Council scoops int’l award

Ever wondered if that overhanging tree at the back of the yard was protected from chainsaws? Speculate no more as ratepayers can now call Council customer support staff and be informed thanks to international award winning software.

The software, developed by the Christchurch City Council, won the award from US computer giant Intergraph who presented Council information developer Chris Sharman the accolade at a ceremony in Miami, Florida, in May.

Intergraph selected the Council’s Spatial Integrity Manager (SIM) software for its Achievement in Geospatial Application Development award, which recognises organisations using geospatial (mapping) technology to deliver benefits to their community.

Mr Sharman says SIM won out over a significant number of international entries and took around six man-months of development involving a team of four.

Phil Wright, the Council’s IT services manager, says the award is satisfying because it provides international recognition of the technical capability of the Council’s staff.

“But the most pleasing aspect is that this is technology that makes doing business with us easier, faster and lower risk for our customers.”

SIM cross-references the Council’s property information system with another Council system containing electronic maps of properties. It means customer service staff can provide a fast and accurate picture of relevant information to customers about their property, such as protected trees or boundary definitions. Previously Council staff needed to manually do the cross-referencing to detect these sorts of issues.

SIM’s international success means there may be interest from other Intergraph customers, says Mr Wright.

Implementation of SIM was well timed for the team dealing with customer property enquiries, says Steve Bensberg, from the Council’s Environmental Services unit.

“The final part of the roll out of the software occurred during a 50 percent increase in LIM (land information memorandum) applications. There is no way we could have coped with that work load without the automation and accuracy that SIM provides.”

Written in Microsoft Visual Basic, the application connects an Intergraph Geographic Information System running on SQL Server to a property information system called GEMs running on Informix.

Three other Council staff were involved in developing the application — Jesse Easton, Bryan Clarke and Craig Lemon.