Conversion of ITN delivers centralised Route Planning and Drivetimes for Crime Analysis, Command & Control, Risk and Contingency Management Planning

Windsor, 29 July 2008 – Pitney Bowes MapInfo, the leading global provider of location intelligence solutions, today announces the official release of its unique new routing capabilities. The new capabilities deliver unparalleled benefits by converting the OS MasterMap Integrated Transport Network (ITN) layer to server-based and desktop routing solutions.

Having been selected to deliver a number of mission-critical routing solutions in the public sector with ITN data, Pitney Bowes MapInfo is confident it has an advanced, robust, scalable and proven routing capability for diverse applications, such as Crime Analysis, Command & Control, Risk and Contingency Management Planning, among others.

The ITN layer (together with a large portfolio of other comprehensive mapping products) is a dataset representing the entire road network of Great Britain, available from Ordnance Survey® to many government organisations through the Mapping Services Agreement (MSA) or the Pan Government Agreement (PGA).

“Truly effective routing software has traditionally been perceived as complex and cost prohibitive to many in the public sector, as most routing solutions require proprietary routing data,” commented Mike Ashmore, Head of Central Government Sales at Pitney Bowes MapInfo.

“However, we are increasingly taking Ordnance Survey’s ITN, adding customer-specific attribution to it and compiling highly valuable, cost-effective routing solutions for a wide range of public sector needs.”

Pitney Bowes MapInfo is working in partnership with integration leaders Imass to implement some of the most significant Command & Control and mobile data solutions, using the routing software into the Fire Services and Police Forces: “The new facilities will support the efficient mobilising and rapid response to the incident scene,” commented Paul Warner, Imass Director of Strategic Alliances. “Relevant operational information will be available to the Officer In Charge en-route and at the scene of the incident, thereby supporting a ‘safe system of work’ and assisting in the effective resolution of the incident.”

Deployments are also underway with a number of local authorities and police forces to deliver on their need for isochrones (drive-times) and route planning for applications such as catchment areas, coverage analysis, crime analysis and demand resource planning.

“The ITN Layer is a highly accurate, detailed and up-to-date reference base for the entire road infrastructure of Great Britain – an invaluable tool for any command & control environment,” said Tom Satterthwaite, Senior Product Manager of Ordnance Survey. “We are confident that the work done by Pitney Bowes MapInfo to add extra value to the data will increase its potential still further.”

Pitney Bowes MapInfo is able to add extensive business value to its routing capabilities by enhancing the ITN Layer with additional data sets to improve the accuracy of results. For instance, Urbanity attribution and areas of retail development have been added to enable more accurate route planning by providing a better speed model in built-up areas, or to plan routes that avoid densely populated parts of the country.

This unique location intelligence solution has the capability to add Predictive Analytics to the mix, providing an unprecedented ‘what-if’ calculation related to new construction developments, accidents, road closures and other potential hazards for optimum routing.