Shaping the future of the geospatial industry
AGI Northern Ireland
Conference
The Geographic Economy:
the Benefits of Investing in GeoSpatial
11 May 2016
Riddel Hall,185 Stranmillis Road ,Belfast BT9 5EE
David Henderson, AGI Chair 2016
Hello. I’d like to extend a warm welcome to all of the delegates, speakers and sponsors to the AGI Northern
Ireland Conference.
We are living through a period of political, economic, social and technological disruption, the likes of which the
traditional geographic information marketplace has arguably not seen before. This is particularly evident when you
consider the pace of the changes that are all around us! This conference, as well as
the GeoBig5 events over the past two years, and the AGI Foresight report is part of
our contribution.
Today we come together to relate the value of geographic information to new
market opportunities and explore how they can affect different business
opportunities for all of us. The discussions we share today and at our other events
in 2016 will ensure that we are better equipped to support government’s policy
agenda, increase business recognition of the value of geographic information,
develop our skills and necessarily discover new collaborations, partnerships and
business models.
I’d like to encourage everyone to take the opportunity to participate – with each
other today and more widely as an active member of AGI. If you’d like to find out about how best to do this, speak
to any of the AGI team or feel free to contact me directly.
Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who are driving the work of the AGI in 2016,
including the committee who have brought this event together. The best way to make a difference is to be
involved.
Have a great day!!
Simon Wheeler, AGINI Chair
Welcome to this year’s annual AGI Northern Ireland Conference. Following the past two years when we hosted
two of the AGI GeoBig5, we have returned to a more general theme and looked to focus on some of the issues
affecting us in Northern Ireland at present. I would first like to thank our Gold Sponsors – IMGS, Esri-Ireland,
Leica Geosystems and Sopra Steria. Without their support we would not have been
able to offer some really great delegate rates. Please take the opportunity over
coffee and lunch to have a word with all our sponsors and event supporters.
Technology is changing rapidly and there is always something new on the horizon.
I’d also like to thank all our speakers today – we had a great response from our call
for papers, and as such we have been able to put on a great programme. There
should be something of interest to all areas, along with our session on Futures, and
also the Value of Data. We hope you will also be able to join us after for a few Geodrinks at Cutters Wharf—an opportunity to network over a drink or two is always
welcome.
Finally, I’d like to thank the rest of the sub Committee – Ciaran Kirk of IMGS,
Patrick McGarry of NI Housing Executive, Marielle O’Lone from Mouchel and
Rosita Mahoney of Donegal County Council, as well as help from AGI Council and the AGI team. We are all
passionate about Geo and without their help we would not have been able to put on this conference for you.
The Geographic Economy: the Benefits of Investing in GeoSpatial
The AGI Northern Ireland Conference looks to some of the key issues affecting our sector in Northern Ireland at
present. We have had great support from everyone, and this should be a great learning experience for everyone,
from those new to the area, up to the more seasoned professionals. We always look to try and include something
for everyone with sessions on some general key themes to some great case studies.
We start the day with a session on Geo Futures with the Future of the Map, the AGI Foresight Report, and
What3Words—an interesting addressing system which has been highlighted in the press and won various
awards. These three give us some interesting overviews of how we may view the data rich world of tomorrow.
After coffee, we welcome Andy Murdock to talk about the AGI Early Career Network—as with all sectors, we must
ensure that those new to the profession are nurtured and mentored, and Andy has been a key asset to the AGI
over the past 18 months with this initiative. We will then look at how GI has helped some key projects in Ireland—
With the DARD agricultural payments system, and within the Utilities sector at ESB. A major talking point over the
past number of years has been the issue of Positional Improvement (PI) - following major investment from LPS in
map shift for all the base data, users of the LPS base mapping must now consider if then need to shift their own
data, and if so what will the consequences. We will hear how NI Water have gone about this process, and what
their key learning points have been. This is a key issue that all GI users will need to at least consider in the very
near future. Finally, Brian Galloway from LPS will give some insight into the new LPS data model (base mapping),
the biggest change in mapping for 30 years—how will this affect us, how will we use it, and how can we make
better use of it in our own business areas.
Over lunch, there will be an opportunity to speak to our Gold sponsors and exhibitors, as well as network with
other delegates. Andy Murdock will be available to speak to those interested in the ECN, and colleagues from
LPS survey will also be available to chat about changes to the NI Geoid model which affects those who use GPS
for data capture—look out for their poster paper outlining the changes.
Following lunch we split into two
sessions—one on more technical issues—
Cloud computing, Open Data and how
accurate does our data need to be? The
second session will have a more Customer
experience focus with examples from
Scottish Government, Education Authority
and the Childcare Partnership.
After a quick break, we will hear some
more on Future technologies and then on
the Value of Data, and a panel session
exploring some of these important issues.
One key message throughout the day
however is that, whilst the examples may
come from a particular sector, the
underlying concepts are common
throughout. Key to all is data—we are
becoming more data rich and Location is
ever increasingly the only means to
connect our world together.
Joao Pedro Fernandes (Hexagon Geospatial)
Joao Pedro Fernandes works for Hexagon Geospatial as the EMEA Presales
Manager, from Lisbon, Portugal. He has been in the geospatial industry for over 20
years, with special focus on Government and Transportation industries.
Before joining Hexagon, he was part of the implementation team of the Portuguese
national SDI, at National Center for Geographic Information. Joao will speak on the
of map the future. The Map of the Future is more than a map. It will be a dynamic
information experience, providing a reflection of what was, information about what
is, insight into what can be, and trust and confidence in what will be.
Dr Anne Kemp (Atkins Global)
Dr. Anne Kemp is a Director and Fellow at Atkins Global for BIM, Geospatial and
Digital Engineering. Anne is also past AGI Chair and the Chief Editor of the AGI
Foresight 2020 report.
Anne will explore how the GI Industry needs to switch from being a data provider
to being a data service, and to untap the opportunities for the industry, not from
maps, but recognising the latent possibilities of data and the value add services
that we can and should deliver from it. This not only covers Open, Big Data, BIM,
New technologies and Smart Cities, but the vertical applications which we work
in and interweave with these major themes.
Tim Williams (what3words)
Tim Williams is Commercial Director at what3words, working with businesses and
large organisations to deliver the benefits of what3words’ universal addressing
solution. An engineer by background, he has a broad spectrum of experience
ranging from designing chips at IBM, to a 5-year stint on video compression in
Silicon Valley, to turning around Flytxt, a mobile marketing enterprise software
solutions provider in India.
Tim will talk about how you apply addresses to non-addressables in an addressed
world! Such applications may include: communication of location for emergency
responses, the location of planning applications and indeed exploring and locating
for tourists and outdoor adventurers.
Andy Murdock (AGI, Early Career Networks (ECN))
Andy Murdock has been leading the ECN group over the past 18 months and this has been a big success story
for the AGI. AGI provides a collective voice for the geospatial industry and supports members throughout their
careers and as their businesses grow. However, we want to do more to help our younger members, early in their
careers. By establishing a support network and a programme of events targeted at the needs of Early Career
Professionals, we would aim to provide them with:
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better understanding of the issues faced by early career professionals;
raising their profile within the industry through showcasing at AGI events;
targeted training and workshops in communication and networking skills;
training in the CGeog application process;
increasing industrial awareness / thematic training;
mentoring from industry leaders.
We are working closely with our colleagues in The Royal Geographical Society and The Royal Scottish Geographical Society in order to align our collective activities and events and to ensure that our combined efforts
help younger professionals build their careers and their case for Chartered Geographer accreditation. Get more
involved — host an event, join webinars, attend career events or learn new skills through MOOCs (Massive Open
Brad Fisher (Sopra Steria)
Brad Fisher has over 15 years experience in the geospatial industry in both the
public and private sectors. He has been a Senior IT Consultant with Sopra Steria for
4 years. Sopra Steria NI have been working with DARD since 2012 & have delivered
a corporate GIS infrastructure to support a range of internal and external
applications. Brad’s presentation will outline the core business benefits to DARD in
providing simple tools for farmers and their agents This high profile delivery went live
to schedule in March 2016. The corporate GIS platform and GSAA will be developed
further to support new schemes (Ecological Focus Areas and Environmental Farm
Schemes) and business functions through 2016/7, with the aspiration that all farm
based schemes will ultimately be delivered online using the GSAA platform &
services
Ciaran Kirk (IMGS)
Ciaran Kirk has worked in the IT industry for nearly 15 years, initially as a software
developer and for over 10 years in the GIS sector working with IMGS, now as
General Manager. Since working in the GIS industry he has worked with utilities and
government agencies across the island of Ireland to evolve their GIS from back
office systems to critical mainstream enterprise wide solutions. Ciaran’s talk will
focus on the creation of an integrated GI centric system for ESB networks,
responsible for electricity distribution in the Republic of Ireland.
Sean O’Boyle, Michelle Cassidy, Andrew Murphy (NI Water)
Sean O’Boyle worked with NI Water for over 20 years and has been involved in a number of significant GIS
projects with the company. He has been associated with positional improvement (map shift) since it was first
discovered, inadvertently, more than a decade ago right up to the present day where NI Water are now the
first organisation in Ireland to complete their positional improvement project. He is now leading the Asset
Information team who are about to embark on a new corporate GIS implementation across the company.
Michelle Cassidy began working with Northern Ireland Water as GIS Technician 12 years ago and has
progressed to work on several key GIS Projects, including the migration of GI data to the Corporate Oracle
Spatial database; the implementation of new GIS Editor and Web GIS applications; integration of GI data to
the Ellipse Equipment Register; and the Positional Improvement (PI) Project. As Technical Lead on the
Positional Improvement Project before her promotion, Michelle was responsible for the requirements
specification, market research and feasibility study.
Andrew Murphy started working with Northern Ireland Water as a GIS Asset Data Analyst 8 years ago and
has since been a key member on a number of GIS projects, including the implementation of the corporate
web GIS and was promoted temporarily in 2011 to project manage an 18 month data quality project to
improve the coverage of below ground asset data. Most recently Andrew was the project lead on the
Positional Improvement project at Northern Ireland Water, and was responsible for the day to day running of
the project, ensuring the quality of the deliverables, managing staff and workflows.
Brian Galloway (Land & Property Services -LPS)
Brian Galloway worked for Schlumberger in the Oil & Gas Industry before joining Ordnance Survey Northern
Ireland (OSNI) to work on the transition from paper to digital and then working with customers on the first
Geographic Information Systems and developing outcomes from the NI GI Strategy through the introduction of
NIMA, GI Consultants and Spatial NI.
This talk is about the biggest change for OSNI Data since moving from paper to digital mapping – moving from
a cartographic model to an intelligent map base. This change presents a major opportunity for Northern Ireland
to lead the way in utilising GI to realise many benefits, from linking and integrating data to generating valuable
information to share across our existing and new customer base.
Colin Murphy (Natural Resources Wales)
Colin Murphy has worked in the GIS industry for 16 years on a range of GIS
implementation projects across a number of sectors. For the past 2.5 years, Colin has
been working as an independent consultant for Natural Resources Wales (NRW), a new
public sector body set up in 2013 that assumed the responsibilities of legacy
organisations Environment Agency Wales, Forestry Commission Wales and Countryside
Council for Wales.
As part of a unique change programme Colin developed the organisations GIS strategy
and led the delivery of NRWs new corporate GIS environment that has met the
significant GIS needs of 1800 staff. Colin will talk about the journey taken in delivering
an integrated centralised GIS platform across NRW exclusively via Microsoft's Azure
Suzanne McLaughlin (Digital Transformation Service)
Dr Suzanne McLaughlin is the Open Data Programme Manager at Digital Transformation
Service in the Department of Finance & Personnel. She previously worked in Land &
Property Services and was responsible for the development of the Spatial NI portal for
public sector bodies to comply with the EU INSPIRE Directive. She is quite passionate
about data, especially open and spatial data and has a PhD from the University of Ulster
relating to GI and coastal vulnerability. Suzanne will talk about www.opendatani.gov.uk
the Northern Ireland portal for public sector open data which was launched in late
November 2015. She will discuss the technical platform, the data, the standards adopted
and ultimately the benefits that open data can bring to Northern Ireland.
Steve Campbell (Ordnance Survey UK)
Steve Campbell is Product Manager in the Location Analytics portfolio for Ordnance
Survey. I’ve been in the GIS industry since 2002, working for various Local Authorities
before moving to OS last year. My talk is focussed on how important location in for the
addressing products within Ordnance Survey and the efforts we have gone to, to improve
the quality of our accuracy, before demonstrating why this is so important to so many of
the users of our data.
Iain McKay (Improvement Service - Local Government
Iain McKay manages the Spatial Information Service within the Improvement Service
which supports Scottish local government in taking a collective approach to the
management of its spatial information.
He is responsible for coordinating the
development of land, property and addressing applications for the Scottish public sector
using the One Scotland Gazetteer and more recently Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase
products. He has worked with land and property information for over 30 years, the last 13
of which have been involved with gazetteers and Ordnance Survey mapping products.
Iain will present on the unique collective taken to provide national (Scottish) datasets of
local government spatial data, which will be consistent, optimised and standardised
across the country. This will meet Scottish local government’s obligations under the EU
INSPIRE Directive, allow a consistent approach to open data and deliver significant
benefits to both the public and private sector.
Colm Daly (Education Authority Southern Region)
Colm Daly is the Information Manager in the Education Authority and has been
involved in various GIS projects over the last 10 years. Colm will be speaking about
how the innovative use of GIS is contributing to significant time savings within the
Authority and its key role in a new online citizen facing app for home to school
transport. As part of the application, the parent has to confirm the location of their
address via an embedded Web map within the online form. With part of the eligibility
criteria being the shortest walking route to school, the address is passed into the Web
GIS along with the chosen school and assessed instantly for eligibility.
Landmark Solutions is a leading supplier of Saas and Paas, data and
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Landmark Solutions is a part of Landmark Information Group, suppliers of environmental data, property risk information, platforms and
software for the Property industry (www.landmark.co.uk).
Moira Grimley (Childcare Partnership, Health & Social Care
Moira Grimley is a member of the Information Team for the Childcare Partnership, Health
& Social Care Board. There are 5 Childcare Partnerships (CCP) within Northern Ireland
which are situated in each of the five Health and Social Care Trust areas. The work of the
Partnership includes the management of a range of early years and childcare
programmes including Sure Start. Sure Start is a Government initiative targeting children
aged under 4 and their families in areas of social disadvantage.
Moira will be speaking about how the implementation of SpatialNI has assisted the Sure
Starts in providing a definitive answer of determining if an applicant resides within the
Sure Start geography. The introduction of Spatial NI has provided a visual aid to where
the applicants address is located and enables Sure Start staff to instantly check if this
address is within a Sure Start ward.
Nathan Ward (Leica Geosystems)
Nathan Ward started his career in the 90s, and as a Chartered Surveyor, now has over
20 years experience in the geospatial industry. At Leica Geosystems, Nathan's focus is
on the GIS field data collection solutions business which includes defining the strategy
and sales channels and growing the business for the UK & Ireland. In his talk, Digital
Realities, Nathan will be discussing how modelling the ideal world will improve the real
world and the importance of geospatial technology to effectively manage our rapidly
changing world.
Paul Synott (ESRI Ireland)
Paul Synnott, in his role as Country Manager, currently leads Esri Ireland’s strategy for
growth on the island of Ireland. Paul is a land surveyor by profession, and 2016 sees
his 22nd year working directly within the geospatial industry here. Based on recent
experiences, Paul will talk about the potential need for the geospatial industry to
reshape its mind-set regarding the value contribution of location, place & geography to
both traditional & non-traditional GI customers.