Information Systems Division
Head of Division: Patricia Cronin, Principal Officer
Functions of Division
The function of ISD is to provide ICT services to the Department. The 2011 budget amounts to €2.3m of which €0.6m has been allocated to capital spend.
Infrastructure Support as a Shared Service
The Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food under which from 1 April 2011 that Department will manage the technical IT infrastructure of DCENR, providing support for PCs, servers, printers, network security, etc. as well as a Helpdesk facility which tracks and resolves user issues. The Department of Agriculture has also agreed to host the DCENR internet servers on their networks.
Whilst some Departments have shared applications such as payroll, this is the first time that any Government Department will provide a full managed service of all network services to another Department.
Sectoral Applications Development and Support
DCENR has an in-house capability to develop and maintain software applications. Previously built applications include applications for managing the issuing of licences for the Petroleum and Mining Divisions. A new application to support the proposed Rural Broadband Scheme has just completed development and is awaiting a date for public launch. Each of the systems incorporates a Geographic Information System capability that delivers map information not just on the application, but also on environmental, historic and cultural aspects of the licence area under consideration.
The Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) in the Department probably owns the largest volume of digital data in the country. Making this data relevant to users such as the public, industry and universities requires sophisticated software applications which the Division manages.
Web Applications
The Department hosts 11 websites. Together with the Department’s main website, these websites are designed to support specialised stakeholders in the Natural Resources arena. The sites provide a range of GIS mapping services as well as historic and current information on licence applications and exploration studies.