Features

The IA Server Database offers a generic, flexible data model for storing statistical and indicator-based data at multiple geographic levels in Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle. The following Modules are available for InstantAtlas Server. Modules can be purchased independently in most cases although the Administration Module is mandatory for all solutions.

View a live InstantAtlas Server demonstration application.

View a live demonstration of a Local Information System (LIS) / Data Observatory solution using InstantAtlas Server.

1. Administration Module (core mandatory module)

The Administration Module provides administrators with a completely separate web site from which they can administer the application. This interface is termed the Administration Console. It is web based so tasks can be devolved to a group of administrators located anywhere. This is also useful for those who work partly from an office and party from home. The following are a subset of key functions:

Categorise data into hierachies of Themes
Load indicators and metadata into a pre-live staging area for QA then promote these to ‘live area’
Support for a range of different indicator types
Support for dynamic aggregation of indicators to multiple higher geographies
Edit indicators
Enter descriptive metadata for indicators, indicator instances, geographies and many other items
Load lookups between geographies for use in aggregations and as filters
Create tailored data outputs, for example Data Views, for different audience types
Archive indicators that are no longer current
Audit tools to track system usage and allow you to tune your system based on user behaviour
Setup connections to remote databases to allow 'live linking' to automate importing indicators

2. User Management Module

The User Management module is for organisations that wish to implement a login for their users (either mandatory or optional). This is usually to restrict access to sensitive data or to improve the personalisation of content to specific user groups. Functionality includes:

Ability for administrators to create users groups and set data permissions at different levels for each group
Ability for admistrators to make modules available/unavailable on a user group basis
Registration page for users, with automatic notification of administrators when a user registers
Login box for users (with a forgotten password link)
Ability for users to save items as Favourites - these will be available next time they login

3. Data Views Module

Data Views are logical groups of indicators defined by administrators that are delivered as a collection to address the needs and tasks of specific users. They are organised into Themes and can be viewed as InstantAtlas dynamic reports or tables. The Data Views module adds a wizard to the Administration Console for designing and building Data Views and for managing the InstantAtlas dynamic reports that are used to view them.

The Data Views user interface includes:

Different tabs for listing Data Views (by Theme, by geography, as a simple list or as the result of a search)
InstantAtlas dynamic reports (Single Map, Double Map, Area Profile, etc) for exploring and disseminating data interactively using Flash
Web accessible tables with flexible display options, sorting and export to Excel, CSV and XML options
Metadata pages that display indicator and geography metadata

4. Advanced Data Views Module

The Advanced Data Views module offers greater flexibility for users wishing to create more personalised Data Views.

The Advanced Data Views user interface includes:

A wizard that leads users through the steps for choosing the geographies of interest (using an interactive map, geographic filter or picklist), the indicators required and the comparators to include
Initial view of data is as a table
Option to chart one or more indicators
Option to display the data using an InstantAtlas dynamic report
Options to download as Excel, CSV or XML
Option to email a link to a colleague so that they can view the same Data View

5. Profiles Module

This module provides a powerful set of tools to design and deliver highly effective reports containing a mix of appropriate information relating to a specific area or number of areas. You can also use it to profile point based features such as 'hospitals'. The Profiles module adds functionality to the Administration Console for administrators to:

Create tables, intelligent text, charts and images (maps, photographs etc)
Ability to choose from many standard and advanced configuration/display options for tables and charts
Specify stylesheets that will transform the look and feel of your profiles
Create multi-geograpy sections - tables/charts will display data for related areas as well as the area selected
Incorporate ESRI ArcGIS Server based maps into profile reports

The Profiles user interface includes:

Different tabs for listing Profiles (by Theme, by geography, as a simple list or as the result of a search)
Drop down menus for selecting the geography type and area of interest
PDF button
Quick Profile box on the home page allows users to enter an area name (e.g. their postcode) and generate a Profile with one click

6. Advanced Profiles Module

The Advanced Profiles module offers greater flexibility for users wishing to create more personalised Profiles. The Advanced Profiles user interface includes:

Map-based selection of multiple areas using an interactive map.
Geographic filters for making quick selections of areas
Aggregated or disaggregated data in tables/charts.
User-defined comparators

7. Explorer Module

The Explorer Module allows users to explore the contents of the system. The Explorer module also adds functionality to the Administration Console to allow administrators to upload external resources (e.g. PDFs, Excel workbooks, images, web links) that can then be explored alongside IA Server data outputs.

The Explorer user interface includes:

Keyword or free text search - this searches any keywords/descriptive metadata entered by administrators
Intelligent search tool supports wildcards
Results of search presented under different tabs (Data Views, Profiles, Indicators, Resources)
Results consist of links to the items themselves and to their descriptive metadata

Metadata is based on international Dublin Core standards. Metadata fields can be fully customised by administrators based on the standard they wish to adhere to.

8. Server Publisher Module

The Server Publisher Module has been developed to meet the needs of InstantAtlas Server customers that are running ESRI ArcGIS Server. There are 4 key benefits:

It allows you to consolidate the management of all your geographic datasets, for example area boundaries or contextual point-based map layers, in the ArcGIS Server spatial database environment and pull these through dynamically into InstantAtlas reports. It means that ArcGIS Server users can keep all their spatial data in a single place for ease of management.
It means you can significantly reduce the time it takes to create and manage your dynamic reports. Instead of requiring one report for every reporting geography in your InstantAtlas Server solution, Server Publisher only requires that you have one report per InstantAtlas report template. Typically this may cut the number of InstantAtlas reports from 30 or more to 3. This will result in a significant administrative time saving.
Setting up the capability in dynamic reports to drill-down from one higher level area to multiple lower level areas is much simpler and more effective using Server Publisher.
The use of dynamic reports for presenting a user-defined custom selection of areas is more sophisticated with Server Publisher - only the boundaries for the selected areas are displayed on the map.

For customers who do not have ESRI ArcGIS Server we also offer alternative solutions that allow InstantAtlas Server to pull spatial data through from other spatial database sources. If you are interested please ask our Support Team (support@geowise.co.uk) about this.