CAD News for Govies is a weekly feature on Acronym that scans thousands of industry articles to present you with a regular source of CAD and GIS news, information and ideas that impact the public sector. Here’s the latest round-up:

Is it Possible To Design Buildings That Can Withstand 250 MPH Typhoon Winds?

Starting February 2012, students at three Alabama schools have been part of a pilot project designed to enhance child safety between home and school! Using ID cards with radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology built-in, students are scanned as they get on and off school buses. Combining the RFID data with GPS, the system transmits the student’s location data to a remote server, which allows a Huntsville school official to access it if they need to. The technology is called ZPass and was developed and by Zonar Systems. ZPass is intended to improve child safety so that parents know if their kids are on their school bus.

Did you know that the Geographic Information System (GIS) Services Division in Monroe County, New York now has its own GIS technology vehicle? “While Google’s Street View picture-snapping cars are out and about in most countries in the U.S., in New York state only Monroe County has its own GIS technology vehicle.” (Mobile GIS Vehicle Puts Monroe County, N.Y., on the Map). Google Street View launched for five U.S. cities in May 2007 and now their 360-degree panoramic views include locations on all seven continents. Google currently uses cars, trikes, snowmobiles, and trolleys to collect imagery. (Cars, Trikes & More)

Illegal mining is a significant issue in India’s Goa state, Goa exported almost 54 million tons of iron ore in the last fiscal year and out of this, almost seven million tons were removed illegally. To help combat the situation, the state is successfully using Google Earth to track illegal mining in Goa.

On Thursday, November 17, Google and “[acronym]’s sponsor, DLT Solutions hosted a live technology seminar at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel in Lakewood, CO. The Tech Day highlighted DLT Solutions’ partnership with Google to provide innovative technologies that help government agencies with Enterprise solutions. Google product experts spoke to Federal Civilian and State and Local government employees about how these modern technology solutions allow them to meet the current challenges of their agency.

On Thursday, November 17, Google and DLT Solutions are hosting a live technology seminar in Denver, Colorado. The Tech Day will be held at the Sheraton Denver West Hotel in Lakewood, CO. Government agencies around the country are rapidly adopting Google's enterprise solutions to manage information & promote teamwork, while lowering their IT costs. Learn from Google product experts how these modern technology solutions allow you to meet the current challenges of your agency. You will see, in a briefing and in demonstration, today's art of the possible and a compelling vision for the future!

My prior posting discussed imagery (either satellite or LIDAR) as a standalone solution in the AEC world.  Today we’re going to dig a bit deeper into the integration of imagery into some of today’s most powerful AEC software tools.  Once you’ve gone through the time and expense of identifying an area of interest (AOI), procuring the imagery and reviewing it for accuracy – why not integrate it into your design softw