Digital village in China

A two-year project to bridge the urbanrural digital divide in Yunnan Province in southern China is gathering pace. US$18 million so far has been spent in the creation of the 'Yunnan Digital Village', which will bring information technology to 16 cities, 129 counties and 130,000 villages in the province. The initiative was devised by Intel, which provided consulting services as well as technology and engineering solutions. http://chinadigitaltimes.net

Free access of OS mapping data

A range of new licences from Ordnance Survey provide users with free access to a wide range of mapping data for experimentation and development. It aims to further promote the innovative use of geographic information. The three new licences - 'Discover', 'Evaluate' and 'Developer' - make it easier for businesses, government agencies, social groups and entrepreneurs to experiment with OS data and realise the value of location-based information. www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

NZ major map upgrade unveiled

A new topographical mapping series is being launched by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). The new Topo50 map series was developed to be compatible with international mapping systems and GPS. The 1:50,000 scale maps use different longitude and latitude coordinates of points in New Zealand, to match the international settings on GPS units, making navigation easier for people. www.linz.govt.nz

Recovery.gov relaunched

Recovery.gov, the US government's official Web site for tracking federal stimulus spending, relaunched with a trove of new data that lets visitors see where the money is going by navigating through a series of maps. The GIS-based system "Will open people's eyes to the power of mapping as a way to communicate government policy. The vision is that people will be able to see their government's decisionsand the consequences of those decisions," says Jack Dangermond, founder and CEO at ESRI. www.esri.com

Map View is Mappetizer now MapViewSVG has a new name:

Mappetizer. With Mappetizer 8, ArcGIS projects can be exported into the SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) or into the Microsoft Silverlight format. It will be the solution for small and medium-sized project, and for projects which do not have to be frequently updated. www.mappetizer.de

Maps for the colour-blind

A new product from Ordnance Survey can be specifically styled to make mapping easier on the colour-blind eye. It allows creation of colour-blindfriendly styles, which to most people will look very strange but could help avoid future confusion for those with the condition. www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

NSim Contour Beta

NSim Technology released Beta version of NSim ContourT. This interactive map application provides decision makers a way to efficiently manage geographic information online. It simplifies the management of a wide range of geographic resources (GIS, events, GPS, real-time data, GeoRSS, etc.) and communicates with a unique spatio-temporal database providing a full traceability of the actions executed on the map. www.nsimtech.com

US scientists to map Ganga stretch in Bihar, India

Scientists from the USA would work with the researchers of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TNBU) to analyse the quality of water of river Ganga and prepare a map of riverbed through GPS. The Inland Waterways Authority of India will lend support to the effort with a well equipped vessel to aid the research. http://bihartimes.com