Andreea uses her decades of experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to capture, map, analyse and process information to help the council work more efficiently and accurately on behalf of residents.
From mapping the exact location of bins and benches in the council’s green spaces to the exact location of new homes and properties that have been affected by flooding are just some examples of the information Andreea Popa captures, analyses and processes to help Elmbridge Borough Council work more efficiently and accurately on behalf of its residents.
Celebrating her fifth year working for Elmbridge, Andreea has been involved in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for local government all her working life – almost 17 years. After completing a degree in GIS in her home country - Romania - and then a Masters in GIS in the UK, she actually started working for a local council’s GIS department part-time while studying!
“It’s quite a niche area”, she said. “It ties what is on the ground into a database which can be used for a variety of tasks from tracking and resolving complaints about unemptied bins to making strategic decisions about leisure facilities.”
She says her work involves most of the teams across the council: “Sitting within the ICT team, it’s regarded as a vital resource as pressures such as climate change and home shortages are all dependent on GIS for insights and solutions. It’s challenging but very varied, enjoyable work,” she added. “I joined Elmbridge to broaden my experience and for the flexibility which has massively improved my work-life balance.”
Andreea’s team recently published a Geosptial Strategy 2030 - which it hopes will unlock more location data opportunities to tie in with the council’s 2030 Vision and a more sustainable Elmbridge. Future projects include upgrading a resource on the council’s website called My Neighbourhood which allows residents to find out all sorts of information unique to an address: “The appetite for information has changed,” said Andreea. “People are looking for different things compared to 5 years ago. We’re hoping the upgrade will make it more user-friendly and allow us to do more exciting analysis too!”