Co-operative Projects

An important component of the GIS program at COGS has been co-operative projects with industry, government or non-profit partners. Good examples include the application of GIS technology to the geography of Southwest Nova (partner with SW Nova Biosphere Reserve) or to Annapolis County (partner with MapAnnapolis) (see posts, for example, “Community Information Utility“, “From Here to There“, and “COGS Student Presentations“).

As Geographer Emeritus, I have had the opportunity to review these potential projects. There are always a couple of fundamental challenges:

a) the technology evolves year by year. This is often reflected in the user interface.

b) wherever possible, the college does not want the responsibility of ongoing maintenance of the database and the access tools.

If we are dealing with government datasets, e.g. GeoNova, the data can be managed by the collecting agency. If the partner is AGRG at COGS, then this presents less of a problem. Looking at the list of potential projects this year, we can see projects with other geographic partners e.g. East Port L’ Hebert, Truro Cemetery, Oxford EODG, Heritage Trust.

At COGS, I noticed a map display showing ‘food desert’ (e.g. access to grocery stores) (see also The Grocery Map). Given the current bank rationalization, I believe the same concept could be applied to ‘financial desert’ (e.g. access to banking services).

Another co-operative project could be the application of GIS technology to our utility networks (e.g. power grids, telephone and Internet).

These types of co-operative project provide input into issues of concern to Nova Scotians. At the same time, they require research into the application of GIS technology in other jurisdictions.

Postscript

Following up on Bob’s “desert” mapping note, ten years ago I blogged about opportunity mapping” in rural areas (see “Are We mapping Opportunities?“) and noted examples in Texas, Brisbane, and Dublin. We need to map Nova Scotia’s rural opportunities.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to David MacLean for access to the current potential project list. Edward added the links and graphics. He also reminded me that through the joint Masters degree in Applied Geomatics, COGS collaborates with Acadia University. One year, learning the technology, followed by a second year, applying it to a research project, of interest.