Press Release

North Norfolk District Council realises benefits of corporate GIS built on Cadcorp SIS software

North Norfolk District Council has developed and begun the deployment of a new corporate geographic information system (GIS) based on the Cadcorp SIS (Spatial Information System) digital mapping and GIS software suite. A key feature of the new Windows-based system is that it mimics and fully incorporates the familiar and proven user interface facilities of the District Council’s previous UNIX-based legacy system, which it replaces. Further, it has been developed entirely in-house by North Norfolk DC’s GIS support team using the Cadcorp SIS OCX (OLE Custom Extension) software development tool-kit.

John Higgins, North Norfolk District Council’s analyst programmer, who developed and supports the new system, explains, "While our original system did an adequate job, it relied on expensive UNIX hardware and a proprietary operating system. As a result, we weren’t able to enjoy the cost benefits of acquiring standard hardware from whichever supplier provided the best terms. Furthermore, because it was UNIX-based, it didn’t integrate well with the District Council’s other, Windows-based office systems, so the decision was made to develop a new Windows-based GIS. We found that the Cadcorp SIS OCX, by providing access to the underlying executables of the entire SIS software suite, was the only GIS development tool-kit available that would allow us to develop our own applications from the ground up, based on our existing system. Other vendors’ development environments would only allow us to customise their standard product."

Development of the new Cadcorp SIS-based system, which retains and utilises the Council’s existing, in-house developed textual applications and the familiar user interface of the legacy UNIX-based system, was completed in Spring last year. Data conversion from the old system to the new was carried out in an automated batch process over 8 weeks and roll-out to the first users was completed by early Summer.

At present there are 18 concurrent users of the new Cadcorp SIS-based system within North Norfolk DC. These are in local searches/land charges, planning services, building control and electoral registration. However, it is planned to add other users in the near future in areas such as environmental health and grounds maintenance.

In addition to these users, visitors to the North Norfolk District Council offices in Cromer can access the GIS database themselves via a PC in the reception area. This enables people to view and perform spatial queries on the database to aid them in their own planning applications.

Multiple benefits

From a corporate point of view, one of the main benefits of the new system and the way it has been developed is that it is attractive to a wide range of departments within North Norfolk District Council. By keeping development costs down, basing the new system on the previous one and moving to an environment that allows standard, low-cost PCs to be used, the overall ‘cost of ownership’ for a department is kept low and existing skills and data are able to be used to best effect.

As John Higgins explains, "To date, all of the textual applications that make use of GIS-generated spatially related data within the District Council have been developed in-house. The use of Cadcorp SIS allowed us to keep these and move them into the new Windows-based GIS environment without change. This made it very economical financially."

More tangible benefits include a reduction of more than 50% in the time taken to perform local searches, with no need for paper files to be passed physically from person to person. Map maintenance and production procedures have also been automated, making maps easier to store and access.

About North Norfolk District Council

With a 70 kilometre coastline bordering the North Sea, North Norfolk District Council is one of the largest local authority areas in the country. With a total area in excess of 1000 square kilometres, it is 50km long and approximately 25km wide. It includes seven major towns and more than 100 other civil parishes and caters for a population of 100,000 people.

About Cadcorp

Established in 1991, Cadcorp is a leading developer of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Based in Stevenage and London, the Cadcorp distribution and VAR network stretches world-wide. Cadcorp SIS™ is now the third biggest selling PC GIS software by volume in Japan. Cadcorp plays a pivotal technical role in the OpenGIS Consortium. The Microsoft Windows-based Cadcorp SIS - Spatial Information System™ - range of software modules covers spatial data viewing, spatial data management, spatial data editing, spatial data modelling and analysis. Cadcorp SIS applications exist in local government, emergency services, survey and mapping, commerce, and broadcasting, amongst others. Cadcorp SIS Active X components are available for embedding into third party systems. Cadcorp ASC (Active Server Component), an Internet/Intranet developer tool-kit has been released for Web-based GIS solutions.

ENDS

For further information, contact: Chris Holcroft, Tel: 01438 747996, e-mail: chris.holcroft@cadcorp.com

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