In the UK, systems integrators, developers and administrators of web mapping applications are often required to provide a locational context for their business data against a backdrop of Ordnance Survey (OS) map data. They want to do this as simply as possible and without having to become involved in data manipulation and map styling.
Application areas requiring this functionality include infrastructure and land management, command and control and local government planning.
The requirement is most easily met using a WMTS, an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard for distributing pre-rendered, georeferenced map tiles over the Internet. Cadcorp has a track record of providing comprehensive support for a wide range of GIS and Mapping data formats including OS products (See : https://www.cadcorp.com/support/data-formats-supported/) and of support for OGC standards. This support allows Cadcorp software to provide a particularly straightforward workflow for generating and distributing WMTS comprised of OS data:
- Load the OS data either through drag and drop, or by using one of the free Cadcorp OS data management tools provided with the software. The data is automatically georeferenced, styled and displayed
- Save the project file and select the WMTS option
- Connect to the WMTS and display the fully styled data
A growing number of UK users are benefiting from a WMTS powered by Cadcorp software. Ben O’Hara, Information Specialist at West Yorkshire Police commented, “I recently set up a WMTS of OS data for use within the Sopra Steria STORM Command and Control application. Using the Cadcorp data management tools and GeognoSIS server made this process straightforward. Our plan is to extend the use of the WMTS in other business applications in the New Year”.
Peter Marsh, Systems Development and GIS Manager at Arun District Council deployed a WMTS of OS data within his authority and commented, “Moving Arun’s aerial imagery and OS base mapping to a WMTS hosted on our Cadcorp GeognoSIS server has given our users faster access to the latest data. Technical and time demands, compared to using a conventional Tile Cache, have been greatly reduced. The Cadcorp data loader and styling for OS MasterMap means that up-to-date and attractive mapping can be deployed quickly and easily to end users.”