ESRI announces the launch of ArcGIS.com, a Web site for finding and sharing geographic information system (GIS) content, organizing geographic information into groups, and building communities. A new browser-based version of ArcGIS Explorer, ArcGIS Explorer Online, also launches with the site and provides direct access to ArcGIS.com content.
Through ArcGIS.com, visitors can access a number of free, ready-to-use basemaps for their projects and applications, including community maps that have been built with data from organizations around the world. To create maps and mashups quickly and easily, a JavaScript Web Mapping application is available. ESRI gives users its high-quality basemaps as a starting point, and they can then search ArcGIS online content or other GIS servers and the Web to find additional layers for mashups. These mashups can be shared and consumed by others, including those with the ArcGIS for iPhone mapping application. Additionally, ArcGIS.com allows people to share their maps and apps with everyone or specific groups that they join to collaborate on specific projects. Users can create their own groups and invite others to join and share their content.
A new and exciting ArcGIS application with which to open and view GIS content is ArcGIS Explorer Online. ArcGIS online content can be accessed directly from within ArcGIS Explorer Online to create maps that can then be shared and consumed by a broad community of users, including the iPhone community.
Visitors to ArcGIS.com can access publicly available content without having to sign in. To take advantage of the extended capabilities of ArcGIS.com, such as uploading and sharing items, users can log in using their existing ESRI Global Account information. Users who don’t have an ESRI Global Account will be directed to a page where they can create one.
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