ArcGIS Online!

Another new release as part of the release of ArcGIS Explorer 9.2. So what is ArcGIS Online?

“ArcGIS Online provides a series of ready-to-use online map services, globe services, and other GIS services for use with ArcGIS. These include both 2D maps and 3D digital worlds (globes) that you can use directly in ArcGIS Explorer.”

“ArcGIS Online services are always available on the Web so that users with Internet access can use these services at any time. You can use the ArcGIS Online maps as your base map framework for deploying GIS applications to your users both internally as well as outside your organization.”

Sounds like a pretty cool idea and it’s good to see ESRI has now made this public. So what can you do with ArcGIS Online?

• Explore data for many digital worlds seamlessly in both 2D and 3D maps—for example using ArcGIS Explorer, the free 3D application for ArcGIS.
• Create your own digital worlds in 2D and 3D by combining ArcGIS Online services with your local data and services from ArcGIS Server, ArcIMS,
• Open Geospatial Consortium WMS services, and KML Services.
• Embed ArcGIS Online services into your own maps and applications and share the results with others.
• Add user tasks from your own secure servers and fuse them with services from ArcGIS Online and other servers—for example, visibility modeling, proximity search, or demographic analysis.

Check out the FAQ’s for more information: http://arcgisonline.esri.com/index.cfm?fa=faqs.home.

ArcGIS Online can be found here: http://arcgisonline.esri.com/index.cfm?fa=home.welcome. It is also linked off the ArcGIS Explorer webpage on the ESRI website here: http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/explorer/how-to-get.html