Tag: #mapping

Dublin City Council Dublin Winter Lights announces the launch of a Video Mapping Competition

Dublin City Council Dublin Winter Lights is delighted to announce the launch of a Video Mapping competition for NCAD students in partnership with The Embassy of France in Ireland. Launched as part of the Digital Arts – Créativité & Innovation Tour in Ireland a workshop was hosted in NCAD and led by world-leading French digital artist Maxime Touroute, the competition aims to develop the medium of Video Mapping in Ireland.

Dublin City Council Dublin Winter Lights, in association with The Embassy of France in Ireland and NCAD will present a showcase of Video Mapping on Newcomen Bank, Dublin. All student competition entries will be projected onto the facade of one of Dublin’s finest Georgian buildings, Newcomen Bank, as part of the annual Dublin City Council Dublin Winter Lights festival in December. This will be a great opportunity for members of the public to see an array of video mapping artworks by emerging artists.

The prize for the winning entry is sponsored by The Embassy of France in Ireland. The winning entrant(s) will attend the IBSIC Video Mapping Conference and associated Video Mapping Festival in Lille France.

The partnership between Dublin City Council Dublin Winter Lights and The Embassy of France in Ireland fosters creative innovation and develops connections in the cultural and creative industries between Ireland and France.

GSI to provide talk on seabed mapping project at Geopark Academy

Geological Survey Ireland (GSI) will be providing an update on its groundbreaking seabed mapping project at a major two-day event announced for the Burren in County Clare on May 25th and 26th.

The geology, history, ecology and future tourism development of the Burren are the focus of the Geopark Academy 2024, a two-day conference organised by the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark as part of European Geoparks Network Week

The Academy is being held at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, the world-famous independent college specialising in undergraduate and graduate Fine Art education, which is this year marking the 30th anniversary of its foundation.

Topics being covered include how the Burren has changed over 330 million years, the impact of the last Ice Age on the landscape, the history of human settlement in the region, and how visitor studies are guiding efforts to establish Clare as the first county-wide certified sustainable tourism destination in Ireland.

Felim O’Toole, a Hydrographic Surveyor with GSI will be one of the keynote speakers and will be providing an update on the Integrated Mapping for the Sustainable Development of Ireland’s Marine Resource (INFOMAR) project, which has been mapping Ireland’s coastal seabed in comprehensive detail. The INFOMAR programme team, which includes The Marine Institute, aims to complete Ireland’s seabed mapping by end 2026, potentially being the first country globally to do so.  Mr. O’Toole’s talk will focus on mapping of the seabed off the Burren and Cliffs of Moher.

Other speakers include representatives from University of Galway, ATU Sligo, Trinty College Dublin and Mary Immaculate College / University of Limerick.

“One of the primary objectives of The Geopark Academy is to further increase engagement between the public, researchers, geologists and members of academia on how the Burren was formed and has evolved over millions of years, and how this unique landscape presents future opportunities for the communities that live there,” explained Carol Gleeson, Manager of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark.

She continued, “The Burren is a remarkable limestone area. Its geology, flora, caves, archaeology, history and farming traditions set it apart as a place of great mystery and beauty. Arctic and Alpine flowers grow alongside Mediterranean species and there are over 2,700 recorded monuments, some dating back over 6,000 years.”

“By hosting the Geopark Academy, we hope to create a greater sense of awareness and appreciation of the geology and history of one of Ireland’s most unique landscapes and how it is generating opportunities for tourism development in the region,” added Ms. Gleeson.

 Dr. Eamon Doyle, Geologist with the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark described the Geopark Academy as a multi-disciplinary event connecting research and the local community.

He continued, “This event will examine and promote the ancient geological history of the Geopark, and its evolution through time from its formation through the retreat of the ice sheets some 12,000 years ago to the vibrant region we know of today.”

Dr. Doyle said the underlying geology of the Burren holds many fascinating clues to conditions on Earth more than 300 million years ago.

“The oldest rocks visible on the Burren’s surface were formed during the Carboniferous period, approximately 330 million years ago,” he added. “These limestone rocks formed in shallow, warm, tropical seas 10 degrees south of the equator. More recently, the last ice Age has sculpted those rocks and largely given the Burren its current shape. Research is active and scientists and students come from all over the world to see what we have here. The Academy will hear from some of those who have invested significant time and resources examining this intriguing landscape.”

The Geopark Academy 2024 will be opened on Saturday May 25th by Dr. Doyle who will speak about his fossil discoveries including an extraordinary new species of fossil sponge and abandoned fossil burrows dating back 330 million years which he found in limestone rock at Doolin.

Colin Bunce (Researcher, School of Geography, University of Galway) will host a talk on the impacts of the last Glacial Maximum on the Burren landscape, Fiona McKenna (PhD student, ATU Sligo) will speak about how measuring and monitoring tourism activity in Clare is helping to  inform sustainable destination planning, Dr. Catherine Dalton (Mary Immaculate College / UL) will reflect on “Ireland’s Lakes: Past, Present, and Future”, archaeologist Michael Lynch will provide an update on the ongoing Excavation of the Mesolithic Stone Axe Manufacturing Site at Doolin, and Felim O’Toole (Geological Survey Ireland) will discuss INFOMAR 2023, a groundbreaking mapping project of the seabed off the Burren and Cliffs of Moher.

 Other speakers include Tejasvi Shah, Maia Shelby Hay and Matilda Krulder (MA students, Burren College of Art) on “Postgraduate Research in Art & Ecology/ Reading Ecology in The Burren,” Dr. Lara Cassidy (Trinity College Dublin) on “Tales from a Small Island: Ancient Genomics on the Atlantic Edge”, Enda Gallery (artist developer/artist/producer) on “Layers of sound; behind the scenes of modern music production”, and Dr. John Murray (University of Galway) on “An unusual and enigmatic discoidal fossil from the Cliffs of Moher.”

On Sunday, May 26th, there will be a guided mini-bus history tour of Kilfenora Church, Leamaneh Castle, Kilnaboy Church, Corofin and Dysert O’Dea Castle with local experts Edel Barry, Frank O’Grady, Tom Keating and Risteárd Ua Cróinín.

Due to limited spaces, booking is essential for The Geopark Academy 2024. Visit www.burrengeopark.ie or email info@burrengeopark.ie for more information.

National award for innovative Galway Graveyards Mapping Project

Galway County Council has received national recognition for an innovative digital project that mapped over 40,000 graveyard memorial records across County Galway and made them publicly available online.

The ‘Digitising Galway’s Graveyard Heritage’ project was last night (Thursday) named overall winner of the ‘Community Engagement’ category of Esri Ireland’s annual ‘Customer Success Awards’ held in Dublin’s Anantara The Marker Hotel.

Working with and supported by Galway Rural Development, Forum Connemara, The Heritage Council, The National Monuments Service and Galway County Community Archaeology Service, Galway County Council provided funding to local groups to employ experts to train local communities to use mobile technology and to undertake drone mapping of graveyards resulting in a public release of 40,000 records from across the county via the Local Authority’s Open Data Portal.

This is the second national award to be picked up by the project after it was named winner at the Public Sector Digital Transformation Awards last October.

Welcoming the award win, Cllr. Liam Carroll, Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council commented, “The success of the Digital Mapping of Graveyards Project is the result of forensic research and cutting-edge surveying work by the Local Authority’s Heritage department and local communities across Galway. This award win is testament to the innovative nature of the project and its benefit to the diaspora and academia at home and abroad.”

Outlining the background to the project, Barry Doyle, Geographic Information System (GIS) project lead for Galway County Council said, “We have been working with various community groups and organisations to collect and collating valuable data relating to those who are buried in various graveyards for several years.”

“Galway County Council, with funding from the Heritage Council, the Open Data Engagement Fund and its own resources developed and made available a mobile app specifically for use by surveyors at the local level for memorial surveys, along with associated data management and validation processes,” he added. “This technology, along with drone technology, was made available to local community groups to expand the number of graveyards in the project resulting in the 40,000 records that are now publicly available.”

Esri Ireland is the global market leader in GIS and their software is used widely in Ireland in both public and private sector organisations, including most local authorities.

The Galway County Digital Mapping of Graveyards Project may be viewed at galwaycoco.maps.arcgis.com and data.gov.ie.

Esri’s digital mapping system delivers savings of €5.8M to Fibrus in NI broadband rollout

Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), is today announcing that its digital mapping system has delivered savings of up to €5.8 million to broadband provider Fibrus as it accelerates broadband rollout in Northern Ireland. Fibrus is providing connectivity to 85,000 rural homes and businesses under the Northern Ireland Executive’s initiative, Project Stratum.

Using its ArcGIS technology, Esri Ireland designed a suite of integrated solutions to streamline processes throughout the entire lifecycle of planning, constructing, and maintaining fibre networks. The technology is improving cost control for Fibrus, as ArcGIS calculates precise costs for new infrastructure plans and optimises the number of potential customers in project areas.

The solution is transforming Fibrus’ operations and resulting in time savings of 500 hours per week for Fibrus, its contractors, and subcontractors. It has enhanced process efficiency by at least 50% and is enabling the company to maintain a steady rate of over 5,000 rural home and business connections every month.

Wherever they’re working, over 1,000 field operatives can view plans on digital maps, collect survey data, record cable and pole installations, and flag any issues. Data is shared in real-time to a central dashboard which is improving workflows and increasing collaboration. This has also improved data accuracy, streamlined time-intensive tasks, and decreased misinformation-related issues, enabling Fibrus to meet targets significantly faster.

Issues such as cut cables or storm-damaged poles are now promptly identified, simplifying maintenance planning and facilitating rapid repairs. Dependence on paper-based maps has been eliminated, and Fibrus also uses data collected and shared via ArcGIS online to validate contractor invoices and approve payments based on the latest construction progress information.

Riain Garcia, Senior Manager, GIS, Fibrus, said: “Esri’s system provides far greater visibility of what is happening on the ground, helping us to improve financial control, traceability, and accountability. We have already seen significant cost savings by using ArcGIS to reduce build revisits and by using dashboards to track progress instead of manual processes.”

“I don’t think we would have accomplished the exceptionally high number of connections needed for Project Stratum as fast as we did without ArcGIS. It gives everyone a one-stop shop for information on everything to do with Fibrus projects.”

Philip McLaughlin, Client Manager, Esri Ireland, said: “Fibrus is paving the way towards a more connected future. We’re thrilled to see our technology making a real difference in bringing connectivity to people and businesses throughout Northern Ireland. ArcGIS is a powerful tool which is not only impacting positively on Fibrus and its operations, but is ultimately benefiting and connecting more communities.”

Dublin City Council Launch ‘DiscovAR Dublin’ – Ireland’s First Augmented Reality Map

Dublin City Council has today announced the launch of a new augmented-reality (AR) mapping feature that allows users of the Dublin Discovery Trails app to open up a 3D map of Dublin on their device and allow them to explore the city in a new, innovative way.

‘DiscovAR Dublin’ is a first for Ireland in utilising new open Google Maps technology to form an interactive 3D map where users can be transported into the city to interact with the map to uncover Dublin landmarks, museums and attractions. Users can also learn more about the history and significance of locations such as the Guinness Storehouse, EPIC – the Irish Emigration Museum and 14 Henrietta Street.

The project is a collaboration between the Dublin City Council, Smart Dublin and Virgin Media Business alongside Peel X, who developed the feature for the Dublin Discovery Trails app.

Launched last year, the app is a platform on which the Dublin local authorities can develop new and exciting immersive experiences combining the real-world history with smart technologies. Already there are unique experiences published including Doors into Docklands, Balbriggan and Castleknock heritage tours.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste, launching this exciting new feature said, “This is first for Ireland, the user can ‘literally’ step into the city from anywhere in the world and explore Dublin in the palm of their hand. This innovative technology will help further position Dublin as a world-class destination with this new experience. I’m delighted to launch DiscovAR here today and I’d encourage everyone to download the app and try it today to explore the best of what Dublin has to offer.”

Tourists and locals alike can use the app before they visit the city, or while they are in the city with the vision that it will assist users to learn more about Dublin and its extensive history, sights, monuments and streets across the capital city.

Also commenting on the launch of ‘DiscovAR Dublin’, Jamie Cudden, Smart City Lead, Dublin City Council said, “DiscovAR offers a new way for visitors and locals to experience the capital city. Through our Smart Dublin programme, we are always thinking about how we can embrace new technologies to enhance how people engage with our Capital City. This app through its immersive AR technology is a new and fun way to explore the City’s culture and history and we see huge potential to expand this.”

The Dublin Discovery Trail app is part of a larger Smart Tourism strategy to invest in digital to transform Dublin’s tourism experience for how we tell the story and history of the city and was developed as part of the new Dublin City Council Tourism Strategy 2023-2028 – Innovation Pillar. Using new and immersive technologies, such as augmented reality, will help further position Dublin as a world-class tourism destination with this new digital experience and allow for further unique and tailored customer experiences that will keep the city relevant for tourists.

For more information on ‘DiscovAR’ and to download the app visit http://dublindiscoverytrails.com or search Dublin Discovery Trails on Apple App Store or Google Play..

Esri Ireland’s digital mapping transforms the delivery of public services for Wicklow County Council

Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), is today announcing that it has helped Wicklow County Council to migrate their geospatial data and GIS services to the cloud, improving internal processes and transforming the delivery of public services.

For more than 25 years, Wicklow County Council has used Esri’s ArcGIS solutions in areas ranging from local development planning to highways maintenance. Now, with its ArcGIS Online system, Wicklow County Council’s data can be accessed in one central and secure cloud-based location and up-to-date data can be made available to the public faster than before.

The scalable system is underpinning the rollout of services to 142,000 citizens in Wicklow and enabled the council to build a new Residential Zoned Land Tax app in just half a day. User experience is improved as data from planning applications is now updated daily and receives thousands of views per day, while planning queries now load in a matter of seconds. In addition, Wicklow County Council can publish its County Development Plan immediately, as soon as it is formally adopted.

Esri’s technology is saving time for Wicklow County Council’s 850 employees as it eliminates the need for software updates and server upgrades with additional storage. Without the time-consuming burden of server management, the council’s GIS team can focus on creating new web apps to improve public services.

ArcGIS Online also simplifies data management, making it easier for the council to keep its 450 data sets current and available, such as information on vacant development sites. The migration has resulted in a six-fold increase in the performance of the council’s web-based GIS apps for both employees and members of the public who engage with these services. The system can handle peaks in traffic without any disruptions and returns search results rapidly.

Paddy O’Flaherty, GIS Officer, Wicklow County Council said: “Managing data and maintaining our GIS platform is so much easier than before. Things that were a chore can now be done with the click of a button. Users can select a thousand features, and ArcGIS Online will still return the results straight away.

“Not only did we migrate data to ArcGIS Online; we also did a thorough data quality review, to make sure that the data we were sharing online was the primary and most accurate data set available. ArcGIS Online has freed up time to develop more GIS services to improve our delivery of public services.”

Ted Taylor, Technical Account Manager, Esri Ireland: “We are delighted to be working once again with Wicklow County Council. It’s fantastic to see them embrace new technologies which will ensure resilience for the future. ArcGIS Online provides quick and reliable access to information, streamlines workflows, and improves programme performance, meaning the council can continue to provide vital resources to the public quickly and efficiently. We look forward to continuing to work with them to enhance these services for the residents of County Wicklow.”

Esri’s digital mapping system enables Bord na Móna to rehabilitate precious peatland ecosystems

Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), is today announcing that its digital mapping system is being used by Bord na Móna to restore and rehabilitate 33,000 hectares of peatlands over a five year period.

Bord na Móna is a climate solutions semi-state body helping Ireland to achieve a net carbon zero future. Now that commercial peat extraction has ceased, the organisation is leading the way in restoring and rehabilitating precious peatland ecosystems. Having previously worked with Esri Ireland on other projects, Bord na Móna is now using Esri’s ArcGIS system to support and optimise its rehabilitation efforts.

Bord na Móna is currently planning or implementing rehabilitation schemes on 19 sites annually throughout Ireland. Using Esri’s digital mapping capabilities, its ecologists can analyse and examine the ground level to identify which rehabilitation measures are most appropriate on different areas of bogland. This enables them to devise specific map-based solutions such as drain-blocking or bunding to optimise hydrological conditions to re-wet peat and restore peatland function.

Through their collaboration, Esri Ireland has helped Bord na Móna transform their rehabilitation operations, as all employees have access to real-time information on a central system which saves time, helps to improve workflows, and allows constant updating. ArcGIS Online dashboards provide greater visibility on the progress of all projects, wherever they are happening in Ireland. Teams can also use the dashboards to generate automated, accurate reports for stakeholders, such as the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The technology also enables effective working in remote, wild landscapes, as apps can be used in the field to capture data. This eliminates the need for paper use and improves the accuracy of data collection. In areas with little or no mobile coverage, maps can be downloaded to mobile devices and updates synchronised later.

Michael Lenihan, GIS Manager, Bord na Móna said: “ArcGIS is engrained in our bog rehabilitation process. Using ArcGIS, we can quickly visualise the existing conditions across thousands of hectares of bogs using numerous datasets and design and implement the most appropriate rehabilitation measures to restore peatland function and deliver climate action benefits.

 “With ArcGIS Online, everyone sees the most up-to-date plans, whether they are working in the office or in a bog, and this helps to ensure that ecology plans are carried out as intended. Without the dashboards, we would have to spend a lot of time producing PDF maps and reports. Instead, we can output progress data in a matter of minutes.”

 Phil McLaughlin, Client Manager, Esri Ireland: “Having worked extensively with Bord na Móna, they knew that we were the natural fit to deliver on this next stage in their journey. Esri’s technology has provided the organisation with an effective way of analysing, capturing and storing data to help them renew and rehabilitate our precious peatlands. It is already starting to deliver very positive results supporting Ireland’s ambitious climate goals and protecting our rich biodiversity.

 “We look forward to continuing to strengthen our relationship with Bord na Móna as it carries out this vital work.”

Esri’s digital mapping system empowers Inland Fisheries Ireland to safeguard marine fish stocks

Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), is announcing that its digital mapping system is being used by Inland Fisheries Ireland and the sea angling community in Ireland to help safeguard fish populations and protect marine ecosystems. Esri’s ArcGIS system supports the Irish Marine Recreational Angling Survey (IMREC) which aims to estimate sea anglers’ catches in Ireland. Up to 250,000 recreational sea anglers are active along the 3,000km of Irish coastline annually.

Inland Fisheries Ireland is Ireland’s state agency for protecting, managing and conserving inland fisheries and sea angling resources. To meet its EU data collection requirements around species, locations, and volumes of fish caught annually in European waters, Inland Fisheries Ireland saw a need for a collaborative approach to collate its own data with self-reporting by recreational sea anglers.

Turning anglers into citizen scientists, Esri’s Survey123 app has transformed reporting and enables anglers around Ireland to gather and upload real-time information from any device about the fish they catch and release. This information is then automatically transferred to a shared repository, called ArcGIS Hub, where it can be easily viewed by the anglers and monitored by Inland Fisheries Ireland to identify patterns in the species distribution, volumes and weight of fish caught, and estimated catch rates. Whether they are shore anglers, small boat anglers or charter boat anglers, each member has access to a personalised dashboard where they can track their own contributions and angling successes.

Inland Fisheries Ireland has greater control over and confidence in the accuracy and consistency of the data collected, and the system encourages anglers to play an active role in helping to conserve Ireland’s fish stocks. Data is aggregated for reporting and the system minimises manual data entry, is scalable and can grow with the scheme. The EU is particularly interested in data on cod, pollock, sharks, rays, sea bass and highly migratory species such as tuna, but the solution can be configured to capture data on other species too, giving Inland Fisheries Ireland flexibility for the future.

The state agency had success recently using Esri’s ArcGIS system to enable accurate reporting for a catch, tag and release programme for the critically endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna.

William Roche, Senior Research Officer at Inland Fisheries Ireland: “ArcGIS will enable us to recruit anglers as citizen scientists and crowdsource the large volume of data that we require for EU and national reporting. With more anglers collecting data, we will be able to build up a better picture of the state of fish stocks off Ireland’s coast, particularly for anglers. “The personalised dashboards will help to make the recording of data a habitual activity for anglers. We hope they will enjoy entering their catch data and take pride in their role as observers and stewards of Ireland’s fish stocks.”

Schalk Van Lill, Customer Success Manager, Esri Ireland: “We are delighted to work with Inland Fisheries Ireland on this project and enable the ongoing monitoring and safeguarding of fish populations. Our GIS solution has provided Inland Fisheries Ireland with a feasible and affordable way to capture additional data to complement the other data collected for the EU. “Citizen science like this provides broad spatial coverage all around the coastline of Ireland, enabling Inland Fisheries Ireland to efficiently comply with requirements. The solution can be easily scaled up to accept data uploads from more and more participants, allowing Inland Fisheries Ireland to expand the scheme over time.”

Esri’s digital mapping platform revolutionises litter collection for North Coast World Earth

Esri Ireland, the market leader in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), is today announcing that its digital mapping platform, ArcGIS, is revolutionising litter collection for environmental action group, North Coast World Earth. Using Esri’s software, the group has collected and recorded 3 tonnes of litter on the Northern Irish coast, enabling it to address the wider impact of environmental pollution in the area and campaign successfully for change.

Through Esri’s ArcGIS Survey 123 mobile app, the rapidly growing volunteer group can record information about litter hot spots, volumes of litter that could potentially be recycled, locations where bins are full or unusable, instances of fly tipping and the impact of litter pollution in Protected Areas.

This digital solution from Esri also drives engagement with communities, as local groups have access to personalised online dashboards where they can track their progress, see their contribution, and celebrate their achievements. The dashboards are particularly valuable in schools and support education by giving pupils involved a better understanding of their own contribution to reducing pollution. North Coast World Earth volunteers use the information collected to campaign more effectively with councils, elected councillors and members of the legislative assembly (MLAs), to lobby for action to help prevent littering.

The group’s interactive website, powered by ArcGIS, provides clear and verifiable evidence of pollution for North Coast World Earth, its volunteers, and members of the public. The volume and locations of litter collected are visible in near real-time on the website’s interactive digital map. This hub highlights areas that are not yet patrolled, encouraging more families, businesses, community and school groups to get involved in their localities.

This digital approach to gathering data across an area of 2,000 km2 in the Causeway Coast and Glens areas has decreased the manual administrative burden on the group’s committee and improved data accuracy. Data no longer needs to be collated manually from emails, spreadsheets and social media, which significantly reduces administrative overheads and allows for a more sustainable means of data collection as the action group grows.

Gavin Wallace, Chairperson, North Coast World Earth: “ArcGIS is a tool that we can use to influence the change that we all desperately want to see. We are not simply a litter picking group, we want to combine short-term fixes with long-term solutions. It is important that we identify and quantify the extent of the issue with verified data. 

“The beauty of our ArcGIS Maps and Dashboards is that it provides evidence of the types, volumes and locations of the litter collected by our members.  There are no limits to the amount of data that members can put into ArcGIS; it’s just phenomenal. In the months and years ahead, the ArcGIS platform will provide key data that will help raise further awareness about the issues that face our environment.”

Jamie Wallace, Customer Success Manager, Esri Ireland: “We are delighted to partner with North Coast World Earth and deploy ArcGIS to enable the group to take action and reduce pollution in the environment. The ArcGIS Survey123 mobile app, Dashboards and interactive online Hub have not only improved the quality and quantity of data collection but also given the group a new way to connect with their communities and raise awareness around the scale of the problem.

“North Coast World Earth is doing invaluable work in the Causeway Coast and Glens area of Northern Ireland. Esri Ireland is proud to support this work and provide a sustainable platform which will enable the group to continue to grow and tackle the important issue of litter pollution.”

Learn more about North Coast World Earth by visiting their website:

www.northcoastworldearth.org