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National Forest Information System and Land Information Ontario streamline geospatial data collection and access
Managing geospatial data is as important as generating it
Organizations can produce mountains of important geospatial data, but if this information sits isolated and largely inaccessible, its value drops considerably. On the other hand, if the data is shared with other organizations and integrated with other systems, it suddenly offers great potential.
This thinking inspired both the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers (CCFM) and the Ontario government to streamline certain data collection and access processes. Specifically, the CCFM is developing the National Forest Information System (NFIS) and the Ontario government is developing Land Information Ontario (LIO), two communities of practice integral to the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI). Each initiative is helping stakeholders gain easier access to integrated datasets, an approach that speeds information retrieval, enhances data value, and cuts data-collection costs as well as advancing the use of geospatial data for key business needs and government priorities.
National Forest Information System
Canada's forests cover some 417 million hectares, roughly 45 per cent of the country's landmass. Consequently, monitoring our forests is a huge job, and an important one.
We need to know how to best manage and sustain our forests. We need to know the types of trees that our forests produce, their rates of growth, and their potential diseases. We need to know where our trees are harvested. And we need to know their commercial value.
Accessing and integrating this information would be a tremendous challenge at the best of times. When you consider, however, that 14 different provincial and territorial jurisdictions administer Canada's forests, the scope of the undertaking rises like a towering Sitka spruce. Each jurisdiction gathers and stores forest information independently, using different software and hardware. These fragmented data collection processes make it difficult to monitor our forests and report nationally, but a new Canada-wide forest information system promises to simplify the process.
Composed of the 14 federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for forests, the CCFM in concert with GeoConnections and the Canadian Forest Service of Natural Resources Canada has created the NFIS. This Internet-based system enables seamless integration of spatial and thematic information for analysis, reporting and portrayal of Canadian forestry data.
How NFIS works
Each province and territory provides the information to be available to NFIS users. Developed using international geospatial standards (OpenGIS, ISO and others), NFIS offers an easy-to-use Web portal that allows anyone around the world with a valid user name and password to access Canada's real-time forest information. NFIS enables a clearer understanding of how Canada's forests affect our society, our economy and our cultures, and how we in turn affect our forests.
Land Information Ontario
Just as the CCFM is consolidating forestry data, so too is the Ontario government consolidating land information-with equally profound effects. By launching LIO, the Ontario government is helping to consolidate and present the province's land information online. In short, LIO ensures that the public and private sectors can easily find, access and work with Ontario land information.
How do people use this information? In many ways: for assessing environmental impacts, analyzing demographic and socio-economic trends, planning land development, and evaluating the physical and social health of our population. Here are some specific land-information uses:
| Organization or Type of User | Land-Information Use |
| Ontario government | Managing Ontario's forests and mineral exploration and mining claims, and tracking urban-settlement patterns |
| Municipalities | Managing roads, transportation and sewers |
| Public and private utility companies | Managing physical plants |
| School boards | Optimizing school bus routes |
| Conservation authorities | Managing storm water |
| Emergency response teams | Dispatching police, ambulance and fire resources |
| Economic development officers | Attracting and retaining businesses and residents |
| Tourism staff | Bringing visitors to attractions, accommodations and restaurants |
| Facilities managers | Tracking inventory of sites and buildings |
| Environmental protection rganizations | Monitoring the locations of hazardous materials and investigating wetlands |
| Volunteer organizations | Tracking waterfowl nesting sites and recreational trails |
The many organizations that collect and manage land information in Ontario rely on a host of different standards and approaches. Consequently, oftentimes data can be hard to locate, difficult to share between computer systems, and expensive to maintain.
LIO will ensure that Ontario's land information assets are standardized, accessible, properly managed, and efficiently collected. LIO serves as a facilitator and coordinator, encouraging organizations to share land information and thereby reduce duplication of effort, cut costs, and improve decision-making. LIO also coordinates Ontario's participation in GeoConnections and is developing Ontario's land information infrastructure as part of the CGDI.
Getting the right data to the right people at the right time
LIO operates several programs and works with numerous partners to fulfill its mandate. For instance, LIO is replacing Ontario's fractured, multi-standard road data with a province-wide roads and civic address database that will include information on road surfaces, speeds and number of lanes. Designed for municipal, provincial and federal agencies, the database will be integrated with other provincial road data to produce a national road network.
Bringing it all together
As both NFIS and LIO demonstrate, by integrating different datasets and applying standards, organizations can greatly enhance the value of their geospatial data and reduce data collection costs at the same time.