Teranet’s GeoWarehouse®

May 5, 2009Timothy Hu

Senior Program Manager - eServices

Agenda

• History of Product• Opportunities with redesign• Project Challenges• Overview of Technologies Implemented• Questions

GeoWarehouse – Brief History

• GeoWarehouse Online – first deployed in October 2001. • Title database & Map Database

• 25 pilot users; we monitored every login. • Team of 5 people worked on the project• Functionality – Find Subject property & Sales History • Continued to add functionality/products over the years

• Neighbourhood Sales / Dynamic generated mapping• Financial Suite including Automated Valuation Modelling and

Fraud Checks• Partnership with First Base Solutions for Zoom2It Plus

application for aerial imagery and parcel data “mash-up”• Monitoring and Registration Tracking – b2b & web services• Access to documents / plans through web services• eLearning Module with product simulations

GeoWarehouse Product Overview

• The GeoWarehouse online service provides land information resources and applications for appraisers, realtors, land surveyors, environmental consultants, property tax consultants, financial institutions and other land professionals.

• GeoWarehouse users have access to both Land Registry and Mapping information packaged specifically for professional user groups and industries. This service provides a wide range of reports that are designed to simplify information gathering tasks.

• Information contained in the GeoWarehouse online service is updated regularly from the POLARIS database, the automated land ownership records management system for the Province of Ontario.

• GeoWarehouse has been a successful product for Teranet which was launched in 2001 and now serving close to 50,000 users in various markets and industries.

GeoWarehouse Redesign - Overview

• Over time we have added features and functionality to the application leveraging the infrastructure and interface that existed in 2001

• 3rd party value added services has been the main focus of expansion of GeoWarehouse in the last few years

• Core functionality and enhancements to Teranet modules in GeoWarehouse has remained fairly static

• New Mapping and GIS websites are coming online and the old GeoWarehouse was outdated and required change to keep up with the market

• Teranet investing in the future of GeoWarehouse by re-designing the application in Spring 2008 to better serve our customers today and to build a versatile robust environment for tomorrow.

GeoWarehouse 2008 – Concept

GeoWarehouse Project – Challenges

• GeoWarehouse is a web application which has pro’s and con’s• Mapping usage is likely to increase 10 fold from current system• Need to link to internal / external data sets but make it seamless

for the end user• Users are not ‘GIS’ users – they require a simple and intuitive

interface• Training and user adoption is key to the success of the system

but many users are unwilling / not receptive to ‘changes’• Some of the technology being used is unproven for large scale

deployments• Need to maintain privacy and other regulatory requirements• Coordinate with multiple internal departments as well as

partners to work in parallel• A map is worth a thousand words ……

Biggest Challenge! User Migration

• Migration and introduction of new site is a nightmare no matter how you deal with it

• Phased in migration over 1 month timeframe• Operation of dual environments to allow users to ‘migrate

themselves’

Key Components to help manage• Interface needs to be simple and intuitive• Site needs to fit within workflow and ‘make things easier’• Site needed to flow seamless between property / neighbourhood

data sets and allow user to look at a property in many different ways

• Data can be interpreted in many ways – presentation must be clear and easy to understand – visualization where possible

• Majority of users are not ‘computer’ people• Training both online, in person and through documentation and

help at the time it is needed is available.

Key Features of Redesign and the Power of Spatial

• Map Centric interface utilizing a Map viewer (Virtual Earth)• Utilize Commercially available Ortho Imagery and Road Maps• Access to Pictometry (Bird’s Eye) imagery• Simple Familiar Interface – realtor.ca / mls.ca

Creation of a Map Tiling service for Ontario Parcel data to be used by the Map Viewer• Needed to create tiles of varying map scales of parcel data (both

assessment and ownership) for the Province – over 300 Million• Needed daily update and publishing (change detection and tile re-

generation)• Integration of MPAC report directly into GeoWarehouse for single

view of property information• Using a spatial lookup process to generate PIN / ARN correlations• Use map functionality to ‘Get ARN’ and associated information

Key Features of Redesign and the Power of Spatial

• iLookabout imagery linked to PINs to show the Property from Street View• Using parcel data and coordinates of images a correlation

process was developed to link PINs to Images.• Privacy was an issue to deal with

• Generation 5 demographic data elements• Summarized in tables and graphs• Correlated using address data (postal code) and aggregation

to minimum of 25 households• Zoom2IT Plus

• Provides access to larger geographic coverage and currency than what is available commercially

• Ability to purchase aerial photo’s

The House with the ‘Golf Course View’ that you don’t want to buy!

Questions ?