Presentation for MP Michelle Rempel at University of Lethbridge, Aug 22 2011. http://www.waterenvironmentalhub.ca

1. .ca beta launched July 1st
open Executive platform
web Director
Alex Joseph
open water data
Water and Environmental Hub
Cybera Inc.
apps through API
alex.joseph@cybera.ca
403-826-3915
A not-for-profit project funded by Western Economic
Diversification Canada, Cybera Inc. and University of Lethbridge.
Led by University of Lethbridge, Cybera Inc., and
Alberta WaterPortal.

2. World Water Day, March 22, 2010
"The international theme for World Water Day 2010 focuses on the importance of
water quality. Here at home, the Government of Canada also sees water quality
as a critical issue," said Minister Prentice. "By partnering with these
universities on world class science, we are working to preserve Canada's water
quality for today and future generations.“
"The Government of Canada is working to support innovative and knowledge-
based research to find new products, technologies or services that address
environmental sustainability issues such as water quality and water quantity,"
said Western Economic Diversification Minister Yelich. "Through investments
in technology commercialization, we are preparing our economy for future
growth and long-term prosperity."

3. DATA DATA
Producers Users
Web Platform for
Discovery &
Accessibility of
Water Data

4. More Data Accessibility
More Engagement
GOVERNMENT
ACADEMIC
NGO
INDUSTRY
CITIZENS
Enabling Government, Academia, Industry, NGOs, and the wider community

5. 2/3
NSF says “maybe 80-90%”
Phone Dave for data
| Subject: Out of Office Auto Reply – on vacation…
2043 MB – Download Full Dataset

6. “…wouldn’t it be amazing to have
one (web) platform for climate and
hydrometric data”
– J. Allen (SFU) @ CWRA2011

7. “…the arrival of Web Services Hubs”
– David Maidment (CUAHSI) @ CWRA2011

8. problem with water data
• Local - majority of water data is stored on paper, local
computers, controlled organizational databases -> stranded by
storage medium
• Opaque - most of what is available is only in downloadable
format -> all or nothing
• Fragmented – other data is available in small piece by painful
piece -> death by a thousand clicks
• Custom Format - most are not standardized -> custom structures
• Human Required - virtually none are available as an API ->
requires human intervention in time and $

9. the dream
• All water data is available through web services - including
historical, new data can be found and catalogued automatically
• (at least) One great node where one can efficiently search and
discover water data
• Distinct pieces of datasets can be accessed on request
• Data can be converted/transformed on the fly into multiple
formats
• User can easily mash together water datasets
• Users have access to great tools and can custom build tools
• Users can integrate water data with other types of data from other
sources through RESTful API into custom applications

10. Water and Environmental Hub
• Makes more water data available
• Makes it searchable under one roof
• Makes it distributable/transferrable to others
• Leverages the work of the AB WaterPortal
• Significantly lowers cost (time and resources) of
working with water data

11. 3 Deliverables
• Open Web Platform
• Open Water and Environmental Data
• Apps through (RESTful) API

13. GOOGLE?
Network of
DATAONE? “Networks of
Networks”
WATER ENVIRONMENTAL HUB
GRDC UNGEMS NRCAN GROUNDWATER INFO NETWORK
STATS CAN ENV CAN NRCAN USGS NOAA DE
E BC MOE AB ENV AB SRD ON MOE MN DOE
NATURE ALBERTA LAKE WINNIPEG DATA PORTAL GREAT LAKES eBIR
VANCOUVER CALGARY EDMONTON WINNIPEG LOND
SUNCOR WOOD BUFFALO ENV ASSOC RAMP ABMI
CITIZEN SCIENTISTS PUBLIC
AIR SENSORS WATER SENSORS PIPELINE SE

14. VIEWERS, WIDGETS, APPS
Service Oriented Architecture
VIEWER CACHE API
APPLICATION LAYER
SOCIAL CATALOGUE
TRANSLATOR
NETWORK SYSTEM
DATA LAYER
EXTERNAL
DATA
INTERNAL
DATA

15. TRANSLATOR
CATALOG
WEB SERVICES
WEHUB
META DATA WMS
WFS
OBS DATA WaterML
GroundwaterML
Sensor Obs Service
HYDAT Custom

18. A great platform with no data is…
As the Water and Environmental Hub
launches the cup is only
half full…

20. The Mashup

21. .ca beta launched July 1st
Alex Joseph
Executive Director
Water and Environmental Hub
Cybera Inc.
alex.joseph@cybera.ca
403-826-3915
.ca
.ca