Hexagon acquires minority stake in Blom ASA

Blom ASA announces today that Hexagon AB, the leading global provider of design, measurement and visualisation technologies, will acquire 25 per cent of the shares in Blom ASA for a total amount of approximately 9 MEUR.

Hexagon is a leading global provider of design, measurement and visualisation technologies. The company’s customers can design, measure and position objects, and process and present data, to stay one step ahead of a changing world. Hexagon’s solutions increase productivity, enhance quality and allow for faster, better operational decisions, saving time, money and resources.

Hexagon has over 13 000 employees in more than 40 countries and net sales of about 2 200 MEUR. The company’s products are used in a broad range of industries including surveying, power and energy, aerospace and defence, safety and security, construction and manufacturing.

“Our alliances with geospatial information providers around the globe strengthens our vision of providing “dynamic”, more accurate and in the end real-time updates of the world around us”, said Ola Rollén, President and CEO of Hexagon AB. “With this investment, Hexagon secures access to high resolution and up-to-date geospatial information which is becoming increasingly important to our entire customer base, especially within Intergraph, where access to such data provides the foundation for industry-specific software solutions”.

For Blom, such a close relationship to the vast amount of technology and resources that Hexagon represent, will strengthen the company in all respect, be a support to our competence and help us achieve our long-term strategy”, said Dirk Blaauw, CEO Blom ASA.

For further information please contact:

Dirk Blaauw, CEO Blom ASA, tel: +47 22 13 19 20 or email: dirk.blaauw@blomasa.com

About Blom

Blom has headquarters in Oslo, Norway and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker BLO). The company is a leading European service provider in the geospatial arena, offering a wide selection of geographic services to the government, enterprise and consumer markets. Services include the acquisition, processing and modelling of maps and images. With subsidiaries in 13 countries, and over 900 employees, Blom’s geographic information database houses one of the largest collections of maps, aerial images and geospatial models across Europe. Through its online services, Blom provides access to its expansive database enabling customers to update their own datasets and partners the ability to create applications using Blom’s location-based services and navigation solutions. For more information, visit www.blomasa.com

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Storm damage in Finland documented by digital aerial photos from Blom

When heavy storms hit the Nordic countries during the Christmas holidays of December 2011, Blom rapidly mobilized aircraft fitted with digital cameras to document the damages. The mobilization was done on request from the National Land Survey in Finland.

“This is a good example of how modern mapping equipment and rapid workflows can be used for new tasks and in different weather conditions than traditionally associated with mapping”, says Håkon Andresen, Director for Business Development in Blom Nordic. “Snow on the ground, longer shadows, less favorable light and challenging weather conditions are handled by our experienced operators making use of the latest technological developments”, he explains.

Recent technological developments make it possible to fly, produce and deliver this kind of projects within a few days after the disaster has taken place. “Fast execution and delivery is critical for our customers and we constantly push ourselves to deliver images and the derived products faster than before”, says Lasse Turunen, Product Manager for Forest Services in Blom in Finland.

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Blom successfully delivers laser scanning survey for railway development in Finland

Blom have completed an aerial LiDAR survey for VR Track Oy, the leading rail constructor in Finland. Covering approximately 91 km, the survey ran along the main rail line spanning the Finnish towns of Lielahti and Kokemäki, and would be run for the alliance of VR Track and the Finnish Traffic Authority.

VR Track required digital ortho photos and DTMs (digital terrain models) for the planning of maintenance necessary to improve safety and traffic on the track and approached Blom due to their extensive experience in this area.

The DTM project was managed by Pasi Kråknäs, the leading survey expert at VR Track. Having formerly had experience of working with Blom, and the use of TopEye LiDAR technology in similar projects, Pasi commented “In my experience, TopEye technology produces very accurate and reliable laser data for this kind of modeling.”

Flying for the LiDAR capture began in late autumn, when vegetation had already disappeared but before snow covered the ground. Weather conditions are typically very challenging during this period but, due to the efficiency of TopEye LiDAR, data collection was successfully completed on 1^st November 2011.

LiDAR was flown by helicopter at a flying height of 400 m, generating a point cloud of 10 points/m², and digital images with ground resolution better than 5 cm GSD (Ground Sample Distance). VR Track completed required control surveys for matching and calibration. LiDAR data and images were processed by Blom Sweden and quality control completed using Blom’s in-house software; TASQ.

A DTM covering a 100 m wide corridor, digital ortho photos and a height model were handed to the planning team at VR Track as the final project deliverables. Parts of the laser data were delivered to other consultants to necessitate additional vectoring work. Pasi Kråknäs reported that final results were in accordance to technical requirements, the schedule according to the plan and the project was completed within budget. “I am sure that VR Track will continue co-operation with Blom in future projects” he summarizes.

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Bluesky Blom partnership delivers unique aerial images online

Using a powerful online server, high resolution images of hundreds of European cities can now be streamed direct to the desktop. The partnership between two of the UK’s leading geospatial data providers – Bristol based Blom UK and Leicestershire based Bluesky, has opened up access to some of the most up to date geographic imagery including high resolution vertical photographs and oblique images. Utilising the BlomURBEX geoserver images can be viewed at the desktop and even the smallest feature can be digitised and measured.

This announcement builds on an existing relationship between the two companies that has resulted in aerial photographs captured by some of the most prestigious names in UK survey industry being made available to view and download from www.oldaerialphotos.com.

“This partnership is another step in our on-going relationship with Bluesky,” commented Dave Fox, Executive Vice-President of Operations, Blom Group. “It ensures access to some of the most up to date and accurate geospatial imagery for a new generation of applications and users.”

Rachel Tidmarsh, Managing Director of Bluesky International added, “By utilizing the BlomURBEX solution we can provide a hosted service presenting the power of vertical aerial photography to new markets and introducing oblique images to existing users.” She continued, “This is also an important development as it negates the need for in-house data management which can often be complex and costly.”

The BlomURBEX geoserver opens up access to large volumes of geographic imagery via the Internet. Streaming images at high speed with an easy to use interface, users of the hosted service can access nationwide coverage of vertical aerial photography from Bluesky’s own archive as well as stunning oblique images from the BlomOBLIQUE collection of more than 900 European cities and towns. This agreement will also allow Bluesky to resell other products from Blom including Blom3D and BlomMETRO.

About Blom
The Blom Group is the largest provider of geospatial services in Europe for both government agencies and private commercial organizations and companies. Blom owns exclusive spatial databases composed of maps, images and 3D models. Focused on online services, Blom provides data and solutions to its customers in many markets and allows its partners to create high added-value applications based on Blom data models and services. This strategy is backed by Blom’s major technical capacity in aircrafts, cameras, laser scanners and mapping systems. This makes it possible for all projects to be carried out within the company, assuring a high quality product is delivered both on-time and to budget. Blom has more than 1,000 employees and offices in 13 countries and its HQ is located in Oslo, Norway. Blom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker BLO). For more information, visit www.blomasa.com

Contacts:
Website:  www.blomasa.com
Tel +44 (0)1934 311 000
info.uk@blomasa.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.

Eniro.fi integration with BlomURBEX

Eniro.fi integration with BlomURBEX is providing users with a rich, interactive and informative view of Finland

Eniro.fi is the most popular web map service in Finland and Blom’s oblique images have been an important part of this service for a few years. In 2011, Fonecta renewed their Eniro.fi service and during the process replaced the oblique viewing solution of the old Eniro.fi with BlomURBEX integration. Integration was done using BlomURBEX’s API (Application Programming Interface) tools.

The oblique imagery served from BlomURBEX provides users with a rich, interactive and highly informative view of the area of interest. For example, before setting off to a destination, users can inspect Eniro.fi’s routing services. The oblique imagery provides a broader visual understanding of the area, and helps users to easily locate themselves within their surroundings.

 “We are developing all of our services to help people and companies in everyday tasks, and customer feedback is very important for us. For some years Blom has provided us with oblique images and these have always generated a lot of interest with an established user base”, states Toni Wistbacka, the Product Manager of Eniro.fi –service.

In addition to oblique and ortho imagery, several types of map layers, and routing service functionality, Fonecta’s improved Eniro.fi service also provides tools for searching contact information of companies and individuals in Finland.

About Blom
The Blom Group is the largest provider of geospatial services in Europe for both government agencies and private commercial organizations and companies. Blom owns exclusive spatial databases composed of maps, images and 3D models. Focused on online services, Blom provides data and solutions to its customers in many markets and allows its partners to create high added-value applications based on Blom data models and services. This strategy is backed by Blom’s major technical capacity in aircrafts, cameras, laser scanners and mapping systems. This makes it possible for all projects to be carried out within the company, assuring a high quality product is delivered both on-time and to budget. Blom has more than 1,000 employees and offices in 13 countries and its HQ is located in Oslo, Norway. Blom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker BLO). For more information, visit www.blomasa.com

Contacts:
Website:  www.blomasa.com
Tel +44 (0)1934 311 000
info.uk@blomasa.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.