IABG opened its Geodata Factory in Dresden

29 November 2007, 3:43pm

IABG opened its new Geodata Factory in Dresden in October. In his introductory speech, the Minister for Trade in Saxony emphasised the commitment of the technology company in the new Federal states, with over 50 new jobs being created in the Dresden factory. "In this way, IABG is setting another milestone in its over 15 years of successful growth in the Free State of Saxony. The Geodata Factory will give a further boost to the field of geoinformatics, which is an area of technology that is still young in Saxony", commented Thomas Jurk, Minister for Economy and Labor in Saxony, as he paid tribute to the company's new project in Dresden.

The establishment of IABG's Geodata Factory in Dresden was made possible within the scope of a major order won by IABG together with its partners GAF AG (Munich) and Infoterra GmbH (Friedrichshafen). Bidding as a consortium, Arge VEHA ("High-Resolution Vector Data Collation Consortium") was able to win the contract, against stiff competition, for the processing of worldwide geodata for the German Armed Forces.

When it comes to the availability of reliable, highly precise geodata, the German Army, with its greatly increased area of deployment, is increasingly reliant on high-quality service providers. "Satellite images alone are not enough to provide our troops abroad with the information needed to carry out their work and to protect themselves. In order to be able to make the best use of the satellite photos in geoinformation systems, these need to be vectorised and given attributes. The vector data are assigned properties such as climate, vegetation, suitability of land for driving, building usage, etc.", explained Dr. Jörg Schäfer, the IABG departmental manager responsible for "Geodata". The main information source for capturing vector data is currently satellite images with a ground resolution of 2.5 m (SPOT) or 1 m (IKONOS). In addition to the satellite images, topographical maps, city maps and other maps in analogue and digital form are used for data capture.

Germany is the "lead participant" in an international joint project for the production of high-resolution vector data (comparable scale 1:50,000) known as the Multinational Geospatial Co-Production Program (MGCP). This means that, within 5 years, Germany will produce vector data for a surface of about 2 million square kilometres outside its own territory. In return, Germany will receive access to all the data produced within the MGCP project – a major argument for the provision of the relevant budgetary resources.

IABG, which has worked with the Army for many years, regards this demanding project as the foundation for the expansion of this area of business beyond the purely military.

"By acquiring this important project", says Professor Dr. Rudolf Schwarz, Managing Director of IABG, "we have created the ideal conditions for successfully positioning ourselves in the future in the market for processing of satellite-based geodata.“

Dr. Jörg Schäfer
Head of Geoinformatics/Geodata
Phone +49 89 6088-2399
Fax +49 89 6088-2355
schaeferj@iabg.de

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Geo: International