Context Stakeholders involved in distributing and accessing geospatial data agree that the first stage in achieving this goal is the documentation of data sets or the entry of metadata. Organisations handling standards (FGDC, ISO/TC211, OpenGIS) have identified metadata as a priority in their work and geospatial data infrastructures such as the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) often start with the implementation of services related to metadata (discovery, evaluation, access). However, the gathering of metadata is often a tedious and frustrating exercise that has to be performed on top of data management in spatial warehouses. Metadata standards are complex and cannot be readily applied to data managed in spatial warehouses where a data set can be defined as any object.
	Intelec Geomatics has developed, under a GeoInnovations project a multistandard, multilingual metadata cataloguing (M³Cat) tool (see www.intelec.ca/technologies). CubeWerx and SoftMap provide warehouse products to manage geospatial data. The three companies have an interest in improving metadata and data management in their products to facilitate their clients presence on the CGDI. The following figure presents the context for an integrated management of data and metadata. The context is based on the postulate that in geomatics, metadata are meant to help users discover and assess geospatial information and to help providers publish their data or services.
	Objectives and Outcomes The project objectives were to develop tools that allow the integration of metadata servers in a Web environment using protocols similar to OpenGIS standards. These tools, available as an Integrated Web Catalog (IWCat) service:
	Allow the update of metadata in M3Cat from catalogues in data warehouses (CubeSTOR, SoftMap) Allow queries to catalogues in data warehouses from M3Cat Allow queries to M3Cat from data warehouses
	The projects outcomes were:
	An exchange Protocol between M³Cat, CubeSTOR and SoftMap A new version of M3Cat Additional tools in CubeSTOR Additional tools in SoftMap
	Partners The IWCat service was developed by Intelec Geomatics (Intelec) and its partners CubeWerx, SoftMap Technologies inc. and the Centre for Research in Geomatics (CRG) of Laval University. It has been tested with six governmental organisations involved in the management of geospatial data: the Department of National Defence, Environment Canada, the Canadian Centre for Remote Sensing, the Canadian Forest Service, the Earth Sciences Sector of Natural Resources Canada and the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources.
	Benefits
	The project has produced numerous benefits
	For Intelec and SoftMap, a better knowledge of OpenGIS standards and XML. For CubeWerx, a better knowledge of FGDC standards and metadata management. For the three partners, a better knowledge of each other's technologies (CubeSTOR, SoftMap Scanner and M³Cat ).
	For the private companies involved in the project, it will allow them to develop new products and services in their respective markets. The project outcomes will also produce benefits for suppliers and users within the CGDI. Suppliers will have the capability to:
	Update their metadata catalogues from their data warehouses. Propagate metadata updates from a data set to all the objects it contains. Improve the connection of their metadata to the CGDI.
	Users will have the capability to:
	Query additional information on the data from data warehouses. Identify, when querying the CGDI, available data sets as well as specific data elements (concept of evolution from a data set to the information).
	The project will allow suppliers to devote more time to the improvement of their data thanks to the economies of time obtained in the management of their metadata. These improvements could take the form of gathering of new data, better precision or more frequent updates. The users will be able to better discover the data of interest, those will be of better quality and they will be better documented, which will ensure a more efficient use in their specific fields (forestry, mines, etc.). The project was a good example of partnerships between the Federal Government, Provincial Governments, the Private Sector and Universities.
	De plus, le projet permettra aux fournisseurs de données de consacrer plus de temps à l'amélioration de leurs données grâce aux économies de temps réalisées dans la gestion de leurs métadonnées. Ces améliorations pourraient prendre la forme de cueillette de nouvelles données, de meilleure précision, de mises à jour plus fréquentes, etc. For more information write to infointelec.ca.
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