ODCGIS hosted their first face to face Seminar in Birmingham on Wednesday 26th March 2025. Over 100 delegates from 57 housing associations attended and spent the day networking with each other as well as listening to 8 of their peers from other housing associations explain how they had been using GIS. The presentations covered a range of subjects, from assets to grounds maintenance to sustainability and strategic planning with everything in between.
“An exciting day for ODCGIS Limited at their fully booked seminar on enhancing social housing through GIS, and judging by the number of seats taken, a full house!”
Gemma JackOrdnance Survey
“Brilliant event Rick Thompson, thanks for all the insights. Really interesting and insightful day”
Matt Sugden (CEO)Railway Housing Association
“Thanks for a brilliant event, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was also great to meet the team in person.”
Mat AllenB3 Living
“A great day and amazing insight for us at Beyond Housing as a new Managed Service client. Can’t wait to get started.”
Sam DuncanBeyond Housing
“It was a great day. Thanks Rick Thompson and Craig Godwin”
Alex HillPlus Dane
“Really engaging and insightful session today. Some excellent work being demonstrated by fellow housing colleagues using GIS. Thanks Rick Thompson et al at ODCGIS.”
Eze EzekielPlatform Housing
“Firstly, great to meet you in person yesterday, and a thank you to you and the team for yesterday’s event, it was really useful, informative and educational for me, and a great all-around day, particularly understanding where others are in their GIS and data journey!”
Barry StevensBDHT
Agenda
09:30 – 10:00 – Registration and Refreshments
10:00 – 10:20 – Welcome and Introductions (Rick Thompson)
10:20 – 10:40 – GIS Uses in Asset Intelligence (Sharon Carey – Yorkshire Housing)
10:40 – 11:00 – Our GIS Journey (Adam Stanley – Gentoo Group)
11:00 – 11:20 – Break
11:20 – 11:40 – GIS improving Grounds Maintenance Practices and Encouraging Nature Recovery (Paul Norman – Clarion)
11:40 – 12:00 – A Greener Future Mapped Out: GIS for Net Zero (Mat Allen – B3 Living)
12:00 – 12:20 – The role of GIS (Aaron Wilmot – Your Housing Group)
12:20 – 12:30 – Morning Summary (Rick Thompson)
12:30 – 14:00 – Lunch Break (ODCGIS Technical WorkshopShow & Tell inside room
14:00 – 14:20 – The Use of GIS to Support Procurement and Future Aspirations (Matt Sugden – Railway Housing Association)
14:20 – 14:40 – Mapping Environmental Risks and Opportunities as a Housing Provider (Cecily Church – Fairhive)
14:40 – 15:00 – Making data driven decisions with GIS (Rebecca Dick – Thirteen Group)
15:00 – 15:15 – Day Roundup (Rick Thompson)
15:15 – 17:00 – End of Day Drinks and Magic
Sharon Carey – Yorkshire Housing
Asset Intelligence Manager
Sharon has implemented, developed and worked with GIS systems and data for 30 years in various sectors. As Asset intelligence Manager at Yorkshire Housing, she has been working closely with ODCGIS with the implementation and development of GIS over the last 12 months specifically within Asset Management to lead and inspire the use of geographical analysis across the business areas. Sharon has been working to improve data quality, access to data (and intelligence) and geographical visualisation and analysis within “BAU” (Business as Usual) tasks and activities.
Adam Stanley – Gentoo Housing
Surveying Services Manager
Adam is the Surveying Services Manager at Gentoo responsible for a team consisting of Building Surveyors, Building Safety Surveyors, Options Appraisal Officer and GIS Technician cutting across a range of projects. Adam has been with Gentoo for over 12 years, starting as an apprentice, qualifying as a quantity surveyor and most recently progressed into his role.
Paul Norman – Clarion Housing Group
Director of Asset Strategy
Paul has over 30 years’ experience in asset management / property service in both the public and private sector. Paul is currently the Director of Asset Strategy for Clarion Housing Group, the country’s largest social landlord with c125,000 homes under management across England. Paul has responsibility for asset strategy, stock transfers, disposals and acquisitions along with regeneration, sustainability, innovation and decarbonisation of Clarion existing portfolio. Paul’s vision for Clarion is “a plan for every home” whereby every customer has full transparency of projected investment and interventions in their home.
Mat Allen – B3 Living
Building and Compliance Information Manager
With two decades of expertise in the Housing sector, coupled with a strong foundation in IT and Asset Management, Mat currently holds the position of Building and Compliance Information Manager. In this capacity, he oversees a team responsible for the organisation’s Asset Management System, Geographical Information System (GIS), Net Zero programme and reporting mechanisms. Among Mat’s key accomplishments are B3 Living’s successful SHDF bid as part of the Greener Herts consortium and leading on B3’s annual SHIFT assessment (Net Zero Carbon Assessment) recently achieving a gold award.
Aaron Wilmot – Your Housing Group
Neighbourhood Planner
Aaron is the Neighbourhood Planner at Your Housing Group. Aaron has worked in the housing sector for over 15 years in various roles in asset strategy, data analysis and project management. His current role at YHG focusses on data analysis, project management and stock portfolio optimisation in which he works closely with ODCGIS.
Matt Sugden – Railway Housing
Chief Executive Officer
Matt is the CEO of Railway Housing Association, a small housing provider of around 1,600 homes based in the North-East and Yorkshire. Prior to taking up his role with Railway, Matt was the Executive Director of Governance and Strategy at Accent Housing. Matt also holds board member roles with Ongo Homes and Placeshapers.
Cecily Church – Fairhive
Head of Sustainability
As Head of Sustainability at the housing association Fairhive, Cecily Church oversees strategic environmental planning. Fairhive’s key sustainability goals are to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of homes, reduce carbon emissions, and increase resilience to climate change. Data, including in GIS, is central to this work.
Rebecca Dick – Thirteen Housing
GIS Lead
Rebecca is an experienced Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Lead at Thirteen Housing. For eight years she has championed the use of GIS technology in the social housing sector, developing innovative solutions and practical GIS applications. Rebecca’s work focuses on analysing housing trends, optimising resource allocation, and presenting complex spatial data in accessible ways that drive actionable insights across her organisation.
Rick Thompson – ODCGIS
Director of Operations
Prior to joining ODCGIS in 2017 Rick was GIS Officer at Trafford Housing Trust in Manchester, a role he held for 3 years. Rick was instrumental in setting up the GIS within THT and then developing it throughout the organisation, supporting every department. This involved learning how each department worked and looking at ways GIS could support them. Rick is passionate about sharing these best practices which he has implemented through ODCGIS’ Managed Service.