Good addressing can literally save lives. Sometimes research shows that certain city districts have a confusing address structure, which hinders the emergency services in finding incident locations quickly. CityGIS plays an active role in these studies by providing historical insight and suggesting possible improvements. For example, our colleagues from Cartography have contributed to initiatives such as “Searching for Doors” of RAV IJsselland and supported the municipality of Harderwijk with adjustments to make their neighbourhoods more accessible to emergency services.
With our specialized cartographic department, CityGIS develops and maintains a unique, up-to-date map of the Netherlands, tailored to the specific needs of public order and safety (OOV). This map, which works closely with the systems in control rooms, is indispensable for fast and accurate navigation to incident locations.
Our mapping department brings together a unique blend of expertise: accurate map data is constantly updated and expanded in collaboration with our software developers. This makes the CityGIS map an essential part of our products, ensuring that emergency responders have the most reliable and up-to-date information on their way to an incident location.
The CityGIS OOV map is an accurate, specially developed vector map that is tailored to the needs of public order and safety (OOV) in the Netherlands. This proprietary cartographic product contains essential details such as cadastral route data, locations of buildings, bollards, hectometre poles, and land use. Specifically for OOV purposes, the network also includes roads that are only accessible to emergency services, as well as private areas, giving emergency responders a more complete overview of each deployment.
The map is built entirely with vectors: coordinate-based data that accurately represents each object via xy coordinates. This vector structure not only facilitates maintenance and frequency updates, but also makes it possible to perform route calculations more efficiently. CityGIS’s Cartography department calibrates the various route engines in collaboration with customers, adapting speed and usage of specific road types as needed.
This structure allows CityGIS to quickly update the OOV map with up-to-date information, ensuring that rescuers can always count on the most up-to-date data and routes for fast and safe navigation. This OOV map thus plays a crucial role in ensuring fast response and accurate route guidance.
CityGIS Cartography provides up-to-date, accurate maps using diverse, reliable sources and smart algorithms. Customer input is a crucial source in this regard, as local expertise ensures highly relevant updates. With user feedback, we can not only make map changes quickly, but also ensure that every change is visible and effective.
In addition, the Cartography Department supports specific navigation needs within public order and security services. Our route planners are constantly adapted based on discipline and vehicle type, with a flexible structure that takes into account, for example, tunnel heights, width of roads and specific preferred speeds.
CityNAV, our first-class navigation solution, offers tailor-made routes through its discipline-specific customizations, while our Linux-based system – now used by the police and some fire departments – even offers vehicle-specific navigation. This system dynamically adjusts based on vehicle height, height and weight, and is optimized for a safe and efficient ride to the destination.
With a focus on reliability and precision, CityGIS Cartography provides a map and navigation system that grows with the needs of our customers and can always be used in complex situations.
CityGIS provides emergency responders in both control rooms and vehicles with access to different, accurate map layers, so that everyone works with the same map image. In addition to our own OOV map, other geographically correct map layers from various suppliers can also be integrated, from aerial photos to vector maps. This ensures maximum flexibility in both control room and navigation software, where, for example, aerial photos can be displayed as a map layer, while the routing runs invisibly via the OOV map of CityGIS.
For other countries, such as Belgium, routes are calculated based on reliable maps from external suppliers such as TomTom (formerly Tele Atlas). The modular structure allows third-party maps to be seamlessly integrated into the CityGIS system, tailored to the specific requirements of emergency services.
A map layer added later is the BAG (Basic Register of Addresses and Buildings). Our cartography department has integrated the CityGIS OOV map with BAG data to improve the accuracy of address and building information. With the help of advanced algorithms, deviations are identified and carefully assessed. In this way, we guarantee an up-to-date and reliable map image that fully meets the requirements of public order and security services.
For accurate incident locations in 112 control rooms, CityGIS’s BAG+ map layer is essential. The BAG (Basic Register of Addresses and Buildings), a government database with coordinates of all addresses and buildings in the Netherlands, forms the basis for this. Although governments are legally obliged to use this data, a coordinate can sometimes position incorrectly, such as in buildings that are far from the street on a plot. This can lead to a small road or ditch between an actual incident location – inconvenient and time-consuming in emergency situations.
To prevent this, CityGIS has carefully adapted the entire BAG database of 9 million locations and linked it to the navigation network. Advanced algorithms ‘match’ each location to the most suitable street vector, with manual corrections for locations where the data detects inaccuracy.
This BAG+ layer is used in all CityGIS systems, with updates made available four times a year for 112 control rooms. This ensures that all incidents are positioned efficiently and error-free, with accurate and up-to-date data in the GMS back office system. Thanks to these improved positions of 9 million locations, CityGIS provides a map layer that supports reliable navigation and makes a difference in emergency response.
