Councils across the UK have been severely affected by successive years of austerity and aggressive cuts in funding by Central Government. Local authorities are having to make tough decisions about reducing public services while finding new, more economical ways to meet the needs of citizens. The challenge is felt acutely in Cornwall where, over the four-year period 2015-2019, the unitary authority has to reduce its annual revenue operating budget in real terms by 25%.

Finding ways to save money on this vast scale is always going to be tough, but the target is particularly challenging for Cornwall Council due to its recent history. Six years ago, the former county council merged with five district and one borough council to form the new unitary authority and obvious opportunities to streamline and optimise services were capitalised on at that time. Consequently, Cornwall Council now needs to re-examine its services in almost forensic detail and be creative to uncover additional, less evident economies. At the same time, it has to maintain a high standard of service for its citizens, many of whom live in remote, rural locations.

The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team at Cornwall Council rose to this challenge. Working with multiple services, the team began to use its GIS technology and skills to analyse and investigate a range of service areas where potential cost savings might be made.

Cornwall Council has standardised on Esri GIS technology and has an ongoing Enterprise Licence Agreement with Esri UK. It is currently in the process of upgrading its older Esri GIS solutions and migrating them to Esri’s latest ArcGIS platform. At the heart of the Council’s GIS environment is a central ‘Geostore’, which consolidates 300 spatial data sets and makes them accessible to all employees via a suite of desktop, server, intranet and recently mobile GIS solutions. The Council also makes extensive use of ArcGIS to deliver local information to the general public via web mapping applications.

“ArcGIS is playing an active role in helping Cornwall Council to achieve its cost reduction target,” said Elaine Bennett, the Council’s GIS Team Leader. “In the first six months of 2015 alone, ArcGIS has been used to support the implementation or investigation of many different cost reduction schemes.”

Reshaping the mobile library provision
The GIS team used ArcGIS desktop to analyse the sites of static libraries, routes of mobile libraries, typical travel distances and the locations of library users including, in particular, house-bound borrowers. The intelligence that it gathered from ArcGIS was then submitted to Cornwall Council’s Cabinet and used as evidence to help inform decision making. The Council has since implemented plans to reshape library provision in the county, in an initiative which will cut mobile library costs by 50%, while retaining the service and supporting micro libraries in rural communities.

Optimising the government estate
In line with the Government’s Estate Strategy (2013), published by the Cabinet Office, Cornwall Council has used ArcGIS to map the locations and key attributes of its property assets and those of its public sector partners. It is now using this insight to collaborate on strategic estate management. This shared approach provides a platform for co-location and integrated service provision; reducing costs as well as freeing surplus land and property for disposal and regeneration.

Delivering proactive family support
In another high profile initiative, Cornwall Council used ArcGIS to assign unique property reference numbers (UPRNs), which are a prerequisite for participation in the Government’s ‘Troubled Families’ programme, an initiative launched by the Prime Minister to improve support for families with multiple and complex challenges. Under phase 1 of the programme, Government figures put the number of ‘Troubled Families’ in Cornwall at 1,270, but using data gained from ArcGIS , Cornwall Council identified a larger number. The program is now moving into phase 2, and the UPRNs will now help to identify a further 4,000+ families who are eligible for additional support. By intervening to give these families better and faster multi-agency support, the Council expects to make significant savings.

Reducing the cost of citizen contact
Recently, Cornwall Council has used ArcGIS and Ordnance Survey data to upgrade its web-based ‘My Area’ service, an online service that helps encourage citizens to self-serve information, rather than phone the call centre. The Council estimates that if it can convert 15% of its annual telephone enquiries to web enquiries using My Area, it will reduce calls by over 125,000 per annum.

Durham County Council is a unitary authority in North East England. With around 22,000 employees and 126 elected councillors, it delivers services to over 219,000 households across an area of 223,260 hectares.

When Durham merged with seven district councils to form a unitary authority, an enterprise Geographic Information System (GIS) was seen as a key enabler for its Corporate and Service Improvement Programmes.

Durham had used corporate Esri GIS for over 15 years: ArcGIS solutions for desktop, mobile and intranet, with GIS embedded in core applications, including traffic accident monitoring and property management. However, the former district councils used a range of GIS applications. “Our first challenge was to find a way to pull all of this data together and then serve it out in a way that would support the new council”, says Trevor Kirkup, senior ICT project leader. “Senior managers wanted to make an immediate, positive impression on citizens”, explains Kirkup. “Our challenge, therefore, is to use GIS to build innovative new services – and deliver them quickly.”

While reorganising as a unitary authority, Durham migrated to ArcGIS Server. Secure and robust, it supported transitional work and service design, and enabled rapid delivery of new services and extending access to employees, partners and the public via the Internet, intranet and mobile solutions.

The Web Development and GIS teams used ArcGIS Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to quickly integrate GIS into applications, notably, ‘My Durham’. This is an online service where citizens enter their address (verified against a local gazetteer) and then see a map and property-related service information, such as the local MP, bin collection days, nearest schools and library opening hours. “ArcGIS Server gave us the opportunity to fully embed GIS functionality within the web pages themselves to give users a better online experience”, explains Kirkup. The excellent map caching capabilities of ArcGIS Server were further exploited to develop an interactive Rights of Way map.

Delivering top quality customer services was at the heart of the reorganisation. For example, when a citizen phones to report a broken street light, the service agent enters the caller’s address and sees a web map of the property with street light locations overlaid. They click to identify the broken light, and the precise location and unique reference are automatically passed to back office systems via a customer relationship management (CRM) solution. This replaces manually processing textual descriptions.

ArcGIS Server has been further utilised to provide a “tactical” Web Portal for CRM requests: operational managers view CRM service requests in real time on a map. This type of mashup is a vital decision-making tool when demand is high.

“It is a powerful technology, and we are still only scratching the surface of its capabilities”, declares Kirkup.

• A single repository for spatial information
  “ArcGIS Server gives us the ability to take data from a definitive source and publish through a wide range of services”, says Kirkup. “We only have to capture, store and manage once, but have the flexibility to use that data in many ways.”
• Easier access to information for citizens
  ‘My Durham’ is an innovative single point of access to service-related information, available any time. “This initiative reduces the impact on our Contact Centre and helps us meet our targets as outlined in National Indicator NI14”, says Kirkup.
• More efficient customer service
  By integrating GIS and CRM, citizen reports are handled more quickly and the information passed on is more detailed and accurate, and mobile GIS has reduced response times of field engineers.
• Rapid delivery of new services
  Following the success of ‘My Durham’ and the CRM project, further GIS-led enhancements are planned. These will harness APIs and other developer tools to design, build and deploy web services and embed GIS into applications. Kirkup says: “It is early days, but we envisage realising some huge time savings and efficiencies.” Rapid development also makes short-term applications viable, e.g. for consultations on development initiatives. “In the past, it would have taken too long and cost too much to make it worthwhile”, observes Kirkup. “Now we can use ArcGIS Server to quickly turn around information and publish it out.”
• Future potential
  “In general, there is now an increasing recognition across the organisation of the power and role of GIS as an enterprise technology supporting the ongoing delivery of public services”, concludes Kirkup. “GIS continues to be a key corporate technology.”

East Northamptonshire Council (ENC) and the Borough Council of Wellingborough (BCW) are neighbouring local authorities. In 2008, they agreed to combine their ICT services, to share and adopt best practices across both councils and provide the critical mass to deliver a viable solution for both organisations.

The first stage was to build on the success of ENC’s GIS (Geographic Information System) with a joint GIS that would replace BCW’s outdated one, which suffered from poor system controls and protocols. The objectives were to provide a robust foundation to improve customer service, deliver internal efficiencies and build a platform for future investment.

The two authorities selected, installed and integrated Esri UK’s LocalView 2 to successfully deliver online services, so that by 2010, they were using the same GIS system. Soon, the GIS team wanted to take advantage of new data sharing initiatives with neighbouring councils and third parties, so they upgraded to ArcGIS 10 and LocalView Fusion. This can further improve the availability of information and online services, improving the overall customer experience by delivering complex GIS information via a simple user interface. By increasing citizen self-service, streamlining internal processes and aligning service delivery with demand, it reduces costs too.

Easily embedded maps
The GIS team was impressed at how easy Fusion made it to embed maps into any web page. Templates are used to create and publish maps, removing nearly all the manual coding and configuration previously required, saving a significant amount of time. The resulting maps are easier to use, too: e.g. citizens can find locations of doctors using A-Z listings, rather than going to a separate application. “LocalView Fusion’s new templates are a straightforward way for even non-expert users to create an interactive map for a website”, commented Mark Young, GIS Officer at ENC. “Geographical functionality can also be quickly distributed to multiple areas of our sites by using a simple cut and paste process.”

Self-service savings
Citizen self-service typically costs £0.32 per transaction, compared with face-to-face at £7.40 per transaction and telephone at £2.90, and it provides a better service too. Personalisation via postcode, RSS feeds and online surveys gives up-to-date, integrated information on property, council services and amenities, in an easily understood format. Mark Young adds, “When a customer uses a map, they’re now easier to navigate, more intuitive and are full screen. Fusion’s built-in cache also speeds up the drawing of base maps and loads them a lot quicker, with faster zooming between different scales – great for users who have slower broadband speeds.”

Usability enhancements
The ‘report a fault’ function can now be tailored to provide questions specific to the request. Customers can upload photos relating to complaints, e.g. of graffiti or potholes, to help staff locate and deal with incidents more effectively. Fusion’s ability to link directly from any page to the councils’ payment websites has eliminated the need for payment via telephone or separate payments page.

Customer insight
RSS feeds can be configured to alert staff to almost any type of event, such as new planning applications. They can also search across multiple types of data in one map – a big step forward from only having one layer of information displayed at a time.

Data sharing
“Upgrading to ArcGIS Server 10 and LocalView Fusion places us in a future-proof position”, commented Mark Young. “The added capability of WFS (Web Feature Service) will allow the sharing of live GI data with other strategic agencies and will allow for more strategic decision making, therefore providing a sound return on investment.”

Future developments
“The ability to have multiple map layers displayed at the same time will prove particularly useful when displaying our Local Development Framework”, said Daniel Ray, Planning Policy and Conservation Assistant. “Surveys can also be configured to record the public’s views on proposed policies within the LDF. Any areas which are of particular interest will be logged as points and we can see at a glance where these areas are.” There are also plans to integrate Fusion with the councils’ Customer Relationship Management systems to streamline the process of fault reporting, reducing manual input and its associated costs.

Mark Young concludes that LocalView Fusion “supports better use of geographic information in general, to increase self-service and lower our operating costs. We can also share data more freely within our organisation and with others in the future.”

The Canal & River Trust is the charity responsible for conserving, restoring and enhancing 2,000 miles of canals and rivers in England and Wales.

Through its work, the Trust wants to ensure that its waterways are a haven for both people and nature to enjoy. To help it achieve these aims, the Trust relies on a number of prime contractors, who are appointed to carry out civil and mechanical engineering, diving, dredging, property maintenance, vegetation management and other vital tasks.

Each of these contracts has different requirements. For one contractor, the Trust provides ‘works packs’, which include printed maps indicating the location of jobs. For another, the Trust provides digital data on a physical hard drive at the beginning of each year. The problem was that during the course of a year, or during the contract period, changes could occur that rendered the maps and data out-of-date.

Passing on updates to the contractors was incredibly time-consuming and complicated, as different partners needed different maps and data in different formats. The Trust used to send out data updates on an ad hoc basis, but it was impractical to alert contractors to every small change. Consequently, contractors could potentially be working from mapping data that was up to twelve months out-of-date. This was far from ideal, and there was a desire to provide access to real-time data.

The Canal & River Trust already relied on ArcGIS, a geographic information system (GIS) solution from Esri, to help it plan and implement its many programmes of maintenance, conservation and development. To meet the needs of its contractors as quickly and easily as possible, it decided to utilise Esri’s ArcGIS Online solution.

In order to expedite the process of setting up ArcGIS Online, the Trust took advantage of Esri UK’s JumpStart programme. A consultant from Esri UK worked on site at the Trust, helping it to get started. He showed the GIS team how to align background mapping and passed on time-saving tips, such as how to bulk upload user details. “The JumpStart programme was extremely helpful”, recalls Sarah Temple-Phillips, GIS specialist at the Trust. “After just two days, we had set up all our maps, loaded over 60 data sets and sent out invites to 96 potential users.”

Following the launch of the ArcGIS Online solution, contractors gained 24/7 access to up-to-date data about the canals and rivers of England and Wales. They no longer have to rely on the printed maps supplied in their ‘works packs’, or data sets supplied many months ago, which might be out-of-date. Instead, they can plan jobs based on the latest information from the Trust.

This improvement in the availability of information could ultimately help to improve health and safety for contractors. For example, bad weather may cause a landslip, making a section of towpath impassable in a vehicle. Once this change in towpath condition is recorded on the Trust’s central GIS system, it is then visible to the contractor via ArcGIS Online. Contractors can therefore amend work plans accordingly to ensure the safety of maintenance teams working in the area.

The online application is expected to reduce the amount of time spent locating sites. In the past, if contractors couldn’t find remote footbridges or properties, it could take several phone calls to obtain precise directions. Now contractors can look at ArcGIS Online to help them locate sites, without having to bother the Trust and can therefore get started on works more quickly.

ArcGIS Online will also be highly valuable to the trust during the tender process for new contracts, such as vegetation management. Potential suppliers will be able to view maps and aerial photography via the online application to assess precisely how much work is involved. “Contractors will have a better understanding of jobs and this may result in us receiving more accurate and more competitively priced quotes,” Temple-Phillips says.

The Trust is considering the viability of expanding its use of ArcGIS Online to make selected data sets available to external trustees and partners who are unable to access the internal mapping solutions. “Now that we are a registered charity, more people have an interest in what we do,” explains Temple-Phillips. “ArcGIS Online will enable us to inform interested parties about our network and help them understand our work.”

With 43 million customers across 21 countries, Aviva is one of Europe’s leading providers of life and general insurance and is the UK’s largest insurer serving over 14 million customers.

Aviva UK has long been a pioneer in using GIS to rate flood risk at an individual address level. The company wanted to develop this expertise and spread the benefits of GIS across the business.

With GIS being historically desktop based, Aviva also needed to be able to change the way spatial analysis was used and consumed across the organisation. It had to empower users to work with GIS themselves. “

We wanted to develop a more informed view on the 28 million households in the UK through spatial analytics to create new insights, underwrite more accurately and allow us to price more effectively for individual levels of risk,” explained Eleanor Mclachlan, GIS Manager at Aviva UK. “The appetite and demand for GIS was also growing, with teams increasingly asking if data could be mapped. We needed to be able to spread the benefits of GIS to more areas of the business.”

Several Esri developments have allowed Aviva to realise its vision to widen the use of GIS and derive new value from spatial analytics.

Storage of spatial data using Esri’s ArcSDE was the first step in helping the GIS team support the whole organisation. Spatial data now resides on the enterprise database, in the same place as the organisation’s tabular data. This single, central location to manage spatial data has made it easier to share it more freely.

More advanced modelling is being performed using Esri Model Builder, while the use of Python scripting allows the team to automate sophisticated analysis tasks, as Mclachlan explained: “We’re now able to run complex models on 28 million UK addresses more quickly and more frequently. Being able to combine a variety of different data sets in this environment means we can develop new models we couldn’t achieve otherwise. This delivers fresh, valuable insights across the board.”

The latest part of the GIS evolution at Aviva is the application of ArcGIS Server, used to develop and distribute mapping applications to the growing user base. This was part of a vision to give business teams the ability to work with their own spatial data. Aviva has also started to build custom mapping applications for various teams with the Esri Flex Viewer.

“Staff need to interact with their data on a map, they don’t just want a solitary answer or static hard copy map,” said Mclachlan. “Using ArcGIS Server we’re able to start satisfying the growing demand for spatial analytics and to push GIS out into the organisation. Most importantly, staff are able to make better decisions, from underwriting to claims, or fraud to resource planning.”

GIS is now delivering new spatial insights to all parts of Aviva, from helping to support better underwriting decisions to improving customer service.

“Sophisticated GIS models are allowing us to understand risk better and underwrite more effectively, while the growing number of mapping applications are delivering new levels of operational value,” said Mclachlan.

At an operational level, GIS is delivering a whole raft of benefits:

Supporting strategic decisions
Staff at all levels are now using spatial analysis and geo-visualisation when making strategic decisions. One example covers improved resource planning for major incidents, while another is national asset management.

Better customer service
During a major incident, accurate answers to a range of difficult questions can be answered using GIS. The findings help Aviva determine the nature of a response, such as how many policyholders might be affected and their location. Granular geographic insights also help response teams to be pro-active, by seeing which addresses might be at risk and who should be contacted first. This makes the claims process as smooth as possible for customers and minimises the impact on the business, as the response activity can progress quickly and efficiently.

Reducing fraud
GIS is helping Aviva tackle fraud at a broad level, identifying where the major fraud hotspots are and whether a claim falls into such an area. At a more granular level, it can help to identify patterns and links between parties involved in a suspected fraudulent claim, providing much more insight than simply recording their postcode.

Social media insights

During the London riots the GIS team experimented with plotting Twitter feeds about rioting and compared them to the location of policies and incoming claims.

The GIS team at Aviva is rapidly becoming a hub, providing GIS services across the whole of the UK business and this is only going to grow as more benefits are achieved.

“Our investment in Esri technology is helping us satisfy the flourishing appetite for location analysis across new lines of business and a whole range of job functions,” commented Mclachlan. “The team has become an enabler, allowing staff to use GIS themselves, to interpret their own data and to make more accurate decisions. The ability to spatially analyse data on the UK’s 28 million addresses means we understand our customers a lot better. Being able to share this insight with as many staff as possible is what helps drive competitive advantage.”

Direct Line Group (DLG) is the UK’s largest home and motor insurer, consisting of several well-known brands including Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege. The brand also includes NIG, one of the country’s leading providers of business insurance offered exclusively through insurance brokers.

DLG’s primary objective was to improve its assessment of risk when writing business within in its commercial property division NIG, to be achieved through more accurate pricing and better control of accumulations of risk.

The main catalyst for the GIS project was the UK floods in 2007. The devastating events signalled the need for DLG to have a better understanding of the risks they were writing.

Previous risk assessment relied upon postcode level or district segmentation, while the data needed for writing business was gathered from multiple sources. Underwriters had to move from mainframe system to rating table, and from claims records to the Environment Agency website; to assess the risk of a piece of business. In addition, data was presented in a traditional non-spatial format as numbers on a page.

“The business case for a new Geospatial system was all about improving the risk of our commercial portfolio to reduce the level of claims and run a more profitable business. To achieve this we needed to improve upon the precision offered from using a postcode level of rating,” explained Richard Jones, Head of DLG’s Geospatial Unit.

DLG needed a powerful GIS platform at the heart of its new approach and after a rigorous review process selected Esri UK as its GIS provider.

“Our goal was to develop a new system with the industry’s most powerful GIS, to provide greater insight to the business we write and therefore improve our understanding of risk,” said Jones. “We wanted to be able to differentiate between individual properties on the same street and allow a higher level of interaction with more data, enabling users to drill into maps and view contextual information simultaneously.”

Now DLG can examine a map showing a property anywhere in the UK to assess risk in terms of fire, flood, subsidence, theft or windstorm, with the ability to include additional perils as required.

“Esri UK developed both aspects of our new Geospatial system – the back-end analysis tool plus the front-end underwriter interface Risk Explorer,” said Jones. “The Esri team also developed the geocoding process to convert postal addresses into co-ordinates, which allows the market leading address point risk assessment to be carried out.”

With Risk Explorer, DLG underwriters now have all the information they need in one place, which enhances the whole underwriting process, as Jones explained: “Using the new Esri interface, staff can now visualise what the data is telling them. They don’t have to interpret a series of postcode tables with associated loadings. Underwriters now interact with a map, see where the property is at an address level, and view all of its related contextual information including perils, local points of interest, loadings, discounts and accumulations.”

By moving from postcode level risk assessment to address level, Geospatial has taken DLG’s understanding of risk another step forward. Primarily concerned with matching price to risk for the commercial division, the models created in ArcGIS are also being used in some Personal Lines pricing. Other insurers might not be aware of the risk and therefore price business at the wrong point, taking on the customer at an unprofitable level.

“Geospatial gives customers more accurate prices, provides our underwriters with a wider range of information and shows reinsurers a more detailed picture of our portfolio risk,” summarised Jones. “The increased granularity of risk intelligence means business is being priced more accurately and consistently and underwriters can be smarter about what business we take on board.”

The system also offers the ability to generate multiple quotes on more than one property in a single action, which gives a vastly improved ability to deal with more complex quotes. Through this, DLG has successfully secured some large new business accounts that previously it would not have been able to compete for.

Geospatial is also adding value in ways that were not thought of initially. Marketing are applying the insight to develop more targeted campaigns, with discounts offered to those who may now pose less of a risk to others. DLG is confident that other insurers who don’t have the same level of intelligence will not be able to offer the same competitive but profitable price.

Another added benefit is when DLG have to model the impact of fictitious scenarios on its portfolio, set by the FSA (Financial Services Authority). Previously this would be hard to do, but now a more scientific approach is applied to demonstrate how a disastrous event would impact their exposure.

By pricing risk at an address level instead of postcode, Geospatial is helping DLG run a more profitable business. It supports both the writing of larger volumes of profitable good risk business and avoidance of writing unprofitable poor risks. Geospatial is now established as an invaluable tool for the underwriting community.

Part of the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Air Warfare Centre’s training branch conducts a range of courses in the theory and practice of air combat. It aims to help servicemen and women develop the necessary skills for air operations, intelligence, electronic warfare, weapons targeting and battle damage assessment. As well as RAF personnel, the Air Warfare Centre also trains selected members of the Royal Navy and Army, plus military personnel from overseas.

Every year, up to 200 servicemen and women, mostly senior officers, are selected for the Higher Air Warfare Course and the Air Battle Staff Course. An integral part of both courses is a complex and demanding practical exercise. The exercise is called a wargame, but this name belies its critical importance. Taking place in a fictitious geographic area, the exercise requires students to react to a scenario and to plan and implement an air campaign against an opposing force.

“Wargames are crucial to the training we deliver,” says Squadron Leader Mike Lence, the officer commanding the Air Warfare Centre’s wargames section. “The skills learnt on our course are used to plan and implement missions in situations of conflict all around the world.”

When the wargames were first developed, students had to rely on paper maps and refer to many separate document-based datasets. They looked up information in tables and for geographical reference put yellow sticky notes onto maps. “It was a slow, laborious process,” says Tony Stephens, a member of the wargames team.

The tutors at the Air Warfare Centre were concerned that students were spending too much time finding information and not enough time thinking about the scenario and developing plans. “We wanted to find a way to speed up the process and provide greater insight, so that students could get more value out of the exercise,” says Stephens.

The Air Warfare Centre explored a number of different options using digital copies of paper maps and various mapping applications. It selected ArcMap, a Geographic Information System (GIS) from Esri. The organisation could export exercise data from database files in its computer model into an Oracle database and then display it using ArcMap.

The team customised ArcMap and created a range of icons to represent items in the database. The students select the attributes that they want to view – such as airfields with bombers, non-military targets or communications centres for example – and icons representing these features are visible on the map. “If it’s in our database, they can see it, and they can see what they want when they want,” says Stephens.

Students create a map view using ArcMap, display it on a large screen, and save ‘views’ to refer to later in the exercise. Data is updated automatically from the databases as the exercise progresses, and students view the progress of their missions day by day. Stephens says: “We started with the intention of creating a static, interactive map, but it quickly became apparent that we had a dynamic intelligence tool. This was a real bonus.”

The Air Warfare Centre team also added colour coding to the icons displaying exercise data. As a location or facility becomes progressively degraded by attacks, it changes colour. Course mentors flick through maps from each stage of the exercise and show students how a situation is changing overtime.

Students spend less time finding out about the fictional area where the crisis is unfolding and more time analysing the situation and developing military operations. “Students get stuck into the exercise very quickly because they haven’t got to learn the environment,” says Stephens. “They can concentrate on their plan to counter the enemy and learn about operations planning.”

Between sessions, tutors look at ArcMap to check the outcomes of each student’s decision-making and prepare advice or make changes to the exercise parameters to create more challenges.

Students can also look back over time with their tutors and easily see the point where things started to go wrong. In this way, ArcMap helps students to understand and learn from their mistakes.

Major Steve Jones of the United States Air Force attended the wargames exercise as a student. He says: “I have done other military training courses, but in my opinion this course is particularly good. It is tailored to an air perspective, is very thorough and does a much better job helping students to acquire specific skills. Rather than sitting around a table surmising about what the results of our actions might be, we see the impact on a map.”

Today, the Air Warfare Centre’s wargames have become so sophisticated that the organisation believes that it would be difficult to run the exercises without ArcMap. “GIS has become pivotal to the delivery of our training,” says Lence. “It enables us to bring together all of the information that students could possibly want to interrogate and make it available to them at their fingertips.”

Aveillant is a high technology company leading the way in delivering advanced 3D surveillance radar systems. Its Holographic Radar™ technology is applied to one of the most pressing concerns in the modern aviation industry today.

The air traffic control radars commonly used at airports today only provide a two-dimensional picture of airspace, making it hard for air traffic controllers to differentiate between a rotating blade close to the ground and a moving aircraft at 30,000 feet. Consequently, planning applications for wind farms near flight paths are often turned down on the grounds of radar interference, when the sites would otherwise be ideal for the generation of low-carbon energy.

Aveillant uniquely addresses this problem. Based on flat panel arrays, the company’s Holographic Radar technology identifies objects and intelligently removes unnecessary “clutter” from the air traffic control picture. Air traffic controllers can therefore get a clean view of their air traffic, enabling them to better manage their airspace and general safety around the airport. The company’s advanced radar systems are typically used by wind farm developers to help them overcome the problems that turbines cause and enable aviation objections to be removed.

With over 3,500 planning applications in progress for wind farms across the UK, Aveillant needed to be able to identify precisely those developers that would benefit most from its 3D radar system. It then needed to identify the best locations to site its radars to give the maximum amount of coverage for clusters of prospective new wind turbines and nearby airports, while taking into account a range of different factors from accessibility and cost to environmental sensitivities. The company had a lot of data that it needed to make sense of, but it was all in separate locations in written formats.

The solution to Aveillant’s challenge came in the form of geographic information system (GIS) technology from Esri UK.

The company now uses Esri’s ArcGIS Desktop to plot the locations of traditional radars alongside planning applications for new wind farms. This enables it to immediately identify which proposed new developments could potentially cause radar interference. It then uses the GIS to analyse data, such as the size of the proposed development and the status of the planning application, to identify the strongest potential business opportunities.

Next, Aveillant uses ArcGIS tools, such as Esri’s Spatial Analyst extension, to conduct business and financial modelling to help it identify the optimum site for its radars to benefit large developments or groups of wind farms in a similar area. It can take into account terrain, roads, rivers and power sources to find the site that will deliver best coverage for least cost.

Then, when Aveillant is involved in negotiations and conversations with wind farm developers, airports and planning authorities, GIS is used again to produce reports clarifying the coverage of Aveillant’s 3D radar system. In coming months, the company plans to use Esri’s ArcGIS Online solution to give third parties direct access to its interactive maps. Ben Tilley, GIS business support analyst at Aveillant says, “ArcGIS has applications in absolutely every part of the company.”

The use of ArcGIS enables Aveillant to focus its attention on those wind farm developments that are most likely to benefit from its radar technology. It can therefore increase its sales success and install more of its radar systems more quickly. “GIS is now a key part of all our prospecting, bids and investment decisions,” says John Allan, commercial director at Aveillant. “It is helping us to build the business.”

GIS has replaced many manual research tasks, enabling employees to work much more efficiently. At the same time, the business now has much better information at its disposal, which enables it to find the most cost-effective sites for its radars very quickly and easily. “We can potentially identify an exact site, within a few meters, before even leaving the office,” says Tilley.

Most importantly, GIS has become an invaluable tool for sharing information with developers, airports and planning authorities and helping these third parties understand the benefits of Aveillant’s Holographic Radar. GIS plays a particularly critical role in helping to reassure airports that proposed wind farms can go ahead, as they will have better radar information to help them manage their airspace and ensure safety around the airport. “GIS enables us to present an accurate dynamic map of how we can solve the radar interference problem,” Tilley says. “It gives everyone confidence that our solution brings them benefits.”

Aveillant is a relatively young company with big ambitions. In the years ahead, it hopes its Holographic Radar systems will be the catalyst that speeds up the spread of renewable energy sources across the UK. “The effect wind turbines have on aviation radars is holding up billions of pounds worth of investment in renewable energy,” comments Allan. “GIS helps us to deliver a solution, address airports’ concerns and encourage greater acceptance of wind turbines for the benefit of the environment.”

Atmos Consulting Ltd (Atmos) is a leading independent environmental consultancy specialising in the complex task of finding the best site for renewable energy projects such as wind farms, hydro-electricity and biomass. Clients are utilities, developers, industry, communities and the public sector.

To excel, Atmos needs to help clients identify sites that will maximise the energy generated and optimise profitability, while minimising environmental impact. They must also provide convincing, robust evidence that the site meets planning requirements.

Atmos relies on geographic information system (GIS) technology to consolidate, analyse and present vast quantities of data. “GIS underpins everything we do”, says Fraser Mackenzie, a Director of Atmos.

The firm was using several separate desktop GIS solutions, but with a growing workload, it was increasingly difficult to manage its geospatial data. Furthermore, having various single-user licences and no central geospatial database, meant geospatial data was not accessible to all staff. “The systems that had worked very well while the company was small were no longer appropriate for the size of business that we had grown into” explains Lucy Arnold, senior GIS and data manager. “Doing nothing was not an option,” states Mackenzie.

Atmos selected a single, central repository for all its geospatial information, with a robust infrastructure for delivering GIS services to staff. Using Esri’s ArcGIS Server, Atmos centralised its diverse geospatial assets and implemented a two-tier approach. Their GIS specialists have advanced ArcGIS tools for in-depth analysis, editing and presenting data, while their general users view maps through an ArcGIS-driven intranet application, known as the Spatial Information Delivery and Analysis web (SPIDA-web), which enables them to quickly find the information they need.

ArcGIS Server also enables Atmos to create sophisticated models, such as statutory bird collision risk analysis. Once built, they can re-use the model, instead of having GIS specialists repeating time-consuming procedures.

Atmos condenses complex analysis into clear, simple recommendations. “ArcGIS enables us to perform a deeper level of analysis of the environmental, commercial, physical and social constraints at potential sites”, says Arnold. “By gaining a detailed understanding of all of the issues, we can provide expert advice and a high quality service to our clients.” The ArcGIS models are repeatable and consistent. “The data that we produce from our models is robust, transparent and reliable”, says Arnold. “That means that the authorities can have confidence in our analysis.”

Reduced risk for clients
A delayed or refused planning consent wastes time and money, but Atmos minimises this risk. “There is no such thing as an easy site” muses Mackenzie, “but we can steer developers clear of sites where our analysis shows it will be almost impossible to get permissions.” Maps generated by ArcGIS are included in Environmental Impact Assessments and can be crucial in demonstrating full consideration of all potential impacts: around 90% of Atmos’ planning submissions are approved. “The quality of the maps in our reports really does help”, says Mackenzie.

Faster project delivery
Atmos evaluates potential sites more quickly, partly through ArcGIS automated analysis models. It takes a few minutes to run ornithology queries for which data had to be manually collected in the past. “ArcGIS helps us to identify the most appropriate locations for projects in a much shorter period of time”, says Mackenzie. “Most of our clients’ projects are time-critical”, explains Mackenzie. “Having GIS capabilities on every desktop helps to speed up the turnaround time of projects.” Using SPIDA-web, staff can easily access up-to-date maps and overlay current data, responding quickly and knowledgeably to client enquiries.

More efficient operations
GIS specialists no longer have to respond to low-level enquires, and now focus on tasks that add greater value. “We have taken the simple work away from the GIS team, leaving these specialists free to do other, more complex analysis projects that really do need their expertise”, Arnold says. Because ArcGIS provides a single repository for spatial data and maps, maintaining information assets is simpler and quicker. Previously, every time a map was updated, a new pdf had to be issued; now all staff access the latest maps via SPIDA-web.

New markets
Capitalising on the expertise of its GIS team, Atmos is investigating marketing its GIS analysis services, moving GIS from a business support function to a core service area, making Atmos a bigger, more diverse environmental energy consultancy. “GIS is fundamental to all our future plans,” concludes Arnold.

The Aster Group is an ethical social enterprise providing services to over 75,000 customers including homes for rent or purchase, care and support, and property maintenance. Employing over 1,500 staff, the group has assets of over £1 billion, a turnover of £145 million and more than 27,000 homes.

The long-term strategy at Aster has always been to see whether GIS can be used across the group.

“Aster Group wanted to develop its application of Esri GIS and look for new areas of the business that could benefit,” said Roy Thompson, Aster Group’s IT director. “In practice, this means we map information that will lead to better management of our properties, deliver more information about our customers, increase efficiencies or achieve a direct cost saving.”

Using Esri UK GIS, Aster built an online mapping portal called AsterMaps to integrate all of its spatial data, as Andrew Bradley, business systems analyst (GIS) at Aster Group, explained: “As a group, we have Aster Property, Aster Homes, Aster Communities and Aster Living, which all perform separate functions. Using GIS, we joined-up the business and can reference any data from these divisions in one place. Now staff can see numerous attributes about a property, such as occupancy, repair costs, rent arrears, energy ratings or tenant profile, all on the same map.”

This integrated, geographic view has delivered new levels of location intelligence at Aster, which is now being applied across the group, helping more staff make better decisions.

One area of asset management GIS is helping to improve is development and leasing. By looking at all the factors involved in an initial site investigation, such as stock information, occupancy, garage voids, access routes and who owns what land, Aster has been able to identify several new development sites. So far, this has led to secured planning on three sites, which will produce 16 homes. A further 27 properties to be built over six sites are awaiting planning permission.

The GIS also presents a more accurate and efficient framework for leasing land to customers to build a garage, create parking, gardens or allotments.

“Applying mapping in this way is helping to reveal development opportunities in a way not possible with physical site visits or by using paper maps,” said Andrew. “We also have a better picture of the land we own, so we can make the best use of small pockets of land and generate other additional income from leasing.”

One simple but highly effective exercise has achieved a far more efficient approach to maintaining properties. Aster plotted how its properties were grouped together in zones for maintenance purposes, in relation to where maintenance staff lived and worked, along with the location of building materials and major roads. It became obvious that some staff were travelling unnecessary distances to their allocated zone, or went past properties that were a different team’s responsibility.

The findings allowed the group’s maintenance business, Aster Property, to reconfigure the zones by grouping together neighbourhoods, estates or villages in a much more logical, spatial way.

“Managing maintenance resources using GIS has saved a significant amount of travelling time and fuel,” commented Bradley. “The new method means we can reach customers a lot quicker too.”

On a tactical level, using the new GIS has allowed Aster to create and map its own Tree Survey data, eliminating the need to pay external consultants which saves the group around £80,000 a year.

The GIS is also enabling Aster to create energy-efficient homes for customers. By overlaying different fuel types, property energy ratings and Government fuel poverty figures, the software shows where customers risk fuel poverty and may be struggling to pay their bills. Aster can now take action ahead of its planned maintenance programme, to make sure customers have affordable and effective heating.

Mike McCarthy, Aster Property operations director, said: “GIS has fundamentally changed the way we deliver our asset management strategy. From managing our repairs and planned maintenance programmes, through to mapping our estates’ performance in support of our wider stock options appraisals, it’s a tool we wouldn’t be without.”

“Today, GIS is core to the way we operate,” concluded Bradley. “During the last year, our use of GIS has increased by 50 per cent and I can only see this figure rising as more staff recognise its benefits. They understand the importance of location in making decisions and now come to us with ideas of how GIS can help the business, which is a great situation to be in.”