Performance Improvement in the Public Sector
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) partnered with BJSS – now part of CGI, to develop a new flood warning system, improving flood preparedness and their ability to respond to increasingly wet weather. The new system significantly improved the technology and process for creating flood alerts, reducing alert times from 10 minutes to 30 seconds.
With storms becoming more frequent and severe, timely flood warnings are critical to protecting communities. During Storm Bert, parts of Wales saw 100mm-150mm of rain in just 48 hours.
In Wales, 1-in-7 homes and businesses are at risk of flooding, which means it is crucial to deliver timely warnings to those at risk.
The responsibility for warning the Welsh public about river and coastal flooding falls to Natural Resources Wales (NRW). Between 2022-2023, NRW issued 472 flood alerts and 118 flood warnings – at least one flood alert per day and roughly one flood warning every three days.
Together, BJSS and NRW introduced the Flood Warning Information Services for Wales (FWISfW), the system NRW now uses to issue flood alerts and warnings to those at risk of river or coastal flooding.
This free service provides timely and accurate information, to the right people, when river or coastal flooding is a threat. The system’s speed and accuracy have the potential to save lives and minimise damage to property.
The new cloud-based platform sent 95,000+ messages during Storm Bert with 97-98% delivery success rate, with a reduction in alert times down from 10 minutes to 30 seconds.
Andy Wall, National Flood Risk Services Manager at NRW said: “We see the BJSS team as a true partner and an organisation that didn’t only have the skills and experience to address our needs but could also champion and empower our existing team to become experts.”
View the BJSS profile in the MCA Members Directory.