delegates and exhibition visitors alike with the
opportunity to drop in to hear presentations and demonstrations on all kinds of aspects of
DNF from case studies to discussions on technical issues. Meanwhile out on the exhibition
floor, those exhibitors with a 'DNF story' to tell were part of the 'DNF Trail' - visitors
collected pieces of the DNF jigsaw by visiting the stands and claimed their prize at the
end. Click here for more.
The presentations from the Forum are available on the DNF website and here.
New case studies
Two new case studies have been added to the portfolio bringing the current total to five, with more in the pipeline. The latest additions are 'Implementing the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000' and 'Creating Ordnance Survey's Integrated Transport Network'. The can be downloaded from the DNF website.
Technical Update
The Technical Group continues to progress the development of the DNF technical architecture
and the documentation that describes it. The Group which now boasts eleven members has met
once since the last newsletter. In addition there has been a great deal of e-mail activity
in the exchange of ideas and comments on documentation.
An overview
document is now available for downloading from the DNF website. This describes the
general DNF concepts and principles and is a guide to the other documentation and services
being developed in support of DNF. It has been issued at an interim stage and will evolve
and develop as more detailed work in the Technical Guides is published. The first Technical
Guide on Unique Object Identifiers has been available since June, the next Technical Guide
to appear will be the Association Model. Issue of the latter has been delayed to incorporate
a formal and comprehensive model in Unified Modelling Language (UML). A Technical Guide on
Coordinate Referencing Systems and Transformations is also in preparation.
Thirty-seven organisations have registered their unique prefixes using the DNF Registry.
Click here for more information.
Following the workshop held in early June, a Feature Cataloguing sub-group has been
established and had its first meeting in late August. It has set itself the task of (i)
developing a feature catalogue of OS Mastermap Topography objects that are eligible for
inclusion in the DNF Reference Base - this work is being led by Ordnance Survey and (ii)
developing guidance on the use of the ISO 19110 feature cataloguing standard in the context
of DNF. The next meeting of the sub-group is in early November.
The technical area of the DNF
website has been revised and now includes: a summary description of the DNF technical
architecture, areas for accessing and downloading technical documentation, a document
archive and development area - this has restricted access. We are continuing to work to
enhance the content of this area but any comments on how we can make further improvements
will be welcome.
DNF to extend its message
The DNF message is becoming accepted and established in the GI community so it is time to start spreading our message further afield. To this end the Communications Group hosted a Workshop recently to tease out which other 'communities' we should focus on. These communities could be sectors, professional groups, application users or even in one geographical area. For those participating the Workshop the priorities were in the transport, utilities, land and property and natural environment sectors, but other important sectors were identifed as 'socio-economic' and 'commerical'. The next stage will be identify advocates in the priority sectors, research the most suitable routes to engage with them and put an action plan in place. If you are aware of any 'communities' with which DNF should engage, please contact the DNF Communications Group on contact@dnf.org
New look website?
You may not have noticed immediately but there has been much work going on behind the scenes to improve the DNF website. Behind the apparently similar look and feel of the site is a re-structuring to make it easier to navigate around for 'old hands' and more approachable for newcomers. What do you think? Let us know. Email us on contact@dnf.org