Introducing our new chief executive

After 10 years with Critchlow, including the last year as CEO, Kirsty Coombe is moving on. She’s decided her regular commutes from the Coromandel are over, and she’ll be spending more time there with her family.

We’re delighted to introduce you to her successor, Jos Kunnen.

Jos is the former CIO of Contact Energy, so he brings a deep understanding of the kinds of business and technology issues clients are facing in the modern world, and of how location intelligence solutions can help address those challenges. Prior to Contact Energy, Jos was the Australasian General Manager of consulting and systems integration for Hewlett Packard, where he worked for 15 years.

“This is very exciting time to be moving into the world of location intelligence,” says Jos. “What was once the domain of mappers and cartographers is now part of the mainstream. Sectors as diverse as government, utilities, health, retail and financial services are seeing how they can boost performance in key areas like customer service, productivity and competitiveness by integrating spatial information with their existing enterprise IT.”

“These days, we’re having to grapple with new issues like climate change and the need to improve energy conservation and transport costs, so that is putting location intelligence centre stage for better strategic and operational business decision-making across all industries.”

When he’s not hard at work at Critchlow, Jos is enthusiastic about travel and other cultures, and has been involved in Wellington’s Alliance Française for several years. He’s also a volunteer for Job Mentor, which assists non-English-speaking migrants to find work. And in what spare time he finds after all that, he’s a keen cyclist and sailor.

Upcoming NationalMap release brings big improvements

You asked for it – you’ve got it! Customer feedback on numerous aspects of our flagship NationalMap product has been incorporated into a major new release, and we think you’ll find it is a much improved beast.

The new version has been restructured to better address the needs of specific industry sectors. While the same comprehensive datasets and layers will be offered, they will be packaged to make it much easier for you to use them in a more flexible manner, and to clearly see what you need to see without your view being cluttered by information that isn’t relevant to you.

We have added some new datasets which will be of great value to particular industries such as the health and education sectors, enabling users to drill down to a very deep level of detail. We’ve also made major improvements to our existing base layer datasets to enhance detail and accuracy while making the system cleaner and simpler to use.

Changes to the overall look and feel of NationalMap will make it more visually appealing, and you’ll also find it more familiar if you use Google Earth or similar popular mapping tools.

There are lots more great new features, and we’ll be telling you more about them over the coming weeks. Current NationalMap 2 users will automatically get the new version as part of their regular November update, but if you just can’t wait, we’ll also be giving you the opportunity to get your hands on it sooner. Contact your Critchlow Client Director for more information.

Ministry of Health gives WebEOC a workout during Exercise Ruaumoko

The Ministry of Health proved the value of its new WebEOC emergency management solution during the recent national civil defence exercise dubbed Exercise Ruaumoko. This was New Zealand’s biggest ever civil defence emergency management exercise, which involved thousands of staff from hundreds of organisations in planning how the country would respond to a volcanic eruption in Auckland.

The health sector’s responses were managed and co-ordinated using WebEOC from Critchlow. With WebEOC, up to 60 people from 12 agencies were able to securely log in to a single centralised web-based system through which management and emergency operations staff could handle tasks such as:

• Preparing and viewing situation reports
• Using visual dashboards to dynamically track the status of emergency personnel, victims and health sector resources such as staff, drug supplies and hospital beds
• Logging requests for assistance and offers of help
• Prioritising and assigning tasks

A major benefit of the WebEOC system is that it is very easy and intuitive to use, even for staff who have no IT training or experience. It’s also lightening quick to set up - we can install the system, provide training for the administrators and have it up and running with basic functionality within a week.

A few of us from Critchlow were able to visit the Ministry of Health’s emergency operations centre and ‘the bunker’ at the Beehive during Exercise Ruaumoko. We can report that for the number of people and agencies involved and the logistics required, everything seemed reassuringly calm and well-organised!

PitneyBowes MapInfo boosts Microsoft support

MapInfo Professional, MapInfo’s flagship application for business mapping and analysis, will now utilise the spatial enhancements in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to provide enhanced geographic and business data management.

SQL Server 2008 users will now be able to directly access, visualise and analyse data using the user-friendly geographic and analytical capabilities of MapInfo Professional. By combining the location intelligence power of MapInfo with the comprehensive data management capabilities of SQL Server 2008, users from across the enterprise will be able to make faster and better informed business decisions.

Training and Events

Did you know…

Critchlow is now a PitneyBowes MapInfo Accredited Training Centre. The accreditation recognises our strong track record with MapInfo, and our on-going commitment to providing top quality training and education as an important part of the value we bring to our relationship with you.

In-house training programme May – July2008

Remember, we are also able to accommodate special requests outside our established programme and in other centres. If you have a special request or want to know more, just contact Beth-Anne on beth-anne.martin@critchlow.co.nz or by calling 0800 MAPPING (0800 627 746).

Come and see us at these upcoming events and conferences –

The Inaugural Geospatial Information Systems Summit
23 – 24 June 2008
Duxton Hotel, Wellington
http://www.brightstar.co.nz/nz/inaugural-geospatial-
information-systems-summit.html

The 2nd Australasian Natural Hazards Management Conference
29 – 30 July 2008 with optional workshops on the 28th and 31st July
Te Papa, Wellington
http://www.hazards-education.org/ahmc/index.php

Collaborative Emergency Response 2008
11 – 13 June 2008
Hotel Realm, Canberra, ACT.
http://www.iqpc.com/au/emergencyresponse

International Crisis and Emergency Management Conference 2008
21 – 22 May 2008
Novotel Langley Hotel, Perth, Western Australia

Getting to know
Russell Bowden

What I do at Critchlow
Since joining the company four years ago, I’ve worked in a number of areas relating to the Critchlow databases. In 2004, I started on data matching project work, and I progressed from this to data maintenance, where I worked on expanding the databases. For the last year, I’ve been Critchlow's Infrastructure and Database Manager. In this role, my focus is on improving and expanding all Critchlow data; assisting the projects and sales teams to make sure they have everything they need; and ensuring that we have a suitable maintenance environment and technical knowledge to make the most of our abilities to provide solutions, products and support to clients.

What I did before joining Critchlow
What didn't I do before joining Critchlow? Despite having formal qualifications in GIS, remote sensing and satellite imagery, I have tried my hand at a good number of unrelated activities. I’ve worked as a builder fitting bathrooms, in a pathology department (I've seen dead people), built websites, worked in warehouses, and assisted litigation firms. My primary goal was to become a commercial pilot in the UK, however I was unsuccessful at the final stage of selection. So I took all sorts of jobs not knowing what I wanted to do before coming over to New Zealand. But I think the one job that gives my colleagues the most entertainment is that immediately prior to leaving the UK, I was helping build pregnancy test kits.

What's next for me?
From where I sit, I can see there are a huge number of exciting and challenging possibilities for where Critchlow can take GIS data and information within New Zealand businesses and government, and constantly expanding choices for how that data is represented. I intend to help Critchlow assist businesses in innovating and expanding their geographic awareness and potency by expanding and improving our datasets.

What I do in my spare time
Flying is still a large focus despite not doing it for a career, and I can frequently be found at the flying club slowly working towards my private licence. Outside of that I enjoy swimming – which I used to do competitively as well as being a qualified instructor – rugby, and more recently I am becoming interested in motorbikes. My other great interest is travelling, and I’ve been lucky enough to cover off a large number of destinations worldwide, including most of Europe, America, the Caribbean, the Canary Islands, and some of Asia Pacific.

My favourite dumb computer story
I was working at a warehouse where the computer system had just been upgraded from terminals to desktops, and our office administrator wasn't too savvy with computers. She left the office and came back to find the screen was blank (previously the terminals didn't have screen saver functions). She asked me if my screen was working. I told her that it was just the screen saver and it would come back if she pressed a button. She came back shortly afterwards and said although she had pressed the button, her screen was still blank. When I went to have a look it turned out that the button she had chosen to press was the power button on the monitor.

‘Fair Go’ highlights the value of quality data

For those of you shelling out on shiny new navigation systems, a recent ‘Fair Go’ item was a timely reminder that such products are only as good as the data they rely on.

The story featured the owners of a Tauranga-based business whose in-car navigation system repeatedly provided inaccurate driving instructions, including a ‘phantom’ roundabout and directions to take non-existent roads.

“The story showed how important it is for consumers, business users and manufactures of GPS navigation systems to have current, valid and well-maintained data,” comments Critchlow’s Dave Roberts.

Of course, clients using Critchlow’s data products can rest easy. The constant validation and cross-checking that we undertake, coupled with the regular data updates we provide you with, means the information you’re depending on in your business is as accurate and reliable as possible.

If you’re thinking of buying a navigation system, you may want to check out the highlights (and lowlights!) of a recent Consumer test of six different units, available through their website at www.consumer.org.nz.

Talk to us

We want to ensure that we give you news that is relevant, informative and interesting.

If you’d like to make your views known on this newsletter or on our website (we also accept compliments!) and/or any improvements you’d like to see made, just send an e-mail to david.roberts@critchlow.co.nz and we’ll do our best to incorporate them. Thanks!

Know where our Client Directors are:

Duncan Ashenhurst
duncan.ashenhurst@critchlow.co.nz
04 910 6213 / 027 414 4065

Nicola Henshaw
nicola.henshaw@critchlow.co.nz
09 363 9518 / 021 2404600

Niki Soteros
niki.soteros@critchlow.co.nz
04 910 6209 / 021 540 098

Pat Daly
pat.daly@critchlow.co.nz
04 910 6205 / 021 701 016

Terry Drummond
terry.drummond@critchlow.co.nz
04 910 6204 / 027 652 0792

William Lee
william.lee@critchlow.co.nz
09 363 9545 / 021 893 017