Australian Post invests in Enterprise GIS

Andrea Hughes, Manager of the Enterprise GIS unit at the Australia Post told FutureGov Asia Pacific, that GIS is a fundamental tool for business decision-making within Australia Post and is being used internally to support the organisation’s business processes.

“While GIS was already being used within the business, we realised that facilitating access to GIS on a wider scale would bring further benefit” Hughes said.
“The importance of location to the way in which we do business, means that GIS capability is a must have for our organisation”.
The establishment of the Enterprise GIS has enabled the Australian Post to use GIS for determining postal routes and to gain an understanding of distances and service areas within its network.

The Enterprise GIS unit would support users and the use of GIS within the organisation, making it a single source of the truth for Spatial Data, Shared National Data and Australia Post Spatial Data that would support more informed decision making and introduce new methods to report results.
The Enterprise GIS unit was set up so that users can log issues with a central help desk, and enable them to see how their claim is progressing. The project involved setting up a web-mapping interface using a base set of data that could be used by departments across the organisation. In addition, the two and a half year project consisted of streamlining and centralising data, software, and technical staff.
“Through this technology we are able to analyse both the location of our assets and the relationship between them. It also allows us to access spatial tooling via Map Master, an internal web mapping portal which makes GIS accessible across the organisation” she said.
Hughes added that since technology plays a vital role in keeping the organisation sustainable, consistently reviewing and adapting to the needs of the organisation, industry trends, and seeking feedback from Australia Post users are ways by which the organisation can be sustainable.