news

What’s so Special about Spatial NI™?

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:02:03 GMT

LPS and Esri Ireland join forces to deliver Spatial NI and outline why this initiative is both significant and ground breaking.

Land and Property Services (LPS) recently awarded a contract through open tender to Esri Ireland to deliver the technical component of the Northern Ireland Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI).The new system will incorporate a catalogue of Open Standards web services, a web based Geoportal and interactive map viewing facilities.

The immediate aim of “Spatial NI” is to meet the objectives of the EU INSPIRE Directive. In addition, Spatial NI will form an integral part of the Northern Ireland GI Strategy. This strategy aims to make Northern Ireland a spatially enabled society by 2019 – with government using GI (geographic information) as a decision making tool, businesses using GI to increase efficiency and the public actively using GI on a daily basis. As a result of this procurement, Spatial NI will become the de facto infrastructure to support the publication, discovery and use of geographic information in Northern Ireland.

Spatial NI will be enable stakeholders to use, visualise or analyse geographic data whether they have a mandate around the INSPIRE Directive, whether they are part of the Northern Ireland Mapping Agreement (NIMA) community or whether they form part of the wider digital community in terms of private sector organisations, special interest groups or members of the public.

The system will provide both a consolidated area where geographic information can be stored and also a catalogue where geographic information stored by stakeholders can be registered. Mechanisms will be provided by which to manage this data ensuring its currency and accuracy for anyone who wishes to interact with it. Costs of data storage, data capture and management can be lowered due to these economies of flow.

Spatial NI will facilitate more effective decision making through having access to the best source of quality, up to date geographic information, collected once but shared and used many times, effectively enabling crowd sourcing of data.

Both LPS and Esri Ireland, together with technology partners IT Assist and con terra are excited about working on this progressive initiative which will help engage a wide range of stakeholders in the effective use & application of geographic information.

Trevor Steenson, Chief Survey Officer at Land & Property Services remarked “In addition to helping Northern Ireland meet the INSPIRE Directive obligations, Spatial NI will provide a platform for the development of GI applications within and beyond Northern Ireland. This will stimulate demand for geographic information and underpin revenue generation opportunities for the private sector. It will assist in driving the use of geographic information across Northern Ireland in a structured, consistent manner”.

Paul Synnott, Country Manager, Esri Ireland commented “We’re incredibly excited about this project and indeed we think it facilitates joined up thinking across both public and private sector organisations around how we best use location based information for better decision making. We have many years of experience of working in the Northern Ireland market place at both Central, and Local Government level providing us with a thorough understanding of the challenges and opportunities that Spatial NI represents. We are again looking forward to continuing our work with LPS to make the vision for the Northern Ireland GI Strategy something real, tangible and with far reaching benefits for stakeholders and customers”.

GIS Cloud Featured at Eye on Earth Summit

Esri Inc — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 17:21:41 GMT

Redlands, California—December 06, 2011—At the Eye on Earth Summit Esri will describe how cloud GIS is positioned to create an international geospatial platform for sharing environmental data and designing solutions. Also former US president Bill Clinton, Esri president Jack Dangermond, and European Environment Agency (EEA) director Jacquelyn McGlade will join other renowned speakers to present the value of accessible data for international collaboration and decision making.

The Eye on Earth network will be featured at the summit in Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates, on December 12–15, 2011. Esri, Microsoft, and EEA have pooled their expertise to retool EEA's Eye on Earth with a cloud-based geospatial content management system modeled after ArcGIS Online.

The Eye on Earth network now provides tools for creating maps, accessing thousands of readily available maps and datasets, and managing geospatial content. People can use the network to share content with the public and among groups or to use privately.

Governments, research organisations, nongovernmental organisations, and the public can use the network to work together to understand problems, develop policy, design plans, and take action. Furthermore, the cloud-configured network provides the foundation for other regions to create similar environmental platforms.

"People truly care about their environment, but they can be at a loss as to how to participate in policy and make a difference," said Dangermond. "By putting environmental and social information into the hands of many people, the Eye on Earth network will become a catalyst for conversation. We think this is going to bring people to their feet by empowering them to understand problems and be part of the solutions."

Esri's ArcGIS Online technology, coupled with Windows Azure and Microsoft SQL Azure, allows EEA to host and maintain the platform, create database and business process management systems, and integrate security constraints.

GIS web apps help user groups create and share map-based services, perform analysis, and publish geospatial products. In the summit's pavilion, experts will demonstrate the Eye on Earth network's capabilities such as citizen engagement and collaborative environmental problem solving.

ThinkGIS goes Digital - read or download your copy now!

admin — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 09:30:00 GMT

We're delighted to announce that our ThinkGIS publication is now available in digital format.

ThinkGIS highlights both customer and partner success stories, along with views from the Esri Ireland and Esri UK team, the current issue focuses on how enterprise-wide GIS is growing as a powerful and strategic business tool.

If you turn to page 14 you'll see the Esri Ireland section with stories covering customer success stories including Strangford Lough & Lecale Partnership -how they're using GI to manage an area of outstanding natural beauty; how the Geological Survey of Ireland are leveraging GI to support economic recovery in Ireland; how Compass through the National Biodiversity Data Centre is making millions of records relating to Ireland's diverse natural environment easily accessible on line and finally how we combined social media with maps to capture sentiment during the Queen's and President Obama's visit to Ireland.

If you'd like to be included in the next issue of ThinkGIS, we'd like to hear from you - contact Joanne, our Marketing Manager at jmclaughlin@esri-ireland.ie or Tel: +353 (0)1 8693900

Decision Map - Changing the Landscape for Business and Communities

Ordnance Survey Ireland and Twelve Horses — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:37:20 GMT

As of today private companies, public bodies, academic institutions, media and citizens will have access to a unique new web site which will change how important decisions are made. Decisionmap.ie is the result of a collaboration between Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) and Twelve Horses digital agency.

The web site allows users to view and analyse demographic data from a range of different sources with reference to a map viewer that helps users relate that data to a place, and through ground breaking data visualisation techniques, that helps users understand more about the data.

Decisionmap.ie utilises the Esri ArcGIS Web API (Flex) for an intuitive, visually rich and responsive user interface onto the supporting web services, consisting of dynamic and cached maps (including amongst others OSi’s Map Genie). In addition, Esri’s ArcGIS technology (server and desktop) was used to design, build and publish each of those supporting web services.

OSi and Twelve Horses are calling this the creation of a single information map.This data already exists from other sources, such as census data, the live register and local authority data. The beauty of this system is that it synthesises these multiple data sources in one single location. Access to the site will be free.

“This web site will make it very easy to access complex data and to analyse it,” said Geraldine Ruane, Chief Executive, OSi. “It will be a powerful decision-making tool. We bring together authoritative data from a number of sources, and viewing this data on our information maps will help to highlight patterns that would otherwise be difficult to spot. For example, if you were an incoming business looking for a place to locate, you’d be able to look at an area and view on one easy-to-read map the number of third-level graduates, the level of unemployment, the number of houses and other socio-economic data.”

‘Ghost estates’ provide an example of how this website could be used in decision-making. Currently, the data on these estates is compiled by the Housing Agency of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government in the Unfinished Houses Developments Register. By incorporating this data into Decisionmap.ie, it can then be put in the context of other important decision-making criteria such as geographic location, infrastructure, population and employment trends.

The ability to bring these multiple sources of data together in a single information map enables better and more efficient decisions to be made based on the demographics of the area. Similarly, businesses will now be able to identify customers and patterns with precision, allowing for the greater tailoring of marketing strategies.

Mr Hugh Mangan, Business and Marketing Manager, OSi said:

“Decisionmap.ie is a new way to view complex statistical data online, in a simple and intuitive manner. The aim of Decisionmap.ie is to promote the use of authoritative data as a driver for efficiency and reform by putting the data in the hands of the people who need it most. Users will be able to compare and contrast data in a number of different ways, from unemployment levels in a particular area to population trends from current and previous CSO statistics. The benefits of this collaboration between public and private sector are quite significant.”

“For the first time, in advance of the release of the Census 2011, users will have a say in how the system develops so that it delivers benefits to them, regardless of whether their business is concerned with identifying and connecting with new customers, or targeting public services for the best locations.”

This means that the web site will constantly evolve in response to the user’s requirements. “Decisionmap.ie is a collaborative project with a difference,” said Ms Gabrielle Stafford, Managing Director, Twelve Horses. “We call it an ‘evolutionary public service’ as the way people interact with the web site will help us to adapt and develop the site in response to the user’s requirements. This is quite unique for a public service website but we want this to be a service that everyone can use and interact with, from industry and public sector organisations to media and the general public.” OSi and Twelve Horses decided to partner on this project as both organisations saw the benefits of combining their expertise and resources to provide a unique service to the public.

“We’re delighted to have delivered something so innovative in collaboration with a leading-edge digital agency,” said Geraldine Ruane. “OSi is the National Mapping Agency and our expertise is providing accurate and up-to-date geographic data which is relied upon by Government, business and the public. With this web site, we have combined our resources and expertise with that of a cutting-edge digital agency to provide a unique service that is not available anywhere else in Ireland. It really shows the opportunities that can be created when public and private sectors come together.”

The web site is free to use and free to access and is available at: www.decisionmap.ie

Apps4Fingal Competition Gets Underway

Joanne McLaughlin — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:48:33 GMT

Fingal County Council has identified that publishing open data, and stimulating the creation of mobile and online apps assists economic development, improves the quality of life for the whole community, and allows citizen participation and collaboration. November 9th saw the official launch of their “Apps4Fingal” competition which took place in Fingal Council Offices, Swords.

Apps4Fingal is a competition for developers to create mobile and/or online apps based on Fingal Open Data. Apps can be entered in three specific categories Tourism, Enterprise or Community. There will also be a grand prize for best overall project and additional awards for larger company recognition, best student and best idea.

Esri Ireland was present as sponsors and represented by Michael Byrne Account Executive. Commenting during the open key note address, he said “In terms of the greater good and benefit, we maintain that Geographic Information Systems bring a 4 to 1 return on investment. There is no reason why open data as a critical component of such systems, cannot deliver at least as much return”.

To listen to Michael Byrne’s key note address at the launch:Michael Byrne, Esri Ireland at the Apps4Fingal Official Launch

Go to 21 minutes 04 secs and run until 24 mins 26 secs.

The competition will continue on December 3rd, whereby with the Apps4Fingal Development Day will be held at the Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown. At the development day, participants are invited to hear about Open Data in Fingal; develop ideas; form teams; consult with Council professionals; prototype ideas; pitch the project and build the first version of an App.

Esri Ireland is fully supportive of the Apps4Fingal & Fingal’s Open Data vision and will form part of the competition judging panel. The closing date for submissions is 9th January 2012.

Newstalk "talk Presidency" and use Esri's PollMap in their interactive debate

admin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:45:06 GMT

Newstalk and Google had their interactive Presidential Debate today at midday on site at Google HQ.

Ireland’s first digital interactive presidential debate, the final public debate before the Presidential Election on Thursday 27th October, was broadcast live from Google’s Dublin offices at 12pm to 1.30pm on Newstalk and on YouTube.

Prior to the debate, the general public were asked to submit potential questions for the candidates via youtube.com/newstalk and the most popular questions were put to the Presidential hopefuls during the 90 minute debate. All seven candidates were subject to questions that have been submitted and voted on by the general public.

Esri Ireland also had a part of play - At the end of the debate Newstalk embedded an online PollMap™ within their web site.

Poll Map™ allows you to capture and map public opinion on any issue and topic you like. You can explore the map to see how vote fits within local, regional and even national contexts.

After the debate listeners have been voting for who they think won the debate, along with their location details. This gives instant feedback; by casting your vote and seeing the results unfold across the map.

Newstalk and Esri Ireland have been working together on a number of initiatives with the theme of “Everything happens somewhere”.

Combining broadcast media with the use and application of geographic information means Newstalk listeners can engage, interact and gain real insight into dynamic trends as they happen across the digital map.

MapmyTweet is another Esri Ireland application used by Newstalk during the Obama visit to Ireland. MapmyTweet enables visitors to Tweet about somewhere rather than simply from somewhere; Connect, Target and Tweet. For more information contact: help@esri-ireland.ie

Working Together to Celebrate the Difference You Make - Esri Ireland & The Wheel

Joanne McLaughlin — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:09:00 GMT

"The Wheel" is Ireland’s support and representative umbrella network for community, voluntary and charitable organisations. Esri Ireland approached them with a view to delivering location-enabled services that support and encourage community & voluntary activities.

Each year the Wheel conduct a national campaign entitled “Better Together”. Better Together aims to build support for voluntary and charity organisatons clubs and associations across Ireland by encouraging the public to connect with and support these good causes, to help keep our communities strong.

The Better Together Campaign was officially launched today by TD Joan Burton, Minister for Social Protection and was well attended by partners of the wheel, supporters, voluntary, community and charitable organisations.

The campaign centres on a website www.bettertogether.ie where charities, clubs and associations showcase their work through short inspirational videos. Last year their online map showed the location of 211 community and voluntary groups and links to their videos on the Better Together site.

For 2011 The Wheel decided that they needed to make the map function much more interactive. Esri Ireland has collaborated with The Wheel to provide an innovative and location-enabled facility that integrates geographic information with social media providing a much richer online experience.

“Interactive maps are nothing new to us or our customers but recently we have identified at new ways to harness social media channels such as Twitter, Flickr & YouTube that may be a useful form of information to voluntary organisations” commented Andrew Rea, Business Sponsor & Head of Professional Services, Esri Ireland.

With the new Interactive Map, additional data and features have been added. The map can track geolocated tweets using specific hashtags such as #btg11 or #charityhero, to show how support is building for a cause. Those wishing to support a particular cause can generate geolocated tweets at www.mapmy tweet.com. This provides real time insight into dynamic twitter conversations as they happen across the map and creates a great buzz around the video competition.

In addition users can indicate how the public can support a particular organisation (vote for their video, donate, volunteer), or locate the nominees for the Ireland’s Charity Hero Competition. The Better Together Campaign runs from 4th October to 11 November. You can check out the Interactive Map for yourself at www.bettertogether.ie.

Both Esri Ireland and The Wheel have plans to collaborate on further strategic projects to help connect people in the community over the coming months.

Below Left to Right: Deirdre Garvey (The Wheel); Andrew Rea; Tanya Ten and Joanne McLaughlin (Esri Ireland) pictured at the Better Together Launch 4th October.

GSI - Supporting the economic recovery in Ireland

admin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:17:29 GMT

During the boom years of strong economic growth in Ireland in the 1990's and early 2000's, the GSI played a key role in supporting national and regional planning and development. However when the recession hit in the late 2000's and the construction industry ground to a halt, the GSI started to look at new ways to support the country.

The organisation realised that its vast geological data assets could be used much more widely to help drive economic recovery in Ireland. It therefore began to align its own activities with government priorities such as generating jobs, encouraging enterprise, developing sustainable energy and maximising the country's natural assets.

"Our role has changed", says Koen Verbruggen, Principal Geologist at GSI. "Previously, we were very much focused on infrastructure and construction. Now, we focus on a broader range of activities - with the ultimate aims of adding value, creating jobs and stimulating the economy".

You can read the GSI case study in full here, along with real return on investment figures realised as a result of the use and application of geographic information.

Global Twitter Chitter Chatter Celebrating Arthur's Day!

Joanne McLaughlin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:24:32 GMT

Why not Share in the Global Conversation for Arthur’s Day?

Check out MapMyTweet.com and watch the dynamic conversations around the globe as they unfold to celebrate Arthur’s Day – No matter what part of the world you’re in, have a go!

Everything happens somewhere, simply Connect, Target and Tweet!

Spatial Roundtable Addresses Modernising Mapmaking

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:17:27 GMT

Changes in Technology and Social Trends Are Impacting Mapping Organisations around the World.

Redlands, California—August 29, 2011—New technology is changing the face of mapping organisations around the world. Are national mapping agencies and traditional mapmakers able to keep up? The question is posed at the Spatial Roundtable by Mark Cygan, Esri's map, chart, data production, and spatial data infrastructure (SDI) industry manager. Cygan and other industry leaders discuss which strategies and resources are becoming more important to mapping organisations.

"Society is changing, and so are its expectations of what maps are and how they should be used," says Cygan. "The industry has experienced a 50 percent drop in the production of paper maps, charts, and atlases in the last decade. Instances of maps generated online, however, have increased."

Cygan believes that mapping organizations can ride the new wave of change by providing maps and charts in the form of electronic media and derivative map and data products for the web and mobile devices. However, Cygan says, "If they don't adapt, they run the risk of being washed away."

Visit spatialroundtable.com and join the discussion.

Learn How to Get the Most out of the Esri Community Maps Program

admin — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:36:29 GMT

esri.com/lts

September 15, 2011

9:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., and 3:00 p.m. (Pacific daylight time)

ArcGIS software users cooperate daily using their best available authoritative content to build multiscale basemaps, which they contribute to the Esri Community Maps program. Others can access these basemaps via ArcGIS Online and use them to create their own maps and cartographic displays.

To familiarize you with this rich cache of basemaps, Esri will host a live training seminar, Introduction to the Esri Community Maps Program, on September 15, 2011.

Using community maps can save you time with your workflows. The content is high quality, as it’s supplied by authoritative sources such as cities and counties.

The presenters will show how the available basemaps can help speed workflows and make it easier to collaborate with your colleagues on projects. You also will learn about:

What the Esri Community Maps program is and how participating can benefit you

How to access basemaps

How to be more productive by using the maps

How to contribute content to the program

Anyone interested in accessing and sharing geographic information system (GIS) basemaps online is encouraged to attend the live training seminar. There are no prerequisites.

A broadband Internet connection and an Esri Global Account are needed to watch the live training seminar. Creating an Esri Global Account is easy and free: visit esri.com/lts, click Login, and register your name and address.

Esri, the Esri globe logo, ArcGIS, and esri.com are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of Esri in the United States, the European Community, or certain other jurisdictions. Other companies and products mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective trademark owners.

Register your place: "Building the Business Case for GIS" Webinar

Joanne McLaughlin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 11:47:19 GMT

Our next webinar takes place on Tuesday 27th September at 10.00am. This is a must attend event for GIS Users, GIS Managers, IT Managers, Senior Executives, CEO's, CTO's, CIO's, Managing Directors, Heads of Planning, County Managers or anyone interested in using the power of GI to solve problems, achieve results and make better decisions".

For more information or to register your place visit our events page.

Drag and Drop Data with the Click of a Button

Joanne McLaughlin — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:15:46 GMT

With the latest release of ArcGIS Online, you can now add shapefiles, text files (TXT and CSV), and GPX files directly to your web map. You can drag data from your computer onto your map or, with just the click of a button, adds it to your map in the ArcGIS.com map viewer or ArcGIS Explorer Online. Once you’ve added your data, you can configure pop-up windows and change the symbols.

Why not give it a try now using this sample data?

When you add your data to a web map, the ArcGIS.com map viewer and ArcGIS Explorer Online automatically add the location information from your file, draw features for each item, and store the information in the map.

You can try it yourself by downloading our sample .CSV from here National Parks & Wildlife and the Esri Topographic Basemap, Ireland which you can open on our viewer here. Once you have added the .CSV you can style and save your map.

In addition to the above-mentioned formats, you can also add Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC), Web Map Service (WMS) layers to the ArcGIS.com map viewer and ArcGIS Explorer Online. Simply click the Add button and enter the URL to the service. The ArcGIS.com map viewer also supports the addition of KML layers.

You can share your data or saved maps in ArcGIS Online so others can find them and use them to create their own maps and mashups.

Get started today. Learn more about adding features to your map, or watch a short video.

NCG Mapping Population Change in Ireland 1841 - 1851

admin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:54:26 GMT

The National Centre for GeoComputation Maynooth are using quantitative analysis with historical GIS to show population changes during and after the Great Famine.

The work behind the data gathering and management was done using ArcGIS and the actual application being used is GeoWise Instant Atlas

There were dramatic reductions in population during the decade of the 1840's due to the Great Irish Famine but the effects of the Famine were not experieced equally in all parts of the country. Some areas suffered massive population decline whilst other areas experienced population gain.

This research uses GIS to examine spatial variations in population change at electoral division (ED) level and the extent to which features of the social and natural landscape can be identified and statistically analysed as determinants of population change.

You can explore the data yourself at NCG's Online Atlas Portal.

Download ArcGIS Viewer for Microsoft Silverlight Free Webinar

Joanne McLaughlin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:52:37 GMT

This is a free event hosted by Esri Ireland as part of our Webinar Series 2011.

Download the ArcGIS Viewer for Microsoft Silverlight

Webinar Description

The ArcGIS Viewer for Microsoft Silverlight is a ready to deploy configurable rich Internet application build on the ArcGIS API for Microsoft Silverlight.
It enables users to easily create and deploy custom web mapping applications that work with their own ArcGIS Server services, plus data content from the web.
Its application builder makes the process of creating a new web client easy and quick.
See the viewer in action during the webinar and live demo.

Who should download this webinar?

This is ideal for non-developer users and novice web application creators. Both the ArcGIS Viewer for Microsoft Silverlight and custom web clients generated from the application builder can be used immediately.

Presenter:

Trish Cleary, GIS Consultant & Engagement Manager, Esri Ireland

Duration:

The webinar will last 45 minutes.

Download the ArcGIS Viewer for Microsoft Silverlight Webinar