Exegesis was commissioned by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) to develop a website and mobile app, plus the underlying database and API, to enable local authorities and other stakeholders in Scotland to monitor litter and fly-tipping incidents.

ZWS is the body responsible for reducing waste and promoting a circular economy in Scotland and has been a FlyMapper partner organisation since 2013. The Litter Monitoring System (LMS) took the pre-existing functionality of FlyMapper and added the ability to record and analyse detailed surveys of street litter. These surveys are used to support the requirements of the Scottish Government's Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (CoPLAR).

The LMS mobile app is built using Xamarin, a cross-platform development tool that allows the sharing of a codebase between Android and iOS app versions.

The LMS web site allows management of both the fly-tipping and litter monitoring elements and is built within a cloudscribe Content Management System. It already contains details of previously recorded fly-tipping incidents in Scotland.

Data taken from the Technical support for CoPLAR Land Zoning in Scotland project is imported into LMS as local authorities continue to come on-board.

Further information from Richard Griffiths.

The surveyor found the system easy to use in the field, and was impressed with the performance, GPS response and camera quality in the tablet. The 16% survey equated to about 140km of public rights of way, and this was completed in the field in just a couple of weeks.

After the fieldwork was successfully completed, the data were synchronised into the authority's CAMS system, allowing them to generate reports and plan for the future maintenance of the network.

Further information from Timothy Derbyshire

The first part was a review of the available historic and cultural data, along with options for using them and the opportunities for public engagement in this area. We contacted a number of potential data holders by phone and email to discuss the data they held and how it could be used within the Long Forest project. Much of this information was only available in non-digital formats, but we identified several potentially very useful digital datasets and the options for utilising them. We also considered the opportunities for engaging the public through historic and cultural data dissemination and collection.

The second part was a review of the available options for a website and mobile app. As the project was still in an early stage, the Long Forest project team had no preconceived ideas regarding these, so we were able to fully explore all the possibilities. This included practical considerations, such as which platforms to use, how to implement bilingual display and the use of social media, as well as specific functionality that the website and mobile app could have. Options included:

• Crowd sourced mapping of extant and historic hedgerows
• A hedgerow survey mobile app with an integrated plant identification tool and associated web-based survey management
• Event management, covering everything from talks to practical hedgerow management sessions
• The use of Quick Response (QR) codes placed around the countryside to alert mobile app users to features of interest and present them with relevant information
• Games to engage the interest of all ages, some of which could also be used to generate useful data

Mock-ups were created for the crowdsourced mapping of hedgerows and the hedgerow survey app.

Further information from Mike Lush.

The client required an affordable, mobile system for data gathering in the field. A key requirement was the ability to synchronise the data wirelessly with CAMS Desktop in the office from anywhere at any time.

CAMS Mobile gives you:

• Live data collection in the field
• Portable, lightweight Smartphone / tablet
• Fast, accurate GPS
• Fast, simple recording of data
• Mapping and intuitive forms
• In-built camera
• Seamless data sync 

CAMS Mobile is ideal for:

• Carrying-out condition surveys
• Ad hoc recording of work
• Information resource in your pocket
• Populating asset registers
• Recording issues
• Recording details of site visits

Download a flyer. Further information is available from Simon Allen.

The development and User Acceptance Testing were undertaken rapidly to allow the volunteer surveyors to get out in the field as soon as possible - five weeks from design to deployment! The results were hugely positive with nearly 800 surveys quickly completed and all surveyors enjoying the process.

The National Park Conservation Officer concluded that this project had shown the way for future Heritage at Risk surveying, with significant advantages over previous methodologies.

In 2014 we are enhancing the app for a new round of surveying.

See also the Ordnance Survey case study. Further information from Crispin Flower.

Find out more about FlyMapper.

The system is currently in use by 12 Local Authorities in Scotland and 15 in Wales and had recorded over 80,000 fly-tipping incidents since 2014.

FlyMapper has two components: FlyMapper Web and FlyMapper Mobile. These are two ‘views’ onto the same dataset (if you add a record on the mobile you see it on web and vice versa):

FlyMapper Mobile:

• Smartphone app utilising GPS
• Simple to use
• Works on Android and iOS devices
• Works on and off-line (using local mapping)

FlyMapper Web – similar functionality to the mobile app plus:

• User registration management
• Analysis and reporting
• Data export
• WMS
• Optimised for office use on standard web browsers

Further information is available from Richard Griffiths.

Further information from Laine Skinner.