From analysis and specification to implementation and ongoing maintenance of both systems and data, BHA can handle all of your GIS needs.

GIS provides you with the opportunity to maximise efficiency through seamless access to data in a logical and intuitive format. We can enable your organisation to integrate disparate systems and produce savings on IT systems.

Mapping systems developed by BHA will result in an increase in efficiency through improved access to asset information enabled by the automation of paper based or legacy business processes. Asset data can be updated rapidly and reliably, the results being quickly distributed throughout the organisation.

Not only can you save money and improve staff efficiency, you can also enhance your compliance with health and safety regulations by providing location based hazard reports or other H&S material. BHA has produced GIS systems running on desktop systems, the internet and PDAs.

What is GIS?

A GIS is a Geographic Information System, a computerised system allowing information to be drawn together from many sources and then displayed in the form of a map.

The data being displayed is in some way referenced to locations on the earth (it's spatial location) and consequently each piece of data may be viewed relative to other types of asset in order to build a picture that may otherwise be too complex to create.

For example an electricity sub-station has a spatial location, which may be described as grid co-ordinates or a latitude/longitude. That sub-station will have information related to it (known as attribute data), for example the voltage of the equipment, an asset number and hyperlinks to images of associated documentation.

Such data could then be compared with data relating to water courses such that a map could be produced showing the locations of all sub-stations within a certain distance of a river and a composite map produced showing the results.

This powerful technology enables data to be used from different types of format, for example background maps can be purchased showing different levels of detail ( 1:1,250 scale mapping would show individual houses, but 1:250,000 scale would give the sort of detail commonly shown on a road map).

Existing paper records can be scanned and aligned with the map grid, this would enable historic records to be aligned with current features enabling a picture to be built up of how an area has developed over the years. Aerial photographs can be overlayed onto the map, or used as a background to the data.

Asset data can be incorporated into the GIS from legacy systems or from current databases or drawings. Real time location data can be incorporated in the form of GPS locations and track logs can be made for future use.

GIS can be used to enable the rapid and efficient distribution of information within a company. The data can then be interrogated (queried) and the answers presented as maps or tables and the results used to support decision making and problem solving in all departments.

Benefits Of Using GIS

Most organisations have new and legacy data stored in a variety of formats, often in several systems and locations. GIS can be used to integrate your data spatially in such a way that it can be easily and quickly accessed and analysed, enabling you to make critical business and planning decisions.

Data can be collected once and used many times. When legacy data has been digitised, the paper records can be archived or destroyed, freeing up office space and enabling the rapid retrieval of that information across the company, something that was not previously possible.

Improvements in the management of assets and resources can be made using GIS. Separate departments can benefit from information traditionally held by others by creating a GIS database that may be shared around the company.

Many different types of information are used by organisations, for example customers, asset inventories, natural resources, land use, and census data. Traditionally it has been difficult to correlate the effect of these factors on an enterprise, but GIS is a tool that can integrate these different influences to lead to more informed business decisions.

A GIS spatial database is continuous and in real world co-ordinates which allows maps to be produced at any scale , centered on any location and showing selected information symbolised to your own specification. A map can be created any time, to any scale for any purpose, as long as you have the data to support it.