FIND 2012 highlights and the year ahead in spatial data services

FIND's director, Simon Lewis, gives a run down of 2012 and offers a taster of things to come for 2013.

January is traditionally a time for taking stock and making plans, looking back and forwards, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to recap on what we did in 2012 and mention a few things coming that are going to make 2013 an exciting year for spatial data services.

2012 was very busy, we developed and launched a number of innovative sites and services designed to help you solve your business problems with spatial data:

• sketchmap.co.uk – a free site offering maps and data overlays where you can simply make and share maps 
• new pricing for Ordnance Survey mapping - featuring free MasterMap viewing plus cheaper prints and exports! 
• HeritageRisk.co.uk – now you can order HEA and heritage site assessments online 
• BombRisk.com – order instant online UXO risk assessments 
• MarineFind.co.uk – new portal showcasing our comprehensive marine data and services 

2013 will see the launch of more exciting new products to help you access data as, when and how you want it:

• data as online services – no need for local storage, just subscribe to our unique marine data feeds and away you go 
• more instant site report services - we're working on some great products that will really save you time and money 
• and don't forget our online data portal www.findmaps.co.uk – providing instant access to an unrivalled collection of UK spatial data

If you need mapping tools within your organisation do get in touch, as you can see we have great technology and the ability to build unique online mapping applications!

Wishing you a healthy, happy and prosperous year,

Simon 

Simon Lewis
FIND Managing Director

Seasons Greetings 2012 from FIND Maps

We thought we would take the opportunity to celebrate the festive season by producing a sketchmap.

Created in Sketchmap, see link here

The above example uses a unique map background created with the 'Customise Map' feature. Usually the Google Map comes in its classic map legend, making the different map features like roads and parks easily recognisable. By changing some of the colours, the map background can be made to look more Christmas themed. In this case using a combination of greens. Red text was also added using the extensive range of annotation tools.

To try your own hand at annotating a map just go to sketchmap.co.uk and click on the drawing tools to get started.

Managing heritage and archaeology risks for developers

HeritageRisk.co.uk  is an innovative online service designed specifically for archaeology and heritage risk assessment at the pre-planning stage.

Knowing the risk built heritage and archaeological issues pose for a site can
allow developers to identify and mitigate for them at the pre-planning stage

Discussing their new collaborative project, Simon Lewis (Managing Director of FIND) and Chris Thomas (Director of Planning Services at Museum of London Archaeology or MOLA):

Chris     There are a number of excellent testimonials on the FIND website, not just from developers, but from a whole range of organisations.

Simon   Absolutely Chris…I very much see relationships as being central to FIND’s success.  We’re a small company specialising in data and technology.  We work closely with data providers such as Ordnance Survey, English Heritage and so on…then add value to the data we deliver.  One of the ways we can do that is to work in partnership with organisations like MOLA to deliver ‘Data +’. 

Chris     So you’re providing data and its people like us who’re providing the interpretation of that data.

Simon   Exactly…and we’re expanding in several other areas by collaborating with partners who can add that level of expertise.  For example, we’re currently working with a company that specialises in unexploded ordnance in order to deliver online UXO risk reports.

Chris     So what made you think that heritage risk was a good area to get into?

Simon   FIND already delivers a lot of heritage data.  In fact our free site [sketchmap.co.uk] gives people access to data on listed buildings, scheduled monuments, battlefields and so on.  Casual users are often interested in this sort of information, but to a developer it’s absolutely essential.  It’s going to come out at some point in the planning process, so best to know in advance.

Chris     It’s interesting that you mention listed buildings, because we spend much more of our time now looking at above ground heritage.  And the structures we’re looking at aren’t necessarily designated as the greatest buildings.  It’s more a case of people’s perceptions.  And as the general public has greater input into planning decisions, overall perception of the built environment is increasingly likely to become a risk for developers.  And you can’t manage risks if you don’t understand them.

Simon   Exactly…I was always told that a good project is one where there are no surprises.

Chris     At MOLA we try to make sure that developers are informed and prepared.  Having all the information you need in advance is far better than a scenario in which workers on site are standing idle and costs are mounting if a heritage or archaeological issues have suddenly arisen.

Simon   And providing this service online speeds up the process of getting crucial information about a site, understanding any issues and planning for them.

 

Chris     And do you think the online ordering system is straightforward?

Simon   Undoubtedly…everyone is now so familiar with ordering goods and services online that the days of doing this kind of work offline are fading fast.  Ordering is very straightforward.  Users just type in a postcode, view the area, mark up the site and then request a quick report, a detailed report or a full Historic Environment Assessment.

Chris     What impresses you most about MOLA assessments?

Simon   Not only do the reports look great, they’re easy to read and packed with information.  Before embarking on projects like this we seek out the best partners. And when it comes to archaeological assessment, building assessment and heritage in general, there’s no better name than MOLA.

www.HeritageRisk.co.uk

Marine web mapping services: A new era in marine data delivery

As you know, users of terrestrial GIS need no longer source, order and store spatial data. Instead, they access services online and ‘on demand’. Unfortunately, users of marine data have not been so well served. 

Applying advances in GIS to the marine environment have been hampered by the fact that data was frequently hard to source, often encoded and difficult to access for non-navigational purposes. It was also collected and maintained in different formats by departments which failed to communicate with one another and were bound by issues relating to national security and navigational safety.

Examples of marine geodata (from left) bathymetry; seabed DEM; Marine Themes;
seamless Feature Layers overlaying Marine Themes DEM; raster chart.

In recent years, however, initiatives driven by national and pan-national bodies have highlighted the need for marine date to be made more widely available and many leading hydrographic offices have responded positively…paving the way for the development of new WMS, WCS and WFS marine data feeds.

 The disparate nature of traditional marine data collection and its division into different categories (oceanic, coastal approach, ports and harbours) means that integrating this data into a uniform spatial layer presents considerable challenges. Compiling a scaled WMS feed of UKHO raster charts, for example, requires the compilation and de-confliction of hundreds of individual files. The exact display order must be carefully determined to develop a useable and cohesive map background. Similar de-confliction is also needed with vector data derived from an electronic version of the raster chart. Only once these issues are fully resolved is it possible to deliver consistent marine mapping data in a meaningful format.

In order to create ‘on demand’ services it’s also necessary to address bandwidth issues, optimise data for efficient delivery, ensure that the server infrastructure is efficiently and robustly configured, and to offer secure access.

Previously, many applications have compromised by offering a ‘halfway house’ between immediate data access, security and user operability. A true ‘on demand’ service offers immediacy, flexibility, efficiency and cost savings.

 Happily, working in association with OceanWise (which has secured access to a variety of marine data sources for non-navigational uses) FIND  can now offer:

• Marine raster charts service (WMS) 
• Marine web map (TMS) 
• Marine themes feature services (WFS) 

As more data becomes available we look forward to developing new services to support the growing number of businesses operating within the marine sector. To find out more about FIND’s marine data and services go to our dedicated site MarineFIND.co.uk

 The above blog was adapted from a longer article published in Nov/Dec 2012 Geoconnexion UK, by Jon Coleman, Marine & Environmental Business Manager at FIND and John Pepper, Marketing Director of OceanWise Ltd. 

Read the full article on the MarineFIND website

HeritageRisk.co.uk… a better way to assess heritage

MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) and FIND are delighted to announce the launch of a new online heritage assessment service for Great Britain, available at HeritageRisk.co.uk.

The online and tablet friendly service, offers planners, developers and surveyors the opportunity to order bespoke heritage and archaeology risk assessment reports, simply by selecting the area of a site on an online map.

Bespoke site assessment reports outline the potential impact of proposed developments on historic buildings, archaeological remains and conservation areas. The service is designed for anyone wanting to know what heritage issues there may be on a specific site. In particular, the service offers vital early-stage insight into risks that may impact on the success of a development.

HeritageRisk front page

By using HeritageRisk, users remove the time consuming process of communicating complex site boundaries and details over the phone or by email. The ease of usability makes this the only heritage assessment service of its kind.

HeritageRisk reports are available in two formats:

• A ‘rapid’, high-level site assessment that identifies significant archaeological and built heritage risks at the pre-planning stage of development;
• A ‘detailed’ report that provides more extensive information to help to identify key archaeological and built heritage risks or opportunities for a site and to outline the work likely to be required as part of a planning consent. 

Chris Thomas, MOLA Senior Consultant, said: “All HeritageRisk reports are produced by our expert heritage consultants who have advised on more than 5,000 development projects throughout the UK. HeritageRisk reports are hugely beneficial to developers and enable them, early in the development cycle, to assess the archaeological and built heritage risks to their site. This crucial information outlines the work likely to be required as part of a planning application and following planning consent.”

Simon Lewis, FIND’s Managing Director, said: “FIND has worked closely with MOLA to create an online site identification service that combines mark-up tools within a simple step-by-step report ordering process. It allows the experts to concentrate on writing the reports, rather than asking the client routine questions and pinpointing the site.”

HeritageRisk reports start from £320, and include the full range of historical maps from Ordnance Survey going back to 1890. For more information, please visit HeritageRisk.co.uk

Delivering map data over the internet: A bit about ‘data as a service’

Any decision is only as good as the data it’s based upon. However, keeping databases current can be time-consuming and laborious. Ideally data would be instantly accessible and maintained by experts available over the web.

Well, that solution is here.

FIND Maps, an online mapping specialist, has just released a range of unique data feeds for desktop mapping software. Rather than having data gathering dust on DVDs or languishing somewhere on a network file system, this new service exploits the true potential of ‘data as a service’.

FIND’s approach allows users to access maps and data on demand over the internet from cloud servers. This means that they no longer need to hold a full copy of the data they want to access, or to go through the process of ordering DVDs, awaiting delivery, downloading files and maintaining them in-house. With many years experience of providing data over the internet, FIND Maps has harnessed the benefits of recent technical advances to deliver this new data service. The result is instant access to professionally maintained remote data from a user’s desktop mapping application or GIS.

FIND Maps specialises in the provision of geo-data for professionals. Until recently this was only available to purchase and download. Now, as a result of consultation with clients and collaboration with data partners, FIND has launched a range of online data services. Focussing initially on the marine engineering sector, FIND currently offers charts, vector themes, depth data and map tile sets. Other datasets from the FIND Maps archive will be available soon. These will include bedrock and flood risk, as well as core map sets from Ordnance Survey.

Most GIS software can now access data over the internet - usually via WMS or WFS feeds. Importantly, this data can also be used directly within online mapping applications built on web mapping services such as Google Map. This opens up a radically different way to use and share ‘data as a service’ without the need for expensive CAD and GIS systems. At sketchmap.co.uk, FIND’s public mapping portal, users can add layers to basemaps, draw, annotate and then share links to maps they’ve created. This free site gives just a glimpse of what can be achieved using online data.

Sketchmap.co.uk  with BGS Superficial Geology and Local Authority boundary layers added

In our fast changing technological world software companies release new apps, versions and upgrades every week. More and more of these are being delivered via the cloud. Microsoft, the biggest of them all, recently introduced a cloud based version of its popular Office suite. Buying, or renting, applications in this way offers substantial costs savings as there’s no need for users to purchase, administer, maintain and host data themselves. It’s therefore easy to see why more and more users are demanding cloud based services.

FIND offers free monthly seminars in central London for those who’d like to explore the possibilities offered by ‘data as a service’.

Find out more about marine data feeds

The Internet data deluge

A fantastic new infographic from Visual News shows just how much information and data the Internet generates every minute.

Infographic by Visual News