The Welsh Government is publishing essential flood risk mapping after a hosted solution from Europa Technologies was implemented in less than a week. ‘viaEuropa for PSMA’ is a new Data as a Service (DaaS) offering that includes key Ordnance Survey data sets covered by the new Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA). It gives PSMA signatories access to rendered mapping data ready for immediate customisation and deployment on web, mobile and desktop platforms.
The Welsh Government has chosen viaEuropa for PSMA as a high-performance, cost-efficient way to host, update and maintain the supply of data direct to its public-facing flood risk website http://data.wales.gov.uk/apps/floodmapping/.
The solution combines PSMA data with free-to-use OS OpenData, enabling a seamless transition between backdrops at a variety of scales from an all-Wales overview with hill shading down to street level mapping and building footprints. Datasets involved are Strategi, Land-Form PANORAMA, OS VectorMap District and OS VectorMap Local. The website, which has an intuitive, easy-to-use interface, is intended to support guidelines for the management of all future building development in flood risk areas.
Warren Vick, Director and Founder of Europa Technologies, said: “The Welsh Government were given a tight timetable by their Minister to publish this mapping which is part of their obligation as a public body. The solution is a prime example of the strength of viaEuropa for PSMA in that we were able to implement it in less than a week having already processed the raw data, rendered it as map tiles and made it ready for deployment.”
The website was implemented without any downtime to other services and, as a hosted solution, viaEuropa puts no burden on the Welsh Government’s server capacity or data management overhead.
The solution enables data to be re-used as often as required in desktop, web and mobile applications, providing a consistent style of mapping across Wales.
As well as creating an elegant, standard map style, Europa Technologies has tested it extensively to make sure that the cartographic design suits users with a colour vision deficiency.
Europa Technologies is highlighting the Welsh Government’s use of viaEuropa for PSMA as part of the company’s Silver Sponsorship of AGI GeoCommunity ’11, taking place at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham. Europa Technologies is exhibiting at the event where visitors can learn more about this application and viaEuropa in general.
For more information on viaEuropa for PSMA, visit www.viaeuropa.uk.com/psma.
