Dotted Eyes News

We’ve already hired some great graduates, but we need two more to help us lead the field in spatial intelligence. We need driven, innovative, energetic professionals who want to make a difference. Ideally, they will be due to graduate from a GIS course this summer, or have graduated in the last few years.

The successful candidates will be joining our Professional Services Team, which is responsible for support, training, consultancy and data management.

If you meet our criteria, please apply for a place at our Open Day on 10th July at our Midlands HQ. Download our PDF for more information, or apply online.

Local government data users are invited to an informal round table workshop where they can meet with other local government CAD and GIS users and managers, plus experts from Dotted Eyes and Autodesk, to openly discuss the data related challenges which face them each day, and explore potential solutions.

Whether someone is a CAD user trying to access maps or a GIS user managing spatial data, they can find out through networking and idea sharing how to benefit from the increased efficiency possible through CAD and GIS integration.

If you’re a local government data user please register online for this FREE breakfast event, to be held at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, on 25th June from 8.30 AM to 11 AM. All delegates will have free entry to the Royal Armouries immediately after the event.

For more information contact our Commercial Team on 01527 556920.

If you aren’t free that day, please contact us so we can help you evaluate your CAD strategy free of charge.

Dotted Eyes are pleased to announce the addition of a 1 day MapInfo Refresher training course to their training portfolio!

This one day course is open to all users of MapInfo Professional and aims to refresh your knowledge of the softwares core functionality, including: Thematic Mapping, Buffering, Table Structure, SQL and Layout Printing options. In addition to rediscovering how to maximise your potential with MapInfo Professional, this course teaches you some of the most useful ‘tips and tricks’ which our GIS Consultants have discovered!

So if you’re looking to consolidate your existing knowledge or simply wish to refresh your skill sets then why not book a place on our one day MapInfo Refresher training course? For more details see the ‘Public Training’ section of our website or contact Paula Holdstock (Training Co-ordinator) on 01527 556920.

We currently have availability on our MapInfo Advanced course on the 27th-28th May. Book now and take advantage of a £75 discount on one training place, reducing the normal delegate rate from £575 to £500.

For more information, email training@dottedeyes.com or call our Training Co-ordinator, Paula Holdstock, on 01527 556920.

All prices are ex VAT.

Key business benefits of linking CAD software with GIS were the focus of a seminar held by Dotted Eyes and Autodesk which officially launched a partnership between the two organisations. The event, at Dotted Eyes’ Bromsgrove office, attracted spatial data managers, business and healthcare analysts from the NHS and different tiers of local government across England. It was designed to show how CAD/GIS integration can deliver greater value through an emerging model called the Unified Spatial Environment (USE).

Among those to benefit from USE will be designers, engineers, asset and estate managers, architects and many other decision makers across the public and private sectors.

Tracey Stone, Autodesk’s Geospatial Sales Manager for Northern Europe, who presented at the seminar, said: “This was the first opportunity to showcase our partnership with Dotted Eyes and the benefits that our solutions bring to the USE. Anyone who uses spatial data with a design element has the same challenge: how to maximise their investment in this data by ensuring all those who need it have fast and easy secure access to a single, centralised source. By eliminating CAD and GIS silos, the USE model does exactly this.”

In his presentation, Benjamin Allan, Dotted Eyes Managing Director, said USE offers a seamless way to reduce overheads at a time when spatial data managers face a twin headache of growing complexity and greater customer demand.

He said: “Unifying the traditionally separate technologies of CAD and GIS will facilitate better cross-functional management of spatial data. The priorities and timetable for developing USE will be driven by customer demand. The real power will be as an enabler for greater data sharing within and beyond organisations so saving them time and money and enhancing the quality of their work.”

Mr Allan said the partnership with Autodesk was crucial to the development of USE as it will help bring much needed solutions which enable the integration of CAD and GIS to the market.

The seminar looked at a series of examples of where CAD and GIS integration is already feasible. David Eagle, Professional Services Manager at Dotted Eyes, showed how translation tools can link design software with data storage files, databases, open source tools and web services.

Neil Brooker, Autodesk Geospatial Technical Manager for Northern Europe, explained the aspects of current design visualisation tools which enable GIS professionals to style spatial data and carry out geographic analysis.

One of the key products available from Dotted Eyes under its partnership with Autodesk is AutoCAD Map 3D.

The agreement adds a further world-leading name to Dotted Eyes’ partner list of GIS and data vendors. The company is already the biggest Pitney Bowes MapInfo partner in the UK and a premier partner of Ordnance Survey.

We will be co-hosting the 2009 UK FME User Group, to be held at Ordnance Survey’s Southampton head office on April 1st 2009.

The event will build on the success of last year’s inaugural user group, when over fifty delegates heard case studies from FME users across the UK. Don Murray, Co-founder and President of Safe Software, will once again lead the sessions, having received a rapturous welcome in 2008.

Don comments, “With the great success of last year’s UK FME User Group, I’m looking forward to being part of this year’s expanded event. I always enjoy meeting our users, both learning about the great challenges they are solving and receiving feedback on the ways we can make our product even better.”

The agenda will be packed with both informative and interactive sessions, including an under the bonnet look at FME 2009 and beyond, FME best practices, tips and tricks, user case studies and an opportunity to network with other FME users.

Both existing FME users, and those interested in using FME’s market leading translation, transformation and integration capabilities, will be made most welcome by Safe, Dotted Eyes and four other participating FME partners.

This year’s user group will be preceded by two days of intensive complimentary training on FME Server, delivered by Safe Software’s own trainers. Training places are strictly limited, and delegates should apply to the Commercial Team to enquire about availability.

Visit our FME user group page to register for the user group by the 12th March 2009. If you require more information, please call our Commercial Team on 01527 556920.

This one day seminar for councils and NHS organisations, hosted by Dotted Eyes in conjunction with Autodesk, will help attendees maximise their return on investment in CAD software. Autodesk will outline a user case study on behalf of a local council, showcasing how AutoCAD Map 3D brings together design and geographic information, and Dotted Eyes will present on key issues such as configuration, optimisation of data storage and future proofing.

For more information, view the attached seminar invitation.

We are delighted that Tom Burslem from Cycle City Guides has been asked to present to the MapInfo User Group UK & Ireland (MUGUKI) on January 28th, 2009.

Cycle City Guides use GBM Mobile to create cycle maps in situ. These maps are collated back in the office using MapInfo Professional. It’s a far cry from the early days when the company’s surveyors used coloured pens and paper to create maps!

Visit Cycle City Guides’ website to view maps created by the company.

Two Dotted Eyes data sets, InterestMap and MarkerMap, have been chosen by Communities and Local Government for inclusion in the Pan-Government Agreement. The products, which were part of a successful bid placed by Exeter-based Landmark Information Group, in conjunction with Dotted Eyes, will be available under the Agreement from 1st April 2009.

Dotted Eyes Chairman Jamie Justham comments: “We’re delighted that the British Government has selected Dotted Eyes products as part of the Pan-Government Agreement. This decision cements our reputation for adding value to the high quality datasets produced by Ordnance Survey, a standing strengthened in 2008 by the award of a major agreement to supply digital maps to the NHS in England and Wales. ”

For more information, visit our PGA2b web pages.

Dotted Eyes will be running various events in 2009, focusing on mapping and health.  The first of these events will be hosted at our offices in Bromsgrove on the 5th March, and is aimed at PCTs.  Attendees at the event are welcome from both organisations that are Members of the NHS Agreement, and organisations who have not yet signed up.  Presentations at the event will focus on case study examples including addressing health inequalities, World Class Commissioning, mapping healthy living, using third party data sources to improve mapping, and siting services using GIS.

The PCT event will encourage networking and best practice sharing between organisations, and there will be plenty of opportunities for discussion and questions. Organisations can send more than one delegate to this free event, which includes a networking buffet lunch. Find out more on our NHS Events page. 

Our other 2 events will be held on the 25th February, at the NHS Information Centre offices in London.  These events are designed to introduce the Agreement to potential Members, and will include examples and user driven content based on the best practice use of mapping in health. Visit our NHS Events page to find out more, and register for the morning or afternoon session. 

If you would like any further information then please contact Andrew Brittan on 01527 556925 or andrew.brittan@dottedeyes.com