An introduction to Geographic Information and why it is important Birmingham 18 th November Brian Higgs Corporate GIS Manager

What is Geography? Spatial is one of only five ways to analyse information Obvious Where is my nearest library or doctors surgery? How many households are there within 2km of the proposed recycling centre? Where do the pupils who attend a particular school actually live? Less so Who is my councillor? When does my bin get emptied? Synergy – the ability to join up data about the same real world object or individual.

GI as a Facilitator Modern society now depends on seemingly limitless numbers of computerised databases. Bank/credit details, store cards, insurance and health records, Facebook and other internet applications, etc… Most of these contain some form of geo-code that can be linked to reference geographies, eg nearly 90% of Local Authority databases fall into this category.

EXPERIAN - MOSAIC UK Northgate - Electoral Register ONS - Index of Multiple Deprivation GIS and LLPG APAS - Planning Applications back to 1947 Building Reg’s TPO’s Enforcements Planning Policy GVA - Corporate Asset Management CENTRIS - Pupil Records iWorld – Housing Management M3/Northgate - Environmental Health NLIS - Land Charges CONFIRM - Arbor / Grounds Maintenance Northgate - Revenues and Benefits Business Link Data MAYRISE - Street Lighting Symology - Highways Maintenance ExeGesIS - HBSMR ASPIRE - CRM (Dudley Council Plus) ELMS2 - Community Equipment EMS - Early Years SIDEM – Parking Management SWIFT - Social Service Clients ONS - Census Data

Reference Geographies Postcode Designed to be a mail delivery mechanism not a reference geography, but everyone knows theirs Address As above but factors such as “gentrification” make the ability to match difficult so resort to property references Transportation networks Roads, railways, canals, rivers etc. Different communities will often see the same object differently Co-ordinates Different co-ordinate systems require translation such as data captured through GPS (latitude/longitude) to be mapped on O.S. maps (National Grid)

Local Authority applications using spatial technologies

500m radius search area

Customer Insight and Social Marketing We already know which of our services they use, so collate the service lines through the address in order to build up a profile of the customer… Household Business Housing Benefit Council Housing Address Type Age Tenure Environmental Health Trading Standards Trade Waste Non-Domestic Rating CRM etc Individual Social Services Pupil Records Electoral Register CRM etc Housing Benefit Council Housing Type Age Tenure Environmental Health Trading Standards Trade Waste Non-Domestic Rating CRM etc Social Services Pupil Records Electoral Register CRM etc

Where they live will give some insight into their demographic profile and identify services that aren’t being taken up but perhaps should be, using sources such as: Profiling data e.g. IMD Local Authority and partner data Commercially available data, e.g. MOSIAC A GI-based approach to getting to know your customer Customer Insight and Social Marketing

Mosaic data

Reproduced from O.S. mapping with the permission of The Controller of H.M.S.O. Crown Copyright 2009 Licence No

All 110 schools have accessed it with Primary Schools the most active users One user interface from Reception Class through to Sixth Form Supports cross- curricular delivery The first application to be delivered through Dudley Schools Portal GIS-MO for Schools

Other sector applications

Planning the location of new stores using geo-demographics, e.g. analyses of catchments and drive- times Loyalty cards enable them to monitor what you buy and from where; assists planning of promotions and reducing unsold stock Retail Sector

Insurance Sector – Flood Risk

Health Sector

Public-facing applications

Health Services

Government

Route Planning

Fault Reporting

Open Access Mapping Infrastructure

Geography has “broken out” Neo-geographers our view of them: their view of us:

Because it’s there to be mapped… Locations of places mentioned in one band’s songs

Validating and improving authoritative data – despite the authorities!

Community calendar – where and when

Historical information German V2 rocket strikes on London

Thank you for your attention