Share
GeoPlace will be working closely with leading engineering and project management consultancy Atkins – a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group - to build a National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) for the UK.
Utility companies and local authorities must work efficiently to deliver the housing and infrastructure projects we need in Britain. The NUAR will be a data management platform that saves time, saves money, and reduces the amount of disruption caused by fixing leaks, preventing accidents, and putting new infrastructure underground.
The Cabinet Office has appointed Atkins to build the NUAR data platform as part of its work to build back better and greener. The build phase will take three years, with a minimum viable product being rolled out within eighteen months for three regions – London, the North East and Wales.
GeoPlace is pleased to announce it is working with Atkins to onboard local authority asset owners in the three regions and to help prepare for the wider national rollout.
Nick Chapallaz, Managing Director of GeoPlace said: “The NUAR will be a digital map of underground pipes, cables and assets that enables companies to plan better, to reduce the risk of problems while they’re working, and to collaborate more efficiently. Faster, easy access to this data will help not only the utility providers and their contractors, but the wider construction industry and the UK as a whole.” Chapallaz continued “We know the utilities sector well. But our unique relationship with local authorities means we can help everyone involved to get the best from the NUAR, quickly.”
Guy Ledger, Digital Director at Atkins, said: “By harnessing technology to enable data sharing, we’re able to transform how we deliver projects and infrastructure by unlocking improvements in safety, certainty and efficiency.
“We now look forward to working with GeoPlace who will play a critical role as we work with Local Authority Asset owners to develop the National Underground Asset Register - a truly exciting and transformative project for the infrastructure sector.”
Atkins has been appointed by the UK Government’s Geospatial Commission to help create the digital map of underground pipes and cables. Atkins will be working with GeoPlace, Ordnance Survey, 1Spatial and other partners to deliver the build phase of the project. This will deliver a ground-breaking, nationwide geospatial platform to view all underground asset data, helping to tackle the £2.4bn in lost value to the economy each year from accidental utility strikes.
NOTES
About GeoPlace
GeoPlace LLP is a public sector limited liability partnership between the Local Government Association (LGA) and Ordnance Survey (OS).
GeoPlace is a world class expert in address and street information management, working internationally as well as in the UK to help our partners and customers maximise the value of their spatial information for better decision making.
GeoPlace maintains a national infrastructure that supports the address and street information needs of the public and private sectors. Its work relies heavily on close working relationships with every local authority in England and Wales. This relationship has been developed over 15 years, to build the National Address Gazetteer infrastructure and National Street Gazetteer. OS develops the range of AddressBase products from the National Address Gazetteer and OS MasterMap Highways Network from the NSG. Both datasets underpin efficient and effective services, bringing direct service delivery benefits to users.
These unique reference numbers link datasets together and share information with other organisations that also use them. They provide a comprehensive, complete and consistent identifier throughout a property's life cycle – from planning permission or street naming through to demolition.
See https://www.geoplace.co.uk
About Atkins
Atkins is one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies, employing over 18,300 people across the UK, North America, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Europe. We build long-term trusted partnerships to create a world where lives are enriched through the implementation of our ideas. www.atkinsglobal.com
About the Geospatial Commission
The Geospatial Commission was established in 2018 as an independent, expert committee responsible for setting the UK’s geospatial strategy and coordinating public sector geospatial activity. Its aim is to unlock the significant economic, social and environmental opportunities offered by location data and to boost the UK’s global geospatial expertise. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/geospatial-commission/about
