The province of British Columbia is the first in Canada to launch an open data portal that allows both developers and citizens to download and explore large volumes of government information. The impressive data catalog includes 2,500 sets of data, tools to conduct research and analyze statistics, as well as tools to develop custom applications.
On the tools side, the bulk of these are geospatial applications, with call outs to GeoIQ’s Geocommons, Google Fusion Tables, iMapBC and the BC Geographic Warehouse, and StatPlanet for Flash maps.
On the applications side, there are a wealth of geo-related applications that have been developed over time that gain new exposure with this open data initiative, including:
- BC Water Resources Atlas — details where your community’s water comes from and how it compares with the quality of water in other areas.
- Civic Address Geocoding Service –a reliably accurate service to get spatial coordinates for any BC address.
- Coastal Resource Information System — this interactive map provides data that brings the coast of BC to your fingertips.
- GeoBC Data Distribution Service — find information across various BC datasets, like: amount of air contaminant emissions, regional census data, locations of food banks and hospitals, or areas used for tourism activities.
- HectaresBC — uses the criteria you select to display BC data within specific areas. For example, you could create a map with layers that shows the soil types, forest regions, fire zones and health authorities of a specific area.
- Integrated Land and Resource Registry (ILRR) — this app will help you determine which areas are protected or have BC Crown Land status.
- Mineral Titles Online — view the records and maps that pertain to the acquisition and maintenance of mineral, placer, reserve and coal rights in the province.
- Ministry of Forests and Range SeedMap — learn how BC’s forests are being managed by using the SeedMap to take a glimpse at province-wide activities, which include: seed planting, reforestation, timber supply analysis and various monitoring strategies.
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