WIREDGOV

This week Jisc launches a free geospatial data service for further education (FE) colleges to support their mapping and geospatial data download needs across a wide variety of subjects.

This high-quality service developed by Airbus, in conjunction with Jisc and its members, will give UK FE colleges free access to unlimited data and mapping capabilities for the next three years.

Whether its History students studying settlements or Geography students exploring population patterns, the service can accommodate their various needs through an easy to use interface which also performs well on tablets, and even smart phones.

Paul Russell, Deputy Managing Director of Intelligence (UK) at Airbus said:

“We wanted to create a state-of-the-art tool that gives students the benefits of our experiences and knowledge and this service, also available to higher education, is industry leading. We are really pleased that Jisc can offer the service to their further education members for free for the next 3 years. Students, and subsequently our engineers of the future, deserve to have access to the latest technology to help advance their future careers”

Keith Cole, Executive director of digital resources at Jisc added:

“It’s great to be able to announce this new commercial quality service and we’re really pleased we can offer it to FE colleges for free as part of their Jisc subscription.  Normally these types of services come at a cost that’s beyond our members’ budgets, but in partnering with Airbus we benefit from their specialism in Earth observation and can pass this onto the students, which is ultimately what it’s all about.”

Jisc’s Geospatial data service is a complete bundle for FE that consolidates the range and full depth of geospatial services from Jisc Collections into a single package that is available for FE Colleges for FREE. The bundle consists of the following geospatial services; Complete Ordnance Survey Collection, Historical and Coastal Aerial Photography (with LiDAR), Historic Ordnance Survey, Geology, Marine and Environmental.

For more information and an introductory webinar about the service capabilities, visit www.jisc.ac.uk/geospatial-data

Getting access is easy, visit the order page and login to your Jisc Collections account to subscribe.

Ends

For more information, interviews or images, please contact press@jisc.ac.uk

About Jisc

Jisc is the UK’s expert member organisation for digital technology and digital resources in higher education, further education, skills and research. Our vision is to make the UK the most digitally advanced education and research nation in the world.

We play a pivotal role in the development, adoption and use of technology by UK universities and colleges, supporting them to improve learning, teaching, the student experience and institutional efficiency, as well as enabling more powerful research.   

At the heart of Jisc’s support is Janet – the UK’s world-class National Research and Education Network (NREN). Owned, managed and operated by Jisc, Janet comprises a secure, state-of-the-art network infrastructure spanning all four nations of the UK.   

About Airbus

Airbus is a global leader in aeronautics, space and related services. In 2017 it generated revenues of € 59 billion restated for IFRS 15 and employed a workforce of around 129,000. Airbus offers the most comprehensive range of passenger airliners from 100 to more than 600 seats. Airbus is also a European leader providing tanker, combat, transport and mission aircraft, as well as one of the world’s leading space companies. In helicopters, Airbus provides the most efficient civil and military rotorcraft solutions worldwide.