Esri Releases ArcGIS Editor For OpenStreetMap

Esri has released a new, no-cost add-on for ArcGIS 10 that allows ArcGIS users to contribute data, using the editing capabilities of ArcGIS Desktop, to OpenStreetMap. Volunteered geographic information (VGI), such as that available from OpenStreetMap, is playing an increasingly significant role in emergency response during crises like the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. With this new, free and open source tool, ArcGIS Desktop users will be able to more easily contribute to the growing OpenStreetMap community.

The add-on allows ArcGIS users to download data from OpenStreetMap, store it locally in a geodatabase, and use the advanced editing environment of ArcGIS Desktop 10 to create, modify, or delete data. Once the edits are complete, the changes can be posted back to OpenStreetMap and made available to the OpenStreetMap community.

More details about the tool will be released over time, including access to the source code and enhanced documentation.

To download ArcGIS Editor for OpenStreetMap or to provide feedback about the tool, visit the project's Web site at www.esri.com/osm-editor.

About Esri
Since 1969, Esri has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, Esri software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. Esri applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. Esri is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms. For more information, visit: www.esri.com/news.

SOURCE: Esri