Author: Sal
Eco-Island Conference: Dr Vanessa Lawrence, Director General and CE of Ordnance Survey
Wednesday, 26th March, 2008 at 2:13 pm, Isle of Wight
Dr Lawrence started her presentation by stating how grateful she is to have been asked to be involved in this landmark conference and considers this to be a turning point for the island and the UK as a whole.
She believes that it’s all about “having the vision and carrying it through.”
Dr Lawrence believes that it’s all about recognising the changes that are occurring in the world around us and preparing for the future.
For those who don’t know the history, Ordnance Survey was founded in 1871.
Since that time, the OS master map has been grown and now underpins so much in the UK’s community; sat nav, mobiles, waste management - apparently there are 5000 changes made every day to the master map.
Why is this relevant?
The OS master map have helped in projects to monitor climate change in Haringey. By using a thermal imaging camera, they have taken that data and then laid it onto the master map, showing results of heat loss. This was then displayed on the Internet for residents to see and hopefully do something about.
Kensington and Chelsea did something similar by looking at garden spaces in their borough and then being able to target those households to promote the benefits of green waste management and recycling.
Schools transport services have also been affected by the use of the master map. East Riding Council recognised there were things they could do by improving the bus services. The changes resulted in savings of £160k as well as substantially reducing Co2 emissions.
The London Borough of Sutton previously had 47 education vehicles which picked up and dropped off students around the borough. In 2002, through the help of the master map they were able to cut vehicles down from 47 to 23. Students enjoyed shorter journey times as a result of the more efficient pick up and drop off experience. Not to mention cut in Co2 emissions and money savings.
Teigbridge in South Devon - decided to consider how they could become more environmental and efficient in waste management. They looked carefully at routing of their refuse trucks, using GPS, and a weighing measure on the lifter. This enabed them to record the weight of rubbish being picked up, as well as geographical location, thereby allowing them to work out which areas needed more regular picks up than others. They saved £20,000 with predicted further savings of £110,000.
Dr Lawrence went on to explain that OS data can also be used to determine ocean tide loadings. Something os particular importance to a small Island such as ours. The OS are responsible for pinpoint accuracy to GPS and able to predict coastal surges. Apparently, ocean loading models show that land goes up and down every day by 7cm!
She also believes that education is a very important aspect in promotion of Eco Island. OS use the web to facilitate this learning and find it is used worldwide.
As an employer, OS try to remain as green as possible. Their new building is more environmentally sound, there are car sharing facilities on their intranet, they provide breakfast for cyclists and really encourage staff to think about how they get to work.
As Dr Lawrence came close to the end of her presentation, she stressed that the knowledge of geography can really affect decision making and feels that the vision for the Island is extremely exciting.
She used a well know phrase by the late Walt Disney
If you can dream it, you can do it!
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March 26th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Another splendid report which shows the importance of geography and map-making in making environmental and energy-efficient decisions. The IW Council could take a few lessons in traffic management. Instead of hiring expensive consultants from their buddy Councils elsewhere, they could ask any mathematician specialising in network topology. He would tell them how to sort out Newport one-way streets so as to minimise overall journey distances from one point to another (at the moment they seem to do it on the back of an envelope, and close off little bits of vital connections at the behest of anyone who gets the ear of a councillor) - there is also no flexibility in the system, so that if a road is closed due to an accident or digging-up, there is complete chaos. A topologist with a good computer model could also tell them how to arrange their school bus runs so as to maximise efficiency of pick-ups and minimise total distances travelled (it’s similar to what we used to call the “traveller salesman problem”). They might need this expertise when they start bussing primary kids all over the Island.
– Dennis.