New System to help Environment Agency deliver a
step change in flood forecasting capability to a simpler, more
resilient and more efficient service
Stock Market Symbols
GIB (NYSE)
GIB.A (TSX)
www.cgi.com/newsroom
LONDON, United Kingdom,
Jan. 10, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - CGI
(NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) announced it has won a new three year, £5
million, contract with England's
Environment Agency to design, deliver and run England's new Future Flood Forecasting System
(FFFS). FFFS will make use of the latest scalable cloud computing,
enabling the Environment Agency to produce and share flood
forecasts and products with greater efficiency and effectiveness.
The new system will also be easier and more cost effective to
maintain and develop in light of future needs.
FFFS will also improve the productivity of forecasters, through
a more streamlined user experience and less need for manual
intervention. Ultimately, the new system will improve the quality
and lead time of forecasting products, which increases the
likelihood of communities, utilities and flood risk management
authorities taking more effective action to reduce the impacts of
floods.
The new system will also provide a nationally consistent, single
system that is highly resilient and easily configurable. It will be
able to quickly scale in times of flood and maximise the use of
rich data analysis technologies to improve the quality and accuracy
of flood forecasts whilst future proofing the system for years to
come. Map-based visualisation will allow multiple sets of data to
be overlaid, enhancing the richness of information available to
forecasters and improving the accuracy of flood
forecasting.
"We are absolutely committed to increasing the timeliness,
accuracy and usefulness of our flood forecasts in order to improve
our response to flooding, and the Future Flood Forecasting System
will play a key role. It will bring together regional systems into
a single national system to make it quicker and easier to monitor
forecasts and provide our experts with more time to analyse the
data and communicate with our teams on the ground," said
Craig Woolhouse, Deputy Director
Flood Incident Management at the Environment Agency.
"This is a data-centric, mission-critical system and CGI is
proud to have been selected to develop it. We are implementing the
very best technologies, and developing using an agile methodology,
to ensure that the system evolves regularly and absolutely reflects
the needs of users," added Elwyn
Jones, Vice President of UK Central Government and Justice
at CGI. "We have married our own capabilities with extensive
hydrology expertise from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and
the latest innovations from British SME, Mapcite. This solution
will digitally transform the way floods are forecasted across the
country"
The Future Flood Forecasting System is based on CGI's Digital
Insight Platform, blending innovative digital technology with
powerful data analytics and data management technologies.
Running on Microsoft's Azure Cloud, it offers levels of scalability
including 'bursting' for times of peak data processing demand
during extreme weather and flood conditions.
Map-based data visualisation technology from Mapcite will enable
users to understand forecast outputs and assess the likely impacts
on high-risk areas and assets such as hospitals, sub-stations and
schools. Mapcite is part of CGI's SME Accelerate programme designed
to help innovative small and medium enterprises gain greater
opportunities to access CGI's government and commercial contracts
whilst delivering rapid innovation to CGI clients. The Centre for
Ecology and Hydrology will provide the depth and breadth of
hydrology and forecast model experience required to ensure that the
CGI technology solution has hydrology and forecast modelling at its
core.
CGI has a strong heritage in data management and analytics
deployments. Recent work includes a programme with UK Sport to help
the body use powerful analytics to assign funding to individual
sports in line with their chances of Olympics medal success. In
addition, the company has experience providing the system for the
Radioactive Incident Monitoring Network (RIMNET) that forecasts the
impact of potential nuclear incidents. It also has significant
Earth Observation experience gained through work with clients
including the European Space Agency. Such work is focused on the
management and integration of data provided by forecasts and
satellites including the creation of valuable applications based on
those data streams.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI Group Inc. is the fifth largest independent
information technology and business process services firm in the
world. Approximately 68,000 professionals serve thousands of global
clients from offices and delivery centers across the Americas,
Europe and Asia Pacific, leveraging a comprehensive
portfolio of services, including high-end business and IT
consulting, systems integration, application development and
maintenance, and infrastructure management, as well as 150 IP-based
services and solutions. With annual revenue in excess of
C$10 billion and an order backlog
exceeding C$20 billion, CGI shares
are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB).
Website: www.cgi.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
All statements in this
press release that do not directly and exclusively relate to
historical facts constitute "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of that term in Section 27A of the United States Securities
Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United States
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are
"forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian
securities laws. These statements and this information represent
CGI's intentions, plans, expectations and beliefs, and are subject
to risks, uncertainties and other factors, of which many are beyond
the control of the Company. These factors could cause actual
results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements
or forward-looking information. These factors include but are not
restricted to: the timing and size of new contracts; acquisitions
and other corporate developments; the ability to attract and retain
qualified members; market competition in the rapidly evolving IT
industry; general economic and business conditions; foreign
exchange and other risks identified in the press release, in CGI's
annual and quarterly Management's Discussion and Analysis
("MD&A") and in other public disclosure documents filed with
the Canadian securities authorities (filed on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(filed on EDGAR at www.sec.gov), as well as assumptions regarding
the foregoing. The words "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend",
"anticipate", "foresee", "plan", and similar expressions and
variations thereof, identify certain of such forward-looking
statements or forward-looking information, which speak only as of
the date on which they are made. In particular, statements relating
to future performance are forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information. CGI disclaims any intention or
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements or forward-looking information, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
applicable law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance
on these forward-looking statements or on this forward-looking
information.
SOURCE CGI Group Inc.