Business Address
Jean Thie
President
Ecoinformatics International Inc.
362 Templeton Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1N 6X9
Email: info-at-geostrategis.com
A Canadian national of Dutch origin, Jean Thie has worked over 35 years in ecological land classification, geographic information systems, management of science programs and policy and program development. Initially studying forestry and rural engineering in the Netherlands, he completed an M.Sc. in Soil Science / Biophysical Land Classification at the University of Manitoba, Canada. Remote sensing, land resource surveys and monitoring was the theme of studies at the International Centre for Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC, the Netherlands) and the Laboratory of Application of Remote Sensing (LARS, Purdue, US).
While responsible for the forestry sector of the Canada Land Inventory in Manitoba, the newly emerging remote sensing technology drew him to the field of geo- information management. He was instrumental in establishing the Manitoba Remote Sensing Centre and became the first Head of Applications Development of the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing.
As Director of the
Land Resources and Data Systems Branch of Environment Canada he was
responsible for the world leading Canadian Geographic Information System
(CGIS). Later as Director of the National Atlas Information Service,
his team
launched
in 1994 the first world wide web based-GIS, providing wide public
access to national and socio-economic data bases for education (SchoolNet),
community planning (Community Atlas), and policy applications. He
also
launched with Canadian Geographic a series of National “science-policy”
poster maps on Wetlands, The Boreal Forest, and Natural Hazards and
Canada- a land of Superlatives.
As consultant he worked extensively on the development of knowledge infrastructure and corporate decision support systems for science organizations and the private sector using internet and intranet. For four years he worked as CIO for the IUCN-The World Conservation Union, the largest environmental organization and multi-stakeholder knowledge network in the world, with a focus on knowledge management, collaborative internet strategies and digital divide issues. He organized a Futures Dialogue on Digital Opportunities for Sustainable Development as side event during the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
He is a past President of the Canadian Remote Sensing Society and was the founding President of the Canadian Society for Landscape Ecology and Management. He was founding Executive Director of the Canada Committee on Ecological Land Classification which initiated many of the ecological, integrative frameworks, approaches and principles which are now part of integrated resource planning and State of the Environment reporting at local, regional, provincial and national levels in Canada.
He is presently President of EcoInformatics International Inc, a
Consulting Company specializing in strategy mapping, knowledge
management and decision
support systems for science and natural resource management organizations.
He was recently appointed as the Executive Director of the Canadian
Institute of Geomatics, Ottawa, Canada. He
is editor of Geomatica Business Review.
