Welcome to our winter edition of Field Views – wow, where did the year go?!  Time certainly flies when you’re having fun, and we’ve had a busy year helping blue-chip customers improve field worker efficiency.  We’ll be talking more about these projects in our Spring edition.  We’ve also been busy adding to our mobile expertise with five new staff joining us this year and more in 2012.

Reports of bleak economic conditions are unavoidable these days and worse is forecast for next year.  So we thought this would be a good time to focus on return on investment. Mobile solutions continue to be a rare ray of sunshine in stormy skies, and anyone looking to get the most from a squeezed budget can be confident that investment in mobile working pays back a lot more than you spend.  We hope you find the stories of how others made their business case useful.

We’re also expanding into new markets with very encouraging starts in emergency services and construction. To underpin our growth in enterprise data management we’re investing in new technology partnerships to enhance GeoField’s integration with the asset management, ERP and CRM systems our customers use. It is great to have IBM as a new partner, adding to our Microsoft, Ordnance Survey and Esri credentials, and we’ll be announcing more next year.

Merry Christmas & best wishes for 2012. We look forward to working with you in the year ahead.

Paul Reid | Managing Director

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PDG Helicopters got their bonus payback from more collaborative customer relationships, winning more business and a reputation for improving data quality and value for their clients.

In general GeoField has huge potential to repay investment simply in better data. From public sector to engineers and utilities data quality is firmly back on the agenda. We’ve heard the same stories: giving field staff the right tools transforms the data cycle. As well as speed and accuracy, GeoField frees locked knowledge, captures information that was otherwise lost and rewards staff by swiftly updating the maps and reports they rely on.

What we’ve learned is to get that business case over the line, benefits can be so much more than cash. Keep it simple and run a trial to get the evidence. We’ll be happy to help.

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SEPA is Scotland’s environmental regulator charged with protecting and improving the nation’s 78,000 square kilometres of land, which includes 25,000 lochs (lakes) and more than 125,000 kilometres of rivers and streams.

Nearly three-quarters of the country’s land is in agricultural use, and the most significant environmental problem is diffuse pollution from agricultural operations. This is especially true of Scotland’s waterways. While 63% of them are rated as being in good condition, under the European Union’s Water Framework Directive the Scottish government has committed to raising this figure to 98% by 2027.

SEPA has identified 102 ‘priority catchments’ – waterway regions that need remediation under this ambitious plan. And the first step is to identify and classify pollution types and sources along every kilometre of the waterways involved. That will require some serious field work: SEPA staff will walk the entire river network surveying each catchment, and will also perform farm-scale inspections nationally.

The first 14 priority catchments are scheduled to be completed by 2015. But all this work must be done within a current climate of severe public-sector spending cuts, which include a 20% reduction in staff.

Reviewing the project’s data collection requirements, Dr Jonathan Bowes,  Senior Data Analyst/Modeller for SEPA, recognised that the process would be extremely labour-intensive. An enormous volume of field data would all have to be logged manually, recording 55 types of non-compliant agricultural practices, as well as other details.  The data would then have to be organised and entered by hand onto SEPA’s central computer system. 

 The project has attracted a great deal of attention across SEPA as this concept of paperless field work is applicable right across the board. Potentially it could revolutionise major parts of SEPA’s business

As a specialist in GIS, Dr Bowes also recognised the advantages technology could bring, to streamline this process.  The result was the pilot project to trial hand held computers, equipped with software which would eliminate paperwork for field staff.  The South Esk priority catchment was selected as the pilot area for evaluating digital data capture technology alongside the existing pen and paper method. Finances are extremely tight in SEPA so investment in such projects must deliver value for money.

Sigma Seven was chosen to provide the system for the project and the team used tablet PCs, equipped with a customised GeoField solution, to gather the data required.

On reviewing the results of the pilot scheme, it was clear that technology had enhanced the process and the quality of the data collected.

SEPA noted that typos, errors, illegibility and the adverse effects of weather on paperwork were eliminated.  The information was gathered in real time and quickly uploaded onto the agency’s systems, which then automatically generated reports and maps, ensuring a full audit trail was available.

Clearly, the technology had made the process easier, faster, more accurate and more secure.  These improvements alone were of significant benefit to the project.   The bottom line, though, was the crucial benchmark. 

When the team compared the outcomes of this pilot scheme with the paper based processes, the differences were substantial. 

The comparison used a base of 400km of waterways walked and found that the paper based processes took 45.5 days to complete. However, the scheme using mobile technology took only eight days, saving over 37 man days on one small area. 

This 80% reduction in workload translates to a massive saving of £708,000 for the first 14 catchment areas and even bigger returns projected for the full 102 catchments. 

Unsurprisingly, SEPA has switched to a GeoField system for the project, using GeoField forms, workflow and data management software, in conjunction with Algiz 7 mobile tablet PCs all integrated with SEPA’s databases. 

It’s safe to say that SEPA’s initiative has proved to be a very successful one, financially as well as operationally. The result is that Scotland’s waterways are now being assessed much more quickly and efficiently, as well as much more cost effectively.

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Sigma Seven has over a decade of experience in providing dedicated mobile software solutions.  In that time we have worked with many different organisations and adapted GeoField to a wide range of customer requirements. 

We are always looking to expand the reach and application of GeoField. One area we are becoming particularly active in is that of emergency services. 

Due to recent legislation and guidelines, providing front line staff with high quality operational information, such as detailed geospatial, address and risk data is becoming mandatory within this sector.   As a result, emergency services organisations are adopting mobile technology, to ensure data is collected and managed more efficiently, in order to boost data accuracy, integrity and quality. 

GeoField is ideal for their requirements and we are already working with several fire and rescue services to help further improve the efficiency of their data collection processes. 

To help keep other emergency services organisations informed about the advantages of our state of the art mobile technology solutions, Sigma Seven exhibited at the recent Emergency Services Show in Coventry.  The Show is viewed as the leading event for emergency planning, response and recovery professionals, both in the UK and abroad and it was attended by more than 4000 people. 

This was a very successful event for us, as our stand attracted many visitors keen to find out more about GeoField.  We demonstrated how it can help create efficiencies in mobile data management for fire & rescue services, the police, NHS and any other area within this sector, where the accuracy, integrity and timely delivery of operational information is paramount. 

Visitors were also interested to hear how GeoField can help emergency services by mobilising valuable data  relating to community safety, address management, hydrant inspections and hazard spotting. 

In addition, we explained how it  allows users to go beyond mandatory requirements, enabling best practice and efficiency savings within field based data management workflows, all on one simple to use system. 

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More and more organisations are benefiting from GeoField and we’re pleased to report another satisfied new customer, the Central Scotland Forest Trust (CSFT).

The job of the Trust is to improve the landscape of Central Scotland, for the benefit of all living there.  One of their tasks is to locate and record wildlife habitat areas and we have been able to help them make the process faster and more efficient.

The CSFT had identified the need for GeoField for a number of reasons.  They had GPS recorders in use, but they were becoming obsolete and the Trust recognised they needed more up to date technology.    They were also keen to make their back office process more efficient, especially by improving consistency of data collected.  It was being recorded manually into the GIS system and the Trust saw the value of removing the manual element and automating this part of the process instead. 

We tailored GeoField to the Trust’s specific requirements, to create the ideal software solution for the job.   One of the benefits is that they can now view OS Mastermap®, Ordnance Survey’s most detailed digital map, on their new Algiz 7 tablets.  This enables much more accurate recording of location.  On screen GPS assists with this too. 

All in all, we provided a ‘one-stop-shop’ solution, including mapping, geospatial editing, GPS capabilities and a camera, all available on one device. 

This has helped the Trust improve the value of the information collected, as it ensures that none is missing. Inconsistencies are ironed out as well.  The trust have found they have saved time too - 25% of their time to be exact.  Their team no longer spends as much time on processing the data, now that manual transcription of field collected information has been removed from the process and replaced by automated updates by GeoField. 

Most surveys are now taking less than half a day to undertake, whereas previously a full day would have to be allocated.  This frees up staff time, providing the organisation with more flexibility when bidding for and working on other field projects.  

The previous collection process required field workers to take an A3 paper map with them for reference and they would write up at least 4-5 pages’ worth of a notebook, in recording the necessary information.  Now, field workers no longer need to take a notebook or a map.  They can easily enter all the data they need, straight onto their tablet and GeoField takes care of the rest. 

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LightSquared vs GPS

There’s a major industry spat in the USA barely getting a mention here. In an increasingly bitter dispute,  a hedge-fund backed start-up called LightSquared has spent billions building a new national wireless broadband network. Good news you’d think but LightSquared plans to use frequencies reserved for satellites which, the US Government reports, will jam 75% of GPS receivers. Unsurprisingly the GPS industry and users are up in arms. This isn’t just about SatNav they say - LightSquared’s plans threaten a system at the heart of everything from agriculture and surveying  to aviation safety and marine navigation. The US FCC is due to rule this month. The story has intrigue, claims and counter-claims of leaks, fraud, corruption, insider dealing and political bias. Who said GPS was boring?

Galileo off the ground at last

The much heralded EU answer to GPS – Galileo – has finally got off  the ground with the launch on 21^st Oct of the first two satellites of a 27 satellite constellation that will make up the navigation system promising cheaper and more accurate location data across Europe. Roll on 2015.

Switch off, turn on

Around the world, TV services that have been broadcasting for decades are being switched off. Old analogue signals are being cleared from the airwaves and replaced with more efficient digital TV signals.

The result of this means that lots of the radio spectrum is being freed up. New services can take advantage of the space that is coming available. This part of the TV spectrum is also highly desirable since it covers frequencies that travel well over great distance and through solid objects such as walls. In the UK Ofcom will auction this space in 2012.

Mobile phone operators are the most keen to use the new frequencies to increase provision of mobile broadband for smart phones and tablet PCs. They have seen an explosion in demand for mobile services mainly driven by new consumer devices.

Studies show mobile broadband delivers the greatest economic and societal benefit. It’s still a long way from a ‘guaranteed everywhere’ service many businesses need, but systems such as GeoField will be able to take advantage of improved connectivity and bandwidth for data updates.

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‘My responsibilities in this new position within Sigma Seven are to grow the utilities business and develop our presence in the UK telecoms sector. This is a new area for the company and our solutions translate well to the requirements of the telecoms industry. I will also have an active role in the company’s international expansion.’

A key component of Sigma Seven’s GeoField is the ability to integrate with existing enterprise software applications through GeoField Exchange. Data can be extracted from a number of corporate systems to create pre-configured, spatially-enabled mobile workflows for operational field use, independent of office location and enterprise connectivity.

‘There’s some very sophisticated software engineering happening within GeoField, says Jonathan, ‘my focus is on helping customers realise the benefits of that great technology throughout their business, such as improved quality of corporate data, streamlined work processes, increased productivity, reduced costs and enhanced customer service.’

‘This is a fantastic time to be joining Sigma Seven and I am excited by the opportunities ahead. The company has well established solutions, supported by a very strong software engineering and executive management team and I look forward to being part of their future success.’

When not engaged in commercial activity, Jonathan divides his leisure time between his eight-month old daughter, hiking, scrambling and cycling.

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It feels like it’s been a long winter but spring is finally in the air. This means more sunshine, longer days and, for many, the start of the field surveying season. After a successful trial in 2010, we are looking forward to working with SEPA to implement a GeoField solution for their River Catchment Walk and Farm Assessment teams, who will be using Handheld Algiz 7 ruggedised tablet PCs to electronically capture the results of their field survey work. GeoField’s SEPA solution will provide direct delivery to the enterprise GIS and document management systems and far greater efficiency over the existing paper-based process.

Springtime may seem like the perfect environment for outdoor work. But for many mobile workers, the job continues no matter what the weather. This is especially true in the utilities and emergency service sectors. Recently, we’ve enjoyed interesting new GeoField projects with Wales & West Utilities, ScottishPower, Scottish Water and Bristol Water, meeting the changing demands placed on utility field engineers. We are also looking forward to working with Derbyshire Fire and Rescue helping to ensure that their field planning and risk assessment are second to none.

We’re out and about ourselves in these spring months – some of you may have visited our new stand at the BAPCO annual conference in early April, while others can catch up with our latest news and product demonstrations at the Esri UK Annual Conference in London on May 16th-17th. We look forward to seeing you out on the road.

Best wishes

Paul Reid | Managing Director

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Working in association with the Health and Safety Laboratory, Sigma Seven have developed a GeoField incident reporting tool

‘Our work with GeoField is helping us unlock the potential of our geospatial data. With Sigma Seven, we are building mobile applications which will allow us to better understand workplace environments, reduce risk, increase the accuracy and speed of our field reporting and allow our experts to work more efficiently away from the lab.’ - William Holmes of HSL

The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) is an agency of the Health and Safety Executive and Britain’s leading industrial health and safety research facility. They provide an independent, expert source of science and technology solutions to industry, public and private sector customers globally.

Working with HSL’s Geographical Information Systems Team, Sigma Seven have developed a version of GeoField to improve site incident reporting. Previously, reports were based on written transcripts from field exercise books coupled with photography and measurements from other instruments. These disparate data were difficult to correlate, manage and analyse, especially the positioning and location information.

The solution is the HSL Incident Reporting Tool. Utilising Sigma Seven’s flexible feature palette, HSL have been able to create a set of data recording tools based upon their own in-house symbology. This is combined with forms, data fields and terminology commonly used in field reporting.

The Incident Reporting Tool has also unlocked the power of HSL’s geospatial datasets, with OS MasterMap®, address, and population data providing even more detailed context to a field incident reporter.

By deploying on sophisticated ultra-mobile PCs, HSL have been able to seamlessly geocode and record photographs against their reports. Coupled with powerful external GPS receivers, the positional accuracy of the collected data will be improved even further.

Sigma Seven’s selection as the solution provider was based on our track record of project and solution delivery and our experience in handling secure data connections. Data security is a key factor for HSL and their experts were satisfied that Sigma Seven could deliver a secure solution.

HSL are now working with Sigma Seven to perfect the solution and widen its use. The coming twelve months look to be an exciting and expansive time for field working at HSL.

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In the last edition of Field Views we announced that we were working with Wales & West Utilities, the gas distribution business for Wales and the South West of England, to mobilise data and workflow to 1000 field engineers.

The contract was signed the week before Christmas, and we are pleased to announce that their GeoField solution was delivered into User Acceptance testing in March. The roll-out will start from the end of April and is expected to be completed by the end of July.

‘There is a real excitement within the business at using GeoField,’ commented Nick Hancock, WWU Project Manager, ‘and this will provide a great platform for us moving forward.’

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Did you know the word slogan is originally Scottish? It comes from the Gaelic sluagh-ghairm meaning ‘battle cry’. We weren’t really looking for a slogan in our reader competition last issue but we were interested in hearing what people thought of GeoField.

We enjoyed reading the many witty and creative entries, some of which would make very good battle cries for Sigma Seven. So thank you to all who entered. The winner was Oisin Kelly from Landscape Planning Group for whom GeoField means ‘Maps, data and decision support integrated from field to office’. A close second was Adam Crick of PDG Helicopters who said ‘GeoField makes mobile data capture simple, cost effective and fast!’.

Oisin wins the Viliv N5 Go-Anywhere PC, and Adam will soon be sporting a natty pair of FIVEPOINT conductive gloves. Both were delighted with their success. Oisin joked he felt a ‘Gwyneth Paltrow moment’ coming on. We hope he’s recovered his composure by now.

The judges also wanted a special mention for Dr. Ed Wallington for his neat summary of GeoField as being like ‘having the entire company knowledge and support in my pocket’. We hope you enjoyed this little diversion. We won’t wait ten years to do it again.

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Paul Reid asks what cloud computing means for field work

Over the past five years cloud computing has moved from being the domain of early adopters to providing mainstream systems architecture for major corporations. 

The benefits of remotely hosting and serving business applications and services via the internet ‘cloud’ continue to be debated in organisations around the world.

Those in favour stress the cost benefits that can be realised by renting server capacity from a third party hosting service. Those against raise concerns about the security and reliability of infrastructure that is not internally controlled.

Critics of cloud computing had a field day this April when a failure in Amazon’s EC2 Cloud Services platform forced a number of businesses that rely on this technology to put up closed signs while the Amazon engineers figured out how to get systems back online. 

Regardless of your take on the technology and how it fits yourspecific organisational needs, the event has highlighted both the inherent risks associated with building critical business processes around online services and the need for proper contingency planning.

When building solutions for your mobile workers, reliability is key. The very nature of field work usually means that staff don’t have access to the same level of support as their office-based colleagues. And if your core mobile working solutions are unavailable for any length of time, it may not be possible to simply move on to the next task; the system may not be able to tell what or where the next job is.

‘Work Anywhere’ is a phrase we use to describe one of the key design principles of our GeoField solutions: the core toolset must function reliably regardless of communications availability and the status of your office-based infrastructure. From day one, GeoField has been engineered to work independently of your enterprise systems, with core operational datasets stored locally on the mobile device and updated when a connection becomes available. With GeoField, your field workers will always be ready for business.

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We’re launching a free evaluation version of GeoField to let people explore new Ordnance Survey maps

There’s been a revolution in UK digital mapping thanks to the opening up of Ordnance Survey (OS) data through the government’s Making Public Data Public initiative. As well as free maps in OS OpenData™, OS have also launched useful new scale products such as VectorMap™ Local.

And with the launch of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement, public sector workers now have access to Ordnance Survey products right up to OS MasterMap®. Mobile working with maps has never been easier, cheaper and – with cost and competitive pressures everywhere – more important. These developments mean that many more organisations can now use digital mapping to streamline and enrich their fieldwork; increase the efficiency and accuracy of mobile data management or try mobile working for the first time.

So how do you use these great new maps? How do you get them into the field? Without specialist software, digital maps are just big data files. You shouldn’t be tied to your desk or need an expensive GIS to take advantage. The whole point of free data is to maximise the appeal of digital mapping and allow everyone to benefit. 

We want to help people make the most of the map revolution. So this month we are launching a free evaluation version of our leading mobile work management, field mapping and data collection tool, GeoField.

Much more than a field map viewer, this feature-rich evaluation version also allows users to explore GeoField’s data capture, survey and map mark-up tools. We think it is a perfect way to explore the new OS products, try working paper-free or evaluate a full fieldworker efficiency project.

Launched in May in conjunction with OS, GeoField Evaluation Version will be initially bundled with a sample of OS VectorMap™ Local and OS OpenData™ layers. All you need is a tablet, laptop or UMPC and a simple OS licence agreement. Watch out for our new link on the OS websites and from our website. We will be watching the response carefully before deciding how best to expand the service. If you are interested, or you know someone who might be, please pass on the good news or get in touch in the usual way.

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Andy Gosney inspects GeoPlace

Until now, many experts in the field have believed that the provision of UK address data has been muddled and wasteful. For a decade, different public bodies in England and Wales have effectively competed to produce a definitive national gazetteer.  On one hand, Ordnance Survey (OS) has used data from Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF), adding a geocode or reference to place that address on the map and merging other government data to create products such as OS MasterMap®Address Layer 2 (AL2).

Quite separately, local government produced the National Land & Property Gazetteer (NLPG). This features addresses created and maintained by local authorities and then qualified and stitched together into a national dataset by the private company Intelligent Addressing. Rather than cooperating, each camp argued its product was superior. Yet studies by the Office of National Statistics showed that each dataset had flaws and only an expensive combination of the two would achieve close to a definitive dataset suitable for the census.

Quietly over the past year, the Local Government Group (LGG) and OS began negotiating a solution. The result is GeoPlace, a joint venture between LGG and OS which has acquired Intelligent Addressing. The new company will continue the work of NLPG and combine the extra elements present in the OS addressing products, especially the greater detail and non postal addresses from AL2.

This new combined product will be known as the National Address Gazetteer (NAG). Over the next three years, NAG will be rolled out to replace the existing, disparate datasets used by the private and public sectors. NAG will also be included in the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) to allow unrestricted use by all qualified public sector bodies and affiliates.

The solution is not without its critics and there are issues that require attention: Royal Mail’s PAF royalty claims; the absence of Scottish records; impact on the private sector and the fact that key public bodies such as utilities not covered by the PSMA may find the transition to NAG expensive. These are all issues which need to be resolved.

However, many more are championing the new venture and applauding the efficiency improvements it will bring about. After recent approval from the Office of Fair Trading, GeoPlace has been effectively live since 1st April. 

Sigma Seven will continue to support all the relevant datasets our customers use. Thanks to our NLPG Mobile Manager tool, we can also play a significant role in maintaining quality levels for NAG and the other data that our customers collect and manage.

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Sigma Seven is expanding its operations in several directions and new team member David Baxter has been helping to support that growth since joining the company at the end of January. A Senior Technical Consultant with the firm, David’s role is split into three main areas: project management for customers; working with the Sigma Seven development team and venturing out of the office to do consultancy work on customer sites.

After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University, David spent fourteen years working in ScottishPower. Asset management systems and enterprise integration are his key areas of expertise. In his current role within Sigma Seven, David is continuing to work with utility customers on internal projects as well as actively managing the implementation of other Sigma Seven projects.

His new role will also see him consulting for other organisations such as the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). 

‘The skillset I have, and a lot of the concepts which I work with, can be used in lots of different situations,’ says David. ‘They translate very easily to, say, SEPA. SEPA don’t deal with electrical systems but they do deal with river systems and the management of the two have similarities. One small example is that the naming conventions used to signify different river features and so on is similar to the way that the electricity network is labelled.’

‘That sort of transferable knowledge, along with an in-depth understanding of enterprise architecture, means that I can help Sigma Seven offer consultation services to other utilities and many other sectors.’

When not managing enterprise architecture, David enjoys motorsports and keeping fit.

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Welcome to Field Views in 2011 – it marks our tenth birthday and a year we feel is going to be very exciting for a number of reasons. Our previous post highlights our new contract with Wales & West Utilities. We’re delighted to be working with them to deliver GeoField into their frontline business processes.

As we expand our operations, we’re looking forward to welcoming David Baxter to our development team in the role of Senior Technical Consultant. Dave specialises in enterprise integration, data modelling and data integration, and has thirteen years of experience in utilities and asset management. 

As part of our continued growth we’re also thrilled about our move into new office space in central Edinburgh. The office is a stone’s throw from the Scottish Parliament and Holyrood Park.

This time last year we predicted that 2010 could be the year of the tablet and it’s safe to say that we no longer need to explain what a tablet PC is when we are demonstrating GeoField. Following the early success of consumer tablet devices last year, tablet launches dominated this year’s CES so we are hopeful that 2011 will see further tablet enhancement in outdoor screen readability, battery life and rugged device portability.

Best wishes,

Paul Reid | Managing Director

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Wales & West Utilities have selected Sigma Seven to provide their mobile workforce with GeoField, our map-based field work product. The contract represents a significant win for Sigma Seven and one which helps cement the company’s leading position in our field.

Sigma Seven is delighted to announce that we have been chosen by Wales & West Utilities (WWU) to deliver a new mobile maps solution to support the critical work and asset data management processes for its 1,000 strong mobile workforce. The system will provide mobile access to WWU’s network data, third party data and OS MasterMap®. 

Based on Sigma Seven’s GeoField product suite, the solution will be used by field workers at the regulated gas distribution business which transports gas to the homes and businesses of 2.5 million premises in Wales and the south west of England. 

WWU serves a population of more than 7.5 million people through its network of more than 35,000km of gas pipes across an area covering one sixth of the UK. Annually, WWU responds to over 120,000 gas emergency calls and makes 20,000 new connections. 

Graham Edwards, Chief Executive of Wales & West Utilities said: ‘This strategic initiative will enhance our ability to provide outstanding customer service and safety for gas consumers in our area and further assist our workforce with leading edge technology.’ 

Spanning the entire WWU operating region, Sigma Seven’s GeoField solution will provide fast and up-to-date access to critical network asset data relevant to the task at hand. 

The mobile workforce will be able to collaborate with field repair crews in near real time to share crucial map-based incident data. Integrated with existing enterprise systems, including GIS, GeoField will also enable mobile engineers to validate and correct asset data at the point of action. This will help reduce operational costs by decreasing the administrative burden and eliminating unnecessary journeys back to base. 

GeoField will also help WWU maintain their focus on safety and customer satisfaction, building on the company’s prestigious awards as Gas Industry Customer Service Company of the Year for the last two years and Utility Company of the Year in 2010.

Paul Reid, Managing Director of Sigma Seven, said ‘Wales & West Utilities has a strong reputation for safety and customer satisfaction, and we are delighted to support them in further developing the efficiency and responsiveness of their field operations teams. Their large network serves millions of people and we’re confident that GeoField will provide the reliability and performance needed for WWU’s business-critical activities. ‘ 

This is an important contract for Sigma Seven that consolidates our position as the class leaders in map-based field work management. We already work with Scottish Power, Scottish Water and Bristol Water. It is fantastic to further expand our operations in the utilities sector.’ 

Sigma Seven’s work with other utility companies has demonstrated that the GeoField solution provides a rapid and proven return on investment not just in financial terms but also in terms of environmental considerations, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and regulatory compliance. As we begin to implement GeoField with Wales & West Utilities, we are confident that they too will enjoy the benefits of Sigma Seven’s map-based field work solution and strong service ethos.

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Sigma Seven celebrates its tenth birthday this month

They say time flies when you’re having fun and things have certainly moved at pace since we started out in map-based mobile work management.

During this time there have been massive changes in technology, especially around mobile device capability, communications and mobile operating systems.

Throughout, we’ve focused on ensuring that our GeoField suite provides the capability, usability and flexibility required to get the most out of your frontline field operations.

As we reach this milestone, I’d like to thank our team and customers for their support. We are extremely proud of the positive feedback we receive from our users, and this drives us to continually innovate, always aiming to be the leaders in our field.

Mobility is becoming increasingly important, especially in a climate where everyone is trying to get more from fewer resources. We know that greater operational efficiency is central to that goal.

Although we can’t predict what mobile technology we’ll be using ten years from now, we are certain that our focus will remain on our simple goal of making everyday tasks quicker and easier for field workers.

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The way the Ordnance Survey operates has altered dramatically, writes Andy Gosney

In the closing half of 2010, Ordnance Survey underwent large changes in the way it operates. These changes include the creation and implementation of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA). Replicating the agreement already in place in Scotland, the PSMA covers the provision of all location data to the public sector in England and Wales. 

One of the main changes concerns Ordnance Survey’s data licensing model. This is the set of legal rules and apparatus deployed by Ordnance Survey to guide customers in how they can (or most importantly cannot) reuse, recreate or replicate Ordnance Survey data and derived information. The Ordnance Survey made these changes in response to criticism that the existing rules were too strict; there were too many of them and they were too difficult to understand.

Thanks to the PSMA, we now have a set of fewer, broader, and more compact licences. The rules are clearer and it is easier for the end user to understand what data use they are entitled to.

The complex and hotly disputed issue of derived data has also been addressed. Though not going as far as some would have liked, Ordnance Survey have tried to couple the free and easy use of derived data alongside their OpenData™ initiative. The main rule of thumb is (careful, there are exceptions) that if you did not pay for the data in the first place, it is more than likely free to re-use as long as you credit Ordnance Survey with its initial creation. 

The family silver, in the form of OS MasterMap® and  its accompanying layers (address, transport, imagery and so on), has been protected and any commercial re-use of this data  will still require an appropriate licence and payment. Extensive guidance is available online here.

This does not solve all problems and most free data advocates will protest that the most useful and detailed data (OS MasterMap®) is still prohibitively expensive for use at anything but a corporate level. But this is a start and we expect a Phase 2 update in early 2011.

The pricing still reflects an Ordnance Survey trying to balance conflicting forces and the pricing structure seems designed to maintain the broad status quo. I would like to see certain pricing reforms to help grow the use of data, especially in the SME sector where pricing is critical. It will be interesting to see if the OS VectorMap products address this market, as Ordnance Survey hope they will

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To mark our tenth year in business, we’d like to invite all our customers, partners and friends to take part in a fun little competition.

Over the last ten years, GeoField has offered a unique combination of mobile geographical information, mapping, workflow, task management and field data collection.

The question is: how best to neatly describe GeoField to someone who doesn’t know the product? This has been a perennial challenge for us. We thought that our customers and partners might be the best people to ask.

So, in ten or fewer of your own words, describe GeoField and what it means to you. It is entirely up to you whether you focus on value or features or service or another reason you like the product. To steal an old marketing maxim, if GeoField is the sausage, what’s the sizzle?

You can email your answers to: newsletter@sigmaseven.co.uk. The closing date is 31 March 2011.

Prizes

First prize is the marvellous Viliv N5 from our friends at Think4, a full-powered Windows 7 PC with GPS, WiFi, 3G and camera that weighs only 388g. It’s a true Go Everywhere Pocket PC.

Second prize is a pair of clever new FIVEPOINT gloves, ideal for the fieldworker braving this winter’s bitter cold. Every finger tip is made from conductive material so you can tap and type on any touch device without frozen fingers.

Rules 

The winners will be those who provide in the opinion of the judges the most original, pithy, accurate and possibly witty description of GeoField within the ten word limit. The decision of the Sigma Seven MD is final. We may use one or more of your words in future company communications. Alternative prizes of equivalent splendour may be provided. You may not make up new words but feel free to pass on this competition to colleagues who you think might be interested in entering.

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