CARIS
Encyclopedia
http://www.caris.comCARIS (Computer Aided Resource Information System) is a software company that develops and supports geomatics software for land and marine applications.
The company was founded in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada in 1979 as Universal Systems Ltd. and was a spinoff from research into data structures and computer-aided cartography at the University of New Brunswick
's Department of Survey Engineering (now the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering).
In the years that followed, the company completed the development of its first commercial software product, CARIS. The company name was changed from Universal Systems Ltd. to CARIS in recognition of this first product and recognized brand.
Initially, CARIS was focused on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related software for terrestrial applications such as land management, municipal planning and geology.
Working closely with national hydrographic offices, these technologies have since evolved to include software for marine and hydrographic applications. Today CARIS offers a line of software products to address the needs of the entire “ping to chart workflow” for marine and hydrographic organizations and take acquired hydrographic survey data from "ping", through to final product, "chart".
Through liaisons with the International Hydrographic Organization
(IHO), and with the hydrographic community, CARIS has been closely involved in the development of the S-57, S-100, and other IHO standards. CARIS has worked on various consulting and development projects, and has participated in workshops with several international committees and hydrographic offices regarding the development, implementation, production and usage of electronic chart specifications such as Electronic Navigational Chart
(ENC) and Digital Nautical Chart (DNC).
CARIS is a member of the Open Geospatial Consortium
(OGC) and is a proponent of interoperability between different GIS systems. It markets its own GIS server which implements OGC specifications for Web Map Service
(WMS) and Web Feature Service
(WFS).
In December 2007, CARIS achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification of its comprehensive quality management system.
In addition to its Canadian headquarters in Fredericton, New Brunswick, CARIS has offices in the Netherlands, United States and Australia. There are also more than 40 resellers offering sales and support of the software to more than 75 countries.
CARIS Products include:
CARIS Active ENC
CARIS Bathy DataBASE
CARIS Carta
CARIS ChartServer
CARIS Easy View
CARIS HIPS and SIPS
CARIS HPD (Hydrographic Production Database)
CARIS LOTS
CARIS Notebook
CARIS S-57 Composer
CARIS Spatial Fusion Enterprise
The company was founded in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada in 1979 as Universal Systems Ltd. and was a spinoff from research into data structures and computer-aided cartography at the University of New Brunswick
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
's Department of Survey Engineering (now the Department of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering).
In the years that followed, the company completed the development of its first commercial software product, CARIS. The company name was changed from Universal Systems Ltd. to CARIS in recognition of this first product and recognized brand.
Initially, CARIS was focused on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related software for terrestrial applications such as land management, municipal planning and geology.
Working closely with national hydrographic offices, these technologies have since evolved to include software for marine and hydrographic applications. Today CARIS offers a line of software products to address the needs of the entire “ping to chart workflow” for marine and hydrographic organizations and take acquired hydrographic survey data from "ping", through to final product, "chart".
Through liaisons with the International Hydrographic Organization
International Hydrographic Organization
The International Hydrographic Organization is the inter-governmental organisation representing the hydrographic community. It enjoys observer status at the UN and is the recognised competent authority on hydrographic surveying and nautical charting...
(IHO), and with the hydrographic community, CARIS has been closely involved in the development of the S-57, S-100, and other IHO standards. CARIS has worked on various consulting and development projects, and has participated in workshops with several international committees and hydrographic offices regarding the development, implementation, production and usage of electronic chart specifications such as Electronic Navigational Chart
Electronic navigational chart
An electronic navigational chart is an official database created by a national hydrographic office for use with an Electronic Chart Display and Information System . An electronic chart must conform to standards stated in the International Hydrographic Organization Special Publication S-57 before...
(ENC) and Digital Nautical Chart (DNC).
CARIS is a member of the Open Geospatial Consortium
Open Geospatial Consortium
The Open Geospatial Consortium , an international voluntary consensus standards organization, originated in 1994. In the OGC, more than 400 commercial, governmental, nonprofit and research organizations worldwide collaborate in a consensus process encouraging development and implementation of open...
(OGC) and is a proponent of interoperability between different GIS systems. It markets its own GIS server which implements OGC specifications for Web Map Service
Web Map Service
A Web Map Service is a standard protocol for serving georeferenced map images over the Internet that are generated by a map server using data from a GIS database...
(WMS) and Web Feature Service
Web Feature Service
The Open Geospatial Consortium Web Feature Service Interface Standard provides an interface allowing requests for geographical features across the web using platform-independent calls...
(WFS).
In December 2007, CARIS achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification of its comprehensive quality management system.
In addition to its Canadian headquarters in Fredericton, New Brunswick, CARIS has offices in the Netherlands, United States and Australia. There are also more than 40 resellers offering sales and support of the software to more than 75 countries.
CARIS Products include:
CARIS Active ENC
CARIS Bathy DataBASE
CARIS Carta
CARIS ChartServer
CARIS Easy View
CARIS HIPS and SIPS
CARIS HPD (Hydrographic Production Database)
CARIS LOTS
CARIS Notebook
CARIS S-57 Composer
CARIS Spatial Fusion Enterprise