BACKGROUND

Information presented location-wise by digital GIS tool

At Artios, our technology enabled, applied research methods seek to leverage modern technologies and reap their invaluable benefits in enhancing the impact of our work. This past year (2023-24) saw Artios collaborate with Queens University Belfast (QUB) in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) , with the aim of automating various manual processes in the production of our UXO Risk Assessment reports. Optimising our production processes reduces not only time but also production costs, enabling us to meet the demands of clients who expect fast, accurate, and cost-effective services that provide the most value for money.

Execution

As part of the programme, a postgraduate student from the university, with a background in software development and data analysis, was selected and seconded to Artios as an associate employee, who was then fully integrated into our team. A detailed systems analysis and process mapping of our production was conducted to identify crucial ‘pain points’ where automation would have maximum impact in terms of time/cost savings. This led to a prioritised ‘wish list’ of potential digital tools, which weighed the time and complexity involved in the tools’ development against the projected benefit each would provide.

WWII Bombing Data Map — **bombing density map based on above data**

An Agile model of delivery was implemented, within which planning and development of the tools was conducted in Sprint cycles, concurrently with testing and evaluation. The tools created include:

1. An information retrieval application for open-source searching

2. A GIS based tool to gather and present relevant information from digital maps and multiple data sets

3. An Macros-based, enhanced document template to expedite the drafting of reports.

A system of continuous and real time feedback from the users was also implemented enabling immediate troubleshooting of issues and problems, alongside continual refinement and improvement of the tools to incorporate more and more functionality.

RESULTS

The use of these tools and their assimilation into our production processes has led to significant improvement in efficiency, production times reducing by as much as 50% in some cases. Further, the very exercise of mapping and analysing our processes enabled us to critically review them and make amendments for intrinsic improvement. Important lessons in project management were also learned about clearly defining deliverables and setting limits to the flexibility of timelines.

A key point to note is that the basic concept of the programme has never been the production of automated risk assessments, but rather the automation of time-consuming manual processes, leaving more time for expert analysis and the enhancing our ability to provide high-quality, data-driven risk assessments and reducing turn around times.

Our year-long KTP programme came to end this week, with the digital tools fully handed over to our team and the benefits of their use already evident in live projects.