Terralink

Page URL:	http://www.terralink.co.nz/newsroom/press_releases_archive/2006_archive/22_february_2006.htm
Date Printed:	Tuesday, 7 September, 2010

Census requires NZ’s biggest-ever mapping project   22 February 2006 Wellington geographic IQ company Terralink International has completed New Zealand’s biggest-ever mapping job by producing 7,500 customized street maps for Statistics New Zealand’s census collectors. Creating 7,500 unique maps for census collectors The accuracy of Statistics New Zealand’s five-yearly census is dependant on complete coverage of the country. This means census forms must go to every single household or hotel, motel, hospital or other place where people are staying on census night. It’s a massive mobilization and co-ordination job. By mid-February 2006, Statistics New Zealand will have a team of around 7,000 regional staff in place to deliver and collect census forms to and from approximately 1.6 million dwellings. To illustrate the precise areas covered by each of the 7,000 staff requires over 7,500 individual maps. It is New Zealand’s biggest-ever custom mapping job. Terralink were appointed following a competitive tendering process. Technology helps reduce costs Statistics New Zealand’s requirement was for 7,500 maps in triplicate. Each census collector needs one, and two others are for district supervisors and area managers.  To generate such a huge number of individual maps cost effectively, Terralink looked for ways to save costs by using technology throughout the planning and production process. Production was based on a customized version of Terralink’s eMap software, specifically created for the census job. It was important that the maps be easily understood, so each map is a simplified street map, using colour coding and showing only the information required for each census collector. Quality Assurance, once a hugely time-consuming job with hard copies, was also streamlined by technology. Statistics New Zealand checked each map in electronic PDF format before it was printed by Terralink. Accuracy is everything Because the census is a once in five-year opportunity, finding as close as possible to 100% of households in the country is critical. Terralink International’s Landbase database is New Zealand’s most comprehensive national geographic data set with 1.62 million address points. Landbase is maintained using the ISO 9001:2000 data maintenance process, that requires each address point coordinate to be checked and rechecked to ensure complete accuracy. 7,500 personalized maps The end result is a unique map – printed and folded - produced for each census collector tagged to them by a number. The maps range in size and scale as a collector gathering information in the city is likely to cover a smaller land area than a collector in a rural region. A job of this scale required that Terralink began working on the maps a year prior to delivery. Innovation means more for less The innovative approach employed by Terralink and Statistics New Zealand to this mammoth mapping task has focused on saving costs where possible while maintaining uncompromising accuracy. The result has been over 22,000 maps produced for a price that reflects savings from new technology and innovative solutions.