How does MapGenie work? Ordnance Survey Ireland Pioneering GIS web services

Now, they can access web-based The Future mapping, without investing in specialist The development of MapGenie was a technology and resources.’ relatively small project, yet for the OSi it has huge significance. The availability of Although this was never part of the this new, online GIS solution marks a original plan, OSi is now beginning to tremendous change in strategy for the use MapGenie itself, internally, to help it organisation and illuminates a new path improve productivity. Employees in the for the future. As more and more production team, for example, use it as organisations move to web-based an easy mechanism for accessing the applications, OSi anticipates that many organisations’ vast libraries of imagery. more of its customers will want to ‘To date, MapGenie has mainly been receive data exclusively via MapGenie. used externally, and the focus has been Mangan observes: ‘Our customers on delivering value for our customers,’ aren’t quite at this point yet, but with the says Mangan. ‘In time, however, as we trend towards cloud computing, I think expand its use internally, I think it could this is inevitably the direction they will be contribute to cost savings for our own heading in.’ organisation too.’ Mangan concludes: ‘The solution has changed the dynamic of the conversations we have with our customers. They are now talking with us about how to pull data from the OSi directly into their systems and consulting us on their medium to long term plans. Customers increasingly see us as a strategic, long term partner – and that’s good news for our business.’

Dublin Block B Ashtown Gate Navan Road Dublin 15 Ireland T +353 (0)1 8693900 F +353 (0)1 8693901 Loc8 Code: NQ7-52-S63 www.esri-ireland.ie Belfast The Mount 2 Wood Stock Link Belfast BT6 8DD Northern Ireland T +44 (0)2890 730165 F +44 (0)2890 730167 Loc8 Code: JFV-20-2WN

Copyright Esri Ireland 2011. Official Authorised Distributor. All rights reserved. The Esri globe and Esri products, services and trademarks mentioned are trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. Other companies and products mentioned herein are the property of their respective trademark owners. Case study Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) set out to create a new web-based map delivery service that would add value for its customers. But in the end, the organisation Visionary thinking delivered achieved far more than that.

MapGenie in action Loc8 Code Ltd offers a highly accurate and versatile location coding system, covering the whole of Ireland. The company uses OSi’s We wanted to add value for our customers’ businesses MapGenie service to help it make its location by giving them a service that worked in a much simpler way MapGenie Service on references easily assessable to businesses, “ Loc8 Code Website citizens and visitors alike. and Esri technology underpins the key information systems showing the Loc8 that keep Ordnance Survey Ireland ticking Code for Ballymun Across Ireland, as many as 40% of addresses Library in Dublin from Hugh Mangan, business and marketing manager at OSi are non-unique, many roads have no names the Dublin City ” Council Websit and the majority of houses have no numbers. To make matters worse, commonly used public mapping services, such as Google Maps, cannot generate accurate address coordinates for Ireland and do not have consistent coverage of the whole country. Navigating and finding properties in Ireland can, therefore, be a significant challenge.

Loc8 Code Ltd has established a pioneering new system of location coding for Ireland that resolves precisely this issue. Its Loc8 codes It’s MapGenie service is making geographic information or the money to access to Esri desktop, server and web Now live, MapGenie provides easy Many customers have reported that provide unique references for individual geospatial data more accessible to a invest in the necessary technology. GIS solutions. Consequently, OSi access to all of OSi’s data assets, from MapGenie enables them to make wider properties and locations to within an accuracy wider range of businesses and helping These organisations just want to be already had access to all of the GIS its large-scale maps of the whole user of OSi’s mapping data across their of +/- six metres. These codes can be used in to cement OSi’s role as a long term, able to consume the data they need in technology it needed. Called country, to detailed small scale maps organisations. Whereas the data SatNavs, smartphones, web sites and other strategic partner. as easy a way as possible. ‘MapGenie’, the service could be showing individual properties, lamp previously only used to be utilised in one navigation tools to help people find their developed without any further standards and even manholes. Anyone department, it can now easily be destinations much more quickly. The use of The client OSi therefore decided to develop a new expenditure on GIS solutions. who licenses OSi’s mapping data can accessed and put to good use in many Loc8 Codes not only avoids the frustration of Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) is the mechanism for companies to access ‘The Enterprise License Agreement now access the same data via other operational areas. ‘MapGenie allows getting lost, but also reduces the financial national mapping agency of the and use OSi data via the Internet – made the economics of the project so MapGenie for no additional charge. us to add value to our key customer losses than can occur when couriers and Republic of Ireland. It produces a very without having to further invest in GIS much easier,’ says Mangan. As well as data from the Republic of relationships,’ believes Mangan. delivery companies take an unnecessarily long comprehensive range of urban, rural, technology and skills in-house, or Ireland, MapGenie also serves up time delivering their consignments. tourist and leisure maps at a variety of appoint a partner to do the data Alongside the ELA, OSi also put in place information on Northern Ireland, to MapGenie is also very beneficial for scales, which are available in digital manipulation and analysis for them. an Enterprise Learning and Training present seamless mapping for the OSi’s partners, because it simplifies the Loc8 Code Ltd uses MapGenie as a quick and form, as well as on paper. ‘We wanted to add value for our Agreement (ELTA), which gave it low- whole island of Ireland. sales process. Partners no longer have easy way to make its codes accessible to The organisation also delivers a suite of customers’ businesses by giving them a cost access to a wide range of desktop, to discuss complex issues relating to anyone. The OSi service is integrated mapping services, and its base data is service that worked in a much simpler server and developer training courses. In the first year following the launch of how to extract, manipulate and integrate seamlessly into the company’s web site used to create a variety of other way,’ says Hugh Mangan, business and This agreement represented a 3:1 return MapGenie, over one hundred the data; maps can simply be viewed (www.loc8code.com). Users simply call up a products, such as aerial photography marketing manager at OSi. ‘We had to on its investment in training services. customers signed up to use the solution online. Potential new customers also map of their locality, pan around and zoom in and digital terrain models. respond to changes in requirements in The OSi’s commitment to developing and more than sixty of these businesses don’t have to have the systems and to identify their precise property, or even a the marketplace.’ the skills of its in-house team really paid now use MapGenie on a very regular hardware in place to store the data, specific entrance to an industrial site. They can The challenge off in the MapGenie project. ‘We found basis. Around half of these businesses because all the data assets are hosted then just click on the map to generate their For many years, OSi has been delivering Solution and capability delivered that we were able to do most of the download data in web mapping service by OSi. New customers can therefore unique location code and give that code to mapping data to public and private OSi had been working with Esri Ireland development work ourselves,’ Mangan (WMS) format to integrate the OSi data harness the benefits of using OSi data, their suppliers, customers, friends and delivery sector customers on disks. These for over ten years and already relied says. ‘Esri Ireland was there in the direct into their own GIS systems. with lower start-up costs. companies. When the Loc8 Code is entered customers have geospatial analysis skills heavily on a range of Esri GIS solutions background and was able to help us The other 50% of businesses, however, into a SatNav, for example, it will take the and technologies in-house, so they take within its business. ‘Esri technology with a number of more complex access stored, cached images Increasingly, MapGenie is opening up traveller right to the door, with a very high the data, manipulate it and integrate it underpins the key information systems technical and security questions as the (as REST services) that are already opportunities for OSi and its partners to degree of reliability. into their own systems, where it can be that keep Ordnance Survey Ireland project progressed.’ pre-rendered and ready to use. do business with smaller organisations used in a myriad of different ways. ticking,’ Mangan says. that wouldn’t previously have had the Gary Delaney, CEO of Loc8 Code Ltd, says: Initially, OSi developed and deployed a Benefits skills or technology in-house to exploit ‘MapGenie enables us to provide people with But customer expectations are When it launched the project to develop pilot service which was tested out over a The development of MapGenie has geographic information. Mangan access to mapping that is as easy to use as changing. Many more organisations its new web-based mapping service, six-month period with a number of enabled OSi to extend the benefits that explains: ‘MapGenie allows us to speak Google Maps, but infinitely more accurate. The want to be able to use OSi data to Esri GIS technology was the obvious partners and key customers. ‘This pilot it delivers to its existing customers. with small and medium-sized service is critical to the delivery of our Loc8 support their core business operations, choice. The organisation has an was an overwhelming success and Because MapGenie is available to them businesses that we previously weren’t Codes and allows us make accurate although they don’t necessarily always Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) showed that there was a huge appetite for no added cost, customers get a able to reach. These businesses often navigation possible for everyone who lives in, have deep experience of using with Esri Ireland that gave it unlimited for this kind of service,’ recalls Mangan. much greater return from the investment don’t have a need for GIS, but do have works in or visits the Republic of Ireland and they make in their OSi data licenses. a need for geospatial intelligence. Northern Ireland.’

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