Posted by Ilkka Rinne & filed under Blog.
There are times when you have to be honest to people that rely on you, and say you’re sorry to have let them down. This is how I’ve felt more than once during the last couple of weeks, as the alerting system of Spatineo Monitor has been sending a lot of uncalled-for alerts about “insufficient… Read more »
DGT was created in 2012, to be an integrated central service in the direct administration of Portugal, within the scope of the Portuguese Ministry of the Environment, endowed with administrative autonomy, DGT is the national public body responsible for several different proceeding public policies for land use and urban planning, maintenance of the national geodetic network and production of reference national cartography and several other duties.
Landkreis Nienburg/Weser is a German district, located in Lower Saxony. They have a Geoportal, which has a lot of information for their inhabitants and organisations located in Nienburg/Weser. The Geoportal allows the user to freely combine all offered information, which makes it a smooth and visually pleasing application. This easiness of usage is exactly what makes geodata better accessible to more and more users!
Miljøstyrelsen (The Danish Environmental Protection Agency) collects and exhibits many natural and environmental data from Denmark. They host vasts amounts of information on their MiljøGIS.
City of Raisio is located in the region of Southwest Finland. Raisio publishes in their WFS and WMS services essential spatial data sets such as addresses, basic maps, city and general plans and information related to land ownership and water systems. Both of these services have quite high availability that the city wants to assure and and even develop better. This enables fluent usage for all users. Spatial data can also be viewed on their kartta.raisio.fi/paikkatietopalvelu service.
Spatineo Impact is carried out as a consultancy project that is based on information from customer’s strategy and data from different sources such as customer organisation, third party data, automated surveys and Spatineo Platform: Monitoring, Analytics, Service and Data Catalog.
This project includes:
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Natural Resources Canada is part of Canadian Government, and they are responsible for forestry-, environment-, energy- and mining legislation and regulation. They publish vast amounts of open data to their citizens, and keeping this data up-to-date and high quality is critical. You can check their website at https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/home
Nurmijärvi is Finland’s largest rural municipality in terms of population and one of the fastest growing in the Greater Helsinki area. Nurmijärvi Municipality’s central spatial data sets, such as a land registry, city map, map and aerial photographs, are available through WMS and WFS interface services for the city’s own administrative use and for external customers in need.
Kuntaliitto is advocate for all Finnish municipalities, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities promotes local self-government and the modernisation of municipal services. They host Kuntatietopalvelu which is a search service for information technology produced by municipal technical and environmental processes.
The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) is a public institute, within the scope of the Portuguese Ministry of the Environment, Territory Management and Energy.
Their mission is to propose, develop and monitor, on an integrated and participated manner, the public policies for the environment and sustainable development, in close cooperation with other sectoral policies and public and private entities.
The GDI-Südhessen is a working community in the federal state of Hessen in Germany. GDI-Südhessen was founded as a project in 2005 and one of the the main goals has been to develop a regional SDI that enables easy sharing and availability of geospatial data beyond borders of districts. From those days GDI-Südhessen has expanded into a large geospatial player in the region.
The Building Department of Canton of Zürich (Kanton Zürich) is responsible for planning spaces in that area for living, working and recreation. The Canton of Zürich is also responsible for infrastructure: constructing for example roads, schools and hospitals. The Canton hosts several hundreds of geospatial web services published on their domain zh.ch with most of them at high availability levels. From the Canton’s point of view, Spatineo Monitor fits well to their requirements for monitoring geoservices and the reports it enables them to generate are really useful.
Dutch Rijkswaterstaat provides spatial data related to road- and waterways and -systems through Dutch Government Data Portal. Due to the popularity of the portal, it’s imperative that the spatial web services delivering the data are running fast, reliably and according to agreed standards 24/7. Spatineo Monitor keeps track on these meters, thus making sure that Rijkswatertaat’s internal processes utilizing spatial data run efficiently and the external users and applications using their data receive the desired value.
The spatial data provided by the City of Kokkola in Western Finland is widely used in city administration and e-services as well as by citizens and private companies. Spatineo Monitor ensures that their spatial web services are of high quality which is needed to realise the value of the data, as well as make the citizen and administrative operations efficient. Futhermore, the tool provides them with a good understanding of the use trends of their spatial data, helping them focus resources, marketing efforts and investments on the services and datasets that provide most value to the residents and private companies.
Hanko is a small city in the south coast of Finland and provides various spatial datasets for their citizens and internal use through a WMS service. City of Hanko uses Spatineo Monitor for service-level monitoring of their GIS as well as to identify who is using their services and how. This information can be used to prove the value of the services, as well as to prioritise and schedule the maintenance and development work. Furthermore, Spatineo Monitor automates the annual INSPIRE reporting that is required by the EU Commission.
Statistics Finland uses Spatineo Monitor to enhance operating their spatial web services and get better visibility on the impact of the services. With the tool, they’re able to automatically collect, analyse and report on data on quality of service, usage and standards conformity, all on one single platform.
Spatineo Performance comes in packages of 12, 25, 50 and unlimited tests. The test credits are valid for 12 months from the date of the purchase. No monthly fees. We also offer our experts to help you with your performance testing. Contact us to get your quote!
Spatineo Monitor is sold on an annual subscription based on the size of your organisation. The price includes all the functionalities of Spatineo Monitor and an unlimited number of internal users and own services to use it on. Our annual subscription also automatically includes all new versions and features and the support service. You don’t ever have to worry about any additional or hidden costs. Contact us to get a quote for your organisation!
If you’re providing spatial web services for others (IT Service Provider and joint IT organisations) the pricing is based on your own internal use and the number of services to your end-customers you’re using Spatineo Monitor on. We also offer attractive partnerships when you resell Spatineo Monitor to your end-customers. Contact us for more information!
High availability is the key to realising the value of spatial web services provided by the Finnish Forest Centre. Spatineo Monitor is used to keep track of the service level whereas performance testing helps them scale the hardware capacity to meet the real user needs.
The Italian Research Center Eurac used Spatineo Monitor to facilitate the monitoring of their spatial data infrastructure and, by identifying bottlenecks in the system, improve the scalability of the entire system.
Spatineo Monitor usage analytics helps the City of Oulu in Finland to show the progress in the usage amounts of their spatial web services and thus helps them to focus development resources on the most used data sets.
IGN, The National Institute of Geographic and Forestry Information in France, uses Spatineo Monitor and Performance to report on the availability and performance of the region’s spatial web services as well as their compliance with OGC and INSPIRE requirements.
Spatineo Monitor help the City of Helsinki to offer an easy access to spatial data as well as reach a wide user base. Risks related to publishing new services were managed by testing the performance of the services before the launch.
In the City of Hämeenlinna in Finland, service-level monitoring by Spatineo Monitor supports the executed investments in spatial data infrastructure and encourages them to further develop their spatial web services.
Spatineo Monitor was chosen as a monitoring solution for the spatial web services of the City of Vantaa in Finland after a tendering process. With the tool, the city can track the reliability of their spatial web services in real time and to understand better the use of their services.
The City of Joensuu in Finland uses Spatineo Monitor to identify where the service requests to their spatial web services are coming from. In exceptional cases, they can identify if the error is on the service provider or client side by examining the response times of these requests.
By assessing the organisation’s maturity in the utilisation of spatial data, the Finnish Transport Safety Agency aims at raising their maturity level step by step. An important part of this is setting goals and finding solutions that constitute added value to the existing services.
The Maturity assessment in the utilisation of spatial data gave the City of Kouvola in Finland extensive information on the current state of their GIS activities, as well as successes and development areas.
The Municipality of Vihti in Finland uses Spatineo Monitor to get up-to-date information on service level and usage of their spatial web services. This enables them to maintain continuous quality of service as well as see the effects of improvements.
The Geological Survey of Finland pursues improving the usability of geological spatial information by monitoring the availability and usage of their spatial web services with Spatineo Monitor.
The Scottish Government uses Spatineo Performance to verify that their services meet the INSPIRE requirements for service capacity and to create the reports on service capacity that need to be delivered to the INSPIRE commission annually.
Accurate and timely information on service quality lets the City of Lahti in Finland react faster to deviations in their services as well as to focus development resources more efficiently. Furthermore, automating routine reporting tasks with Spatineo Monitor results in significant time savings.
Maturity assessment in the utilisation of spatial data helped the Finnish Environment Institute to focus its development resources on the areas that involve the highest impact with the lowest time or cost. The institute is also an active user of Spatineo Monitor.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute has managed to lower the maintenance costs of their spatial web services by using Spatineo Monitor. Usage analytics shows them what data their users are interested in and when they are searching for it.
Service availability is one of the key quality criteria for the European Location Framework (ELF) platform. Spatineo Monitor is used to facilitate building spatial web services that, at minimum, reach the INSPIRE requirements for service availability.
French CRAIG (Auvergne Regional Centre for Spatial Information) uses Spatineo Monitor to see how and by whom their spatial web services are used. This enables CRAIG to focus their development resources on the most popular data sets and services.
With Spatineo Monitor, the City of Kuopio in Finland can track the reliability of their spatial web services real time as well as better understand the usage of the services.
Reliability of the SDI of the National Land Survey of Finland is the key factor in reaching a wide user base. By ensuring the operability of the national spatial data infrastructure, Spatineo creates added value to the NLS as well as to all users of the national spatial data portal.
The Geological Institute of Catalonia in Spain used Spatineo Monitor to analyse the usage and service levels of their spatial web services.
Up-to-date information on service availability collected by Spatineo enables Natural Resources Canada to identify high quality spatial web services and pinpoint possible development areas.
To enhance decision making and operational management, Wallonia Public Service utilises reports on service level and usage of their spatial web services created by Spatineo Monitor.
The City of Helsingborg has been active in developing their spatial web services and thus wants to track and analyse the availability and progress of the usage of their services with Spatineo Monitor.
Some examples of the recent activities Mr. Ilkka Rinne, the founder and Head of Customer Experience and Interoperability, has been involved in:
The City of Eskilstuna in Sweden made a strategic decision to increase the use of spatial data in their processes and services. Maturity assessment in the utilisation was used to guide the allocation of the development resources as well as later assess the effect of the efforts.
The city of Riihimäki in Finland uses Spatineo Monitor to keep track on the quality and use of their spatial web services. The services are used internally in many core operations of the city as well as by external users, thus making the 24/7 service availability essential.
For environmental organisations spatial data has a special role since all environmental data is spatial data. It wouldn’t make sense to talk about or to research environmental data or phenomena if the location was unknown. Thus environmental organisations are all about creating, processing, using and distributing spatial data and it’s an elemental part of everyone’s work in an environmental organisation. Spatial data is used extensive internally but also externally. Externally environmental information is of big interest and importance to individuals (weather, trekking, water routes, boating etc.), other public organisations (for instance city planning, energy resources, nature conservation etc.) and to private companies (such as engineering companies planning new projects or creating new apps that are using environmental data).
Since spatial data has such a vital role and it’s used extensively, also spatial data infrastructure that is used to store, process and deliver the spatial data, is also of high importance. It’s imperative that the spatial web services are running 24/7, fast, reliably and according to agreed standards. Otherwise the core processes of the organisation are compromised, huge external benefits are lost and potentially people’s lives are lost in natural disasters. It’s also typical that an environmental event triggers a sudden and huge spike in the use of the data and the services. It’s especially important that the spatial data infrastructure can cope with such spike times since those are the times when the data is most needed and is most valuable.
Environment is also universal and of common interest to all – independent of country or nationality. Environment makes the habitat that we all live in and making sure that environment is doing well is also making sure that we humans are doing well in the future. This is the main reason why European INSPIRE legislation was created originally for environment purposes. It’s especially important that all data on the environment is harmonized across all of Europe and accessible using common standards. INSPIRE is ensuring that up-to-date information is available in real-time in a standardised format across Europe.
Mapping, cadastral and land registry authorities are responsible for maintaining an accurate and up-to-date information about our physical surroundings, land ownership and most activities related to the built environment in general. All information regarding land, land use and built environment is spatial data. Thus mapping, cadastral and land registry authorities are using spatial data in almost all of their internal operations when they produce maps, process permits and applications and perform cadastral surveys. They typically produce topographic databases that include information on roads, buildings, constructions, administrative borders, geographical names, land use and elevation. In addition to topographic databases, cadastral and land registries are one of the most important registries and therefore vital for every society. The information provided by mapping, cadastre and land registry authorities is used in many critical applications such as in comprehensive and detailed planning, road construction and utilities planning, navigation, building permits and property transactions.
Since topographic as well as cadastral and land registry information have such a vital role and they are used extensively, spatial data infrastructure that is used to store, process and deliver the spatial data, is also of high importance. It’s imperative that the spatial web services are running 24/7, fast, reliably and according to agreed standards. Otherwise the core processes of the user organisation are compromised, huge external benefits are lost and potentially large economic losses are accrued if the owners or surveys of land parcels or buildings are not accurately recorded and planning is not based on up-to-date data.
Topographic and cadastral and land registry information are not only important for the National Spatial Data Infrastructures but they are a key part of the SDIs of different continents and Global SDI as well. The SDIs at all levels are based on strong collaboration between agencies and easy availability of data through spatial web services.
Natural resources are resources that come from the nature such as land, water, forests, mineral deposits, oil, gas and air. Data on natural resources collected and managed by the governmental agencies and research institutes, is widely used by various industries, public organisations and citizens. Geological surveys are collecting geological information and mapping the mineral potential. All this information is used in infrastructure planning and by mining companies. Forest centers collect and share data related to forests and advise forest owners how to benefit best from their assets without endangering the ecosystem and future profits. Research institutes make valuable research of the sustainable use of renewable natural resources and thus provide knowledge for the formation of national and international policies. Citizens are interested in new applications such as those that show the potential of solar energy in their homes. All of this data can be utilized to its full potential only through reliable spatial web services.
For instance Oil & Gas industry is a vital part of the global economy, but it also requires big capital investments and is prone to highly publicized accidents and environmental hazards. This is where GIS and supporting technologies step in with limitless ways. Oil & Gas needs spatial information at every stage of its life-cycle, beginning with prospection analysis and exploration, through appraisal and production, up to the decommissioning phase. So companies are more and more embracing GIS and beginning to understand the importance of geospatial to maximize ROI as well as to minimize risks. Just to mention some examples of where spatial data and GIS have delivered a significant benefit to where it has been deployed, we can list activities such as block ranking during prospection, land management for which reports are usually required by local regulators, well drilling planning, pipeline routing and monitoring, field operations and environmental monitoring.
Oil & gas industry needs various spatial information from mapping, cadastre and land registry authorities, environmental institutes, geological surveys and meteorological institutes to be used in GIS analysis that support their business. Spatial web services that provide these information should be available 24/7 so that up-to-date information is available at all stages of operations as well as for emergency response due to unforeseen accidents and environmental hazards.
Effective and optimized transportation of goods and people is one of the drivers of economic growth and well-being of citizens. Industries need to receive materials for production as well as deliver ready-made products to their customers. Trade is more and more international and hard competition exists between companies. Therefore, one competitive advantage for companies is the effective and safe transportation of goods on land, at sea or on air. This is usually outsourced to international transportation companies that manage the whole transportation chain. People use cars, buses, trains, ships and planes to travel to work, shopping centres or holiday destinations. They want to save time and money and therefore use navigation applications to find the shortest route to destination and journey planners to find the best and cheapest possible way to travel.
Transportation-related data has to be accurate and up-to-date. Public transportation agencies produce information on transport networks such as roads, railways and waterways and might also provide real-time traffic information. By adding value to this already vital information private companies are able to develop transportation planning and management systems, navigation applications and journey planners to meet the needs of customers and to support mobility of people. Most applications rely on accurate real-time data of vehicles, travel time and weather conditions. Therefore, spatial web services that provide both the basic information on transportation infrastructure as well as the real-time information on traffic have to be available 24/7 and in a standardized format. Otherwise the transportation of goods and people is paralyzed and enormous amount of money and time is lost.
Spatial data plays a key role in the goal of the European Commission to develop a highly efficient transportation infrastructure with key road corridors and sea lanes that enable clean, safe and efficient travel throughout Europe. Therefore, Transport Networks is one of the key spatial data themes of INSPIRE. Road, rail, water and air transport networks are linked to each other and thus form an essential part of the Trans-European Transportation Network.
The role and importance of IT service providers is increasing all the time. Both public organisations and private companies feel the need to concentrate on their core business and choose to outsource their IT infrastructure and IT services to companies that promise to assure the quality of services at lower costs and to facilitate better user experience to end users. Because the revenue of IT service providers depends on reliable service hosting, quality of service is the backbone of their business. IT service providers can also increase transparency of their business by offering their customers an access to the service-level monitoring data. This may create them new sources of revenue.
The quality of spatial web services is vital due to the role of spatial information both in public organisations and in private companies. This information is used for supporting decision making, improving productivity and helping to create new products and services.
The opening of spatial data and spatial data services of a customer of an IT service provider usually leads to a huge increase in number of users and requests sent to the service. Also, some applications that are based on spatial web services might gain unprecedented popularity in national online news. In both cases the heavy load can result in serious technical problems and dissapointed end users if the IT service provider has not prepared beforehand for these kinds of situations.
By monitoring the spatial web services of their customers, IT service providers can prove that they are meeting if not exceeding the promised service level and keep the customers satisfied. Furthermore, complex IT infrastructures make it important for them to understand whether the service is operating nominally as a whole. Performance testing of spatial web services enables the simulation of services under heavy load and fixing of possible configuration errors and capacity problems. The only reliable way is to use specialized tools for the monitoring and performance testing of spatial web services that simulate the real usage and send requests according to OGC and INSPIRE standard to services.
Cities and municipalities collect, manage and deliver the most detailed spatial data covering their administrative areas. This data has mostly been used in internal operations in environmental and technical sectors such as in planning and construction and infrastructure development. The spatial data has also been used in producing maps for professionals, citizens and tourists. But there is a huge potential in the use of spatial information to make these and other processes more efficient, to enhance public participation in decision making and to serve residents better. Meanwhile, regions have an important role in integrating local services to regional ones. Regional map based services support regional planning and decision making and provide valuable information to residents, industries and other private companies to analyse and find the best possible places to live and to do business.
An organization level spatial data infrastructure (SDI), used to store and process spatial data as well as deliver spatial data through spatial web services to all potential internal and external users, is of high importance to cities and municipalities. Easy and reliable access to spatial data helps to optimize transportation of schoolchildren and senior citizens, optimize customer visits in home care and to plan practical school and day care districts. Self-service map based web applications for citizens to apply for official permissions such as a building permits save time and money both from the resident and the city/municipality because no face-to-face visits to an office is not needed. Many cities and municipalities also provide web based service maps that show locations and descriptions of municipal services the city is providing, services related to teaching and education, traffic, housing, employment, health care, social services and public safety. An informative service map decreases phone calls received by city agencies and save employees’ working time. Public participation in municipal decision making is evolving all the time. Map based survey tools enable residents to give their opinions on their environment such as which parks are cosy/scary or which routes to school are safe/unsafe. All these above mentioned eServices need to be available to users not only during working hours but also late in the evening and early in the morning. Therefore, spatial web services that provide the background map and other location based information to eServices have to be available 24/7.
A good understanding of who are using eServices and spatial web services and what spatial data is most used helps cities and municipalities to focus their resources and investments on the services and datasets that provide most value to residents and private companies as well as enhance marketing efforts if some services have not yet been discovered by residents.