Platform Stat@las – New Web Content Management System for the Production of Regional and Urban Statistical Atlases

Thomas Schulz

Federal Statistical OfficeThemaKart

Espace de l’Europe 102010 Neuchâtel

SwitzerlandThomas.Schulz@bfs.admin.ch

Summary

Thematic maps are a powerful means for efficiently exploiting and communicating statistical data to the large public. Together with tables, text or charts, they constitute an increasingly popular element within publications, either in print or on the web. The Swiss Federal Statistical Office has not only a long tradition in publishing maps and atlases, it is also enriching them with more available regional data (e.g. in the context of the Urban Audit programme) for the dissemination through all media.

To enhance its in-house production of maps and atlases, the FSO has developed a new Atlas Information System that includes an efficient and comprehensive online editorial tool. This (Web) Content Management System does not only help to integrate a large number of internal editorial staff with different tasks and backgrounds – and without special programming knowledge – into one working environment. It also allows the exchange of dissemination data with partners worldwide and the fast production of new or other language editions; it also guarantees full quality control for all steps – from gathering data to the final output production.

Platform Stat@las is based on three interactive components: a spatial data base, a Content Manage-ment System (authoring software) and a modern Graphical User Interface using Adobe Flash as output format to portray the atlas information system itself. Interactive maps are presented for various regional levels and can be accompanied by interactive graphs, tables and textual explanations, so that users profit the most from a variety of different access points to this information. The platform was used to develop three new online atlases: The Statistical Atlas of Switzerland, The Statistical Atlas of European Regions and The Political Atlas of Switzerland. Using the same atlas data base, it is also possible to generate other products, e.g. regional profiles or reports with a few mouse clicks.

1. Maps and atlases in the statistical dissemination

Cartographic representations have always been a popular, but at some times also costly element in the public information process of statistical offices. The Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has made use of thematic maps ever since the publication of its first statistical yearbook in 1891 and has been adding them always in large numbers to its printed standard publications, press releases and, of course, increasingly to its webpages over the last decade.

Whilst for the first decades and long into the 20th century, maps have often been used merely as decorative, colourful elements within otherwise black&white publications containing plain statistical data, their added information value is nowadays directly used to offer users an easy-to-understand and easy-to-use vehicle of exploring large amounts of often complex data. The strong demand for visualisations of an audience well acquainted with modern interactive electronic media and images, confirms this trend every day. Maps, at one glance, simply tell more than a thousand numbers, no matter how precise those are. They show immediate regional distributions or disparities, and help to point out the most important characteristics of any given dataset. For many statistical topics, e.g. population censuses or elections, maps have in time become alomost indispensable elements.

The increasing number of published data for some surveys and the availabilty of data for more and more detailed regional levels have subsequently also lead to the compilation of statistical atlases. The Swiss Federal Statistical Office, like many other European offices at the end of the 19th century, published its first atlas, the Graphical-statistical Atlas of Switzerland, in 1897, followed by more or less sporadic approaches under various titles over the next decades. Since the 1980 population census a comprehensive printed census atlas, called The Structural Atlas of Switzerland, is being published every 10 years. With several hundred maps and in-depth analysis for each topic, it shows major dynamic changes within Swiss and European regions for every decade between censuses. The latest edition was published in 2006 and should be followed by a new atlas in 2013/14 (see also ch. 5).

The 1990 and 2000 census have also seen the publication of several mono-thematic online atlases, e.g. on gender and equality issues or the phenomenon of an ageing society. Since 2003, the FSO offers a popular annual Statistical Atlas on DVD, which accompanies the statistical yearbook with current maps and figures for most statistical topics.

Modern atlases published by the Swiss FSO Statistical Office Year MediaStructural Atlas of Switzerland (population census) 1985, 1997, 2006 Print Swiss Atlas of Population and Age 1998 Print Swiss Atlas of Women and Equality 2001 Print Statistical Atlas of Switzerland (yearbook) 2003 – 2007 CD-ROM/DVD Political Atlas of Switzerland 2004 CD-ROM/DVD Swiss Atlas of People above 50 2005 OnlineSwiss Atlas of Women and Equality 2005 OnlineStat@las Europe - Statistical Atlas of European Regions 2006 – Online / DVD Stat@las Elections - Atlas of National Council Elections 2007 Online / DVD Stat@las Politics - Political Atlas of Switzerland 2010 – Online / DVD Stat@las Switzerland - Statistical Atlas of Switzerland 2009 – Online / DVDLink: www.statistics.admin.ch > Regional    

2. A new Statistical Atlas for Switzerland

2.1. Relaunching the Statistical Atlas as a central platform for regional data at the FSO

All atlases mentioned above used state-of-the-art and usually innovative technologies – for their time and purpose. Most of them were already produced and published electronically, either through online media or on data carriers. They do also contain some kind of data and metadate base and even comprise multimedia elements (tables, charts, images etc.), which are common to modern atlas information systems. Nonetheless, they were neither fully fit for all future technological challenges and production frameworks, nor could they cope with the increasing number of available regional data in the office. Most of them focussed on specific media for publication only, i.e. they could either be printed or used online or put on a DVD. The most disfortunate fact was probably – and this is the case for many atlas projects worldwide –, that all these works were individual productions, not linked to each other by content or technology transfer. This made it extremely difficult to re-use or up-date their contents after a couple of years, as the environment or often staff as well had changed.

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Fig. 1: First thematic map by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (Statistical Yearbook 1891)

Another impetus for rethinking products and technologies at the FSO were dramatically changed user habits. Most statistical publications are now available for free, online and consulted more frequently by users than ever before. As data collections move online and dashboards evolve, statistical atlases have to follow suit – which does not exclude them from being printed for special analyses or purposes. The eye-catching attraction of a printed atlas as a decorative gift to stakeholders and politicians or in a bookshelve must not be neglected. Taking these considerations into account, and with a new census and mapping data at the horizon for 2010, the FSO decided in 2006 to reorientate its map and atlas production, this also in the context of the complete modernisation of the whole statistical information system in the office. At the same time and fortunately for these products, the activities in the spatial analysis department could be enforced, which would eventually not only enrich the atlas contents, but also lead to the integration of almost all spatial data collections and projects in the office in the central atlas data base, from where different products for our clients can be derived.

2.2. Technology

To begin with the technical point of view, it was crucial for the FSO to develop or acquire a spatial (and mapping) platform that could fulfill various needs. Amongst the major requirements: a long-term usage perspective, a fast and stable data base, and a technology that could on the one hand persistently run a modern dynamic atlas information system with interactive maps, graphs, tables, multilingual texts, and would additionally be modular and open enough for any future extensions and interfaces, which the central statistical office and its regional partners couldn’t foresee in the beginning.

Besides, in the core stood a hybrid cross media output and the 180° reversal of the production rail from web to print. Analogously to general workflows nowadays, the new on-line issue should be the primary atlas version and also be produced via the web. From this source, DVD or book editions and when required special thematic atlases will be derived in similar quality. This approach was crucial for a fresh start not only in the aspect of a cost-conscious production; it would also allow the participation and constant flowback of knowledge from external experts and users, which is very important today.

The new technology would also need to follow the FSO’s marketing strategy and take into account that there are numerous, not clearly distinguishable user groups for regional data. Thus, the atlas user interface needed to display a clear structure and self-explanatory functions for the large number of „statistical tourists“ alike who are usually not familiar with technical terms and the data, but merely want to get an overview of topics or search for one or two specific maps for any purpose. On the other hand, it would need to address those „data miners“ – though smaller in numbers – as well, who stay with the application for hours and get into every detail, tailor „their“ own maps, excell data analysis or maybe retrieve part of the data for further analysis.

2.3. Contents

The new draft of contents mirrors this aspect, too. It considers for the first time the full spectrum of data from all 21 statistical products/themes (www.statistik.admin.ch). For an easier access, these are summarised to 12 chapters in the atlas – from population, living conditions, economy to environment and politics. On the third from a total of four navigation steps approx. 350 chapters are planned and in large parts already accomplished. The regional data comes mainly from FSO sources, but als from Eurostat and for some projects from other federal and cantonal institutions.

Data are for most topics made available on the lowest regional levels – users can, for own analyses and comparisons, later also view them in other regional divisions. Generally, the political communes (municipalities) form the data base; however, for single subjects this can vary strongly, as some data are available only on district, cantonal or even national level (e.g. health or income data). Also such data should not be excluded from a visualisation in the interest of the subject-wide and synoptic information policy. On the other hand, companies or researchers involved in geo-marketing and small-scale geographic anlysis certainly wish to see more detailed local or point data, including grid maps. For a part of the contents, e.g. from the census or land use statistics, such an offer is conceivable and

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could be integrated in the atlas concept. Due to reasons of data protection and thematic availability, however, this offer will also in the coming years not exceed 15-20% of all topics.

No exact number can be given for the number of maps and topics. It just varies daily. Currently, there are about 2500 maps available online. The new draft does not involve any more single atlas issues with frozen contents and specific publishing dates. Though a main focus is put on the issuing of the statistical yearbook and its accompanying DVD that includes the Statistical Atlas every year in February, the online atlas and its data base are continuously updated and extended, as current data arrives and other regional projects are due for dissemination. As wished by the office, this contributes over the years to an extensive output data base for various spatial questions to statistics. And for the producers of the atlas, mainly the cartography and spatial analysis units, this has the fortunate side-effect of less time pressure – which many atlas makers often suffer from. So, this “space” helps the authors to concentrate more on quality issues, provide new language editions or to react spontaneously to day-topical events, for example elections or votes.

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Fig. 2: Map from the Statistical Atlas of Switzerland (2010)

Fig. 3: Map from the Statistical Atlas of European Regions (2010)

3. Technical requirements for a new production environment

3.1. Graphical User Interface – what users get to see

The graphical user interface (GUI) is not only the iconic window with high recognition value for any atlas information system – its design concept is decisive for the successful communication of its contents and the fundamental acceptance of the product. Detached from technical finesse and all aspects of spatial data management in the background, an attractive, timeless interface which is homogeneous in itself and visually orders the various functions without demanding too much knowledge, is of highest priority in a project like this.

Three parameters determined the final layout of the new interface how it presents itself today. Firstly, the applications had to be recognizable clearly as products of the FSO and the Swiss confederation, which is why the surface design with its respective head and top level navigation is unmistakeably rooted in the default corporate design guides. Secondly, the interface should reflect the quality and usability proven in former atlas editions and integrated them within new extensions, e.g. in the design of cartographic representation methods. Thirdly, displaying regional data, the biggest possible share of the screen should be given to the thematic map, the most important information object. That's why there will exist no default settings for the interface’s dimensions; it opens screen-filling in the highest resolution and font-optimised for every user. In addition, menu bars can be shifted to create even more place to the visual display of data. Although the application can technically also be started using data views or charts first, as in most dashboards, the FSO has given priority to the cartographic view as the central entrance point, from where all other elements can be called upon in a second step.

The high graphic quality of the functional surface finds her continua-tion in the map representation and cartographic methods. The new GUI offers diverse symbolism as it existed for decades in the off-line cartography before and tries to put an end to seemingly endless choropleth (area) representations that can often be found in statistical online maps. Today, all theoretical and technical bases to convert the plethora of rich – sometimes also complex – cartographic expression forms from the printing age exist. Thus, the new atlas platform was designed to use various proportional symbols, sector and bar charts, age pyramids, pictograms, and alterna-tive forms of area representations, such as anarmorphotic distortion

maps. All of these can be varied from theme to theme – or for the same theme even. Combinations of surface and symbol representations for relative and absolute values, that add extra value to the map interpretation and have been used for many years in the print output, were also revived for the digital

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Fig. 4: Example of an interactive chart in the Atlas GUI

Fig. 5: Visualisation of geo-refe-renced data, different grid sizes

asset. A classic example are election maps, where percentage shares of parties are combined with the actual votes received – which can be done by either overlaying symbols to relative percentages in areas or by adding colour shades to the symbols themselves.

3.1. Efficient production and Interfaces – the background story

In addition to the acquisition of a modern statistical atlas information system and a state-of-the-art user interface, it was clear from the beginning of the project, that the strongest challenges of the platform lied somewhere else – in that part of the application, that our clients usually do not get to see. I.e. in the implementation of efficient production processes and the smooth and secure handling of a huge amount of spatial data and metadata within the platform, but also through a lot of different input and output interfaces to other FSO applications or to our partners via the Internet. The following list sums up the most important tasks, which were realised during the building up of the application:

o User and roll management: Cooperation of a large (> 200) number of professional staff and authors with different functions and backgrounds, working at different places, in one environment accessible through the web (external authors) and the backup of the total production flow.

o Easy use: The whole application should be designed for and accessed by everyone in the office, so that none of the users would need any special foreknowledge and programming skills.

o Communication: Guarantee of information exchange and discussion whiteboard in the platform.o Multilingual facilities: multilingual approach from the beginning of the workflow to the final output

in the graphical user interface, including multilingual and localised interfaces in the editorial tool and data base for the daily work of authors with different linguistic backgrounds.

o Data interfaces: the greatest possible freedom for the exchange with other systems in both directions. Data input from data bases as well as file-based (for example .xls, .csv,. sdmx, .xml etc.); verified and processed data should be able to be exported again in a standardised way.

o Data management: efficient and secure management of very large amounts of spatial data with different input structures/formats, temporal or spatial references (e.g. the Political Atlas contains more than 6000 thematic maps with 12000 data records and a total of 25 million single data units).

o Calculations: treatment or "refining" of integrated absolute data, calculation of indicators or any other data relations to be shown in maps and graphs.

o Spatial nomenclatures: management of more than 50 spatial nomenclatures and their particularities for Switzerland alone (e.g. municipality split-ups, groupings of municipalities or incomplete area coverage) as well as numerous project-specific nomenclatures.

o Spatial recoding: Implementation of aggregation routines that automatically allow the temporal and spatial recoding of any statistical data and cartographic geometry within the applications.

o Quality management: quality checks and verification of project steps from the first input of data to the final product, including automated quality reports, e.g. for the completeness of data or possible logical errors within a dataset, and the history of all user actions within the system.

o Project management: efficient management of the central statistical atlas, additional special topic atlases or other regional statistical projects, e.g. country or regional profiles, as well as their contents drafts and final table of contents through a common data base system.

o Durability and reusability: once available, published or unpublished atlas contents should be be exchanged in a cartographic value added chain between projects, e.g. it should be possible to take over contents of a demographic atlas in the general statistical atlas or a future regional atlas just for the canton of Zurich (and vice versa).

o Actuality: Allow of short updating intervals up to the live integration and live generation of maps, e.g. for Sunday popular votes four times a year.

o Sketch maps, non-publication maps: supply of a second virtual platform, so that beside professional presentations also staff not working in the geography department can provide everyday sketch maps from their data (without a specific publication purpose) and can hand those sketches over if necessary as proposals to the responsible staff.

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4. Introducing an Atlas Content Management System

4.1. The core of the new platform

Summing up all these requirements, most of them typical for any statistical atlas production, it became clear that the new atlas information system (visible part of the platform) had to have a firm foundation in the form of an intelligent authoring software. In fact, no linear, but a multidimensional system accessible everywhere was needed, which would be able to steer all single production processes and put together the tiny pieces like bricks by dynamic and extendable functions. In analogy to other processes and terms used in web productions, the decision fell for the development of an Atlas Content Management System (Atlas CMS), for which the FSO could find a competent partner specialised in web authoring tools and cartographic applications at the same time.

4.2. General components of Web Content Management Systems

A Web Content Management System (WCMS) serves in general the integration and management of large and dynamic contents to be published on the web which are in the beginning still indepenedent from their final output format. The software is usually intuitive, so that also inexperienced staff can work without any programming knowledge in this environment and provide nonetheless professionally looking products. For the use of a WCMS no additional software needs to be installed. All an employee needs is a PC, a web browser and a personal account and password as well as an Internet connection. As a matter of course, professional systems are fully browser and platform independent.

Hence, basic elements of a WCMS, just as with many other tools, are the user management and the definition of rolls in a system, as well as an integrated communication platform. Based on the accounts and rights given to somone, a control mechanism can be set up that guarantees the quality of the final product. Usually, a control authority (Content Master) accepts individual work results and publishes or frowards them – or, in case something is wrong with the content, gets into touch with the editor and starts a correction process. In addition, the history of all working steps is an important component, without which any possible changes to data or finished objects could not be traced back later. An integrated and intuitive help function, automated warnings for illogical or unexpected inputs, a translation tool and the possibility for the changing of personal settings, e.g. for entering the users language properties, are also basic functionalities of a WCMS.

4.3. Additional components of an Atlas Content Management System

In supplement of these general, for the cartographic production advantageous features, an atlas must implement additional CMS structures and functions according to its requirements and special nature of the underlying spatial data. The backbone in an atlas system is always the spatial dimension. It does not normally exist in a Content Management System, or ist at least not of piority. In a spatial information system it is the red thread that is intertwined with all partial processes. The CMS model must therefore be complemented by data integration interfaces, data enrichment functions, metadata (multilingual) handlers and output features that are build around the specific features of spatial data – be it national, regional, urban or other local data. It must also take into account different formats ans shapes of cartographic geometries, projections and spatial nomenclatures itself.

The management of spatial nomenclatures (codes, lables etc.) forms a key issue within the Atlas CMS without which a solution of many consecutive steps is not possible. Every known geographic division is constantly undergoing changes, even on the national or cantonal level. In Switzerland, for example, we have experienced about 15-20 commune changes (geography, border, code, label or other types of changes) per year in the past, and are currently confronted with 40-50 mutations every year (which of course do not happen at the same date). These changes have immediate effects on the geometry, the data and whole projects, as they will alter their contents. The CMS and an enlarged ERM (entity relationship model) for the data base must find answers on how these changes effect the underlying geometries, generalisations, multilingual labels or automatically created tables, graphs and maps which are already published or in the make.

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Within the visual output component of the system, there is one exclusive information object of course – the map – inalienably the centre of an Atlas CMS. Every map can be defined over an extensive, but easy-to-work-with functional surface that offers all necessary visualisation parameters in one menu bar. In contrast to a standard CMS which commonly disseminates contents in the form of HTML documents, the Atlas CMS must know other possibilities/formats to guarantee high quality and fast output for maps, graphs, tables and text. In the case of our new platform, Adobe Flash, PDF and in the future HTML5 are used as visual output standards. But it is not only essential to have a clear picture for the final customer, it is also indispensable to offer functionalities for the internal author which allow an exact control of the result (i.e. the WYSIWIG principle). Stat@las uses a preview mode that reflects the exact output for all elements within seconds while still working on them. Thus, map authors can preview the final map, or translators can preview the correct text formatting of their translated works within a mouse click and without necessarily knowing the final product. This is just as important as are comprehensive CMS menus and bars. Especially under the aspect of sketch maps for inexperienced, casual users who use the system once or twice a year for their work. This, we think, will also help promote the distribution and acceptance of the platform amongst our partners.

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Fig. 6: Components and interfaces of Platform Stat@las

4.4. Selected features of Platform Stat@las

4.1.1. OverviewPlatform Stat@las – the name being derived from FSO‘s former DVD atlas „StatAtlas“ – currently knows 18 major components. All together allow for the integrated production of statistical atlases in all media (Online, DVD, Print), regional profiles, regional dashboards with charts/indicators and regional PDF reports. As they use the same regional data base, which is being continuously extended, it is for FSO authors not necessary any more to work with other applications in order to create those individual products. The main components/modules, of which some are explained in more detail below, are:

Data Input - Data Management (statistical data, metadata, geometries, topographic information, calculations, recoding etc.) - Data Output - Working Areas - Atlas projects - Indicator projects - Regional reports - Regional profiles - Maps (including publication and sketch maps) - Other media (charts, tables, text) - Translation - Messaging System - User Management - Language Settings - Personal Settings - History - Help - Administration

4.1.2. Spatial nomenclatures Clearly defined spaces and their relations form the basis for all data-related operations in the platform. Currently 27 official institutional, analytical, regional-political or typological geographic divisions plus about 25 inofficial, single subject divisions are used for the analysis and dissemination of statistical themes in Switzerland – and of course in atlases and regional products. They are commonly rooted in the Official Repertoire of the Swiss Communes (also FSO), which knows the political municipalities and city quarters as their lowest entities.

The nomenclatures for these have meanwhile all been integrated in the data base and are accessible via the CMS. Entitled authors can at any time adapt them if changes occur or add new ones. For the institutional divisions (municipalities, districts, cantons) the nomenclatures date back until 1848, incl. the day-exact states inbetween years (3-4 states with sometimes more than 30 mutations per year). Most of the other regional divisions date back until at least 1990. Besides regional IDs, multilingual labels (German, French, Italian, Rumantsch, English and others), mutation dates as well as the recode information (keys for the calculation between diferent regional levels) are handled. On the basis of this information, the integration of inconsistent data can be generally excluded. All data entering the system about the various interfaces are validated before use accordingly and are rejected if not suited.

The module was from the beginning conceived independently of certain nomenclatures and structures, so that nomenclatures and recode relations for other projects or countries can be integrated, e.g. zip codes, European countries or regions, world countries, urban divisions of any kind etc. Independently from the purely administrative-based geometrical information, also geo-referenced data (exact-coordinate or grid information) can be integrated and managed.

4.1.3. Data aggregation and recoding The recode keys allow the automatic horizontal (temporal within division) and/or vertical (on higher spatial divisions) recoding of all geometric and statistical information at every time and for every purpose within the Content Management System. In the absence of another capable tool in the office, these procedures within Platform Stat@las have proved invaluable to authors, especially for the presentation of large time series in maps and charts or the calculation of relative data (indicators, quotients) from various sources with different time stamps, as all of them need a common spatial base for comparisons. Thus, e.g., a data set of the "residential population 1960" at the time of 1/1/1960 can be aggregated by mouse click automatically on the time state 4/10/2008 or possibly on the cantonal with the current state of 1/1/1997 etc.

4.1.4. Calculations with spatial dataInstead of absolute data, which are understandably often the fundamental step in a statistical data base, relative data (quotients, factors, ratios) and more complicated indicators are predominantly used for the statistical output, be it in thematic maps, charts, profiles on statistical web pages etc. This is

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reasonable, as most users are rather interested in a population density, the rate of unemployment or an age index and would otherwise have to calculate these themselves from raw tables. To be able to provide them within the system without altering the fundamental original absolute data, a simple module for authors was introduced, like a pocket calculator, which disposes of basic arithmetical and statistical operations that can be applied. To avoid redundancy, these relations are never physically stored as new data records, but only referred to. All formulae and original records are documented and can be seen at any time whilst working with the system and also used again for other purposes.

4.1.5. Multilingual application, TranslationsIn a country with 4 spoken national languages – and the respective language editions for any output in national offices, a multilingual approach to any new application is fundamental. The strict use of the UTF 8 font coding allows a fully multilingual approach for all parts of the system – the data base, the Content Management System and the Graphical User Interface. The translation module is laid out for this and uses the internationalisation (I18N) and localisation (L10N) standards according to W3C recommendations. Thus, it enables for example an immediate adaptation from standard German to Swiss German specialities. Once a Swiss German user opens a map, he might see different spellings and vocabulary than a German or Austrian user – without knowing it of course.

The translation module is created, so that employees with a specific role and language rights can independently provide other language texts at the same time to on-going processes, e.g. while another author is still creating a map or profile. Languages rights are explicitly assigned to every employee; therefore it is prevented that, e.g. an Italian text editor can carry out changes in the original German source of information. Known sources of error (discrepancies with file-based copying, multiple

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Fig. 7: Creating a new thematic map with the Atlas Content Management System

translations or non-current bases in files) are thus excluded from beginning. The language module eventually allows the translation of all system components, i.e. the Content Management System software can be translated itself into any possible other language – if desired.

4.1.6. MessagingA multi-layer user management which intends a management of roles, patterns and single rights was integrated into the atlas CMS. Employees can hence be limited by this granularity according to their competences in certain processes (e.g. data input, maps or translations) and project areas (e.g. given rights for a whole atlas or just for a single chapter) or be defined as a controlling authority according to the guidelines. To enable a fast and smooth communication between the various users, a messaging system was implemented, that allows users to write a short message to any other users and link their page or element currently „under construction“ to this message. Thus, e.g. a Content Master can be advised by an author that a certain map has been finished, he can check this and – if ok – activate it for publication, and at the same time inform the author again about this step. For broader discussions, e.g. on new features and functions or specific problems with some content, a discussion whiteboard was implemented.

5. Current dissemination products and outlook

5.1. Status of the implementation of the new platform

After an intensive developing and testing phase, the new atlas platform was successfully introduced at the Swiss Federal Statistical Office by the end of 2008 with most of its modules ready (data input, data management and project management, map definition) and then expanded over the last two years to its actual state (chapter 4). There are currently 80 users at FSO with an access to the platform, and about 25 external users from other federal offices, cantons and cities. Most of them are involved in large atlas productions, others in the preparation of regional reports or data collections, e.g. in the context of the on-going Urban Audit project.

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Fig. 8: Importing and verifying statistical data with the Atlas CMS (in this case: missing units)

The system has met and sometimes exceeded the expectations of all users – first of all of course the cartographic team. It has proven more than suitable for the fast, dynamic preparation and multi-media presentation of all our thematic maps and atlases as well as it is a convenient tool for every-day sketch maps by other users. Besides the efficient handling of large spatial data provided in many different spatial divisions and time states, the mature management of basic geometries, topographical information and multilingual metadata through one Content Management solution have paid off for the cartography unit. Furthermore, over the coming years most map titles, legends, descriptions, classes or colour schemes from individual productions of the past 20 years will be integrated into the data base, complemented with the new contents and create an invaluable information source.

Not fully unexpectedly, once the system was implemented, its user interface with all the visual possibilities as well as the integrated production of a modern Web CMS, have increasingly called other projects in the office on the stage which pursue primarily no cartographic tasks. Thus, apart from atlases, the platform is now also used (or in preparation) as a regional data dashboard for the dissemination of indicators and a data platform for the exchange of regional data with partners. And she lends support for the general information service of the FSO where she helps put together tables, charts and maps for clients. Currently 10 projects with regional data use the platform as their primary base for analysis and dissemination and have thus contributed to the largest regional data base in the office with more than 25000 topics that can be used for various output – and of course atlas again.

4.2. Dissemination products based on Platform Stat@las

Statistical atlasesBy the end of 2008 the production for three new statistical atlases could be taken up:

o Statistical Atlas of Switzerland www.statatlas-schweiz.admin.cho Statistical Atlas of European Regions www.statatlas-of-europe.admin.cho Political Atlas of Switzerland www.statatlas-politik.admin.ch

All three products could be launched between 2009 and spring 2010 and are available online and offline on DVD/USB stick, together with other publications, e.g. the Statistical Yearbook. With a total of currently 2500 interactive maps and charts, they show many interesting regional disparities and statistical facts about Switzerland and Europe. All data or images can be extracted as XLS or PDF files – or being printed out, if the user wishes to do so. The atlases are always made available in German and French, the European atlas in English, too. Italian and English editions for the other atlases are in work. The FSO guarantees a continuous update as new data becomes available, at least once a year for all topics, depending on survey intervalls of course.

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Fig. 9: Map examples for the Swiss Urban Audit 2008 (Bern, Zurich, Lausanne, Geneva)

In 2010 also the preparations for a new census atlas (Structural Atlas of Switzerland) will begin. It will, in a new form and layout, continue the tradition of the three printed census atlases which portrayed the 1980, 1990 and 2000 population census (chapter 2).

Regional profilesAnother interesting employment of the platform has arisen early in the project: profiles. For many years the FSO has already presented regional profiles/portraits on its homepage, which were usually put together manually every year from plain tables. Such key data collections for municipalities, cantons and European countries can now be extracted and updated almost automatically from the regional data base of Platform Stat@las, taking into account also all spatial changes which happened over the past 12 months and guaranteeing that the same current data is being used as for the atlases. For the user, the data will be shown in the atlas as well as on the general web pages. Regional reportsRegional reports are not a new publication model at FSO. Already for some decades, national reports for certain statistics, e.g. crime, social or health statistics, were accompanied by same-style reports showing cantonal, district or urban data. As the manual provision of such reports (which can easily be 20 or 30 of the same structure every year) with hundreds of individual maps, charts and tables consumed a lot of resources within the office, a new module was added to Platform Stat@las in 2010, which speeds up the whole process for regional reports dramatically. Just one report sample is now being layouted with its basic structure, positioning all elements in their desired order. The data is then being attributed to the respective items, e.g. maps, charts, tables or text. With one click, the system automatically calculates the reports for all desired regional entities and languages by retrieving the necessary data from the regional data base and putting them together page by page. All objects are drawn in high quality, so that the final reports can directly go to offset printing at the FSO. As output formats, PDF or the editable docX format can be chosen.

Urban AuditLast but not least, Platform Stat@las will be the integral tool for all aspects of the Swiss Urban Audit from autumn 2010 on – also a project closely related to the regional data needed for the statistical atlases of the FSO. The 2009 Urban Audit data have already been successfully integrated in the platform. Beginning from next month on, the collected data from the 10 Swiss Urban Audit cities will be directly entered into the data base by our partners, joined with the data from the FSO, and then being prepared for delivery to Eurostat and the final dissemination at the FSO, possibly in the form of an Urban Audit atlas and city profiles during the next two years.

4.3. Outlook

The technical potential of the platform goes probably beyond the four product categories, and we can already see other uses in the future, e.g. an automated production of regional yearbooks or three-dimensional maps, to give two examples. Based on the positive experiences made with the platform by more than 50 authors since 2008 and numerous responses from our clients, the FSO has already commenced with the development and update of some functions.

There will be a couple of new data interfaces for statistical data and metadata with newly implemented data bases at the FSO, but also the possibility of integrating other map backgrounds via available web interfaces (new topographic layers). One of the biggest tasks is also the optimisation of the printed

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Fig. 10: Example of a regionalreport in PDF quality

output, i.e. formats and design possibilities. As all future printed atlases and other products shall be derived from this platform, it is intended to introduce a new interface that cannot only output maps or charts in PDF format but also directly for Adobe Ilustrator using every possible layout, which authors can predefine in the platform. Concerning the user interface (GUI), the number of cartographic methods will be further extended as well as more analytical functions being introduced, e.g. user-defined regional or thematic comparators.

The Swiss FSO works together with regional and national partners for Platform Stat@las. Any further collaboration, be it for the continuation of the technical development of the platform or in the field of atlas cartography, are welcome.

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Fig. 11: Example of country profiles automatically generated with Platform Stat@las