Breakthroughs

Thursday 15 March 2001 -- A small Sydney IT company, Social Change Online, has developed an innovative internet technology that promises to revolutionise the way we see information on the web.

The first large scale usage of the technology, the NSW Government's online 'Community Access to Natural Resources Information' (CANRI) project (www.canri.nsw.gov.au), was launched today at Parliament House by the Deputy NSW Premier, Dr Andrew Refshauge.

According to Dr Refshauge, "CANRI places the NSW Government at the forefront of international efforts to provide its citizens with the most current environmental information available. It is a one stop-website for environmental information."

Social Change Online's technology, which formed a keystone of the project, has attracted worldwide interest from the US Government, Commonwealth agencies such as the mapping authority, Auslig and Greenpeace New Zealand.

"This technology solves one of the most frustrating problems faced by Government and business data managers: how to take data in different formats from across the web and display it graphically on a single web page," said Sean Kidney, CEO, Social Change Online.

Social Change Online's software provides the tools to readily stitch together and display on the web hundreds of separate data sources, from historical records and live water level readings to maps - at a low cost.

The technology builds on common standards for publishing map-based and other data that have been adopted globally over the past year. As a leading researcher in this field, Social Change Online has played a key role in developing these standards.

"Map-based information is critical for decision-making across government, industry and
the community, and 80% of the data on the web has a geographic dimension.

"This technology will unlock the vast amount of data that's hidden away in all sorts of government and community organisations," said Mr Kidney.

Social Change Online is now developing projects ranging from pavement and street management, to emergency services management for disasters like the NSW North Coast floods.

"By providing ready access to varied and complex government information, this project will help realise Bob Carr's commitment to a whole-of-government approach to access to services for citizens.

"It could also save millions of dollars by enabling better coordination between government agencies," said Mr Kidney.

According to Mr Kidney, "savings are not just for Government. Imagine a builder being able to check on the web the exact and current location of sewage, gas and electricity lines before digging - all via the one web page. That alone would save thousands of hours of work for everyone from home owners to the construction industry."

Social Change Online's technology is also being used by the US Government, Commonwealth agencies such as the mapping authority, AusLig, and Greenpeace New Zealand.

For demonstrations see:
Social Change Online webmapping website : http://webmap.socialchange.net/
Community Access to Natural Resource Information website: http://www.canri.nsw.gov.au

© Social Change Online, Australia
webmap@socialchange.net