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Geospatial Data Act of 2017

Geospatial Data Act of 2017

The GeoSpatial Data Act establishes a clear vision, assigns responsibility, provides authority and ensures oversight by Congress of federal geospatial activities. These improvements will help ensure that the United States is able to build and sustain a robust national spatial data infrastructure (NSDI). Support of this legislation is a critical step toward building more resilient communities by ensuring they will have access to the consistent high-quality data they need.

How Hollywood Builds and Destroys Cities with 3D GIS

How Hollywood Builds and Destroys Cities with 3D GIS

There’s a scene in Independence Day: Resurgence where Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel gets blown to bits. Hundreds of cars along the nearby Esplanade Bridge get sucked into the sky. It’s alien Armageddon.
But before extraterrestrials could destroy Singapore, Hollywood had to build its cityscape—a 3D version of it, at least.

Why Google and car companies are about to spend billions mapping American roads

Why Google and car companies are about to spend billions mapping American roads

Creating detailed and comprehensive maps is difficult in the sense that it takes a lot of work, but it’s not a hard technical problem. Google has already done it for roads around their corporate headquarters in Mountain View and some of its competitors likely already have the same capabilities. Expanding these maps nationally doesn’t require a conceptual breakthrough, it just takes money — and Google has a lot of money.