GMFRS GIS pic 180Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) is to deploy a resource planning tool aimed at focusing specifically on the geographic dimension of business intelligence.

Workload Modeller has been developed by Cadcorp with whom GMFRS successfullY deployed a corporate geographic information system (GIS) in 2012. This new tool will complement existing resource planning systems as GMFRS further explore the importance of geographic information for planning and intelligence as well as operations.

Paul Sharples, Head of Intelligence & Knowledge in the GMFRS Corporate Planning and Intelligence Directorate, said: “Like all fire services, GMFRS is under pressure to use its assets as effectively as it can, saving money, time, and lives.

"This means having a better understanding of the location of our resources in relation to the geographic distribution of risks. The same geographic data that powers our corporate GIS, and supports a range of business processes, is the same geographic data that we need for risk modelling and resource planning.
"Since Cadcorp Workload Modeller is built upon a GIS engine, it is well-suited to handle this data, and adept at producing informative maps and tables as output from resource modelling exercises."

GMFRS first deployed Cadcorp software three years ago, when the Service rolled out a corporate GIS - the first time geographic information was made available as a corporate resource to anyone in the Service.

Cadcorp GIS software is now used by GMFRS to support a range of business activities including recording and analysing incidents, tracking vehicles, providing incident support mapping, reporting key performance indicators, targeting fire safety campaigns, and producing A-Z maps.

Mike O’Neil, CEO of Cadcorp, added: "When GIS was first introduced to fire services the only people able to exploit geographic information were in Command and Control. GMFRS has shown that geographic information is not only of value to those working in operations: it also plays a fundamental role in planning and intelligence."

To find out more visit http://www.cadcorp.com