Snowflake Software is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Woodsford as a non-executive director. Woodsford (60) has now moved to a non-executive director role at Laser-Scan, the company he helped to launch in the early 1970s. Following his graduation from Cambridge University with degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science, Woodsford worked on a pioneering computer graphics package - GINO, the precursor of several graphics standards.

At Laser-Scan he has played many roles including Technical Director, Managing Director and Chairman. He has directed development teams in large screen graphics displays, automated vectorisation, map production systems and Object-Oriented geospatial databases. He is a key member of the OpenGIS Consortium (OGC) and is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. In 1990 he was Chairman of the Association for Geographic Information (AGI). He is currently President of OEEPE Commission 5 - Delivery and Integration of Data and Services.

Woodsford is highly regarded within the GIS industry and is the author of over thirty publications on Geographic Information and associated technologies and business applications. He has been a member of several industry review bodies.

Snowflake Software provides innovative mapping technology and consultancy services, specialising in the development of software products using mainstream, interoperable technologies such as Java, Oracle and XML. Snowflake recently launched GO Loader - a software tool specifically developed for modelling and loading Oracle Spatial databases with geographical data supplied in GML formats. Snowflake is an Ordnance Survey Licensed Partner, a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork and a Laser-Scan Business Partner.

Peter Woodsford says:

"Snowflake are fine representatives of a new wave of businesses, building on the basis of moving GI into the mainstream and breaking free from proprietary systems. Ordnance Survey has set the trend by delivering OS MasterMap™ and the Digital National Framework layers in GML, and the shift of business data into XML is huge. Other countries are following suit rapidly. Snowflake's technology is open and generic, and remarkably user friendly. I am very pleased to have the opportunity to work with such an innovative and promising new company, and to help sustain and build up partnerships within the European GI software industry."

Ian Painter, Managing Director of Snowflake says:

"We are all very pleased and very much looking forward to working with Peter. Peter's knowledge and experience of the GI industry is second to none and I've always admired his drive and constant enthusiasm for his work. As we are a developing company Peter's experience will prove particularly valuable and I can't wait to get him started on the challenges of developing and growing Snowflake into a key player in the industry".

About Laser-Scan
Laser-Scan delivers world-class, innovative business solutions for geographic information. Their technology is the result of over 25 years experience in the development of market-leading database products. Laser-Scan offers a new approach to exploiting location data in enterprise information architectures.

Laser-Scan is a member of the YEOMAN Group plc.