Case Study: Southwark Council achieves user-friendly, mobile GIS and faster emergency response with Precisely Spectrum Spatial

Southwark Council Delivers GIS Data for Not-Too-Techie Users

Southwark Council, a London borough that depends on geographic data across planners, engineers, contact-centre staff and social workers, faced a challenge: its legacy GIS (deployed in 2009) was too technical and not optimized for modern mobile devices or non‑GIS users. After evaluating alternatives, Southwark Council chose Precisely’s Spectrum Spatial for its intuitive, consumer-style interface and built‑in location intelligence and APIs.

Precisely, working with the council and Precisely Professional Services, customized Spectrum Spatial (integrating Google StreetView and the LLPG) so hundreds of staff — and residents since November 2017 — can search addresses, annotate maps, draw impact zones and run concentric‑circle queries. The solution delivered faster, more precise emergency response and service delivery (for example identifying businesses for tax relief after the June 2017 London Bridge attack and locating addresses around unexploded WWII bombs), while providing mobile‑optimized access and broader resident engagement.

Southwark Council

Stuart Carter

Corporate GIS Manager