Bilbao city council has launched GeoBilbao, a portal serving map-based information and services using Intergraph’s GeoMedia spatial data infrastructure (SDI) solution. The city, which serves a population of more than 355,000 spread across eight districts and covering 40 square kilometres, initiated the project to help the municipality make more efficient and effective use of its spatial information resources. Internally, this meant improving data coordination and reuse across multiple departmental systems that use Geographic Information System (GIS) software and integrating spatial information and capabilities with the City’s enterprise business applications. Externally, the objective was to create a public access municipal geo-data portal that would simplify the creation of public services while increasing their efficiency, transparency and accessibility.
The new infrastructure provides a definitive and unambiguous source of spatial information within the municipality and equips employees with key tools to support decision making such as map-based data searches, analysis and editing. It also facilitates simple and efficient data sharing and collaboration with other governmental agencies through standards-based information exchange. For the public, Bilbao’s geoportal provides a fast and simple way to access information and services using a web browser without the need to install software. Its development involved the consolidation and migration of a number of existing online services and integration with the municipality’s web site www.bilbao.net in order to support public information services.
“Citizens can now access a diverse set of geo-referenced information including real time data, such as traffic density, parking occupancy rate, video camera feeds, and much more, as well as information on public facilities and infrastructure, WiFi zones, acoustic levels and maps of electro-magnetic emissions,… and now we’re working to include information about people”, says Manu Roibal, CIO at Bilbao City Council.
The project has also established a common development environment for the city’s map-based Web applications that leverages the standardised components of the new portal. These resources will help ensure simple, flexible and sustainable integration (both to internal systems and public access e-government services) thanks to their adherence to open interoperability standards. Bilbao’s geoportal is 100% standards-compliant and built using Intergraph’s GeoMedia® SDI Pro, GeoMedia® SDI Portal, GeoMedia® Professional, GeoMedia® WebMap as well as Bentley’s Microstation; it uses Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and DB2 for data storage, Microsoft IIS Server as Application Server running on Windows Server 2008 and Apache as Web Server.
“Following the strategic approach Bilbao has taken, SDI projects can enable organisations to transform the way they manage, see and use spatial information. Rather than simply meet mandated requirements the City has been able to increase efficiency through data sharing and by simplifying the delivery of spatial services, internally as well as with partners and the public”, said Robert Widz . “SDIs require far more than publishing open Web services and our SDI solutions also cover the harder elements that sometimes get overlooked, such as security and access control, service monitoring, data preparation and a functionally rich client browser”.
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