Mapping sports data for insight
Local company with global outlook
Inside Edge are a sport and leisure planning company that help ensure their client organisations, state and national sporting bodies, invest in the right infrastructure. Inside Edge have a focus on infrastructure planning so sport and government can collectively provide the facilities that encourage people to participate.
With a view to expanding their reach beyond Australia to New Zealand, the UK and USA, Inside Edge saw the need to become savvier with technology and be a leader in their industry. Company Director Michael Bodman said branching out into new markets wouldn’t be possible without technological innovation. Inside Edge engaged NGIS to help them develop a mapping capability.
Inside Edge work with clients including the AFL, Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia, Football Federation NSW, Victorian Rugby Union and Sport New Zealand.
A lack of visualisation
UInside Edge Company Director Michael Bodman identified two problems before engaging NGIS to help implement mapping technology.
The first was a reliance on MS Excel for analysis. The company was limited because there was no way to visualise data. Outputs of analysis were also only available as static reports, with information trapped in PDFs and spreadsheets.
“We were writing 60 or 100 page reports and it was hard to communicate the key points of the data – it took longer to get the point across in lots of tables and graphs. We were dealing with Board members and CEOs who have limited time to read reports,” Michael Bodman said.
“[NGIS principal consultant] Jack Green has been great at providing us with knowledge around the basics, but also introducing new features and techniques. He has helped us with the journey from basic level to enterprise carto. He has been very good at the ongoing support,”
Michael Bodman – Inside Edge Company Director
Manual effort required
The second problem was identified as a limitation to one of their core products, Sports Facility Auditor, a database tool that helps organisations understand the state of their infrastructure.
Michael Bodman said “We could analyse the data, but couldn’t overlay the information with participation and demographics.”
He said some information lived in Excel and others were in other databases with no easy way of bringing it into one format. Inside Edge were having to deal with multiple systems with different data sets leading to a lot of manual effort and potential for error.
Introducing an easy-to-learn mapping platform
Inside Edge engaged NGIS to help them integrate the location intelligence platform CARTO into their work. NGIS helped choose the best product type, organise licensing, configure and train the team on how to use the software as a service platform.
Inside Edge Campany Director Michael Bodman said “we use CARTO for visualisation – it helps considerably with bringing the data to life and make maps in a snappy way that’s easy to understand.”
Inside Edge started by plotting basic data sets into the easy to use CARTO. Now every project has its own CARTO map. As the team upskills there is less need for external help, but when a job requires it, Inside Edge call on NGIS for technical help.
A scalable new line of business
Adding CARTO to Inside Edge’s offering has allowed them to add a new permanent income stream: digital products.
“This is an offering we didn’t have two years ago. We now have this as part of our core business,” Michael Bodman said. “It is about 5% at the moment but could see it growing to 15-20% in the next 5 years from our existing client base, but also as our industry plays catch up with available technology.”
“Our speed efficiency and quality of reporting has certainly increased and we have a unique offering. Now we have mapping in place and it’s part and parcel of every project. It helps us work with our clients beyond the reports – the tools are interactive.”
“[The business we get through mapping] is about 5% at the moment but could see it growing to 15-20% in the next 5 years…”
Michael Bodman – Inside Edge Company Director
