Local councils to provide more location-based services

Local councils are expected to provide more location-based tools

Local councils are increasing the number of public-facing services with access to geospatial data, according to new research by Pitney Bowes Business Insight.

The business software provider claims that over the next six months, local authorities in the UK expect to provide more location-based services to the public.

The research suggests that 44 per cent of local authorities have recently been involved with projects to provide the public with access to mapping data, which was previously for internal use only.

Furthermore, 73 per cent of local authorities expected to provide more location-based services to the public within the next six months.

Almost half (47 per cent) of local authorities have integrated geographic information systems (GIS) with core applications such as CRM and ERP solutions, for more informed analysis and decision-making.

The findings were from a survey of 100 GIS practitioners working for local authority organisations in the UK for the study entitled Understanding the Future of GIS Usage in the UK Public Sector.

“We are at the start of an information revolution, where previously hidden data is being opened up to the public to improve the services they use,” said Steve Deaville, head of public sector strategy at Pitney Bowes Business Insight.

“Local authorities are leading the drive to make online information and services more accessible to everybody. The release of location-based data in particular is leading to new ways of improving citizen self-services via easy-to-use, interactive mapping interfaces on council web sites.”