Spatial Innovision Limited has been awarded a major contract by the Ministry of Agriculture, Jamaica, to install and commission a National Virtual Reference System (VRS).

Silburn Clarke, President/ CEO of Spatial Innovision has explained that delivery of this advanced positioning and navigation system will enable “one-person real-time surveying as well as mapping data collection, anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day.” The VRS infrastructure will be built using advanced technologies from Trimble Navigation Limited.

The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Christopher Tufton who elaborated the benefits to be derived from this system within the agricultural sector, announced the awarding of the contract on March 12, 2008. Dr. Tufton made mention of using GPS-based systems to monitor and manage plant pests and diseases, and also for future use in tracking cattle.

The Trimble VRS will be built on the existing telecommunication infrastructure in the country; comprising of Frame Relay, Multi-Protocol Line Services from Cable & Wireless and GSM/GPRS networks from both Cable & Wireless and Digicel, Jamaica. This system will enable all types and classes of end-user equipment from various manufacturers to access accurate real-time GPS correction services, nationally, through any commercially available cell phone that supports GSM or GPRS.

Spatial Innovision also successfully delivered this solution to the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean’s first-ever RTK Active GPS Network. This five (5)-station network was developed and deployed with the support of project partners Fujitsu and Trimble Navigation.