BMT Defence Services (BMT), a subsidiary of BMT Group, has undertaken a major contract with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
To enable the MOD to effectively aggregate, communicate and share information that is captured by Military Stabilisation Support Group (MSSG) staff in the field, BMT has developed a central database and dashboard portal using the latest software technologies.
As part of the MOD’s drive to refine and enhance the efficiency of cross-government information sharing, BMT has designed, developed and is providing continued hosting support for a central database and web-based dashboard system, supporting the real-time monitoring and reporting from governmental stabilisation exercises.
Sam Dorling, Project Manager at BMT Defence Services explains: “Providing a more streamlined and efficient way of capturing, storing and sharing information is a key requirement for the MOD. Receiving critical information from the MSSG in real time will allow various stakeholders to be kept fully up to speed with current activities on the ground and allow them to take, if required, any necessary action quickly.”
To ensure that the dashboard interface is simple, informative and intuitive for users, BMT has developed an innovative interface using Google Maps.
Sam continues further: “Although there are a number of different Geographic Information System technologies available, we recognised that web users in today’s society are very familiar with Google Maps and its interface. Utilising an interactive maps based interface, users will be able to engage with the dashboard system and view information related to geographical areas of interest.”
BMT has also developed a mobile, tablet-based application for MSSG staff out in the field to capture and retrieve information regarding local projects and organisations. Information captured via tablet devices can then be easily fed back into the central database to ensure continuity throughout the process.
The Central Database, dashboard portal and tablet-based applications have now all been trialled by Dstl and the MSSG through ‘real-world scenario’ field exercises in the UK and the feedback from users has been very positive, indicating a drive to adopt these technologies on foreign soil in the near future.
[mappress] Press Release, May 16, 2014; Image: Stock Photo