Four years ago, ESRI Ireland won the contract to deliver a new GIS infrastructure to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DoEHLG). As this service level agreement with ESRI Ireland draws to a close, the Department’s GIS vision is becoming an operational reality.
Client
The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has responsibility for protecting and managing Ireland’s natural heritage. It is an important and complex area of government and involves maintaining large and diverse data sets on everything from protected species and wildlife conservation areas to archaeological monuments.
The Challenge
In 2003, the Department launched an ambitious new four-year GIS strategy, with the aim of making spatial information an integral part of the workflows and processes of its main business units: National Monuments (including excavations); National Parks & Wildlife; and National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. As well as improving its own internal use of spatial data, the department also wanted to improve public access to Ireland’s heritage data.
The Solution
In addition, ESRI Ireland helped the Department to upgrade its existing Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) system within the National Monuments business unit. The improvement of this key application has significantly reduced the time required to maintain the SMR. It has also greatly enhanced the quality and accuracy of information that is vitally important to agencies and organisations that work with it on a daily basis.
The Benefits
To help improve public access to information, ESRI Ireland helped the department to size and implement an external environment for delivering mapping applications, services, metadata and data download facilities over the Internet. A dedicated development team from ESRI Ireland has delivered new web sites for National Parks and Wildlife (www.npws.ie ) and National Monuments (www.archaeology.ie ) and Architectural Heritage (www.niah.ie ). The Department is confident that these self-help sites will significantly reduce the time and effort expended by Department staff in answering queries from stakeholders and the public.
The Technology Used
In the first phase of the project, ESRI Ireland worked with the Department to develop a centralised spatial data management system. This geo-database makes it easier and more efficient for the department to maintain and manage its vast spatial data resources. ESRI Ireland then supported the deployment of an Internet-based browser application, which delivers spatial data and relevant GIS functionality to the entire organisation.
ArcGIS Server
In the first phase of the project, ESRI Ireland worked with the Department to develop a centralised spatial data management system. This geo-database makes it easier and more efficient for the department to maintain and manage its vast spatial data resources. ESRI Ireland then supported the deployment of an Internet-based browser application, which delivers spatial data and relevant GIS functionality to the entire organisation.