There are 11 AGI CPD (continued professional development) points up for grabs on next week's GML Training courses here at Snowflake. But you'll have to hurry, as there are only a few spaces left.

GML Fundamentals Training Course - Wednesday 7 September

This 1 day course is designed for GIS professionals, software engineers, data modellers and managers who wish to understand GML, its role within OGC and ISO standards and the benefits it can bring to an organisation. On completion of the course, attendees will have gained background knowledge of:

• Core OGC Standards
• Core ISO TC211 Standards
• The GML Standard
• Building GML Application Schema
• Profiles
• GML in OGC-web services
• Examples of Adopted GML Application Schema

Find out more information and secure your place.

Hands-On GML Training Course - Thursday 8/Friday 9 September

This 2 day hands-on course is designed for GIS professionals, software engineers and data modellers, who wish to gain detailed knowledge of GML and building GML Application Schema. On completion of the course, attendees will have gained comprehensive knowledge of:

• GML Resources & GML Schemas
• Model Driven Architecture and UML
• Geometry
• Extending Existing Schemas
• Tagged Values, Complex Properties
• Feature Relationships, Measures
• Web Feature Service
• GML Simple Features Profile

Find out more information and secure your place.

If you can't make it next week, but you're interested in our comprehensive training courses then take a look on our training web pages.

Melissa Burns | Head of Marketing | melissa.burns@snowflakesoftware.com

 ....or in English: "Snowflake goes to Spain!"

As we see the growing popularity of open standards, here at Snowflake we get many requests for our XML and GML training courses from all over the world. One of these requests came from Centro de Calculo de Alava S.A. (or CCASA for short) in the Basque region in northern Spain. CCASA is a public sector organisation and provides IT and geospatial services for the Provincial Council of Alava.

Fortunately I was the lucky one to travel down to the beautiful city of Vitoria-Gasteiz to train a group of delegates from a variety of public and private organisations in and around the Basque region. The 4 days training covered our XML Primer, GML Fundamentals and GML Hands On courses. 

At the same time I was training in Spain, my colleague Debbie was running the same training courses in parallel for one of our customers in The Netherlands. A first for Snowflake.

El Profesor

The training location must have been one of the most secure places I have ever trained at. As the training took place at the offices of the Basque police you can imagine that security was pretty tight. Detailed passport control on entering and leaving the place, and of course many barriers and gates everywhere. Thankfully body searches were not necessary. After a couple days the guards started to recognise my face...and my inability to speak more than two words of coherent Spanish....and I was just known as "El Profesor" and all gates and barriers opened before me.

Different cultures

One of the great things about training oversees is the change in culture, especially when it comes to food. Instead of having a brief lunch break around noon, in Spain lunch is a much more serious business. Lunch is the main meal of the day and usually starts around 3pm and lasts for at least two hours. Therefore we decided to adopt the national traditions and change the standard start and end times of the training. This meant starting early (which is very early for me) and ending around lunchtime. 

A welcome break formed the mid-morning coffee breaks at the neighbouring cafe for a quick strong coffee and a pinxto (little snacks).

Putting training in action

During the four days we covered all aspects of the XML and GML standards. Because CCASA recently developed a new application schema for underground infrastructure themselves, they managed to put their newly gained knowledge to practise immediately and improve the application schema during the training course. For me personally that is the real aim of any training course: Putting new knowledge to practise as soon as possible.

As we use the Treasure Island narritive quite extensively in our GML Hands On training all delegates were handed a copy of the famous Treasure Island novel by Robert Louis Stevenson as a memento.  Quite ironic though, to search for a Spanish treasure with a class full of Spanish students....

Are you interested in learning more about the XML and GML standards....or how you can use them for some good ol' treasure hunting....? Contact us or have a look on our training pages on the Snowflake website.

Richard Rombouts | Technical Sales Manager | richard.rombouts@snowflakesoftware.com |

www.twitter.com/sflakesoftware | www.twitter.com/richrombouts |

We've released the next set of dates that make up our autumn training calendar, for September, October and November.

Choose from four different themed training series:

• GML Series (XML Primer, GML Fundamentals & GML Hands-On) - Earn up to 15 CPD points
• INSPIRE Series (INSPIRE Essentials, GML Fundamentals & GML Hands-On) Earn up to 15 CPD points
• GO Loader Series (GO Loader Fundamentals & GO Loader Advanced)
• GO Publisher Series (GO Publisher Hands-On)

Melissa Burns | Marketing Manager | melissa.burns@snowflakesoftware.com | www.twitter.com/sflakesoftware

 ... well, why don't you test yourself with Friday's short quiz?

Do you know what GML is? Why it was created and other useful GML trivia, you always wanted to know! 

Click here to take the quiz: Take the quiz >>>

And if you'd like to know a bit more about GML, or maybe put your knowledge into practice, why not take a look at some of our GML training courses:

• GML Fundamentals
• GML Hands On

Don't forget that you can collect valuable AGI CPD points for attending the courses, and boost your professional development.

Melissa Burns | Marketing Manager | melissa.burns@snowflakesoftware.com | www.twitter.com/sflakesoftware

The INSPIRE framework and all its supporting legislation, implementation dates and general terminology can be very daunting. But it doesn't need to be.

For many, INSPIRE is not a choice. It's a framework that must be complied with. The framework impacts many organisations from service delivery to policy implementation. Yet the benefits extend far beyond just INSPIRE compliance:

• Easier access to spatial data
• Enhanced, structured data infrastructure
• Interoperability through open standards

Many organisations are major data users and producers of spatial data and need to take steps to comply.

But do you know what steps you need to take to comply, when, why and how? 

Well, to help you find out we've created a really short quiz so you can test your basic knowledge. Think of it as INSPIRE for beginners.  There are only four questions, so have a go and find out whether you're INSPIRE ready.

Take the INSPIRE Quiz >>>

And if you think you could benefit with a bit more information, why not take a look at attending one of our popular INSPIRE Essentials training courses. On the course you'll get the lowdown from our INSPIRE guru, Debbie Wilson, from the very beginning right down to action you need to take by when and also what you don't need to do.

Take the INSPIRE Quiz >>>

 Good Luck!

Melissa Burns | Marketing Manager | melissa.burns@snowflakesoftware.com | www.twitter.com/sflakesoftware.com