There was a need to help develop an understanding of opportunities for the Environment Agency to improve the flood mapping modelling process. The Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) programme required a full picture of their issues about how they engage with the supply chain (how effectively they can instruct the supply chain, check the deliverables supplied, how they were assimilated into internal systems for consumption for FCRM and wider Environment Agency). There were also some technical issues concerning existing systems and their efficiency.
Work done and value provided:
In the first phase, a cycle of interviews with EA staff was completed, which resulted in a review of the data storage process, identifying target areas of interest and then documenting the observed state and recommendations for the future. Then, building upon findings from the first phase of engagement, four focus areas were determined:
• Addressing poor quality data in MapEdit • Exploring and learning from AIMS processes • Exploring viability of PSO activity transitioning to 'service' model • Improving checking process, potentially through centralisation
To investigate those areas of focus, a second cycle of interviews with the staff was completed. In addition to this, AECOM carried out an assessment of MapEdit’s data quality. A data sample was received to identify potential issues and their resolution in the following project stages. A report was then written to summarise stakeholder sentiments, with draft recommendations. AECOM captured the views of the staff around this topic and commented on those views, providing an outside perspective on creating engaging and storing flood modelling data.