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By: Sun Microsystems of Canada Inc.

Wednesday, June 25, 2003

DMTI Spatial breaks new trails for snowmobile riders with innovative mapping tools powered with Sun ONE Web Server software.

Taking full advantage of the chilly winter weather and bountiful snowfall, snowmobile riders from around the world flock to Ontario's snowmobile trails. This popular winter activity brings more than $1 billion into the Canadian economy each year. With 46,000 kilometers of Ontario trails to choose from, snowmobile riders are never at a loss to find new and interesting places to ride. The challenge lies in keeping one's bearings in such a vast backwoods area.

Until recently, riders lacked a comprehensive reference map system, and were often limited to a mixed bag of paper maps of varying age and accuracy, with limited detail. Plotting routes across these paper maps was a time-consuming and often frustrating process. The Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC), a volunteer group composed of 260 local snowmobile clubs and their associations, recognized there was an urgent need to help their members and visiting tourists plan their trips and navigate the extensive trail system.

Into the fray came DMTI Spatial, using Sun technology. DMTI Spatial is Canada's premier Geographic Information Systems data vendor. The company creates comprehensive digital mapping data for Canada including street maps, routing data, topographic information and geocoding technology which is used in web applications and corporate and government information and marketing systems. DMTI Spatial understood the need for better access to high quality snowmobiling maps, and leveraged its immense cartographic database to create a publicly accessible portal for the OFSC, powered by the Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) Web Server Enterprise Edition software.

Offering Web access to trail maps delivers significant benefits to the OFSC and trail users. The OFSC can continuously upgrade and enhance the Web-based service for snowmobilers, available through their website at http://trailmaps.ofsc.on.ca.

Immediate access to more information was key to keeping snowmobilers informed, and in turn, increasing the number of tourists to Ontario's rural areas.

Sun ONE Web Server Enterprise Edition software was the logical solution to drive the portal, because it is a high performance, highly scalable and flexible web server that delivers dynamic content to a Web site and can handle high user volumes.

DMTI Spatial digitized all of the OFSC trail maps and stored them as files to be viewed through ESRI's ArcIMS, dynamic Internet mapping software. Hosted by DMTI Spatial and running on a Sun server, the mapping tool -accessed by users through the OFSC website- integrates search and navigation features with comprehensive trail and regional map data. DMTI Spatial has also integrated OFSC trail data with CanMap Streetfiles, and added topographical features such as points of interest, contour lines, hydro lines, rail lines, and detailed lakes, rivers and wetlands.

DMTI Spatial's mapping technology lets users zoom from a view of the entire province down to a single kilometer; plot out routes and automatically measure distances by clicking on the map with a measure tool over a selected route. Future functionality will integrate access to weather and real-time trail condition information on the map. Now weekend warriors have access to technology-powered trail information normally reserved for companies that can afford to invest in expensive mapping system tools.

The ability to support dynamic mapping for up to seven thousand users per hour requires significant back-end processing power and a powerful, stable and scaleable Web platform. DMTI Spatial and OFSC knew their sites would gain massive amounts of traffic, and turned to Sun Microsystems to deliver the necessary solution. DMTI Spatial chose Sun as the foundation of its Web architecture. The Sun ONE Web Server Enterprise Edition software is deployed on the Sun Enterprise[TM] 420R server, running the Solaris[TM] 8 Operating Environment. Additionally, the combination of a Sun Enterprise 420R server and an Oracle database delivers a high level of stability and availability, essential for the large volume of graphics-intensive traffic.

The Sun ONE WebServer software supports an easy-to-use interface that staff employ to manage the trail and update conditions. This simplicity has ensured that the OFSC site is kept current.

Next winter, avid snowmobiling fans from around the world can log on to plan exciting new routes through Ontario's wilderness. The OFSC has leveraged mapping technology from DMTI Spatial, Sun's server technology and Sun ONE Web Server software to ensure fans of the wintertime activity will always be on track.

Hardware:

Sun Enterprise[TM] 420R Server
Software:
Solaris[TM] 8 Operating System
Sun ONE Web Server Enterprise Edition

Other Software:

Java[TM] Platform

Third Party Software:

Oracle
ESRI ArcIMS
ESRI ArcSDE

About DMTI Spatial:

DMTI Spatial is a leading North American spatial solutions data provider. Our data helps users to better understand their customers, optimize resources, realize opportunities, maximize profitability, and make informed business decisions. DMTI Spatial is the publisher of CanMap®, a suite of precision-built street map, rail and routing data; GeoPinpoint™ Suite, innovative geocoding and address management software; and a comprehensive portfolio of enhanced points of interest, census data and boundaries, postal geography, topographic maps, marketing databases and a wide range of GIS services. To find out more about DMTI Spatial, visit www.dmtispatial.com or call toll free: 1-877-477-3684

For Further information please contact:

Don DeGenova
Vice-President, Business Development and Strategic Alliances
DMTI Spatial
ddegenova@dmtispatial.com
Toll Free : 1-877-477-3684 x2011

Susan Stuart
Sun Microsystems of Canada Inc.
Susan.Stuart@sun.com
(905) 415-7903