Online web mapping solution: MapVision for the public sector

MapVision for the public sector

Free mapping data

As a result of the Pan-Government Agreement, Ordnance Survey's digital mapping data is now free at the point of use to any public body in the Civil Service Yearbook. This means public bodies need only pay for the development and hosting of a web mapping application.

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Web mapping provides funding efficiency

The challenge

The Government Office for the West Midlands' (GOWM) wanted to provide inward investors and their local authority facilitators with a transparent, accurate and easily accessible service to check their eligibility for assistance under the European Structural Funds programme.

Previously, staff manually checked property addresses on paper maps to advise customers whether a project was located in an area eligible for funding. This time-consuming process also proved inaccurate, with funding assessed at the ward level meaning properties within a single postcode could vary in eligibility. Staff also had to update records by hand when ward and postcode data changed.

The solution

Beacon Dodsworth developed and maintain a web-based eligibility checker that eliminates the need for staff involvement at the initial enquiry stage, instantly answering questions such as ‘which ward is my postcode in?' and ‘which local areas are eligible for funding'. It also streamlines data updates, which is essential for customers using ward data pre-dating 1996 to judge their eligibility.

The online Postcode Checker appraises every property in the West Midlands for the four levels of available funding. Users access the information by entering a postcode or, where not all the properties in a postcode are eligible, a house number. They then see a 1:10,000 scale map of the area with each property in the postcode highlighted.

Alternatively, they can navigate down through a hierarchy of maps to identify which development sites and other un-postcoded features, such as canal bridges are eligible for funding. As the information is provided via a website, potential investors and their advisers assess funding eligibility, quickly, easily and wherever they have access to the web.

The benefits

The Beacon Dodsworth online system is benefiting the GOWM in the following ways:

• Reducing administration costs in line with Gershon Report recommendations
• Extending the reach of eGovernment by enhancing public access to user-friendly online services
• Providing businesses with a one-click answer to an eligibility query around the clock
• Offering an affordable solution - the only costs are development and hosting
• Providing flexibility of eligibility assessment - enabling projects to be appraised at postcode or ward level
• Offering the potential to expand the system to consider the criteria of other Area Based Initiatives (ABIs)
• Enabling visual appraisal of a project's eligibility for topographic objects without postal addresses
• Enabling GOWM to use its PGA portfolio of Ordnance Survey mapping to its full potential

» Download a pdf of the full GOWM case study

Mapping in action

The GOWM Postcode Checker has been updated for the 2007 to 2013 programme and is accessible from their website. You can search for a postcode in the West Midlands or click on the Show Map tab to search through the hierarchy of maps to reach the location you want.

Postcodes that cover more than one type of funding area (e.g. CV12 9BH) are broken down into individual properties to select from.

» View the Postcode Checker directly

Find out more

For further information on our MapVision applications and how they can be tailored to meet your requirements, complete our enquiry form or call us on 01904 701020.