mysql_connect Infoterra innovates with more map

Infoterra innovates with more map

29 April 2010

Infoterra become the first to extract ‘real’ value from OS OpenData™, providing a rich source of national large scale mapping content.

    - More content, flexibility and application for smarter creative mapping solutions
    - Delivering choice to geo users across government and business


Infoterra Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS Astrium, launches more map™, a large scale national mapping content service, providing the key to addressing a multitude of valuable applications. Infoterra has successfully developed vector extraction algorithms to produce buildings and other vectors from OS OpenData™.  Never before have ‘intelligent buildings’ for the whole of Great Britain been available, without significant investment or constraining terms of use.  These vectors are proving to be a substantial foundation upon which new, exciting applications can be built.

Infoterra, has, for the past ten years, been building data assets, that are free of Crown Copyright.  Our aim is to provide our customers with a resource which can be used for a range of applications including derivation of new data layers, data sharing and visualisation.  Combining these information products with the newly available large scale vectors, allows users to tailor solutions and develop applications to meet many more business goals.

With the content categorized by type and application, more map™ allows users to:
•    map – with buildings, roads, boundaries and names        

•    model– with terrain, vegetation and building height information    

•    magnify – with visualisation and verification imagery     

•    manage – with added interpretation, intelligence & statistics


“We have initially processed building and road vectors for the whole of Leicestershire County.  We are making a sample available in order to obtain feedback from our customers ahead of processing all of Great Britain.  We estimate that GB coverage and updates could routinely be processed over a period of five days. more map™ will provide regular updates as these become available and we will advise our customers where content changes have occurred.”
Andy Wells, Director of government services of Infoterra Ltd
“As we investigate the applications of more map™, the greater we see its potential value to geo-users.  
We have already adopted the newly extracted vectors in our own internal geo-information processes, generating savings and adding value. We are sure that by offering this new, national, large scale mapping content service, our partners and customers will achieve similar results.  We aim to provide UK geo-users with choice and flexibility that hasn’t necessarily been an option in the UK until now - we appreciate that ‘choice matters’.” 
Dave Fox, CEO of Infoterra Ltd


Facts
•    Leicestershire buildings and road vectors took 20 hours to extract.
•    Of the 200,000 buildings in Leicestershire approximately 30% are within the Leicester City area.
•    The buildings layer includes all individual structures. The buildings are often generalised through squaring them off, providing an  optimum viewing scale of 1:5,000.
•    For the sample area, 99% of all buildings as provided in OS Mastermap® are available, excluding smaller structures, such as sheds and garages.
•    It is estimated that GB coverage can be extracted over a period of 5 days using a multi-processor set-up.