Building a Geospatial Foundation for Canada's Public Health Community
February 13 2009 - March 09 2009
GeoConnections is developing a foundation to help the public health community capitalize on geospatial (or location-based) information. This foundation will enable public health practitioners to use geospatial data to improve decision making and work together more effectively.
To establish the foundation, GeoConnections is developing three components:
- A user readiness guide that identifies, validates, and confirms the common elements, issues, gaps, and needs of the public health community, both in using geospatial information and in leveraging the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI)
- An analytical framework that sets the foundation for the development of standards for analyzing health information in a geospatial context
- A geospatial data study that provides a geospatial data reference framework for public health, including data categorization, an inventory, and information exchange.
| GeoConnections has issued three requests for proposals (RFPs) -- one for each of the three components listed above. You can learn more about the RFPs from the Opportunities page of the GeoConnections website: http://www.cgdi.ca/en/opportunities. Responses to the RFPs are due by February 10, February 17, and March 9, 2009, respectively. |
Expanding Opportunities for Geospatial Analysis in Public Health
Why is GeoConnections developing this geospatial foundation for the public health community?
This foundation will make it easier for the community to use geospatial information and the CGDI as decision-making resources-a primary objective of the GeoConnections program.
Although the public health community is beginning to gain awareness of geospatial applications and adopt them, knowledge of geospatial analysis is evolving. The following two approaches will enable the public health community to further use geospatial analysis:
- Increasing awareness of the role of geospatial information, and providing training on how it can be applied in the public health domain.
- Increasing knowledge about geospatial data itself-its types, storage formats, quality, authoritativeness, and access options-and awareness of related geospatial technical issues such as data standards and protocols.
The three components called for under the RFPs will form the cornerstones of a foundation that incorporates these approaches to advancing the use of geospatial information in the public health community.
For more information
To learn more about the geospatial foundation for the public health community, the three RFPs, or GeoConnections' public health endeavours in general, please contact:
Nina Wesch
GeoConnections Program
Public Health Advisor
CGDI User Capacity
Natural Resources Canada
Phone: (613) 943-4239
E-mail: Nina.Wesch@NRCan-RNCan.gc.c