RDI/SDI Archive - 52°North Spatial Information Research GmbH

Research and Development with con terra

Exploring the Boundaries of Geo-IT

Fostering continuous learning and growth through knowledge transfer

The purpose of the R&D framework agreement is to utilize the services of 52°North to make the innovation process at con terra more effective and cost-efficient. This contract is designed to provide planning certainty and a long-term commitment for both companies.

con terra’s innovation goals center on evaluating methods and technologies for their solutions and then bringing these ideas to life through pilots and components. They are committed to executing well-defined innovation projects across multiple company domains. To achieve this, 52°North and con terra collaborate under a framework contract and use tools such as consulting, feasibility studies, prototyping, and joint product development. Knowledge transfer through workshops and training sessions is integral, fostering continuous learning and growth within both organizations.

Many interesting topics were covered in 2023. We investigated the possibilities of AI tools for everyday software engineering tasks and how they meet the requirements of con terra product development. In another activity, we established hands-on workshops and training sessions on the latest release of the OpenLayers framework. These workshops were closely related to the “Open Pioneer” Trails endeavour. With “Open Pioneer” con terra and 52°North have established a workbench for the development of new concepts, ideas and technologies in the context of future and innovative SDI. Open Pioneer Trails is an open development platform for web clients that enables the development of customized GeoIT solutions. It is designed as a framework, but not as a fixed solution or product. The map components are built upon OpenLayers and provide many basic web map functionalities such as base layer management, geolocation and search.

Find more details on Open Pioneer and Trails at the Open Pioneer GitHub repository.

ct R&D Framework — The Trails basic map view

Partner

con terra GmbH, Germany

Co-Site

Co-Creation in the Region – Systemic and Innovative Development of Transfer

Development of an information system to manage spatial research data

As part of the “Co-Site” project, a consortium led by the Cologne University of Applied Sciences is working on solutions to the societal challenges of climate and structural change. An important component of this is the development of an information system for climate adaptation at the municipal level.

In order to develop this component, the Cologne University of Applied Sciences requires support services in the form of consulting and implementation capacities for geodata management, GeoNode and spatial databases. Furthermore, support is needed to systematically record the requirements and to derive a development plan. 52°North provides this support based on its long-term experience in the field of spatial data infrastructures and in the implementation of complex, distributed systems for the use of spatial data. In particular, this includes extensive knowledge of the technologies that may be required to implement the project (e.g. GeoNode). The 52°North team also contributes extensive methodological experience in organizing distributed and agile geo-software development projects.

In 2024, project activities focused on requirements analysis and identification of appropriate system architecture and implementation approaches.

Customer

Technische Hochschule Köln, Germany

GeoNode Consulting for IStG

GeoNode for Historical Survey Maps

Unlocking the potential of historical geodata management

The IStG (Institut für vergleichende Städtegeschichte) approached 52°North with a request for assistance in setting up a geodata management platform based on GeoNode. In close collaboration with the IStG, 52°North analyzed the existing geodata architecture, identified, discussed and documented the geodata management requirements for their HiSMaComp research project. The overall goal was to assist the IStG in identifying a solution for managing historical geospatial data and to lay the groundwork for implementing this solution in the near future. Geospatial data in this case includes both raster and vector data as well as reference data. In addition to the actual data, the corresponding metadata also needed be managed.

After an initial setup and deployment, 52°North supported the data loading phase. IStG has already identified a number of interesting use cases that could be developed in the near future using the geodata management platform. For example, a fine-grained search mechanism at the dataset level could help researchers to identify datasets of interest. Side-by-side data visualizations have been identified as an interesting way to visualize historical changes in cities over the centuries.

IStG Geodatenplattform — IStG’s geodata management platform

Customer

Institut für vergleichende Städtegeschichte (IStG), Germany

NFDI4Earth

OneStop4All to FAIR, Open and Innovative Research Data Management in Earth System Sciences

NFDI4Earth’s OneStop4All assists researchers in finding resources and services realted to the earth system.

52°North supports the TU Dresden and NFDI4Earth with consulting, architecture and software development. The main task is the development of the so-called OneStop4All, a front-end web application for searching various geo-related research resources (e.g., data, services, software, documents, etc.) based on a triple store that serves as a metadata repository. It also simplifies metadata provisioning through a user interface where each resource type has a landing page that visualizes its metadata. Besides the search user interface including several filter options to narrow down the search results, the platform also offers a Repository Wizard to guide users through a repository search based on a set of questions.

We successfully released the first OneStop4All beta version in 2024. It is now open to the public for feedback. Although in a beta stage, the platform is functional and already assists researchers in their current activities.

Partner

Pikobytes GmbH, Germany

Customer

Technische Universität Dresden, Germany