Moving to QGIS in Local Government

Paul Trodd – North Devon Council

Why did we change?

We had a limited Web GIS

Our desktop GIS was not INSPIRE compliant

The cost to upgrade was prohibitive

Savings could be made

What did we do?

We had a play with QGIS

We set up Geoserver to sort out INSPIRE We used INSPIRE to get approval to change our GIS

We converted our own existing layers into Spatial Layers in SQL Server 2008 R2

Settled for a combination of methods depending on users

We did a lot of testing on mapping set up

What did we do?

We brought in some training from Dotted Eyes

We visited Matt in Dartmoor

We used the money we saved from INSPIRE to do this For two of us this was really showing us we were on the right

track. Our biggest benefit from training was being introduced to GDAL

We created a version of QGIS that looked like our existing software, tested it and got ready to go live

How we have set it up

We set up a central project of all our layers

Our projects relate to the departments using them

We embed layers in other projects from this one.

Users access these from a corporate directory

The GIS team have a full version Users get a cut down version with just the tools they need.

The GIS Team version

The User version

Our layer set up

We have editing layers and view only layers

Layers created from shape files are editable by default

Users get these in projects depending on their needs

We don’t tell users this.

Our Layers Typical Set Up

SQL 2005

Planning SystemSQL 2008R2

Spatial Database

Editing Layer

View Only Layer

Our mapping set upLAN

Aerial Photos from Windows Server

DMZ

FIREWALL

Plugins Used

The Most Useful Plugins we have found and use go2Streetview Spatial Query Plugin CADDigitize qgis2leaf and qgis2web Georeferencer GDAL Coordinate Capture Viewshed Analysis Gdal Tools Postgres Search

Postgres Search

We have adapted this plugin to provide an address search

Postgres Search

We have adapted this plugin to provide an address search

Rolling out QGIS

We created a Novell distribution

Distributed it to and trained our existing GIS staff

In the process of distributing to all other staff

Future Plans

We currently have a My Neighbourhood application

We are developing a web GIS using leaflet technology

We plan to enhance the My Neighbourhood application by embedding the leaflet map

Worth A Mention

Speak to others who have done it

Back stuff up and don’t be afraid to experiment

Our staff have taken to it quickly and we have no regrets

Contacts

paul.trodd@northdevon.gov.uk

Any Questions?