Gazetteer and address management specialists Aligned Assets have launched a survey to find out peoples’ views on the new AddressBase range of addressing products.
Launched in September 2011, the AddressBase products have created much discussion in the gazetteer and address management world, and the survey is an attempt to quantify that debate.
With three different products available, AddressBase, Address Plus and AddressBase Premium, central to the survey is the question of which of the products people are planning on using and whether the difference between them is fully understood.
In these tough economic times, price is inevitably a factor and the survey will seek to find out what people think about the levels the AddressBase products are being pitched at. As well as price, value will also be looked at, with each of the products’ features being graded according to importance.
The AddressBase products have been created from the National Address Gazetteer, which is formed through the blending of three existing datasets – local government’s NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer), Ordnance Survey’s OS MasterMap® Address Layer 2 and the Royal Mail's PAF (Postcode Address File).
The AddressBase products will be free at the point of delivery to members of the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA), which includes local and central government, the emergency services and the NHS.
They will also be available to the private sector as replacements for products such as the Ordnance Survey’s ADDRESS-POINT and AddressLayer 2, both of which will be gradually phased out over time. Key users of the AddressBase products will be the financial services sector, utility companies and those involved in the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
Of the survey, Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “We have received so many enquiries about the AddressBase products both from the public and the private sector. As with anything new and different there are many questions being asked, so this survey will serve to bring all those opinions together.”
To take part in the survey please visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/addressbasesurvey
Friday, 9 December 2011
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Aligned Assets Gazetteer Management Systems Now In Use By Over 20% of English Fire and Rescue Services
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the latest emergency service to select Aligned Assets to supply its corporate gazetteer management system.
By opting for the Symphony Bluelight system they are joining an expanding group of emergency services, which includes the award winning Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and the British Transport Police, both of whom are using Symphony Bluelight to experience the very best in gazetteer technology.
As the only gazetteer system in the UK that is compatible with the Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase Premium, the UK’s first definitive address database, Symphony Bluelight will provide North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service with all the tools needed to create an operationally-ready corporate gazetteer.
Covering over 8,280 square kilometres, encompassing both the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will be using Symphony Bluelight to build on the AddressBase Premium data with many non-postal addresses that are essential to their work.
Examples of the additional data include moorland features, potholes and caves, whilst risk elements will also be written in such as premises with oxygen canisters. With this specific, local data, combined with AddressBase Premium, the gazetteer will contain data to cover every contingency.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service are already looking to the future with plans to integrate their corporate gazetteer into all frontline and back office systems through the use of Aligned Assets’ integration software. By using Symphony SinglePoint and Symphony iExchange, all systems, from mobilising to fire safety, will be accessing the most detailed, accurate and up to date addressing data ever available.
“We’re delighted to welcome North Yorkshire as the tenth Fire and Rescue Service to select Symphony Bluelight for their corporate gazetteer management system,” said Dinesh Thanigasalam, Managing Director of Aligned Assets. “The plans they have for their gazetteer are very exciting, offering an ever improving service to the public. We look forward to supporting them every step of the way.”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
By opting for the Symphony Bluelight system they are joining an expanding group of emergency services, which includes the award winning Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and the British Transport Police, both of whom are using Symphony Bluelight to experience the very best in gazetteer technology.
As the only gazetteer system in the UK that is compatible with the Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase Premium, the UK’s first definitive address database, Symphony Bluelight will provide North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service with all the tools needed to create an operationally-ready corporate gazetteer.
Covering over 8,280 square kilometres, encompassing both the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will be using Symphony Bluelight to build on the AddressBase Premium data with many non-postal addresses that are essential to their work.
Examples of the additional data include moorland features, potholes and caves, whilst risk elements will also be written in such as premises with oxygen canisters. With this specific, local data, combined with AddressBase Premium, the gazetteer will contain data to cover every contingency.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service are already looking to the future with plans to integrate their corporate gazetteer into all frontline and back office systems through the use of Aligned Assets’ integration software. By using Symphony SinglePoint and Symphony iExchange, all systems, from mobilising to fire safety, will be accessing the most detailed, accurate and up to date addressing data ever available.
“We’re delighted to welcome North Yorkshire as the tenth Fire and Rescue Service to select Symphony Bluelight for their corporate gazetteer management system,” said Dinesh Thanigasalam, Managing Director of Aligned Assets. “The plans they have for their gazetteer are very exciting, offering an ever improving service to the public. We look forward to supporting them every step of the way.”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Aligned Assets Customers Dominate National Awards
Users of Aligned Assets’ gazetteer management systems have dominated this year’s National Gazetteer Exemplar Awards.
With entry open to public sector bodies across England and Wales, the Awards were designed to showcase best practice in the use of gazetteers, foster innovation, recognise and reward hard work in the local government community, and to provide a benchmark for quality and improvement.
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council topped the winner’s rostrum by collecting two awards during the event in Nottingham. Their first award was as winner of the Financial category, with their ‘Big Bang’ project considered by the judges to be the best example of real financial savings through the use of the National Gazetteers.
Their second award was for the most improved Local Land and Property Gazetteer, which was an award that very much demonstrated the hard work and dedication of the whole team at Barnsley Council.
Also picking up an award was Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service who won the Citizen Award for their ‘Risk Information Project’, which is having a direct and tangible improvement on both community safety and the ability to respond to incidents.
The Integration Award, was won by a partnership of public sectors bodies in the Greater Bristol area and included two Aligned Assets users, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset Councils, whilst also winning in the Integration category was Adur & Worthing Council who picked up the Best Practice award for their shared services, which is seeing substantial savings and a higher level of service to the public.
Other Aligned Assets winners included seven Best in Region Awards and 22 Gold Standard Awards, which led Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam to say, “It’s fantastic to see so many of our customers gaining the recognition they deserve. There have been so many examples this year of how efficient and effective use of gazetteers can make a real difference.”
The National Gazetteers 2011 Exemplar Awards were presented at the 'Everything Happens Somewhere' conference and exhibition organised by GeoPlace LLP and held at The Albert Hall in Nottingham on 3rd November.
www.aligned-assets.co.uk
With entry open to public sector bodies across England and Wales, the Awards were designed to showcase best practice in the use of gazetteers, foster innovation, recognise and reward hard work in the local government community, and to provide a benchmark for quality and improvement.
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council topped the winner’s rostrum by collecting two awards during the event in Nottingham. Their first award was as winner of the Financial category, with their ‘Big Bang’ project considered by the judges to be the best example of real financial savings through the use of the National Gazetteers.
Their second award was for the most improved Local Land and Property Gazetteer, which was an award that very much demonstrated the hard work and dedication of the whole team at Barnsley Council.
Also picking up an award was Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service who won the Citizen Award for their ‘Risk Information Project’, which is having a direct and tangible improvement on both community safety and the ability to respond to incidents.
The Integration Award, was won by a partnership of public sectors bodies in the Greater Bristol area and included two Aligned Assets users, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset Councils, whilst also winning in the Integration category was Adur & Worthing Council who picked up the Best Practice award for their shared services, which is seeing substantial savings and a higher level of service to the public.
Other Aligned Assets winners included seven Best in Region Awards and 22 Gold Standard Awards, which led Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam to say, “It’s fantastic to see so many of our customers gaining the recognition they deserve. There have been so many examples this year of how efficient and effective use of gazetteers can make a real difference.”
The National Gazetteers 2011 Exemplar Awards were presented at the 'Everything Happens Somewhere' conference and exhibition organised by GeoPlace LLP and held at The Albert Hall in Nottingham on 3rd November.
www.aligned-assets.co.uk
Friday, 11 November 2011
Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Achieve a UK First
AddressBase Premium sees its first operational deployment at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service using software supplied by Aligned Assets
Woking, Surrey 10th November 2011 – Aligned Assets are proud to announce that having taken receipt of the latest Symphony Bluelight software, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service have become the inaugural user of the UK’s first ever centralised and definitive address database.
After the historic agreement between the Ordnance Survey and the Local Government Group that saw the amalgamation of all local government, Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail address data into what is known as the ‘National Address Gazetteer’, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service are the first to start using ‘AddressBase Premium’, the most detailed of the products derived from this national database.
This data, the most advanced ever created and available to the entire public sector, will give them knowledge of every property, street and piece of land across the County, along with countless ‘non-addressable’ objects such as bus stops and park benches, all of which are designed to aid effective mobilising, target community safety and deliver focused risk reduction activity.
Because the bulk of the data in AddressBase Premium will come from local government, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service will be in receipt of information about proposed developments, so even before a property is occupied, they will know about it. Additionally, the wealth of historic information will help in finding buildings that are vacant, since these can still be located using their previous names.
One of the key elements within this new dataset are the UPRNs (unique property reference numbers), which are attached to each record upon creation. This will enable Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to create definitive links between all their systems, as well as with other organisations such as the police force, ambulance service, local, and central government.
Speaking about the use of AddressBase Premium, John Hinton, Community Risk Intelligence Data Manager at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said, “This development will allow us to operate with the most complete and data rich gazetteer available, update our community safety database, coordinate data flow and meet government expectations for data sharing”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Woking, Surrey 10th November 2011 – Aligned Assets are proud to announce that having taken receipt of the latest Symphony Bluelight software, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service have become the inaugural user of the UK’s first ever centralised and definitive address database.
After the historic agreement between the Ordnance Survey and the Local Government Group that saw the amalgamation of all local government, Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail address data into what is known as the ‘National Address Gazetteer’, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service are the first to start using ‘AddressBase Premium’, the most detailed of the products derived from this national database.
This data, the most advanced ever created and available to the entire public sector, will give them knowledge of every property, street and piece of land across the County, along with countless ‘non-addressable’ objects such as bus stops and park benches, all of which are designed to aid effective mobilising, target community safety and deliver focused risk reduction activity.
Because the bulk of the data in AddressBase Premium will come from local government, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service will be in receipt of information about proposed developments, so even before a property is occupied, they will know about it. Additionally, the wealth of historic information will help in finding buildings that are vacant, since these can still be located using their previous names.
One of the key elements within this new dataset are the UPRNs (unique property reference numbers), which are attached to each record upon creation. This will enable Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to create definitive links between all their systems, as well as with other organisations such as the police force, ambulance service, local, and central government.
Speaking about the use of AddressBase Premium, John Hinton, Community Risk Intelligence Data Manager at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said, “This development will allow us to operate with the most complete and data rich gazetteer available, update our community safety database, coordinate data flow and meet government expectations for data sharing”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public and private sectors including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. In addition to software and data solutions, they offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Friday, 21 October 2011
AddressBase Explained at Aligned Assets Event
Woking, Surrey 18th October 2011 – On Thursday 6th October 2011, delegates from across the UK’s public and private sectors came together for a unique, information packed event providing more details on the National Address Gazetteer, plus further specifics on the Ordnance Survey’s AddressBase TM range of addressing products.
Held at Hammersmith Town Hall in London, they were treated to a variety of presentations and debate, with the event split into two main sections. The first half of the day looked at what the National Address Gazetteer is, and how it is created and maintained. The second half focused on how the AddressBase products could be used, with real-world examples given by British Transport Police, the Ordnance Survey and Aligned Assets.
The day was started off with a presentation by given by Richard Duffield of GeoPlace, the custodians of the National Address Gazetteer, who gave an overview of how local government data in the form of the NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer) was being blended with the addressing products of the Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail.
This was complemented by Darren Spice, Information Systems Manager at Guildford Borough Council, who explained the significant contribution made by local authorities in ensuring the on-going accuracy and integrity of the data.
Nick Turner from the Ordnance Survey spoke extensively about how the National Address Gazetteer was forming the basis of the AddressBase range of products and how these products could be used, which was expanded on by Mike Wallace of British Transport Police, who for several years have been leading the way in the use of corporate address systems.
Finishing the day was the managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam, who gave a demonstration of software products that could be used to integrate the AddressBase products into any organisations’ systems and business processes.
“The day was very informative and it was useful to have speakers covering both those involved in the use and in the development of the National Address Gazetteer,” said Jennie Pitt, Control Project Support Manager at North Yorkshire FRS, who concluded by saying, “I now feel confident in the process moving forward.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public sector including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the private and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Held at Hammersmith Town Hall in London, they were treated to a variety of presentations and debate, with the event split into two main sections. The first half of the day looked at what the National Address Gazetteer is, and how it is created and maintained. The second half focused on how the AddressBase products could be used, with real-world examples given by British Transport Police, the Ordnance Survey and Aligned Assets.
The day was started off with a presentation by given by Richard Duffield of GeoPlace, the custodians of the National Address Gazetteer, who gave an overview of how local government data in the form of the NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer) was being blended with the addressing products of the Ordnance Survey and Royal Mail.
This was complemented by Darren Spice, Information Systems Manager at Guildford Borough Council, who explained the significant contribution made by local authorities in ensuring the on-going accuracy and integrity of the data.
Nick Turner from the Ordnance Survey spoke extensively about how the National Address Gazetteer was forming the basis of the AddressBase range of products and how these products could be used, which was expanded on by Mike Wallace of British Transport Police, who for several years have been leading the way in the use of corporate address systems.
Finishing the day was the managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam, who gave a demonstration of software products that could be used to integrate the AddressBase products into any organisations’ systems and business processes.
“The day was very informative and it was useful to have speakers covering both those involved in the use and in the development of the National Address Gazetteer,” said Jennie Pitt, Control Project Support Manager at North Yorkshire FRS, who concluded by saying, “I now feel confident in the process moving forward.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public sector including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the private and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Monday, 26 September 2011
Aligned Assets To Be Ready With AddressBase Products
Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are proving themselves to once again be ahead of the competition by announcing today that their range of gazetteer and address management software will be compatible with the new AddressBase TM range of addressing products.
AddressBase will be the Country’s most definitive database of address and location data ever created, and will see the development of a process that will allow joined up working across the entire public sector and private sector.
Formally announced by the Ordnance Survey at the AGI Conference on 22nd September, AddressBase is the name given to the publicly available products formed from the merging of local government’s National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG), Address Layer 2 from the Ordnance Survey and the Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF).
The compatible software from Aligned Assets will initially include the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer, which gives industry leading gazetteer management functionality to the fire service, police force and ambulance services.
Additionally, compatibility will be in place for Symphony iExchange that will enable the exporting of AddressBase data to both frontline and back office systems, and Symphony SinglePoint that will give corporate access via web services. This will allow the emergency services to have a level of addressing accuracy never seen before and the resilience that comes from every person and every system referencing the same data.
Symphony SinglePoint will also enable access for the NHS, local and central government, the national parks and many more across the public sector, for whom the AddressBase products will be available under the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) and to the private sector to whom it will be available under commercial licenses.
Intuitively able to ‘plug’ into a wide variety of systems from CRMs to GIS, Symphony SinglePoint will allow everyone to enjoy a level of addressing accuracy never before available.
“For all our customers in the emergency services and for all those in the private sector looking to use these AddressBase products, we’re invested considerable resources to ensure that their transition will be as seamless as possible,” explained Dinesh Thanigasalam, Managing Director of Aligned Assets.
“We’re entering a new era in addressing and with the AddressBase range of products offering the most definitive address data ever created, we are producing the most advanced and cost-effective software solutions to allow organisations, both large and small, to gain full value from it.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
AddressBase will be the Country’s most definitive database of address and location data ever created, and will see the development of a process that will allow joined up working across the entire public sector and private sector.
Formally announced by the Ordnance Survey at the AGI Conference on 22nd September, AddressBase is the name given to the publicly available products formed from the merging of local government’s National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG), Address Layer 2 from the Ordnance Survey and the Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF).
The compatible software from Aligned Assets will initially include the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer, which gives industry leading gazetteer management functionality to the fire service, police force and ambulance services.
Additionally, compatibility will be in place for Symphony iExchange that will enable the exporting of AddressBase data to both frontline and back office systems, and Symphony SinglePoint that will give corporate access via web services. This will allow the emergency services to have a level of addressing accuracy never seen before and the resilience that comes from every person and every system referencing the same data.
Symphony SinglePoint will also enable access for the NHS, local and central government, the national parks and many more across the public sector, for whom the AddressBase products will be available under the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA) and to the private sector to whom it will be available under commercial licenses.
Intuitively able to ‘plug’ into a wide variety of systems from CRMs to GIS, Symphony SinglePoint will allow everyone to enjoy a level of addressing accuracy never before available.
“For all our customers in the emergency services and for all those in the private sector looking to use these AddressBase products, we’re invested considerable resources to ensure that their transition will be as seamless as possible,” explained Dinesh Thanigasalam, Managing Director of Aligned Assets.
“We’re entering a new era in addressing and with the AddressBase range of products offering the most definitive address data ever created, we are producing the most advanced and cost-effective software solutions to allow organisations, both large and small, to gain full value from it.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Two More Law of Street Naming and Numbering Training Courses Announced
Woking, Surrey 21st September 2011 – Aligned Assets are pleased to announced the scheduling of two more training courses in the ‘Law of Street Naming and Numbering’.
To be held in Bristol on 29th November and in Bolton on 6th December, the courses will be run by the UK's leading expert in the field, James Richardson, a solicitor in local government from 1982 until his retirement in 2004.
These one day courses are designed to equip the delegate with all the knowledge and skills required to legally fulfil their statutory duties in Street Naming and Numbering.
As an essential component of local government, Street Naming and Numbering plays a crucial role in everything from the collection of council tax to the collection of waste and recycling. Despite its importance to many of the modern functions within local government, the law governing it dates back to 1847 and in order for the process to operate correctly and within the confines of the law, understanding the legalities involved is of the utmost importance.
Items covered by the course include the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 and the Public Health Act 1925, plus explanations on how a council can adopt either of them. Also included will be the requirements in the Local Government Act 1972, how to investigate rule breakers and prosecute offences, plus the large amount of case studies to go through and discuss.
After attending one of the courses in London, Evan D. Jones, Senior Engineer for Highways at Isle of Anglesey Council said, “It was a very worthwhile and very helpful course. There were good presentations and excellent opportunities to interact, discuss and ask questions.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events
To be held in Bristol on 29th November and in Bolton on 6th December, the courses will be run by the UK's leading expert in the field, James Richardson, a solicitor in local government from 1982 until his retirement in 2004.
These one day courses are designed to equip the delegate with all the knowledge and skills required to legally fulfil their statutory duties in Street Naming and Numbering.
As an essential component of local government, Street Naming and Numbering plays a crucial role in everything from the collection of council tax to the collection of waste and recycling. Despite its importance to many of the modern functions within local government, the law governing it dates back to 1847 and in order for the process to operate correctly and within the confines of the law, understanding the legalities involved is of the utmost importance.
Items covered by the course include the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 and the Public Health Act 1925, plus explanations on how a council can adopt either of them. Also included will be the requirements in the Local Government Act 1972, how to investigate rule breakers and prosecute offences, plus the large amount of case studies to go through and discuss.
After attending one of the courses in London, Evan D. Jones, Senior Engineer for Highways at Isle of Anglesey Council said, “It was a very worthwhile and very helpful course. There were good presentations and excellent opportunities to interact, discuss and ask questions.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Powys Become the 13th Welsh Authority to Select Aligned Assets
Suppliers of gazetteer management solutions, Aligned Assets, now supply 60% of all local authorities in Wales after they come top of the list for Powys County Council
Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce Powys County Council as the latest customer of their Symphony Suite of gazetteer solutions.
The Council, which covers a quarter of Wales in terms of area, has opted to use the advance gazetteer management system, Symphony iManage, for the management of their Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG), Local Street Gazetteer (LSG) and Associated Street Data (ASD).
Additionally, they will be using Symphony iExchange to automate exports of their gazetteer data to their back office systems and Symphony SinglePoint to give everyone in the authority the ability to search and query the gazetteer via web services.
Cllr Liam Fitzpatrick, Cabinet Member for Change, Communication and Performance, explained the decision behind selecting Aligned Assets. “Our existing gazetteer management system was no longer suitable to meet out requirements so we sought alternatives”
“Aligned Assets are the biggest supplier in Wales, with a reputation for first-class software and also for involving and listening to the end users in terms of continual development of the product.”
“After a long process in which we considered functionality, price and the potential of shared services with a neighbouring authority, Aligned Assets came top of the list in all aspects.”
Managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam, said, “This process has shown yet again that in terms of gazetteer management, whether in local government or the emergency services, we remain number one.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce Powys County Council as the latest customer of their Symphony Suite of gazetteer solutions.
The Council, which covers a quarter of Wales in terms of area, has opted to use the advance gazetteer management system, Symphony iManage, for the management of their Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG), Local Street Gazetteer (LSG) and Associated Street Data (ASD).
Additionally, they will be using Symphony iExchange to automate exports of their gazetteer data to their back office systems and Symphony SinglePoint to give everyone in the authority the ability to search and query the gazetteer via web services.
Cllr Liam Fitzpatrick, Cabinet Member for Change, Communication and Performance, explained the decision behind selecting Aligned Assets. “Our existing gazetteer management system was no longer suitable to meet out requirements so we sought alternatives”
“Aligned Assets are the biggest supplier in Wales, with a reputation for first-class software and also for involving and listening to the end users in terms of continual development of the product.”
“After a long process in which we considered functionality, price and the potential of shared services with a neighbouring authority, Aligned Assets came top of the list in all aspects.”
Managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam, said, “This process has shown yet again that in terms of gazetteer management, whether in local government or the emergency services, we remain number one.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Aligned Assets Set the Benchmark As Two More Fire Services Select Symphony Bluelight
Woking, Surrey 2nd August 2011 – Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service and Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service are the latest organisations to select Aligned Assets as the supplier for their gazetteer management systems.
Both have chosen Symphony Bluelight, the UK’s only gazetteer system built specifically for the emergency services and compatible with the National Address Gazetteer.
Built around the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer, they will benefit from direct consultation over several years with the emergency services and through that a wealth of functionality not available from any other supplier.
As users of Symphony Bluelight, they will be joining an extensive network of users across the country including Kent, Merseyside, Cumbria and Humberside Fire and Rescue Services, along with Surrey and British Transport Police, in addition to over 100 local authority Symphony Gazetteer users.
Dinesh Thanigasalam, managing director of Aligned Assets was quoted as saying, “Since the cancellation of the FiReControl project, the majority of fire and rescue services are recognising the need to equip themselves with corporate gazetteer management systems.”
“The need to be able to be ready for the National Address Gazetteer, integrate with existing systems and manage the candidate process are fundamental considerations that Symphony Bluelight can address, but it’s our network of contacts within local government, other emergency services and 3rd party software suppliers, which is proving an unrivalled factor in developing essential links between those that use gazetteer data and those that create it.”
“The FiReControl Project tried to achieve a level of resilience, though what we are finding is that this is better achieve though collaborative working and shared services, as opposed to enforced regionalisation. Common policies and procedures via partnership and joint working is the way forward and this is clearly best achieved by the Fire and Rescue Service using not only the best gazetteer system available, but the only one designed specifically for their needs”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public sector including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the private and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Both have chosen Symphony Bluelight, the UK’s only gazetteer system built specifically for the emergency services and compatible with the National Address Gazetteer.
Built around the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer, they will benefit from direct consultation over several years with the emergency services and through that a wealth of functionality not available from any other supplier.
As users of Symphony Bluelight, they will be joining an extensive network of users across the country including Kent, Merseyside, Cumbria and Humberside Fire and Rescue Services, along with Surrey and British Transport Police, in addition to over 100 local authority Symphony Gazetteer users.
Dinesh Thanigasalam, managing director of Aligned Assets was quoted as saying, “Since the cancellation of the FiReControl project, the majority of fire and rescue services are recognising the need to equip themselves with corporate gazetteer management systems.”
“The need to be able to be ready for the National Address Gazetteer, integrate with existing systems and manage the candidate process are fundamental considerations that Symphony Bluelight can address, but it’s our network of contacts within local government, other emergency services and 3rd party software suppliers, which is proving an unrivalled factor in developing essential links between those that use gazetteer data and those that create it.”
“The FiReControl Project tried to achieve a level of resilience, though what we are finding is that this is better achieve though collaborative working and shared services, as opposed to enforced regionalisation. Common policies and procedures via partnership and joint working is the way forward and this is clearly best achieved by the Fire and Rescue Service using not only the best gazetteer system available, but the only one designed specifically for their needs”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software across the public sector including over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services and Police Forces. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the private and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Tuesday, 26 July 2011
National Address Gazetteer Event Announced For 6th October 2011
Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce a new, free of charge event designed to provide both the public and private sector with information about the National Address Gazetteer.
Scheduled for Thursday 6th October 2011 at Hammersmith Town Hall in London, the event will comprise two sections, with section one dealing with the question, ‘What is the National Address Gazetteer’ and section two looking at ‘How to use the National Address Gazetteer’.
There will be presentations from GeoPlace, who are the custodians of the National Address Gazetteer, explaining how this single, definitive source of national address data will be formed, what the data will comprise and it’s relevance to all public and private sector organisations.
There will also be a presentation from a leading local authority that will explain how the bulk of the address data is created. This will demonstrate how the National Address Gazetteer will be updated daily and benefit from hundreds of people in the local government community whose sole responsibility is to maintain its accuracy and integrity.
Presentations will then be given on ways that organisations can make use of the National Address Gazetteer, including examples of real-life situations in which its use as this single, definitive source, throughout an organisation, can facilitate real efficiencies, shared services and a far higher level of joined up working.
Also scheduled for the autumn is the latest in the series of Gazetteer Best Practice Days, which will be on 29th September in Stirling. It will see presentations and debate from across the Scottish gazetteer community including local government, the emergency services, Scottish Government and the private sector.
Speaking of the forthcoming events, managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “The National Address Gazetteer is probably the biggest thing to ever occur in the gazetteer community. It’s got the potential to create huge savings and far higher levels of efficiency, not just for public sector organisations such as the NHS, emergency services and central government, for whom it will be available free of charge, but also to private sector organisations such as the utilities, banking and insurance.”
“Our Scottish Gazetteer Best Practice Day will be focusing on the specific issues affecting organisations in Scotland. In addition to those surrounding the creation and use of the One Scotland Gazetteer, there will also be a discussion and debate about the National Address Gazetteer and how through it we might one day see a unified address source covering England, Wales and Scotland.”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events
Scheduled for Thursday 6th October 2011 at Hammersmith Town Hall in London, the event will comprise two sections, with section one dealing with the question, ‘What is the National Address Gazetteer’ and section two looking at ‘How to use the National Address Gazetteer’.
There will be presentations from GeoPlace, who are the custodians of the National Address Gazetteer, explaining how this single, definitive source of national address data will be formed, what the data will comprise and it’s relevance to all public and private sector organisations.
There will also be a presentation from a leading local authority that will explain how the bulk of the address data is created. This will demonstrate how the National Address Gazetteer will be updated daily and benefit from hundreds of people in the local government community whose sole responsibility is to maintain its accuracy and integrity.
Presentations will then be given on ways that organisations can make use of the National Address Gazetteer, including examples of real-life situations in which its use as this single, definitive source, throughout an organisation, can facilitate real efficiencies, shared services and a far higher level of joined up working.
Also scheduled for the autumn is the latest in the series of Gazetteer Best Practice Days, which will be on 29th September in Stirling. It will see presentations and debate from across the Scottish gazetteer community including local government, the emergency services, Scottish Government and the private sector.
Speaking of the forthcoming events, managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “The National Address Gazetteer is probably the biggest thing to ever occur in the gazetteer community. It’s got the potential to create huge savings and far higher levels of efficiency, not just for public sector organisations such as the NHS, emergency services and central government, for whom it will be available free of charge, but also to private sector organisations such as the utilities, banking and insurance.”
“Our Scottish Gazetteer Best Practice Day will be focusing on the specific issues affecting organisations in Scotland. In addition to those surrounding the creation and use of the One Scotland Gazetteer, there will also be a discussion and debate about the National Address Gazetteer and how through it we might one day see a unified address source covering England, Wales and Scotland.”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Rutland County Council Set to Make Savings with New Gazetteer Management System
Rutland County Council is set to dramatically increase efficiency with a new gazetteer management system from Aligned Assets.
Symphony iManage, the gazetteer management system in use by over 100 sites across the public sector, will be used by Rutland County Council for the management of their Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG), Local Street Gazetteer (LSG) and Associated Street Data (ASD).
In addition to Symphony iManage, they have opted to taken the Aligned Assets’ integration module, Symphony iExchange, which will allow them to set up automated exports of their gazetteer data into their back office systems, as well as automate their exports to the national hub.
The first integration to be established using Symphony iExchange, and one regarded as a ‘key system’, was to their Northgate (iLAP) planning systems. By synchronising these systems with the gazetteer, Rutland County Council have created a scenario through which changes to their LLPG are automatically exported in DTF 7.3, enabling the planning, building control and land charges departments to all be using the most up to date address data available.
Symphony iExchange will allow Rutland County Council to establish an unlimited amount of integrations, with each one uniquely tailored to the recipient system/department. They will be able to set the frequency e.g. daily, weekly, monthly, the format e.g. DTF, XML, CSV, the type of data sent e.g. only approved LPIs or only those with Council Tax cross reference, and will even being able to select export types right down to level 3 of the BLPU classifications.
By centralising their gazetteer and ensuring other systems can feed from it, Rutland County Council will start to make considerable savings. This was demonstrated in the 2010 report from the Local Government Group titled ‘The Value of Geospatial Information to Local Public Service Delivery in England and Wales’, which showed average benefits for local authorities using a product like iExchange to be between £12,500 and £22,732 per service.
Better working practices will also be available to Rutland County Council through their use of the UK’s most advanced software for Street Naming and Numbering, Symphony SNN. Designed to manage the complete life cycle of naming a street or numbering a property, it automates processes such as sending out correspondence and keeps a full audit trail so that anyone can easily see what stage a case is at. It allows the SNN Officer to search and extract data from the LLPG, whilst new builds can be seamlessly sent to the gazetteer for acceptance and entry by the Custodian.
“We were looking for a system that would enable us to manage the LLPG, LSG and ASD through one interface and Symphony iManage was the ideal choice,” explained Ben Catton Corporate LLPG & GIS Custodian at Rutland County Council. “We needed to replicate the gazetteer links we already had established with the iLAP planning systems, which we could do using iExchange, but what really appealed to us was the ability to start integrating with many more systems, something we had not previously been able to do.”
“Aligned Assets have shown themselves to be experts in their field and I would be happy to recommend them and their software to anyone.”
For more information visit: www.aligned-assets.co.uk
Wednesday, 29 June 2011
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Choose Aligned Assets for their Corporate Gazetteer
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service is pushing forward in the post-FiReControl environment with a corporate gazetteer management system from Aligned Assets.
The Symphony Bluelight system will see them building on the work they did during the FiReControl project in matching their existing address data to the NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer) in order to create one definitive gazetteer that will be used throughout the F&RS.
The management component, the Bluelight Gazetteer, will allow them to complement the NLPG data with emergency service specific ‘local records’ and they will be using the Xtended Data Module (XDM) to create additional fields in the gazetteer to direct users to risk information held about a property.
In this phase of the project, all this data is being made available via SinglePoint, which will give every member of the F&RS the ability to search on the corporate gazetteer and show the results via a Geographical Information System (GIS).
This process will give all users the opportunity to become familiar with the NLPG, whilst the feedback gained will be used to enhance the gazetteer even further, with the ability to influence the NLPG directly through the candidate process. SinglePoint also allows easy access to UPRNs (Unique Property Reference Numbers), which are key to Merseyside F&RS’s Site Specific Risk Information process.
Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “We have always designed our software with the end user in mind so have ploughed considerable resources into Symphony Bluelight in order to make it the definitive gazetteer management system for the emergency services.”
“Merseyside F&RS has worked tirelessly to build on the NLPG to create a gazetteer database that is ideally suited for the needs of the modern fire and rescue service. By using the Bluelight Gazetteer to manage it, it will be fully compatible with the National Address Gazetteer and we look forward to working with them to integrate the data into their other systems.”
This second phase of the project will see links being created using Symphony iExchange, which will allow for exports of the gazetteer data into their Vision FX Command & Control system as well as a number of other frontline and back office systems, including Mobile Data Terminals. Key to this will be their ability to export changes within their entire gazetteer database – the NLPG and all their local records.
“Aligned Assets were selected to supply our corporate gazetteer management system following scoring against a rigorous procurement requirement specification,” explained Nicholas Cowley, Corporate Gazetteer Project Manager at Merseyside F&RS. “Our requirements were met through the functionality available in Symphony Bluelight, and their extensive experience of working with the emergency services gave us confidence in selecting them as a partner.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
The Symphony Bluelight system will see them building on the work they did during the FiReControl project in matching their existing address data to the NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer) in order to create one definitive gazetteer that will be used throughout the F&RS.
The management component, the Bluelight Gazetteer, will allow them to complement the NLPG data with emergency service specific ‘local records’ and they will be using the Xtended Data Module (XDM) to create additional fields in the gazetteer to direct users to risk information held about a property.
In this phase of the project, all this data is being made available via SinglePoint, which will give every member of the F&RS the ability to search on the corporate gazetteer and show the results via a Geographical Information System (GIS).
This process will give all users the opportunity to become familiar with the NLPG, whilst the feedback gained will be used to enhance the gazetteer even further, with the ability to influence the NLPG directly through the candidate process. SinglePoint also allows easy access to UPRNs (Unique Property Reference Numbers), which are key to Merseyside F&RS’s Site Specific Risk Information process.
Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “We have always designed our software with the end user in mind so have ploughed considerable resources into Symphony Bluelight in order to make it the definitive gazetteer management system for the emergency services.”
“Merseyside F&RS has worked tirelessly to build on the NLPG to create a gazetteer database that is ideally suited for the needs of the modern fire and rescue service. By using the Bluelight Gazetteer to manage it, it will be fully compatible with the National Address Gazetteer and we look forward to working with them to integrate the data into their other systems.”
This second phase of the project will see links being created using Symphony iExchange, which will allow for exports of the gazetteer data into their Vision FX Command & Control system as well as a number of other frontline and back office systems, including Mobile Data Terminals. Key to this will be their ability to export changes within their entire gazetteer database – the NLPG and all their local records.
“Aligned Assets were selected to supply our corporate gazetteer management system following scoring against a rigorous procurement requirement specification,” explained Nicholas Cowley, Corporate Gazetteer Project Manager at Merseyside F&RS. “Our requirements were met through the functionality available in Symphony Bluelight, and their extensive experience of working with the emergency services gave us confidence in selecting them as a partner.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Aligned Assets Take NLPG Candidate Processing to the Next Level
The candidate process, which will see the emergency services of England and Wales able to send updates for inclusion in the Country’s most definitive address database, the NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer), is set to be taken to the next level by gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets.
Symphony Bluelight, the gazetteer management system that is already in use across the emergency services, will contain advanced functionality that is not available from any other supplier and with it the options that will prove essential to the day-to-day operations of the emergency services.
The procedure that other gazetteer management systems on the market will use involves the emergency service identifying an inaccuracy in the NLPG, at which point that inaccuracy will be sent to the National Hub as a candidate record. At that stage it will be checked before being sent to the local custodian, who will do further checks and then either accept or reject the change. It will then be returned to the Hub and made available to the emergency services the next time they take a download of the NLPG.
This entire process can take up to twelve days, during which time the emergency service has to wait for that inaccuracy to be corrected.
In Symphony Bluelight, at the same time that the inaccuracy is identified and the candidate record is created, the emergency service can override the NLPG record so that the inaccuracy is instantly corrected. The process of updating the NLPG will still proceed through the National Hub and the local Custodian, but those using Symphony Bluelight will no longer have to wait.
Once the candidate record has been formally processed, Symphony Bluelight will show which records have been accepted and which rejected giving the emergency service the option of accepting the change, or if the candidate was rejected by the Custodian, the override can be kept in place.
Speaking about the candidate process, managing director Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “By giving the emergency services the ability to forward address inaccuracies, it is providing another set of eyes and ears on the ground, which will help every user of the NLPG and when released, the National Address Gazetteer.”
“As Symphony Bluelight was designed and built specifically for the emergency services, in consultation with them, we made the decision that the current process was just too slow for their needs. No one would deny that change intelligence needs to be properly validated, but we were told that if an inaccuracy was identified, it needed instant remedying, so this is what Symphony Bluelight does.”
To find out more visit: www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
Symphony Bluelight, the gazetteer management system that is already in use across the emergency services, will contain advanced functionality that is not available from any other supplier and with it the options that will prove essential to the day-to-day operations of the emergency services.
The procedure that other gazetteer management systems on the market will use involves the emergency service identifying an inaccuracy in the NLPG, at which point that inaccuracy will be sent to the National Hub as a candidate record. At that stage it will be checked before being sent to the local custodian, who will do further checks and then either accept or reject the change. It will then be returned to the Hub and made available to the emergency services the next time they take a download of the NLPG.
This entire process can take up to twelve days, during which time the emergency service has to wait for that inaccuracy to be corrected.
In Symphony Bluelight, at the same time that the inaccuracy is identified and the candidate record is created, the emergency service can override the NLPG record so that the inaccuracy is instantly corrected. The process of updating the NLPG will still proceed through the National Hub and the local Custodian, but those using Symphony Bluelight will no longer have to wait.
Once the candidate record has been formally processed, Symphony Bluelight will show which records have been accepted and which rejected giving the emergency service the option of accepting the change, or if the candidate was rejected by the Custodian, the override can be kept in place.
Speaking about the candidate process, managing director Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “By giving the emergency services the ability to forward address inaccuracies, it is providing another set of eyes and ears on the ground, which will help every user of the NLPG and when released, the National Address Gazetteer.”
“As Symphony Bluelight was designed and built specifically for the emergency services, in consultation with them, we made the decision that the current process was just too slow for their needs. No one would deny that change intelligence needs to be properly validated, but we were told that if an inaccuracy was identified, it needed instant remedying, so this is what Symphony Bluelight does.”
To find out more visit: www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Surrey Police Select Symphony Bluelight From Aligned Assets
Woking, Surrey 6th June 2011 – Surrey Police have selected gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets to supply them with software from their Symphony Bluelight suite of emergency services products.
Similar to Aligned Assets’ SinglePoint solution that is well-established at British Transport Police, Surrey Police will be using the advanced web services in SinglePoint to act as a bridge between their gazetteer data and names data, pulling them together and giving access to both through their new enterprise-wide IT solution.
The new IT system, provided by Memex, a leading global provider of Public Security Solutions, will link all recorded information and intelligence across the force. Key for Surrey Police was the ability for existing data to become universally accessible and through SinglePoint they can have all gazetteer and names data accessible via a central source.
"At Surrey Police we were looking for a way of making our existing gazetteer investment available to a major new application,” explained Greg Brown, Application Lead for Surrey Police. “Aligned Assets SinglePoint solution was a clear fit for our business need and will allow us to add gazetteer access to other systems incrementally. Aligned Assets have been a pleasure to work with, they understand our needs and the cost of software as a subscription makes it all affordable."
“SinglePoint has been developed for one clear purpose,” said Dinesh Thanigasalam, managing director of Aligned Assets, “and that is ensure data is accessible to all whether in the Police, the Fire Service or indeed any public sector organisation. For Surrey Police, what this means is that they will be saving money by removing the need for multiple deployments and gain significantly from all officers using identical data.”
Surrey Police are the forth emergency service to select Aligned Assets’ gazetteer solutions in the past few months. On this, Thanigasalam went on to say, “Our Symphony Bluelight suite was built specifically for use in the emergency services and is designed to not only give full gazetteer management and integration functionality, but importantly, is available with a pricing structure that is reflective of an increased need for cost savings.”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
Similar to Aligned Assets’ SinglePoint solution that is well-established at British Transport Police, Surrey Police will be using the advanced web services in SinglePoint to act as a bridge between their gazetteer data and names data, pulling them together and giving access to both through their new enterprise-wide IT solution.
The new IT system, provided by Memex, a leading global provider of Public Security Solutions, will link all recorded information and intelligence across the force. Key for Surrey Police was the ability for existing data to become universally accessible and through SinglePoint they can have all gazetteer and names data accessible via a central source.
"At Surrey Police we were looking for a way of making our existing gazetteer investment available to a major new application,” explained Greg Brown, Application Lead for Surrey Police. “Aligned Assets SinglePoint solution was a clear fit for our business need and will allow us to add gazetteer access to other systems incrementally. Aligned Assets have been a pleasure to work with, they understand our needs and the cost of software as a subscription makes it all affordable."
“SinglePoint has been developed for one clear purpose,” said Dinesh Thanigasalam, managing director of Aligned Assets, “and that is ensure data is accessible to all whether in the Police, the Fire Service or indeed any public sector organisation. For Surrey Police, what this means is that they will be saving money by removing the need for multiple deployments and gain significantly from all officers using identical data.”
Surrey Police are the forth emergency service to select Aligned Assets’ gazetteer solutions in the past few months. On this, Thanigasalam went on to say, “Our Symphony Bluelight suite was built specifically for use in the emergency services and is designed to not only give full gazetteer management and integration functionality, but importantly, is available with a pricing structure that is reflective of an increased need for cost savings.”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Aligned Assets Release the UK’s First NAG-Compatible Gazetteer Management System
Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets can today confirm the development of a prototype of the UK’s first gazetteer management system to be fully compatible with the recently released alpha version of the National Address Gazetteer.
Officially launched at the Emergency Services Gazetteer Best Practice Day in Sheffield, the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer will enable Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and Ambulance Services to fully exploit this definitive, national database of addresses.
With this development, upon the formal release of the National Address Gazetteer BS7666 database, the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer with be capable of managing all 30 million records in the National Address Gazetteer and will provide a wealth of functionality to give real power to the data.
All the data can be accessed corporately either via web services or through the automated export into other systems, whilst the data itself can be expanded with additional information such as security classifications and access points.
The emergency services will also have the option to complement the National Address Gazetteer with their own records, which can also be accessed and utilised by other systems. Full management of the candidate process will also be made available so that the emergency services can influence the development of the National Address Gazetteer.
Dinesh Thanigasalam, managing director of Aligned Assets said, “High quality addressing is essential in the emergency services and it is the combination of the National Address Gazetteer with the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer that will provide this quality.”
“We understand that mobilisation is essential to the emergency services, but also that it’s not just about response. The Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer is designed to sit at the heart of an organisation, feeding both front line and back office systems with the most accurate and up to date address data available. Through this, the emergency services can begin to recognise greater efficiencies, cost savings and a reduction in error.”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Officially launched at the Emergency Services Gazetteer Best Practice Day in Sheffield, the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer will enable Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and Ambulance Services to fully exploit this definitive, national database of addresses.
With this development, upon the formal release of the National Address Gazetteer BS7666 database, the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer with be capable of managing all 30 million records in the National Address Gazetteer and will provide a wealth of functionality to give real power to the data.
All the data can be accessed corporately either via web services or through the automated export into other systems, whilst the data itself can be expanded with additional information such as security classifications and access points.
The emergency services will also have the option to complement the National Address Gazetteer with their own records, which can also be accessed and utilised by other systems. Full management of the candidate process will also be made available so that the emergency services can influence the development of the National Address Gazetteer.
Dinesh Thanigasalam, managing director of Aligned Assets said, “High quality addressing is essential in the emergency services and it is the combination of the National Address Gazetteer with the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer that will provide this quality.”
“We understand that mobilisation is essential to the emergency services, but also that it’s not just about response. The Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer is designed to sit at the heart of an organisation, feeding both front line and back office systems with the most accurate and up to date address data available. Through this, the emergency services can begin to recognise greater efficiencies, cost savings and a reduction in error.”
To find out more visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Street Naming and Numbering Best Practice Days See Record Attendances
Attendee levels for the Aligned Assets sponsored Street Naming and Numbering Best Practice Days have now passed 200.
With over 120 local authorities represented, the five events, being held across the country will see almost one third of all Street Naming and Numbering departments in attendance.
Presentations will be coming from a variety of different organisations, covering not only best practice, but the legal issues surrounding the street naming and numbering process and there will also be the chance to see how other local authorities work.
The Street Naming and Numbering Best Practice Days are part of a series of Best Practice Days run for the public sector community by gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets. They are all free of charge and designed to bring members of the community together to network, and share ideas and experiences.
Speaking of the events, managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “These attendance levels show the importance of the street naming and numbering process, especially since the announcement of the National Address Gazetteer and role the process will play in its on going accuracy.”
“It is the Street Naming and Numbering Officers who are the driving force behind the creation of new addresses, which in turn drive processes throughout each council from the collection of council tax, through to the collection of waste and recycling. Beyond the council, it is these addresses that are feeding directly into the ability of the emergency services to accuracy mobilise their resources.”
For more information, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
With over 120 local authorities represented, the five events, being held across the country will see almost one third of all Street Naming and Numbering departments in attendance.
Presentations will be coming from a variety of different organisations, covering not only best practice, but the legal issues surrounding the street naming and numbering process and there will also be the chance to see how other local authorities work.
The Street Naming and Numbering Best Practice Days are part of a series of Best Practice Days run for the public sector community by gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets. They are all free of charge and designed to bring members of the community together to network, and share ideas and experiences.
Speaking of the events, managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “These attendance levels show the importance of the street naming and numbering process, especially since the announcement of the National Address Gazetteer and role the process will play in its on going accuracy.”
“It is the Street Naming and Numbering Officers who are the driving force behind the creation of new addresses, which in turn drive processes throughout each council from the collection of council tax, through to the collection of waste and recycling. Beyond the council, it is these addresses that are feeding directly into the ability of the emergency services to accuracy mobilise their resources.”
For more information, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Monday, 14 March 2011
Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer Released for the Fire and Rescue Service
With the cancellation of the FiReControl Project, gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce the release of the UK’s first corporate gazetteer designed specifically for the Fire and Rescue Service.
With over two years of research and development, the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer can provide unmatched levels of functionality that enable the fire and rescue services to create and maintain gazetteer data to feed all frontline and back office systems.
Currently fully compatible with the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG), the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer will also be fully compatibility with the forthcoming National Address Gazetteer (NAG) that will for the first time see all emergency services using the same source of address data.
The Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer will provide the opportunity for fire and rescue services to create an unlimited amount of additional fields to be stored against each NLPG/NAG record such as properties with thatched roofs, flood plain designations, colloquial property names or black powder storage. Unique to it is the fact that if the NLPG/NAG record is changed, or even deleted, the additional information is retained. This functionality is further enhanced by introducing the ability to store multiple free text notes against a property.
Speaking about the creation of candidate records that will allow the fire and rescue service to initiate changes in the NLPG/NAG, managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam expanded on the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer’s functionality.
“Currently, when the fire and rescue service discover an error in the NLPG/NAG, the systems in place allow for the national hub to be notified, who in turn notify the relevant local authority, who then ultimately decide if the change should be made. Assuming that they accept the change, it has to be returned to the national hub and then be downloaded by the fire and rescue service. In total the process can take up to two weeks.”
“In a situation when the inaccuracy of an address can cost lives, in consultation with the fire and rescue service, we decided to build in the option to override an NLPG/NAG record instantaneously so that as soon as an error in address data is discovered, it can be immediately rectified. The candidate process will proceed as normal, but the fire and rescue service will no longer have to wait.”
Dinesh Thanigasalam went onto expand on the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer’s ability to hold the entire NLPG/NAG database. “Most fire and rescue services will want to hold address data that sits outside of their area because, at the end of the day, their responsibility doesn’t stop simply because someone is on the other side of a boundary.”
”This requirement for ‘out of area’ data varies tremendously, so what we have created with the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer is the ability to handle the entire country’s address data. This means that a fire and rescue service has the ability to manage one million records or thirty million with the same simple, ease of use.”
Because the FiReControl project was to see regionalisation of control rooms, with the data management retained on a local level, Symphony Bluelight has been designed to operate under shared services whereby a single gazetteer database from one or more fire and rescue services can be managed separately by the individual services, with read rights accessible to all, yet change rights accessible only within a service’s area.
On this, Dinesh Thanigasalam was quoted as saying, “The merging of control rooms is still a hot topic in the fire and rescue service, yet even during the FiReControl Project it was acknowledged that regional control rooms had to be supplied with locally sourced data that utilised local knowledge.”
“For this reason, irrespective of whether modernisation of mobilising systems is performed by individual brigades or as a shared service, the management and maintenance of gazetteer data should still be performed locally, which is exactly why the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer is equally adept at gazetteer management for one individual brigade or for several working together in collaboration.”
Aligned Assets have ensured that the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer addresses other key areas vital to Fire Services not usually catered for by other NLPG compliant Gazetteers. These include the ability to maintain abbreviations for addresses and ensure any searching on the Gazetteer takes the abbreviations into account. The searching capability is also further extended by having an option to use fuzzy searching which helps minimise the effect of spelling mistakes when carrying out a search.
To find out more about the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer visit: www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
With over two years of research and development, the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer can provide unmatched levels of functionality that enable the fire and rescue services to create and maintain gazetteer data to feed all frontline and back office systems.
Currently fully compatible with the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG), the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer will also be fully compatibility with the forthcoming National Address Gazetteer (NAG) that will for the first time see all emergency services using the same source of address data.
The Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer will provide the opportunity for fire and rescue services to create an unlimited amount of additional fields to be stored against each NLPG/NAG record such as properties with thatched roofs, flood plain designations, colloquial property names or black powder storage. Unique to it is the fact that if the NLPG/NAG record is changed, or even deleted, the additional information is retained. This functionality is further enhanced by introducing the ability to store multiple free text notes against a property.
Speaking about the creation of candidate records that will allow the fire and rescue service to initiate changes in the NLPG/NAG, managing director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam expanded on the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer’s functionality.
“Currently, when the fire and rescue service discover an error in the NLPG/NAG, the systems in place allow for the national hub to be notified, who in turn notify the relevant local authority, who then ultimately decide if the change should be made. Assuming that they accept the change, it has to be returned to the national hub and then be downloaded by the fire and rescue service. In total the process can take up to two weeks.”
“In a situation when the inaccuracy of an address can cost lives, in consultation with the fire and rescue service, we decided to build in the option to override an NLPG/NAG record instantaneously so that as soon as an error in address data is discovered, it can be immediately rectified. The candidate process will proceed as normal, but the fire and rescue service will no longer have to wait.”
Dinesh Thanigasalam went onto expand on the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer’s ability to hold the entire NLPG/NAG database. “Most fire and rescue services will want to hold address data that sits outside of their area because, at the end of the day, their responsibility doesn’t stop simply because someone is on the other side of a boundary.”
”This requirement for ‘out of area’ data varies tremendously, so what we have created with the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer is the ability to handle the entire country’s address data. This means that a fire and rescue service has the ability to manage one million records or thirty million with the same simple, ease of use.”
Because the FiReControl project was to see regionalisation of control rooms, with the data management retained on a local level, Symphony Bluelight has been designed to operate under shared services whereby a single gazetteer database from one or more fire and rescue services can be managed separately by the individual services, with read rights accessible to all, yet change rights accessible only within a service’s area.
On this, Dinesh Thanigasalam was quoted as saying, “The merging of control rooms is still a hot topic in the fire and rescue service, yet even during the FiReControl Project it was acknowledged that regional control rooms had to be supplied with locally sourced data that utilised local knowledge.”
“For this reason, irrespective of whether modernisation of mobilising systems is performed by individual brigades or as a shared service, the management and maintenance of gazetteer data should still be performed locally, which is exactly why the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer is equally adept at gazetteer management for one individual brigade or for several working together in collaboration.”
Aligned Assets have ensured that the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer addresses other key areas vital to Fire Services not usually catered for by other NLPG compliant Gazetteers. These include the ability to maintain abbreviations for addresses and ensure any searching on the Gazetteer takes the abbreviations into account. The searching capability is also further extended by having an option to use fuzzy searching which helps minimise the effect of spelling mistakes when carrying out a search.
To find out more about the Symphony Bluelight Gazetteer visit: www.aligned-assets.co.uk/bluelight
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
National Address Gazetteer Consultancy Available From Aligned Assets
Woking, Surrey 8th March 2011 – Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce that they are able to offer consultancy to both the public and private sector on the impact the National Address Gazetteer will have on their organisations.
Considered the most significant development in UK addressing for decades, the National Address Gazetteer will see all organisations given the chance for the first time to use address data from a single, definitive source.
This offers a huge opportunity for greater collaboration, shared services and interoperability, which in turn can create the chance to improve public services and significantly reduce costs.
Currently there is a division in the gazetteer world that sees central government, the ambulance service and the private sector using addressing products from the Ordnance Survey, with local government, the fire & rescue service and the police force having access to the NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer).
This is due to change from April 2011 with the creation of the National Address Gazetteer, which will see the blending of the Ordnance Survey’s addressing products with the NLPG to create this single source. It will also be under one single agreement, the PSMA (Public Sector Mapping Agreement) that this data will be made available to the whole of the public sector.
Aligned Assets’ managing director Dinesh Thanigasalam, who will be personally overseeing the consultancy work, spoke of the announcement. “As the only UK company to specialise solely in gazetteer management, we work very closely with both the organisations that create gazetteer data, right the way through to those that use it in mission critical systems.”
“All organisations, both in the public and the private sector, need to be aware of the changes that are going to be occurring over the next months and years, but importantly need to understand how these changes can be converted into huge benefits.”
“Our experienced consultants have many years of gazetteer management experience and bring a unique understanding of not only the implications of the National Address Gazetteer, but also about business process, and how the two need to fit together.”
“In essence, our consultants can show what organisations need to know and how to implement the changes.”
To find out more visit: www.nationaladdressgazetteer.co.uk
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Considered the most significant development in UK addressing for decades, the National Address Gazetteer will see all organisations given the chance for the first time to use address data from a single, definitive source.
This offers a huge opportunity for greater collaboration, shared services and interoperability, which in turn can create the chance to improve public services and significantly reduce costs.
Currently there is a division in the gazetteer world that sees central government, the ambulance service and the private sector using addressing products from the Ordnance Survey, with local government, the fire & rescue service and the police force having access to the NLPG (National Land and Property Gazetteer).
This is due to change from April 2011 with the creation of the National Address Gazetteer, which will see the blending of the Ordnance Survey’s addressing products with the NLPG to create this single source. It will also be under one single agreement, the PSMA (Public Sector Mapping Agreement) that this data will be made available to the whole of the public sector.
Aligned Assets’ managing director Dinesh Thanigasalam, who will be personally overseeing the consultancy work, spoke of the announcement. “As the only UK company to specialise solely in gazetteer management, we work very closely with both the organisations that create gazetteer data, right the way through to those that use it in mission critical systems.”
“All organisations, both in the public and the private sector, need to be aware of the changes that are going to be occurring over the next months and years, but importantly need to understand how these changes can be converted into huge benefits.”
“Our experienced consultants have many years of gazetteer management experience and bring a unique understanding of not only the implications of the National Address Gazetteer, but also about business process, and how the two need to fit together.”
“In essence, our consultants can show what organisations need to know and how to implement the changes.”
To find out more visit: www.nationaladdressgazetteer.co.uk
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
Monday, 21 February 2011
Super Unitary Selects Aligned Assets For Gazetteer Management
Cheshire East Council, one of the nine ‘Super Unitaries’ created in 2009, are set to develop an award winning land and property gazetteer using software from Aligned Assets.
After a long assessment period, they selected the gazetteer management system from Aligned Assets, called Symphony iManage, to manage their new central Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG).
This unified database of addresses was formed from the LLPGs previously held by Congleton Borough Council, Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council and Macclesfield Borough Council, and will drive efficiencies across the authority.
They now submit their LLPG regularly to the national hub for inclusion in the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG), which is a national initiative that provides a definitive dataset for use in the emergency services. It is the NLPG that will form a key component of the new National Address Gazetteer.
“The iManage gazetteer was the perfect choice since it went along with everything the Unitary was established to achieve,” explained Mike Garrity, Spatial Data Manager at Cheshire East Council. “It helped us to centralise the previously separate datasets, it is efficient, user-friendly and cost effective, and ultimately, it helps to improve frontline services.”
“We went through a thorough review process and concluded that Symphony iManage was the best option in terms of standards and interoperability, ease of use, support and implementation, and of course LLPG management. Aligned Assets also supply a wide range of additional modules that will allow us to expand the use of the gazetteer in future.”
To find out more, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk
Monday, 7 February 2011
Aligned Assets Announce Best Practice Days for 2011
Now in their third year, the latest dates for the Best Practice Days run by gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets have been announced.
In a change to the previous format that saw them based on the use of gazetteers across the public sector, these events have been split between the use of gazetteers in the emergency services and best practice in street naming and numbering.
The Emergency Services Gazetteer Best Practice Day is scheduled for 11th May in central Sheffield and is open to anyone within the emergency services who create, maintain or use address data. Attendance will also be advantageous for people in the wider public sector e.g. NHS, central and local government, who work closely with or supply data to the emergency services.
Topics to be covered include the National Address Gazetteer and how that will affect the emergency services, the use of corporate gazetteers to synchronise front line and back office systems, and using gazetteer data for the mapping of CCTV cameras.
Though only one date was originally scheduled, due to an unprecedented level of demand, five Street Naming and Numbering Best Practice Days have been scheduled, with venues in Oakham, Newcastle, London, Llandrindod and Taunton.
These events are designed to give a comprehensive introduction to Best Practice in Street Naming and Numbering through the first hand experiences those that regularly work in the process. Additionally, the legalities of the street naming and numbering will be presented on and discussed – everything from the adoption of the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 to the requirements of the Local Government Act 1972.
As well as the best practice days, Aligned Assets are running further AGI Accredited BS7666 training courses on both the introductory level and ones designed for developers. The courses are designed to combine theory with hands on experience and see 97% of trainees rating the courses as exceeding their expectations.
Of the best practice days, Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “Since we started running these events in 2008, the message of best practice has reached over 350 people from almost 250 different organisations. In this age of austerity, when efficiency savings are top of the agenda, we are pleased to continue providing these free of charge platforms for education and learning.”
For more information, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events
In a change to the previous format that saw them based on the use of gazetteers across the public sector, these events have been split between the use of gazetteers in the emergency services and best practice in street naming and numbering.
The Emergency Services Gazetteer Best Practice Day is scheduled for 11th May in central Sheffield and is open to anyone within the emergency services who create, maintain or use address data. Attendance will also be advantageous for people in the wider public sector e.g. NHS, central and local government, who work closely with or supply data to the emergency services.
Topics to be covered include the National Address Gazetteer and how that will affect the emergency services, the use of corporate gazetteers to synchronise front line and back office systems, and using gazetteer data for the mapping of CCTV cameras.
Though only one date was originally scheduled, due to an unprecedented level of demand, five Street Naming and Numbering Best Practice Days have been scheduled, with venues in Oakham, Newcastle, London, Llandrindod and Taunton.
These events are designed to give a comprehensive introduction to Best Practice in Street Naming and Numbering through the first hand experiences those that regularly work in the process. Additionally, the legalities of the street naming and numbering will be presented on and discussed – everything from the adoption of the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 to the requirements of the Local Government Act 1972.
As well as the best practice days, Aligned Assets are running further AGI Accredited BS7666 training courses on both the introductory level and ones designed for developers. The courses are designed to combine theory with hands on experience and see 97% of trainees rating the courses as exceeding their expectations.
Of the best practice days, Managing Director of Aligned Assets, Dinesh Thanigasalam said, “Since we started running these events in 2008, the message of best practice has reached over 350 people from almost 250 different organisations. In this age of austerity, when efficiency savings are top of the agenda, we are pleased to continue providing these free of charge platforms for education and learning.”
For more information, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/events
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Software by Subscription Gains Support Across The Public Sector
Software by Subscription, the revolutionary new business model launched by gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets in the summer of 2010, has today been declare a resounding success by Managing Director of the company Dinesh Thanigasalam.
It sees all upfront software fees scrapped and replaced with a simple, cost-effective annual subscription, which includes on-going updates to the software and unlimited support.
Software by Subscription was brought in to make it easier, more flexible and vastly more cost-effective for organisations in the public sector to procure products that can be used to drive an agenda of ‘invest to save’
It has resulted in large interest from local authorities looking to invest in new gazetteer management systems, back office integration and web services. Additionally, there has been an unprecedented amount of interest in Symphony SNN, which is software to automate and simplify the Street Naming and Numbering process.
“We have been contacted by people across local government interested in finding out about how Software by Subscription can help them,” explained Thanigasalam. “Because our software modules are all independent and stand-alone, they do not require a change in system, which means people can see the tremendous benefits, without any disruption.”
“We are particularly pleased about how many police forces and fire & rescue services want to understand more about our range of Symphony Bluelight products. Designed specifically for use in the emergency services to support both front line and back office systems, through Software by Subscription, Symphony Bluelight is now not only the best range of corporate gazetteer products on the market, but also the most cost-effective.”
For more information, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/software_by_subscription
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
It sees all upfront software fees scrapped and replaced with a simple, cost-effective annual subscription, which includes on-going updates to the software and unlimited support.
Software by Subscription was brought in to make it easier, more flexible and vastly more cost-effective for organisations in the public sector to procure products that can be used to drive an agenda of ‘invest to save’
It has resulted in large interest from local authorities looking to invest in new gazetteer management systems, back office integration and web services. Additionally, there has been an unprecedented amount of interest in Symphony SNN, which is software to automate and simplify the Street Naming and Numbering process.
“We have been contacted by people across local government interested in finding out about how Software by Subscription can help them,” explained Thanigasalam. “Because our software modules are all independent and stand-alone, they do not require a change in system, which means people can see the tremendous benefits, without any disruption.”
“We are particularly pleased about how many police forces and fire & rescue services want to understand more about our range of Symphony Bluelight products. Designed specifically for use in the emergency services to support both front line and back office systems, through Software by Subscription, Symphony Bluelight is now not only the best range of corporate gazetteer products on the market, but also the most cost-effective.”
For more information, visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/software_by_subscription
ABOUT ALIGNED ASSETS
Aligned Assets are an industry leader in gazetteer and address management solutions. They supply software to over 100 Local Authorities, Fire & Rescue Services, Police Forces and National Parks. They are the UK’s first reseller of the NLPG, providing superior address management across the commercial and public sectors. In addition to software and data solutions they can offer a complete range of consultancy, training, bespoke development and project management.
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