The display of mapping on the internet is something we all come across but probably never really care to think about too much! When you next use Google Maps or other such websites there is a great deal of technology going on in the background in terms of software providing the selected area and scale of mapping at the click of a mouse.
When a transaction needs to take place allowing the customer to actually purchase map data this presents another set of challenges. For business to business websites selling map related data, the user needs to be able to delineate and then purchase a piece of data from a master dataset. If you start by looking at a site selling UK wide data, somewhere behind the scenes is a large database holding the data to be selected.
Traditionally the market for purchasing a chunk of map data has been largely centred around a Business to Business activity; perhaps an Urban Planning Consultancy needing some detailed maps for a development site. However, there is also an interest amongst Consumers for specific areas of mapping, from street level mapping to aerial imagery, supplied as images or bundled into a finished report.
Lovell Johns have been involved in the development of two such sites for several years now:
CENTREMAPSlive is an award winning mapping portal selling everything from Ordnance Survey street level mapping, aerial imagery, geological data, historical mapping and much more.
More recently Green ASAP website offers, amongst other things, a Greenlight Report in which a user can specify a geographic location using address based searching to order an environmental risk assessment to potentially giver some piece of mind before proceeding with a house purchase.
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For further information regarding mapping for the web please contact Symon. |