On-line Distribution of Digital Topographic Data

One of the main activities of the Centre for Topographic Information in Sherbrooke (CTIS) is distributing digital topographic data (DTD) of the Canadian landmass. For a number of years, customers have been able to obtain DTD by contacting the CTIS Customer Support Group. The team has established a procedure for processing orders and delivering products to customers. CTIS has used new Internet technologies to develop a system that enables users to search, consult, order, pay and download a variety of digital products quickly, efficiently, and fully automatically 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Users are able to access the data distribution system using their Internet browsers. The interface consists of a series of HTML pages that guides the customer in selecting the data that correspond to his needs. The user's completed request is transmitted to a transaction server, which extracts, converts, and delivers the data. The extracted data may come from a variety of sources, including spatial databases and files. Moreover, they can be converted into different transfer formats, and different coordinate systems before being delivered to the user's individual directory on the CTIS FTP site. The system has been deployed on a 3-tier architecture that ensures autonomy between the various system components, secure access to data sources, minimal processing on the client side, and easy system expandability in response to demand. In conclusion, CTIS's future plans with respect to the distribution of topographic data will be presented. This discussion will include new formats and products that will be integrated into the current site, as well as new technologies that bring the development towards services to display and access geospatial information.