Cadcorp Launches GIS Application for Automating Site Audits

Stevenage UK, 4^thDecember 2012 - British developer of geographic information systems (GIS) software, Cadcorp, has announced the immediate availability of ‘Site Auditor’ - an application designed for organisations that own or manage geographically dispersed assets that have to be periodically inspected. Site Auditor streamlines and automates the auditing process by eliminating unnecessary paperwork and data transcriptions.

“There are many reasons why organisations in both the public and private sector have to carry out periodic inspections,” said Mike O’Neil, CEO Cadcorp.  “They include monitoring safety and compliance, reducing liability, and assessing the state of repair of an asset. What the organisations have in common is that they need to keep an auditable record of these site visits and they want to achieve this using automated means as far as possible. Cadcorp Site Auditor addresses this need by providing a streamlined process for generating a visual and auditable record of the location, time, and duration of site visits.”

A map generated by Site Auditor showing complete and incomplete site visits. (Digital data image reproduced from Ordnance Survey GB, with permission of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright.)

Site Auditor works in conjunction with a GPS recording device carried by inspectors, either in-vehicle or on-foot. The device is set to record lat-long positions at given time intervals from the start to the end of a site inspection workflow. Site Auditor reads and processes the resultant data file, and provides the analysis and reporting functionality that is required to structure the GPS trace, or ‘bread-crumb’ trail, into an auditable record of inspections.

The application works on the basis that a visual inspection can be deemed to have occurred when an inspector has been within a given distance of a target location for a sufficiently long period of time.

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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.

Cadcorp Announces Partnership with MapSoft for the Serbian Geospatial Market

Stevenage UK, 29 September 2012 - British developer of geographic information systems (GIS) software, Cadcorp, has formed a partnership with the Belgrade-based geomatics specialist MapSoft Ltd. The 17 person company which was founded in 2002 by academics from the Institute for Geodesy and Geoinformatics at the University of Belgrade, is a respected supplier of software and services to the GIS market in Serbia and surrounding territories.

MapSoft will promote the Cadcorp Spatial Information System(r) (Cadcorp SIS(r)) software as a complement to MapSoft's own data capture product which is widely deployed in cadastral offices, surveying and mapping agencies, local governments and utilities companies in Serbia, the Republic of Srpska, Macedonia, and Montenegro.

"We realised a number of years ago, that as a provider of geomatic solutions we needed to have available a whole range of geoprocessing capabilities and we set about identifying suitable products and companies" said Zeljko Cvijetinovic , Managing Director of MapSoft. "We narrowed our search down to four suppliers, and Cadcorp was one of those.  Cadcorp SIS offers the range of functionality we required and, very importantly for us, it adheres to open standards. Cadcorp employs a dedicated team of knowledgeable specialists and having confidence in the ability of a supplier to support us was critical for our selection."

"The Serbian market for GIS - especially the municipal GIS market - is characterized by a multiplicity of different software systems and data formats" continued Mr. Cvijetinovic . "Cadcorp is well-known for the ability of its products to coexist with other systems. We see Cadcorp SIS fulfilling a role for our customers not just as another GIS, but also as central repository capable of serving multiple systems and applications."

Mike O'Neil, CEO of Cadcorp said: "In the short time we have been partners, MapSoft has already won significant business in the local government market. We look forward to building on this success with Mr. Cvijetinovic and his highly-skilled team."

MapSoft specialises in aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry, topographic and cadastral surveying and mapping, and in delivering customised GIS solutions customised to their clients' needs.  The company has created digital orthophoto coverage for 35% of the land area of Serbia.  Through a sister company, MapSoft is also engaged in vehicle tracking and fleet management.

For more information about Cadcorp and MapSoft visit www.cadcorp.com<http://www.cadcorp.com> and www.mapsoft.rs<http://www.mapsoft.rs>

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.

Cadcorp fire conference hits the spot by focussing on GIS for resilience and efficiency

Stevenage, 12^th March, 2012 – Chief Fire Officer, James Courtney of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue (SYFR) welcomed attendees to the 2012 Cadcorp Fire Conference, held at the brigade’s HQ in Sheffield on 6th March. He drew particular attention to the part being played by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) at a time when fire services are being asked to do more with limited resources.

The conference entitled ‘GIS technology in the fire service, its contribution to resilience and efficiency’ provided an opportunity for fire brigades throughout the UK to come together and share their experiences.

Graham Howe, SYFR Watch Manager, provided an account of how the brigade has been using GIS to explore the service impact of possible station closures. He generated response time maps for different configurations of fire stations. By subtracting a response time maps of a proposed configuration, from a response time maps of the existing configuration, he can easily identify where services would be improved, and where services would deteriorate.

The presentation by Cathy McGoran and Gemma Polmear, GIS Analysts with Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, reminded the attendees that it is not just the location of stations that affect call out times, but also the home addresses of fire officers on-call.  They have estimated and mapped the time it will take officers to travel from home to station and by embedding the resultant maps in intelligent PDF documents, have provided a simple but very effective tool for use by the brigade in staffing and rostering.

Mike Baines, System Administrator, Greater Manchester FRS, described the improvements in data sharing his authority is experiencing following its implementation of a corporate GIS supported by a centralised spatial data warehouse. He also described some of the advantages of using GIS (rather than CAD) to manage the still valuable printed book plots.

Hiren Patel, Research Analyst with Leicestershire FRS, gave a valuable lesson in the practical application of simple descriptive statistics in spatial analysis, and made a convincing case for the wider adoption of the box plot as a convenient way of graphically depicting groups of numerical data measures.  

Will Stewart, Information Services Manager at the States of Jersey Fire and Rescue, gave the audience a feel for the geographic challenges faced by an island fire brigade, not least the requirement to be self-sufficient and have a ‘can-do’ attitude. Will described how the deployment of a simple and easy to use GIS application in their Command Support Unit helps in the management of large incidents on the island.

In the afternoon, it was the turn of Cadcorp partners to share some of their developments. First to present was Atul Patel, Product Director at 3tc Software.  He described his company’s mobile data solution – MODAS – which is about to be deployed by SYFR. He even had a system on hand for participants to evaluate.

The organisation providing map data to MODAS – the Ordnance Survey – had an opportunity to present on their other products of value to the fire service.

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New single source of online information for every property in the District

25 January 2012 - St Albans City and District Council has launched a new web service through which residents can view detailed information tailored to any individual address in the District.

The new service is based on Geographical Information System data.  From one web page you can see, for example, the planning history of your home and overlay map information to see details about planning applications related to properties in your neighbourhood. 

With specific reference to your address, you can check when your waste and recycling collection is due, find the name and contact details of your local ward councillors, find your nearest library or household recycling centre and report anti-social behaviour such as fly-tipping and graffiti. 

Cllr Julian Daly, Executive Leader of St Albans City and District Council and Portfolio Holder for Resources said:  “This new web application is easy to use and available to everyone via the Council’s website.  It presents personalised local services information specific to each home in the District.  We want to give the public access to the same data as council officers.”

To see the St Albans City & District online Local Information Service please visit http://gis.stalbans.gov.uk/wmlcustomerservice/ or see the link on the Council’s homepage.

The Council is keen to receive feedback on the new Local Information Service and learn what additional information people would value on this site.  Please email your views to gis@stalbans.gov.uk, or telephone 01727 819324.

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