Case Studies

Start of the project

The initial part of the project was based on a demonstration of the advantages of our GestLighting software (public lighting) and the advantages that a GIS system offers in the work that they carried out, so that the technicians became familiar with the GIS tools.

After the demonstration, an analysis was carried out together with the Ferrovial technicians of the work and phases carried out in their projects, analyzing the requirements and needs in each one of them and designing tools that allow work on their new platform.

Once this analysis has been carried out, the work is divided into different construction phases, which allow the use of the platform and the inclusion of new tools that include the different phases in the GIS.

App Design

The application is divided into three types of platform: A desktop platform for initial and analysis work, a web tool for data consultation and modification, and a mobile tool for construction control.

A common structure is designed and created for the different projects, unifying the information to be processed and allowing the addition of specific information for each of them. The new structure will allow the work of the different phases to be carried out and unify it, facilitating the work of the different technicians.

The centralization of information is essential to access it in real time from the different platforms, as well as analyze and work with it with different technicians simultaneously.

Construction of the application

The construction of the application is determined and carried out in different phases, from a first construction to start the work with GIS tools and the work control, as well as to include new tools in different phases that allow to automate the different processes, from so that all work is done through the GIS platform.

The different tools are built and improved in each of the phases, including new functionalities and improvements requested by the technicians when they become familiar with the GIS tools and their use.

Different types of users

One problem is the information that the different types of users can see, as well as the way they are displayed. Different types of user permissions are designed, with tools designed to display a different amount of information for each type of user and specific tools for each of them. This information, as well as the way it is displayed, can be configured by Ferrovial technicians, who can adapt and make each project unique.

In the design of the tools, the users who are going to use them and the previous knowledge of each one are taken into account, creating more complex and specific GIS tools for technicians, as well as simple and easy-to-use tools for site control users. and maintenance, without knowledge of GIS tools.

Result

The final result is a living application, which includes new functionalities and tools that facilitate the management of the different projects, as well as its control thanks to tools and functions that automate a large part of the processes.

The centralized information allows the technicians to analyze each project in real time and to know the real state of it, as well as to define the visible information of each one of them for each type of user.

The use of the different platforms allows ferrovial technicians, as well as construction control and maintenance users, to carry out the different operations in a simple way, as well as total control of each of the project phases.

HOW TO PLAN A PROJECT OF THIS MAGNITUDE?

The data that is included in this local infrastructure survey must be very complete, since it does not only include information on parks, cemeteries and town hall buildings, but also references to water supplies, distribution networks or sanitation, as well as globally related to lighting and solid waste, Drinking Water Treatment Plants, etc. With this, administrations get a general view of their information that provides them with the keys to improve or update their services. When the Diputación de Málaga presented us with its requirements and needs to face the survey of local infrastructures, we had no doubts about the type of project that we had to carry out. It was essential to create a platform and a complete QGIS module, which would cover and integrate all the tasks that are carried out within an administration of this magnitude.

USER-TYPE PLATFORM ADAPTATION

The product that we offer to the Diputación de Málaga to face this challenge has to be divided into two different areas, adapting to the different actors that are going to use it and to the needs and permissions of each one:

On the one hand, we have the technicians who carry out their work within the Provincial Council itself who need a system in which they can enter and update data or elements periodically, even if they are from different parts of Malaga.

On the other hand, the technicians of these municipalities must also be able to access the QGIS/WEB, also being able to edit as transformations occur and introduce the improvements at the same time that they are implemented. A complete QGIS must also contemplate the option of sharing this information with the general public that needs, at an advisory level, to know the infrastructures of their locality.

MIGRATION OF OLD TOOLS TO THE NEW PLATFORM

The problem faced by the Diputación de Málaga was the existence of two different programs based on 2 AGIS architectures that covered these needs independently. Once FISOTEC enters the project, it starts a unification and adaptation procedure with a free software base for the latest version of QGIS, 3.4.

The task of migrating a previous version to the most recent one has gone through a deep work of creating tools that allow technicians to work easily, and users to consult any element in an easy and intuitive way.

RESULT

In the new QGIS, the Provincial Council and its technicians, as well as those of the rest of the municipalities, can intuitively edit data in the present time, in addition to carrying out checks on the validity of what they visualize and they can also export this information in a series of chips. These supporting documents can be shared both with the ministry and with the rest of the municipalities to keep the documentation of the new registrations up to date.

Any citizen without high technical knowledge can consult all the data indicated, either for an administrative need or of any other nature.

How does the project start?

The initial part of the project is the analysis and digitization of the GIS information necessary for the work and analysis carried out by a City Council, from layers of infrastructure to layers of municipal services.

For a detailed analysis, different meetings are planned with the technicians of the City Council to learn about the current work and adapt the project to the work carried out in the City Council, so that the different operations that will be carried out through the platform are automated and facilitated.

How is the information obtained?

The problem faced by the City Council of La Línea de la Concepción is to gather the current information and process it in order to use it in a GIS platform, especially the current PGOU.

The task of obtaining the information has gone through a deep digitization work carried out by our GIS technicians. The work was carried out by processing and digitizing the information that arrived in different formats, such as plans in PDF format, plans made in AUTOCAD or GIS information in different formats.

Application design

Parallel to the work carried out by our GIS technicians, the application is designed, which will have two platforms (Desktop and Web).

A centralized structure is designed that will be accessed by both platforms and the tools that each will contain. Said structure is adapted to the current architecture of the City Council, taking into account the security of the data and their protection.

The design of the tools is focused on the type of user that each of the platforms will handle.

Adaptation to new users

The main challenge is the adaptation of the different tools to users who are new to handling GIS tools. The use of a new platform, with new tools, had to be adapted to the new user, facilitating their work.

The main work in the adaptation was to know the current tools used by the different technicians and their needs, so that tools with a usability very similar to those currently used were created, improving their capacity, making the use of the new platform is a necessity for the technician, who sees his work capacity improved without the need for specific learning of the new tools.

Adaptation to user roles

The GIS information will be accessible to municipal technicians through both platforms and by citizens through the WEB platform. In this way, the available information had to be adapted to the different profiles of users who access it.

In this way, a system of user roles is created, which allows defining the information that will be accessible to each type of user and the information that can be updated.

Result

The different technicians of the City Council of La Línea de la Concepción, can consult and modify the data in real time through the plugin for the QGIS application, being able to export it in different formats for the necessary procedures in the city council.

The information will also be accessible to the citizen, as well as to the technicians, through the web platform, which will display the updated information and will facilitate the obtaining and completion of the different forms for the procedures in said town hall.