PRO SECTOR BOUNDARY IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT- CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY

Geoplan is committed to continuous innovation across all of our products and processes and the most recent example of this can be seen with our Postcode Sector Boundaries.

The Geoplan Postcode Sector boundary file is recognised as the industry standard and has held this position since its original creation in 1984. As such it is relied upon by Royal Mail, Ordnance Survey and major search engine providers such as Google. The product is constantly reviewed, update and upgraded, and this next version of the product will be the best yet, delivering unrivalled postcode boundary accuracy, even down to street level.

This initiative is in response to the increasing move towards more granular, local and street level analysis, required by our customers. The product is now accurate to 1:5000 scale and suitable for use with all street level mapping. This level of accuracy and reliability provides a real edge in pursuit of accurate resource allocation, saving waste, cost and improving return.

A project of this scale would normally be handled by our GIS Team here at Geoplan. However, on this occasion we were keen to extend the scope of the project, hoping to make a contribution to the wider community. With this in mind, we looked to Cranfield University an organisation with whom we have strong links, dating back over 20 years.

In discussion with Tim Brewer and Stephen Hallett of Cranfield, we elected to provide Postgraduate students from the University with the opportunity to fulfill the work as part of their MSc course in Geographical Information Management. The work has been funded through a substantial bursary and a prize for the most committed student.

Following a successful start, we are pleased to confirm that all of the major conurbations in the UK, representing 38% of the 9,500 Postcode Sector boundaries in the dataset are complete. We expect that the final product will be ready for release later this year or in spring 2012, in line with our normal release phases. All existing maintained ESP customers will benefit from this significant improvement as part of their support package.

In the interim, we can illustrate the difference between the existing and improved dataset, as an indication of what is to come. The red boundary line in the image outlines the existing, and the pink represents the new and improved equivalent.

"This is a significant step in the development of our flagship Postcode Sector boundary product. We are particularly pleased to have been to take this step in association with Cranfield. The students have produced a superb high quality product and we are proud to been able to provide meaningful commercial experience and support to the university and it’s hardworking students "

John Taylor
Managing Director - Geoplan

"In line with Cranfield’s expectations of its students, this project has afforded the students practical experience of a working business environment with commercial expectations, quality control, project management and work patterns. As part of their work they have produced a detailed methodology consultancy report to present to the Managing Director and senior team at Geoplan."

Dr Steve Hallett
Principal Research Fellow in Soil Informatics - Cranfield University

The Cranfield “MSc” Geoplan Project Team:

Tim Brewer Course Director, MSc Geographical Information Management, presents Antony Scott with the prize for the student who has gained the most benefit from undertaking the Geographical Information Management course.