Integration takes centre stage at UK Gazetteer Best Practice Day

With over 60 delegates from more than 30 public sector organisations, the most recent Aligned Assets sponsored UK Gazetteer Best Practice Day proved to be the most successful yet.

Held at the offices of the London Borough of Southwark, themselves champions of Best Practice, there were six presentations, with themes ranging from web services at Cardiff Council, to the combining of the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) with the One Scotland Gazetteer (OSG) by the British Transport Police.

The purpose of the Best Practice Day was to enable members of the gazetteer community to come together and share ideas and information. Through this, a better service can be offered to the public as well as improving efficiency that will ultimately save the tax payer money. This joint purpose was succinctly summed up by Ewa Platcha of the London Borough of Hackney who did a presentation on their award winning ‘Citizen Index’. “A Local Authority is a business in which the citizens are the customer, and therefore its success is determined by the quality of the interaction between them.”

The event as a whole was best summed up by Stella Morris of Canterbury City Council who described it as, “A very interesting day with a lot of useful information. I will certainly be taking back some ideas with me to have a go implementing.”

A full report of the event will be available in the April/May 2010 edition of the GEOconnexion UK magazine and information about the next Best Practice Day is available from www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events.

Next Meeting of the Symphony User Group Announced

The next meeting of the Symphony User Group (SUG) has just been announced for 21st May 2010 at Bath & NE Somerset Council, Keynsham Offices, Bristol, BS31 1LA.

The event is free of charge for all members of the Symphony User Group, whilst non-members can attend at a cost of £40 per person. If you are a member, you can bring along up to two colleagues for only £15 each.

The Symphony User Group focuses on your needs as an LLPG and/or LSG expert and is always a special event with opportunities to meet with other users of the Symphony Suite, see presentations of the latest products from Aligned Assets, hear about latest industry developments and quiz the AA team on all Symphony-related matters.