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Advanced Networks & The Geospatial Domain Novel Research, Commercial Opportunities, Sector Sustainability Founding Partners:
Advanced Networks & The Geospatial Domain
Novel Research, Commercial Opportunities, Sector Sustainability
Founding Partners:
What’s Coming up . . .
• Some views and experiences of how existing networks and supercomputer facilities are
– Facilitating global collaboration on world-leading research – Supporting nascent global commercial opportunities – Enabling the NZ geospatial sector to become sustainable
• Real examples of how these enabling technologies and systems are becoming ubiquitous in the R&D environment
What’s NOT Coming up . . .
• A lot of technical discussion about advanced networks, GRID computing, etc
• A lot of details of specific hardware / software
• Of key interest to me is the growing acceptance and availability of advanced tools and technologies in “everyday” research and business life
Background
The Geospatial Research Centre
• A company, that started trading in Christchurch on 13th Nov 2006
• A Joint Venture between University of Canterbury and University of Nottingham (UK)
• Physically based at The University of Canterbury (Christchurch, NZ)
• Home to a growing research team (currently >25)
• Contracts secured from NZ, UK, and USA organisations including:
The Geospatial Research CentreOur Core Business
Commercially ViableProducts, Applications, Services
Sensors & DataIntegration
Electronics & Rapid Prototyping
Data Filtering Signal Processing
Geographical InformationSystems
The Geospatial Domain
• Sensors• Data Capture• Data Processing• Data Visualisation
NZ Geospatial SectorProportion of Staff by Activity
NZTE Sponsored Geospatial Sector Survey (2007)
NZ Geospatial Sector ViewData Access and Processing
• 2007 Survey Respondents Predict– Increased availability of crown owned, authoritative data
expected [for free]– Increase in ‘real time’ data capture, archive access and
processing– Majority of post-processing activities occurring offshore– Increased use of open source tools / software– Increased use of web-based tools / software / services
• Respondents have experienced– Problems accessing local, regional and national government
and CRI held / generated data– Problems with internet access / bandwidth– Problems developing central data storage
Yet exciting success stories exist ...
Facilitating collaborative world-leading research
Software Defined Radio ResearchKey Requirements
• Global Partners– GRC (New Zealand)– ENAC (France)– UNSW (Australia)– University of Nottingham (UK)
• Transfer of large amounts of data (>20GB)• Remote processing of large data sets• Common hardware at each site
GNSS SimulationKey Requirements
• Global Partners– GRC (New Zealand)– University of Nottingham (UK)
• Transfer of small amounts of data (1GB per hour or less)• Remote processing of data sets• Remote access to expensive hardware in real time
GRC Remote Office
• GRC is currently considering setting up a Branch office at Victoria University Wellington
• The GRC team is currently assessing desktop, HD video tools (Mirial Softphone) as a key enabler to keeping close collaborative links between the research team– HD video conferencing and 3-party calls with no extra equipment– Presentation tools (record video, trasnmit application window, etc)– Good connectivity to existing video systems (eg life size)
Developing new commercial opportunities
Scalable & Parallel Geospatial Processing Expertise
• GRC has implemented and tested a number of open source tools and systems for parallel geospatial processing including GRASS, PostGres / PostGIS, GDAL/OGR, SAGA, etc)
• Processes are demonstrably scalable (extra nodes)
Helicopter Landing Assessment (NZ Joint Geospatial Support Facility)
Blue Gene / L Supercomputer(University of Canterbury, NZ)
Chatham Island Wind Modeling BlueGene
• GRC has just agreed to sponsor a second year Geography Student at UC to assess the potential for wind power generation on the Chatham Islands
Geospatial Processing Plans BlueGene
• The GRC team has generated a list of >30 areas of interest• Top 5 priorities for remainder of 2008 include:
– RasterisationEfficient Vector to Raster conversion (needed for map algebra)
– Cellular Automata“Game of Life” – close cell interactions / modeling
– Viewshed Analysis Efficient “What can I see” (across areas in particular)
– Vector IntersectionWhere do vector layers overlap?
– Monte Carlo Simulation GIS-specific modeling (eg accident hotspots in Christchurch)
Enabling the NZ geospatial sector to become sustainable
NZ GIS Lectures 2008 Access GRID
• The Academic geospatial community in New Zealand has run a country-wide lecture series each month this year via Access GRID
• Guest lecturers speaking on a range of topics• Students and staff from 6 Universities in attendance
• Academics are also now starting to share teaching materials and exploring opportunities for greater collaboration
Geospatial Sector MeetingsAccess GRID
• In 2008 the NZ Geospatial Sector has ‘met’ a number of times via Access GRID– Academia– Industry– Government– Crown Research Institutes
• 30 – 50 representatives across 5 or 6 sites• Discussions on issues of common interest • Presentations from senior government staff
(NZ Geospatial Office, LINZ CEO, etc)
• The technology worked (plus usual Access GRID issues!)• All parties embraced the opportunity
The Future?
In the short term . . .
• All students & staff at NZ Universities enjoy– Potential for regular use of desktop video conferencing– Karen-enabled access to remote facilities / data worldwide– Exposure to GRID-like activities / demonstrations
• Growing awareness in research teams of immediate opportunities– Most people already have a dual-core machine– Windows and Linux both support threading with C and a
variety of scripting languages– Access to offsite hardware / data / software, etc– Etc etc etc
Final thought
• It IS possible to envisage widespread use of KAREN etc to– Reduce travel– Increase engagement between people– Increase effective collaborative research– Facilitate remote access to data and expensive equipment
• These tools and the people who are willing to use them could ensure the long-term sustainability of entire sectors (eg Geospatial Sector)
• The trick will be to ensure that the messages about what can be done TODAY get out to the wider research community and that initiatives are suitably supported at all levels
