Access to Secondary Data Via a Geography Network

The Internet has removed many of the barriers to communication associated with distance. Providing data to a larger audience, whether public or corporate, is just one of the consequences. Agribusiness can benefit from this data dissemination by either creating internal distribution networks or accessing data services provided by third party groups. The Geography Network architecture allows these data transactions to be executed. Spatial data can be made freely available to all users of a company's Intranet for incorporation in decision making processes. Connecting to the Internet allows new data to be acquired from other data providers as well as providing a portal through which potential data customers can view data on a host machine.

The software used to operate Geography Network includes ArcGIS Server software. ArcIMS is used to create, publish, and administer the map services. ArcSDE is used to store and deliver the geographic data used to support the map services. A typical system hardware configuration includes a server-class machine that houses the Web, mapping, and data servers.

To facilitate both internal and external geography networks, tools have been placed in ArcGIS enabling users to access and use geographic information on the Geography Network. Users will be able to access data directly through their desktop applications or Web browsers and integrate it with local data. The ability to incorporate multiple data sets in ArcGIS and access it by way of the Geography Network will facilitate more participation and collaboration in the decision making that affects agricultural industries around the world.