Midland Heart standardises on Cadcorp GIS for housing management

Stevenage UK, 22 October 2012 - One of the UK’s largest housing and care organisations has decided to meet all its mapping requirements using geographic information systems (GIS) technology from the British software developer, Cadcorp.

With nearly 32,000 homes, Midland Heart is the largest provider operating in 54 local authorities across the Midlands, with a stock portfolio that includes nearly 22,000 general needs properties; over 2,000 shared ownership homes and a significant care and support provision of nearly 6,500 units.

“Housing associations continually have to balance the need to generate social as well as financial returns”, noted James Jervis of Midland Heart. “Geographic information systems technology helps us deliver against both sets of obligations.  Although we have been using GIS effectively for a number of years, its use was limited to a few specialist staff at Midland Heart who had desktop GIS software.  We recognised that if we were to allow all staff to visualise key internal and external datasets geographically, we needed to deploy a web-based application.”

Midland Heart invited a number of GIS software suppliers to propose an Intranet web mapping solution and following an extensive evaluation selected Cadcorp technology to provide not only the web mapping application, but also replace their existing desktop GIS. The new combined system will now manage the location of properties, Land Registry title polygons, and land use data, against background data sets which will include OS OpenData™ and OS MasterMap®.

“We had two requirements that weren’t open for discussion” continued James Jervis. “The first was that the web mapping application should be easy for staff to use. The second was that it should be convenient to administer without the need for external involvement.  Cadcorp Web Map Layers met both of these requirements. We didn’t set out to standardise on one GIS technology. We were equally open to proposals for web mapping applications which would co-exist with our current desktop GIS. We found that Cadcorp SIS technology would allow us to coexist in the short term, before eventually migrating to a standardised infrastructure.”

Mike O’Neil, CEO of Cadcorp said: “Geographic information is central to the work of housing associations. It is encouraging to see Midland Heart unlocking the value of that information by making it available to as many staff as possible. “

For more information about Cadcorp visit www.cadcorp.com

For more information about Midland Heart visit www.midlandheart.org.uk

Contact

Cadcorp
Richard Spooner

Marketing Manager
+44 1438 747996

richard.spooner@cadcorp.com

The publication of AGI member press releases is a member service. The AGI neither approves or endorses the contents of member's press releases, nor makes any assurance of their factual accuracy.

Licensed mapping - vital to keep up with changing face of Britain

Ordnance Survey, Great Britain’s national mapping agency, is reminding land and property professionals to ensure that they are not risking their professional reputation by using unlicensed mapping data.

Over the last 10 years the use of digital location-based information has changed significantly, from being used by only a small number of organisations to becoming an essential business decision-making tool. This increased reliance on, and recognition of, digital mapping data has also resulted in customers demanding the most up-to-date information available. Ordnance Survey makes up to 10 000 changes to the master map database of Great Britain every day, reflecting the rapid developments in the nation’s environment. However, it is not only important for organisations to have the most up-to-date data, but also vital that they have the appropriate licence to effectively use it. The use of older, unlicensed data not, only has legal and cost implications, but also risks damaging professional reputations, which may have taken many years to build.

Dan Hughes, Sector Manager of Land & Property at Ordnance Survey comments: “It is incredible how quickly the face of Britain changes, with even small adjustments to buildings and boundaries able to have far-reaching consequences. Never has it been more important to ensure that you are using the very latest licensed data, allowing you to rely on the fact that it will be accurate and consistent, but more importantly that your company’s reputation is secure.”

The use of properly-licensed data can also represent significant time and cost savings. Thames Valley Housing estimates that investing in the very latest data is enabling the housing provider to save £200 000 in grounds maintenance costs each year, without impacting on its quality of service - a total saving of £2 million over a typical 10 year maintenance contract.

Commenting on the campaign, James Kavanagh of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), said: “It is vitally important for all associate and chartered members of RICS to work within the bounds of RICS regulation and to provide the highest levels of service and professionalism to clients. This requires the use of the best and most up-to-date information available, which in the context of Ordnance Survey mapping and information can only be achieved by making sure that you are correctly licensed and using the latest mapping data.”

Jan Boothroyd, Chief Executive at Land Data, added: “It’s important to use the most up-to-date mapping information, because maps change, and if you’re using an out-of-date map, it may be that the boundaries you use when you submit your search cover the wrong piece of land. It may mean you get information back that is incomplete, and that could damage the client’s transaction, so from a reputational point of view we would always advise that people use fully licensed up-to-date Ordnance Survey mapping.”

Those who are in doubt as to whether their location data licence is up-to-date should contact their data supplier or Ordnance Survey directly for guidance.

For more information visit www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/licensing

The publication of AGI member press releases is a member service. The AGI neither approves or endorses the contents of member's press releases, nor makes any assurance of their factual accuracy.

Steven Feldman Joins Astun Technology

Epsom, Surrey, 16^th October, 2012 - Steven Feldman, has joined Astun Technology as Strategic Adviser to the Board. In this role Steven will seek to provide strategic support and mentoring to Astun as it moves to the next stage of its development as a provider of enterprise solutions to Local Government. 

Steven Feldman trained as an economist but spent the first 20 years of his working life in building materials before stumbling upon GIS. As General Manager of GDC he led a management buy out with investment support from employees. 4 years later GDC had grown into one of the leading suppliers of e-Government solutions and corporate GI to Local Government with a strong reputation for innovation and customer service. The business was later sold to MapInfo where Steven continued as UK MD and Director of Product and Industry Strategy, EMEA. In 2010 Steven   branched out on his own and holds a number of positions working as a non-executive director, strategic consultant, investor, advisor and mentor to technology startups. Steven also found time to chair the first three AGI GeoCommunity conferences and become a Special Lecturer at the School of Geography at the University of Nottingham. He helped start the Open Street Map GB project and will be chairing FOSS4G, the global conference for Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial to be held in Nottingham in 2013.

“Steven knows this industry like the back of his hand and has a passion for Open Source solutions so the glove most definitely fits. We are looking forward to his closer involvement with the company as we extend our software and services across the enterprise,” said Mike Saunt Managing Director of Astun Technology.

“Astun Technology is an innovative company with exceptionally talented and passionate staff. It has a number of unique software solutions built on Open Source technologies and I am really looking forward to helping them build on their already strong foundations,” said Steven Feldman. 

Astun Technology - passionate about Geo, passionate about Open

Astun Technology is the UK market leader of geospatial solutions built on ‘Open Source’ foundations.  

Astun helps organisations to realise the power of geography whether managing assets and business processes or determining policy and strategic options, by providing access to and insights from corporate data across the enterprise and beyond.

Astun’s iShare data integration and publishing platform for Local Government, Emergency Services, Housing Associations and the wider public sector includes public facing geoweb applications that aid self-service and promote channel shift. Built on OSGeo Open Source technologies iShare also delivers enterprise corporate geographic information to the desktop, database and intranet.

Astun offers bespoke geospatial application development, training, mentoring and support plus a range of cloud services based on the Open Source Geostack. Over 50 organisations in the public and private sector have deployed Astun solutions.

+44 (0) 1372 744 009

www.astuntechnology.com

The publication of AGI member press releases is a member service. The AGI neither approves or endorses the contents of member's press releases, nor makes any assurance of their factual accuracy.

Guidance published on Basic Land and Property Unit polygons

London, 11^th October 2012 - GeoPlace has published a guidance document aimed at local authorities in England and Wales who wish to create and maintain Basic Land and Property Unit (BLPU) polygons.  The guidance is also aimed at those that want to understand the reasons and business benefits of maintaining this type of data.

The guidance was compiled by a Working Group responding to requests from the local authority community who were seeking assistance on creating and maintaining this type of information more efficiently and consistently across local government.  The guidance should be read in conjunction with the Data Entry Conventions for the NLPG  and Data Transfer Format v7.3  documents.  The contents of the guidance are optional, aimed at authorities who wish to create and maintain this type of information.

The Working Group undertook a wide ranging consultation process which informed the final document.

The guidance documents the following areas, together with a number of examples:

• business process
• business rules
• rule base for data entry
• conventions for maintenance of the data
• business case and justification of undertaking the creation of BLPU polygons.

The guidance states that the creation of BLPU polygons has wide-ranging benefits for a local authority, particularly in the following departments:

• Building control
• Land charges
• Social services
• Education
• Transport
• Planning
• Economic development

The Working Group concluded that whilst the creation of BLPU polygons requires an initial investment, the return on that investment can be quickly realised with discernible quantitative and qualitative benefits across the whole organisation and partner organisations, with at least 25% efficiency savings to be realised.

The Reference Document Data Entry Conventions and Best Practice for Basic Land and Property Unit (BLPU) Polygons, (DEC-BLPU-P) Version 1, published September 2012 can be seen at http://www.iahub.net/docs/1349443753737.pdf

The Consultation Response to the Data Entry Conventions and Best Practice for Basic Land and Property Unit (BLPU) Polygons, Version 0, published September 2012 can be seen at http://www.iahub.net/docs/1349443791262.pdf

Contacts:

GeoPlace contact: Gayle Gander, Head of Marketing, +44(0)207 747 3500, E-mail: gayle.gander@geoplace.co.uk, www.geoplace.co.uk

Getmapping Opens Kenya Office

Intergeo, UK, October 9th 2012 - Aerial survey specialist Getmapping, in partnership with Survplans and Geomatica, has opened a new office in Nairobi, Kenya, to increase its presence in East Africa. The office will support the activities of GAP (Geospatial Aerial Partnership) - a joint venture between South African companies Geosense (part of the Getmapping Group) and Geomatica and will operate in partnership with Survplans, a leading provider of ground survey services across Kenya and East Africa. 

The Nairobi office will support a full range of data capture, processing and analytical services. As well as large scale LiDAR and aerial photography, the partnership specialises in corridor mapping for power and civil engineering projects, together with asset survey services for mining. It is planned to augment these survey and post processing activities with data hosting and web based GIS software soon.

GAP operates a number of large format survey cameras, including the A3 system from Visionmap which provides rapid capture and processing capabilities. The  A3 has already been used on a range of projects in Africa including a high resolution (6.25cm) survey of the entire City of Cape Town. GAP provides a wide range of aerial survey services across Southern Africa from its offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town. 

“By establishing an office in Nairobi, we are making a long term commitment to operate in the region rather than just undertaking occasional projects” said Matt Murphy, Managing Director of Geosense. “GAP has established a reputation for providing high quality survey services across Southern Africa over the last few years, and we now want to provide these services to the East African market as well.”

“This new partnership will provide clients in the region with a complete service for both ground and aerial surveys” said Ken Ndede, Managing Director of Survplans. “East Africa is growing rapidly and we aim to support this development by providing a strong, technically robust, local presence in the region.”

About Getmapping Plc

Getmapping Plc is a leading provider of aerial photography, digital mapping and web based services. With offices in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire and Cape Town, South Africa, Getmapping was the first company to have up to date nationwide coverage of Britain and pioneered online delivery of aerial photography to business and the public at large. A reseller of professional mapping, oblique photography, height data, OS maps and third party aerial photography, Getmapping services a wide variety of markets including press and media, local authorities, property and construction, environmental consultants and the public. It also provides a number of value added mapping products and services tailored to specific client needs including data hosting, online data delivery and web-based GIS. A pioneer of many online products through its website, Getmapping is the only company currently re-flying the whole of the UK at enhanced 12.5cm resolution.

www.getmapping.com/international

About GAP

GAP (Geospatial Aerial Partnership) is a joint venture between South African companies Geosense (part of the Getmapping Group) and Geomatica which will be operating in partnership with Survplans, a leading provider of ground survey services across Kenya and East Africa.

About Survplan Ltd

Established in 1998 Survplans is a surveying and mapping firm based in Nairobi, Kenya, which specialises in topographical, engineering and cadastral surveying. Survplans has undertaken topographical surveys and aerial mapping of roads, water and sewerage delivery systems, large and small scale farms and natural resource mapping for both private customers  and agencies of the Government of Kenya.

http://survplansltd.com

For further information please contact:

www.getmapping.com/international

The publication of AGI member press releases is a member service. The AGI neither approves or endorses the contents of member's press releases, nor makes any assurance of their factual accuracy.