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Ministry of Northern Development and Mines
CLAIMaps Applications
Overview
The CLAIMaps applications has two main components:
- Management System: Allows staff to maintain a spatial database
of approximately 400,000 polygons and associated attributes based
on documents and information filed in the Provincial Recording Office
- Internet (Client Interface): Allows clients to access land tenure
data, critical for business decisions, 24/7/365. It also provides
clients the ability to download custom maps and digital data from
the site free of charge. The web site is current to within 24 hours
of the information being entered into the management system.
Objectives
Client Service Objectives
- Provide our clients easy access to information, products and
services housed in Ministry sites
- Reduce the clients' reliance on Ministry business hours, and
areas of operation
- Reduce or eliminate costs to clients for products and services
where possible
- Build a product and provide a solution that met the clients business
needs
- Develop a client service model which provides excellent customer
service to local clients as well as international clients
Ministry Objectives:
- Reduce the clients' reliance on the Ministry offices for services,
products, and data.
- Deliver a consistent, high quality service to clients including
an expanded set of products and data
- Find efficiencies in the map maintenance and client service delivery
system.
- Reduce Ministry costs for Client Service Delivery
- Expand the delivery of mining lands information to non-traditional
clients and agencies.
Summary Description
Background
Provincial Recording Office manages a spatial database, which includes
over 180,000 mining claim units, 220,000 other land tenure related
polygons and several topographic layers of information.
There is a turn over of 60,000 mining units (approximately 60,000
mining units are cancelled and 60,000 new units are recorded), as
well as 20,000 to 30,000 other map changes annually.
Prior to the CLAIMaps solution, this system was managed on 4000
hard-copy maps for the province. Map bases were introduced at different
times over a period of some 50 years so map quality was very poor
in some cases, and information, symbology and map scale was inconsistent.
Ministry staff using drafting pens and erasers edited information
on each map, as new documents were received.
Issues
- A significant amount of staff time and resources were needed
to manage map maintenance on yearly basis.
- Bases would wear out because of intense editing and would have
to be replaced (which meant re-drafting all information on a new
base).
- 4000 map bases took up significant room.
- Clients had to order copies of the maps through the Provincial
Recording office in Sudbury. Also, the Provincial Recording Office
was the only location where a map showing land status could be viewed.
- Map bases had inconsistent scales, symbology, information, which
created significant issues in properly locating land parcels, traversing,
plotting from map to map.
CLAIMaps Project:
In 1997 the Ministry committed to improving this service and began
a phased approach to providing better mapping services and products
to clients.
CLAIMaps 1(1998):
- Scanned 2700 of the 4000 maylar bases
- Built a management system to allow the scanned bases to by edited.
- Developed an internet site that allowed clients to view the maps
and information
- Developed a routine which updated the website with new information
- Provided a tool to allow clients to navigate from map to map
and download a map free of charge.
CLAIMaps II (2001):
- Built a seamless topographic base for the entire province at
a consistent scale.
- Standardized all symbology and map information
- Digitized and georeferenced 400,000 mining and land tenure polygons.
- Developed navigational and query tools as well as functions within
the site for clients to download colour maps free of charge.
CLAIMaps II (2003):
- Fully upgraded hardware and software to optimize performance
and function
- Developed expended navigation and query tools.
- Linked spatial data to tabular data (retrieved by clicking the
polygon on screen
- Improved the quality and expanded the map products available
to clients
- Developed tools to allow clients to extract the digital data
- Maintained all products and services free of charge
Innovation in Use of Technology
12. Results, 13. Innovative use of Technology, 14. Benefits to Stakeholders:
- The quality of maps and consistency of information was dramatically
improved. CLAIMaps has advanced the Ministry's map products from
hard copy product with inconsistent product to a digital product
of extremely high quality, in color on a consistent topographic
base, with consistent symbology (See Illustration 1).
- Clients are no longer restricted by Ministry office hours or
office location. The CLAIMaps system allows clients access to current
and accurate information 24/7/365, in the convenience and confidentiality
of their office via the Internet. Now, clients in Vancouver or Australia
have the same access to information during business hours as do
clients in Sudbury.
- The Ministry has made all maps, information, data and services
through the CLAIMaps website free of charge. This has encouraged
clients to use the site, while reducing the need for face-to-face
services at the Ministries front counter.
- Statistics indicate that 44% of the clients accessing the CLAIMaps
website are from areas outside the province of Ontario. The Ministries
client group has significantly expanded and has a more global make-up.
This clearly indicates the value of CLAIMaps as a tool to attract
global investment.
- The introduction of CLAIMaps via the Internet has provided a
valuable venue for attracting non- traditional mining clients. Information
is used by these clients to efficiently conduct their business whether
it is mining related or not. Below is a partial list of non-traditional
clients who are now using the CLAIMaps website as a key tool for
their daily business.
- First Nations
- School Boards
- MuniC.I.P.A.l Planner
- Tourism/Eco- Tourism
- Environmental Organizations
- Surveyors
- Trans-Canada Pipeline
- Real Estate Agencies
- Hydro One
- Forestry Companies
- Land Managers
- Provincial Ministries
- Statistics show that the CLAIMaps Website has gone from an average
of 110 map images generated by clients per day with CLAIMaps I,
to an average of 400 to 600 map images generated per hour with the
launch of CLAIMaps III (See Chart 1). The success of the website
has far exceeded expectations. The Ministry antiC.I.P.A.tes the
number of daily users to continue to rise as new products, expanded
data sets, and more services are added to the website.
- Statistics show that the number of walk-in clients for map products
and other client services has dropped from yearly average of over
21.000 (prior to the launch of CLAIMaps in 1998) to ~ than 9000
in 2002 (a 59% reduction).
- The CLAIMaps application has reduced the number of client requests
for maps (in-house map production) by over 90% (from a yearly average
of 32,000 and a high of 48,000 in 1986), to 3,200 requests in 2002
and a projected number of 3,000 for 2003 (See Chart 2).
- Because of the significant reductions in client service requirements
as noted in items 7 and 8, the Ministry has been able to reallocate
4 full time staff from front line services to other under- serviced
areas of operation, and eliminate backlog issues in other program
areas.
- The Ministry's in-house map production services prior to the
initiation of CLAIMaps produced an annual revenue loss of +/- $50,000.00
per year (consumables and staff time to produce maps far exceeded
the price for maps). Raising the price of in-house maps, while providing
maps over the Internet for free, has encouraged clients to use the
Internet for map products (as shown in Chart #2) and has produced
a revenue neutral (to revenue generation) service.
- A digital database allows for digital data, coming from other
Ministries or agencies to be incorporated into CLAIMaps with little
effort. Prior to this system being implemented all new information
was received hardcopy and manually entered. This has significantly
streamlined the processing of information and maintains the integrity
of the incoming data (as it is not being reproduced).
- CLAIMaps III provides access to more information (at the click
of a mouse), than clients have ever had. All information is housed
at one location and accessible via the Website. The Ministry is
continuously working to add new data to the Website so clients are
provided with one stop access to land based information.
- CLAIMaps III provides clients the ability to download digital
(vector) data directly from the Internet site. This has allowed
clients to use the CLAIMaps data with their own proprietary data.
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