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Geo Informatics 1-2008
industrynews trimble acquires engineering and construction accessories company trimble announced today it has acquired privatelyheld crain enterprises, inc. of mound city, illinois, in an all-cash transaction. crain is a leading manufacturer of accessories for the geomatics, surveying, mapping, and construction industries. financial terms were not disclosed. crain’s product lines include tripods, bipods, leveling rods, measuring rulers, prisms, prism and gps poles, stream gauges, wire installation tools, as well as bags, packs, and sewn carrying cases for surveying and positioning instruments. the purchase of crain allows trimble to provide the necessary accessories that can be offered as part of its positioning solutions used in the engineering and construction markets. in addition, crain and trimble will be able to leverage distribution channels. “crain will enable us to augment our existing product lines by offering accessories as part of our solutions portfolio,” said jim veneziano, general manager of trimble’s construction division. “since accessories are often key to achieving total system performance, this acquisition will enable us to better satisfy user needs.” steve crain, president and ceo of crain enterprises and the staff of crain enterprises will join trimble and operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary as part of trimble’s engineering and construction segment. years ago. in turn, this generates more wealth for a country, he writes. though it runs counter to popular belief, even clogged freeways and packed commuter trains are very useful, generating nearly half a nation’s wealth by interconnecting people and facilitating exchanges of know-how between them, poulit says. and, according to the author, access to natural spaces, such as parks, rivers, beaches, and mountains, is increasing constantly, creating greater well-being. poulit also discusses transportation’s negative effects on the environment and makes a case for improving mass transit, adding bullet trains, and combating the greenhouse effect by promoting vehicles that rely on hydrogen and fuel cells. door map content for the new onix series of handheld gps devices. through this agreement, bushnell customers will be able to access digital terrain data, roads, trails, and points of interest for most recreation areas in the united states. intermap's accuterra mapping data will provide rich content for the contiguous 48 states and hawaii. digital maps for geographic specific regions - small or large - will be available from bushnell in early 2008. "this partnership means that bushnell customers will enjoy a user experience previously unavailable," states eric desroche, senior vice president of consumer electronics for intermap technologies. "our accuterra recreational map data is the highest quality data available for gps devices and we're pleased that bushnell recognizes the value that our map content brings to their line of gps products." accuterra will feature several layers of geospatial information including elevation data, trails, paths, hydrology and roads, and outdoor-specific points of interest, such as campgrounds, service facilities, and trail heads. also included will be a land use display that clearly shows the location of public and private property boundaries. accuterra data will be available on the bushnell onix series beginning in 2008. "intermap's new recreational datasets are an excellent complement to our line of onix gps navigation systems," said phil gyori, vice president at bushnell. "our customer's favorite outdoor and recreational activities will now be significantly enhanced thanks to some of the best off-road maps on the market today." www.esri.com/esripress waterstone lands $2.4 million contract with air force waterstone environmental engineering inc has been awarded a $2.4 million software development contract to provide a decision support tool for 13 air force bases under the air education and training command. the interactive, geospatial support tool is to be used for a wide range of environmental and planning issues carried out at the bases in alabama, arkansas, arizona, missouri, oklahoma, and texas. “basically waterstone was contracted to create a program where none had been before,” said doug belscher, waterstone coo, “and as a small, womanowned company we are delighted to work with the air force.” waterstone’s innovative software tool enables air force users to couple their existing geospatial information with site-specific environmental data, allowing them to walk through a 3-d model of each base and call up multiple layers of meaningful data. the tasks include risk assessment, evaluation of conceptual hydrogeologic models, and optimization of longterm groundwater monitoring programs. “one of our main goals is to provide decision makers with answers to planning questions that are asked on a regular basis.” said carla johnson, waterstone ceo. “users can navigate underneath, above and around buildings to pinpoint potential contamination sites, review 45 years of associated reports and documents, identify groundwater depth or assess the impact of a proposed building, all with a click on the landscape.” in addition to greatly facilitating environmental planning, regulatory compliance, stakeholder communication and data sharing, the air force anticipates cost savings at a minimum of $5 million per year through faster, more informed decision-making. the contract, expected to take several years to complete, was awarded based on the leading-edge environmental engineering work carried out by waterstone during the previous three years at altus air force base in oklahoma. www.crainent.com new esri book on sustainable development jean long, poulit’s distin- www.intermap.com. guished government career in france, mainly as a transportation and urban planner, gave him unique insights into where and how far people will and shopping. in connecting travel for work, recreation, people while preserving the planet: essays on sustainable development, a new esri press book, poulit presents his vision of building intelligent and healthy living spaces and transportation systems to protect the environment and spur economic growth. poulit’s methodologies and findings show how people’s travel behavior affects the economy, job opportunities, and the environment. while poulit focuses on france and the european union, his wealth of knowledge should prove illuminating to futurists, transportation officials, urban planners, government officials, and environmentalists worldwide. poulit writes that four in-depth transportation surveys conducted between 1976 and 2001 in france provided data about the number of trips people took daily and the distances they traveled by foot, on public transportation, and in motorized vehicles. the results showed that they’re reaching newer and more far-flung destinations to shop, seek better jobs, and enjoy nature because of improved transportation systems, even though they spend about the same amount of time in transit as they did more than 20 infoterra awarded catalist giss framework agreement infoterra ltd has been awarded a framework agreement under ogcbuying.solutions' catalist geographical information services and solutions framework (giss), an arrangement that provides a streamlined procurement route for public sector bodies. under the new catalist giss framework, infoterra has been awarded framework agreements in the gi mapping services and gi data supply solutions categories. the catalist procurement service is managed by ogcbuying.solutions, an executive agency of the treasury's office of government commerce (ogc). securing accreditation on a catalist framework agreement confirms infoterra as one of the leading suppliers of gis data and services. "procurement under catalist saves time and money for public sector bodies, allowing them to select a supplier without having to go through the process of pre-qualification. selecting a service provider, such as infoterra, means they will be working with a risk-free gis partner that not only meets, but exceeds all the standards for professional gis services and associated products," commented dr andy wells, director of sales for infoterra ltd. "over the last three years we've found that catalist has been an important route for the public sector market to work with infoterra. since first being awarded framework agreements under catalist, our clients have used the framework for almost £10 million worth of procurement." www.waterstoneinc.com bushnell onix gps product line to use accuterra maps provided by intermap intermap technologies corp. today announced at the consumer electronics show in las vegas, an agreement with bushnell outdoor product that enables recreational enthusiasts to download accuterrat out- www.infoterra.co.uk latest news? visit www.geoinformatics.com 63 january/february 2008
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