The state of Rhineland-Palatinate, represented by the State Office for the Environment, Water Management and Trade Supervision, commissioned terrestris and geomer in mid-April 2012 to create the Geodata Architecture Water (GDA Water). You can read the corresponding press release here:
The state of Rhineland-Palatinate commissions a geodata infrastructure based on free software for issues related to water
Existing software to be replaced by a modern system
Bonn/Heidelberg, May 7, 2012
The state of Rhineland-Palatinate, represented by the State Office for the Environment, Water Management and Trade Supervision, has a wide range of tasks to manage in connection with water: For example, preventive flood protection requires extensive coordination tasks, and groundwater and surface water must be managed in a sensible manner and areas designated for drinking water protection. These are just a few of many other tasks. Due to the spatial nature of these issues, a web-based geographic information system (WebGIS) is used.
System grown over many years
The current system, which has grown over many years, is now being modernized and transferred into a contemporary geodata architecture. The proven specialist procedures are to be retained and the limitations of the previous system are to be overcome by means of powerful new approaches. The state is deliberately relying on free software components.
Renewal based on free software
In autumn 2011, a complete redevelopment of the WebGIS was therefore put out to tender throughout Europe. In mid-April 2012, the contract was awarded to terrestris GmbH & Co. KG and geomer GmbH, who were successful with an offer based on Spring, Hibernate, OpenLayers, GeoExt and other components. Oracle Spatial is used as the geo-database. The services provided by GDA Water are also used in desktop clients such as ArcGIS from ESRI.
Sustainable investment
The use of free software has a variety of advantages due to the license:
- The software can be modified by the customer and passed on to others as required.
- Due to the openness of the source code, all functionality can be understood.
- The openness of the source code guarantees that the customer does not become dependent on the manufacturer.
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About terrestris
terrestris is a geoinformatics company based in Bonn and has been active since 2002 in the conceptual design, implementation and maintenance of geodata infrastructures and geoportals using free software such as PostGIS, OpenLayers and GeoServer. Integrated into the international communities, the relevant software products from terrestris are not only used, but also actively developed further. terrestris’ customers include various federal states, universities and research institutions, as well as municipalities and private sector institutions. terrestris has successfully carried out projects in the Middle East (Qatar), Africa (Benin) and Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Denmark) and is currently involved in a hydrological research project in Asia (Mongolia).
About geomer
geomer GmbH is one of the leading companies in the geoinformatics industry in Germany and was founded in 1999 and is based in Heidelberg. Its activities focus on products, solutions and services relating to geographic information systems. The main areas of focus are geoinformatics services, geodata and natural hazards/risk management. As a full-service provider, geomer is also a long-standing partner of Esri and the third-largest distributor of NAVTEQ data in Europe. geomer GmbH has an international reputation for hazard modeling and flood risk management. Public authorities, research institutions, states and municipalities have been relying on cooperation with geomer for many years, such as the Federal Institute for Hydrology, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources and the state of Baden-Württemberg, among others. In addition to flood protection, our main areas of focus are the insurance industry, publishing, retail, transport and logistics. We are currently increasingly expanding our range of services in the areas of renewable energies and the energy transition.
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Press contact
Dipl.-Geogr. Hinrich Paulsen
terrestris GmbH & Co. KG
Pützchens Chaussee 56
53227 Bonn
0228 – 962 899 51
info@terrestris.de
www.terrestris.de
