January 07, 2010 -- Customers of The GeoInformation® Group, publishers of Cities Revealed aerial photography and UKMap, have received recognition for their technology innovation at the Association for Geographic Information’s (AGI) 2009 award ceremony in November.

Scotia Gas Networks (SGN) was highly commended in the Private Sector category for the use of Cities Revealed Building Class data to improve the measurement of gas leakage and management of its networks’ integrity. By utilising this unique database, around five million properties and 70 000 km of gas mains were classified by property age enabling SGN to locate those gas pipes more susceptible to leakage. This in turn enabled SGN to refine current risk models and proactively target a mains replacement programme. This has resulted in a significant reduction in natural gas leakage benefiting the environment and increasing company profits.
        
Brent Council was also recognised for its innovation in the Public Sector category for its application of UKMap, the new large-scale mapping launched last autumn. Brent Council is the UK’s first public authority to implement UKMap and has already identified cost savings in the first year. The Council is using UKMap to provide key location and base map data for a number of its core applications, including planning and transportation.
        
The GeoInformation Group’s Managing Director, Alun Jones, comments, "We are delighted to see this recognition of our customers’ achievements through these awards. Creating successful GI applications such as these is something we aim to achieve for all our clients”.