Compass10 Annual Conference of Compass Informatics - Speaker Profiles

Roger Longhorn is a senior data policy analyst with Compass – and has many years of experience in the geoinformation industry and prior to that in the shipping industry. Roger is editor of the Geoconnexion magazine, participates in projects and initiatives at a European level relating to SDIs, and leads projects for Compass such as the on-going Turkish Spatial Data Infrastructure feasibility study. Roger will provide his views on where we are at as regards the broad Spatial Data Infrastructure area, what the challenges are, and where we might now go in an Irish context.  A constructively critical presentation can be expected, bedded in deep European and worldwide experience..

Eoin O’Grady is Section Head of Information Services & Development at the Marine Institute, Galway, Ireland, and has, with colleagues, been a leading actor in delivery of successful data management solutions. Eoin will provide an update on the Irish Spatial Data Exchange initiative and the latest software toolkit arising from that initiative as funded by the Marine Institute and in which Compass participated.  He will concentrate in particular on the role of GeoNetwork and the development of a custom INSPIRE-compliant metadata template.

Liam Lysaght is director of the National Biodiversity Data Centre, Ireland, which is operated by Compass Informatics on behalf of the Heritage Council. Since the operation of the Centre commenced in early 2007, it has succeeded in collating and creating just under 1.5 million biological records covering over 8,800 species. It is also a node in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.  Liam will outline how this rich new data resource is managed using a management and mapping system, and will illustrate the uses to which the data is being and can be put.

Ray Scanlon is Senior Geologist and Head of the Information Management Programme at the Geological Survey of Ireland. Ray has had the pleasure of getting data models, metadata, and web services in order for the GSI over recent years. He lives to tell the tale and will highlight the tangible benefits of this effort to the GSI and its clients.  The Geological Survey provide consolidated download services and a set of geoweb services that are increasing in popularity. The Survey is also a leading member of the Irish Spatial Data Exchange and the broader Irish Spatial Data Infrastructure initiative. Among the projects Ray has led is a metadata update and INSPIRE compliance project delivered by Compass.

Hugh Mangan is Sales & Marketing Manager at the Irish national mapping agency, the OSi. Hugh will outline data related developments at the OSi and how these will benefits location related services in Ireland. Initiatives include the enhanced digital map database, PRIME2, high detail orthophotography and LIDAR, and new ways to access OSi digital data through the MapGenie web service.

Ali Robinson is a GIS & Data Analyst at Compass and is a dynamic member of the INSPIRE team in the company. Ali has set out a clear set of workflows that seek to clarify a path towards data management, documentation, and sharing, that also meet INSPIRE compliancy. This talk condenses elements from the Compass seminars on data management and INSPIRE compliance.  The workflows outlined guide the provision of SDI-INSPIRE services by the Compass team.  The inspire.compassinformatics.eu web resource is a supporting element of the SDI-INSPIRE service.

Beatrice Kelly is Head of Policy and Research at the Heritage Council, Ireland, and currently project manager of the cross local authority coastal heritage project. This current project, led by Compass, seeks to audit heritage related datasets, assess gaps in data, and collate data into a preliminary planning assessment mapping tool. The project has succeeded to date in collating extensive data that previous had not been accessible or integrated in such a comprehensive fashion, and in building these into a mapping tool that in due course will be expanded beyond its pilot areas.  Beatrice will put the project in the context of heritage policy and efforts by the Heritage Council to integrate heritage considerations more effectively into broader planning and assessment.

Vanessa Coffey is a Research Officer for the Rural Transport Programme in Pobal – a cross government development company. The Rural Transport Programme is operated by 37 local companies and provides flexible transport services to those with accessibility and support needs and those otherwise requiring public transport services in otherwise poorly serviced areas. The Pobal RTP programme will from now on be supported by a mapping system that allows routes to be recorded by RTP companies and provides integration with administrative reporting systems, thereby enhancing management of the Rural Transport Programme and streamlining operations.

Mike Wilson is a project manager at the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, and has managed the development of the bioenergy mapping and modelling system as delivered by Compass. This system supported the deliberations of the Government Bioenergy Working Group, and is being further developed to incorporate a comprehensive economic modelling element. A related initiative at SEAI has been the redevelopment of the geothermal and wind atlases for Ireland.  These systems illustrate a high level of functionality and yet usability, and also the use of open source mapping systems coupled with proprietary solutions.  Had enough about technology and mapping at Compass10?  Mike might digress and mention Australian cricket if he's asked.

William Hynes is Director - Strategic Planning at Keith Simpson & Associates planning consultants. Billy worked with Compass on the Comhar SDC Green Infrastructure project and in his presentation outlines the project on behalf of Cathy Maguire and colleagues at Comhar SDC, and the wider project team. See the Green Infrastructure page on this site for further information and access to the project report.  Billy currently collaborates with Compass on the coastal heritage project also presented at the conference by Beatrice Kelly of the Heritage Council.  He also has dipped into the world of GIS and SDI through his studies in Dublin Institute of Technology.  If Tipperary beat Kilkenny in the All Ireland final make sure to ask Billy about the hurling, otherwise don't.