Kent Fire follow the FiReControl model and adopt Aligned Assets

Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the latest emergency service provider to embrace the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG) with the announcement that they will be adopting the gazetteer solutions provided by Aligned Assets.

As the gazetteer provider into the new nine Regional Control Centres across England via the FiReControl project, Aligned Assets were the clear choice for Kent FRS to adopt at brigade level. This allowed them to use not only the same data with the NLPG, but also the same, fully compatible software from Aligned Assets.

The new system will allow for full data management with the ability to not only receive regular updates from the National Hub, but also to integrate the NLPG data into other internal systems. In addition to this, through the use of Aligned Assets’ Xtended Data Module (XDM), Kent FRS will have the ability to add additional, user-defined fields without losing BS7666 integrity, greatly enhancing the power of the data.

One of the most powerful tools to be implemented is Aligned Assets’ SinglePoint and will allow Kent FRS to search the entire 32 millions records of the NLPG in sub-second time. With the additional option to ‘plug in’ other gazetteers and its link into 3rd Party GIS applications, SinglePoint will enable the full exploitation of the data.

As one of the largest suppliers of gazetteers into local government, and as the only UK company to specialise in gazetteers solutions, Aligned Assets have both the knowledge and expertise to provide all gazetteer and GIS-related requirements. Its work with FiReControl has positioned it as an expert in providing data tools for the emergency services, keenly understanding the necessities required.

Aligned Assets offer a new way to achieve CORE compliancy

With the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) deadline for the matching of Electoral Registers to the NLPG getting ever closer, gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are offering a new service to help local authorities gain CORE compliance.

Their intuitive data matching software, Symphony iMatch, is to be made available for loan at a price lower than the funding offered by the MoJ. This will enable local authorities to not only run the automatic matching process themselves but also can use iMatch for the process of interactive matching.

Having been the first supplier of gazetteer solutions to be granted accreditation to the BS7666:2006 standard, Aligned Assets are well known as experts in the field of data quality and compliance. They have the experience of working with over 80 local authorities and are the suppliers to the FiReControl project in which their solutions are being used to ensure that mission critical address data is accurate.

Commercial Director at Aligned Assets Phil Gee said, “After speaking with many of our clients, there was a sense that offering automatic matching services wasn’t enough since it would still leave them with a tremendous amount of manual matching to do with no easy way to achieve it.”

“They wanted a way to have the automatic matching done but also tools to make the manual matching easier, all within the MoJ’s funding. That is why we are offering iMatch in this way.”

Available for £1700, Aligned Assets are able to not only offer iMatch on a three month loan, but the offer also includes a full day of onsite consultancy to offer advice and assistance.

To find out more call 0870 750 8750, email sales@aligned-assets.co.uk or visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk/imatch.

Aligned Assets Customers Excel at the NLPG Exemplar Awards

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets enjoyed yet more success at this year’s Exemplar Awards with seven of its customers recognised across six categories.

The winner of the ‘Best Business Transformation’ award was presented to South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council for their iShareMaps web solution provided by Astun Technology, whilst Monmouthshire County Council was placed as runners up for both ‘Best Integrated use of the NLPG and NSG’ and Most Creative Use of Level 3 NSG’.

Speaking of the award, GIS Manager at Monmouthshire Richard Healy paid this tribute to Aligned Assets by saying, “Your guidance and assistance in setting up sound data structures and cleansing our data has been invaluable, these exercises have allowed us to achieve the improvements we have made this year.”

He went onto say, “External independent acknowledgement at the national awards is confirmation we are moving in the right direction.”

Managing Director of Aligned Assets Carl Nunn said, “This has been an important year for Aligned Assets and this level of recognition is testament to the hard work and dedication of all our customers. I want to offer my congratulations to those that picked up awards and look forward to yet another successful twelve months.”


The complete list of winners is:

‘Best Business Transformation’ – Winner: South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council

‘Best Integration of the NLPG and NSG’ – Highly Commended: Bury Metropolitan Borough Council, London Borough of Brent, London Borough of Ealing

‘Most Improved NSG’ – Runner Up: Leicestershire County Council

‘Most Improved NLPG’ – Runner Up: Birmingham City Council

‘Best Integrated use of the NLPG and NSG’ – Runner Up: Monmouthshire County Council

‘Most Creative Use of Level 3 NSG’ – Runner Up: Monmouthshire County Council

Aligned Assets reinforces its sales team

Gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets is pleased to announce the appointment of James Shean as its new Account Manager.

James’ appointment will help to strengthen Aligned Assets’ on-going commitment to its high levels of customer service and James will play a key role in developing the company’s work in both local government and the emergency services.

Prior to joining Aligned Assets James spent nine years working in local government as a GIS specialist at Bournemouth Borough Council and four years as a Commercial Manager in the construction industry.

Of his new appointment James remarked, “I’m really pleased to have joined such a forward thinking company and one that is the industry leader in gazetteer technology. Having worked for many years in local government I have a keen understanding of their requirements and hope to use this knowledge to help their relationship with Aligned Assets to be a highly positive one.”

Sales & Marketing Manager at Aligned Assets Mike Smith said of James, “We have been looking to appoint a new account manager for several months now but for such a key role we had to be sure to employ the very best. James’ acute knowledge of local government made him the perfect candidate and I’m very pleased to welcome him to the team.”

James will be taking over the promotion of Aligned Assets’ new Street Naming and Numbering module to demonstrate how this latest innovation from can help to improve council efficiency, and ultimately save them money. In addition to visiting customers, James will be holding a Street Naming and Numbering demo day at the Aligned Assets’ offices in Surrey on 27th November.

For more information call James on 0870 750 8750 or visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk.

Authority wide access to the LLPG is given a boost

Now that each local authority in England and Wales has completed the lengthy process of creating their Local Land and Property Gazetteers (LLPGs), more than ever they are now looking at ways to further the access to that data.


A simple way to facilitate this access is a web-based solution from gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets who have recently announced the latest release of their Symphony iSearchWeb product that creates an easy, yet highly efficient way of allowing authority-wide access to the LLPG.

Through the use of iSearchWeb, all departments can have access to the LLPG data via a web browser, with the ability to look up and copy addresses into any application. There are a variety of search options in addition to the standard address searches such as searching by Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN), Unique Street Reference Number (USRN) and by Cross References e.g. council tax cross reference.

Because LLPGs are updated with the cross references of many different departments, those departments can use iSearchWeb to locate an address and then access the department specific information about that property using that cross reference. Anyone wanting generic information about a property could therefore have access to a wealth of information about a property via these linked cross references.

As well as allowing inter-department access to the LLPG, iSearchWeb can additionally be integrated into any authority web service that can therefore allow public access to the address data. Having this information accessible to the public will greatly increase public service delivery as any online system with an address component will be given a significant boost.

Built into iSearchWeb is a feedback option that moves the use beyond the ability to search and retrieve data. If a user detects an error in any of the data there is an option to directly email the LLPG custodian with this information, who in turn can then make the necessary changes. What this effectively means is that via iSearchWeb, a local authority gains a personal validation service through its users.

Speaking about iSearchWeb, Commercial Director of Aligned Assets Phil Gee said, “The ability to quickly find and use the address information in an LLPG is what gives it true power. The fact that this information is accessible to all council employees and even to the public via iSearchWeb is moving the LLPG to another level.”

Data Matching Workshop for CORE Compliancy

The Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors (CORE) is a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) project to standardise all electoral registers across the UK and amalgamate them into one national database.

Since address standardisation exists already within each authority’s Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG) through the application of BS7666, the MoJ directive calls for the matching of each electoral register to the LLPG so that the same level of standardisation can be achieved.

To help facilitate this process, gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets will be holding a free data matching workshop on 7th October 2008 to advise on the process and offer simple ways to achieve compliancy.

To be held in the historic Shakespeare Memorial Room at Birmingham Central Library there will be presentations on the CORE project, looking into the motives and reasoning behind it as well as a presentation from High Peak Borough Council who were one of the first local authorities to achieve CORE compliancy.

There will be a demonstration of Aligned Assets iMatch, which is an intuitive data matching software solution that will allow not only for the matching of the electoral registers but also the matching of all other council address data.

With CORE being just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to address matching, iMatch is software that can be used to create standardisation across all council systems.

The data matching workshop is available to all people with an interest in CORE or address matching generally. To reserve your place email carl.hancock@aligned-assets.co.uk or call 01483 717951.

New appointments at Aligned Assets

With its client base rapidly increasing, gazetteer specialists Aligned Assets are pleased to announce the appointment of two new members of staff.

Demonstrating their dedication to producing the highest quality software available on the market and their on-going commitment to customer services, they have strengthened their development team by appointing Anil Poonia and their professional services team with Claire Marvin.

Having graduated with a Masters in Computer Science, Anil joins the nine-strong development team at Aligned Assets, having previously worked as a Corporate Trainer for Koenig-Solutions PVT Ltd. Anil is both a Microsoft Certified Professional Developer and a Microsoft Certified Application Developer, bringing with him extensive knowledge about the latest trends and technologies.

Claire brings a wealth of experience in the fields of GIS, Database Management and Digital Mapping & Analysis. Having spent four years at Tele Atlas as a Geographical Information Specialist and then three and a half years as a Crime Analyst with the Safer Kingston Partnership, Claire is a great addition to the professional services team.

Of the new appointments, Managing Director Carl Nunn said, “This is an exciting period for Aligned Assets with work continuing on the FiReControl project and an influx of new customers upgrading to our software solutions. We pride ourselves on employing only the very best people in the industry and both Anil and Claire personify this philosophy.”

For more information about Aligned Assets call 0870 750 8750 or visit www.aligned-assets.co.uk