Custom BRT integration development
Appfront builds integrations with the Basisregistratie Topografie (BRT), the Dutch Kadaster's topographic maps and data for the Netherlands, covering roads, water, buildings and land at multiple scale levels. The BRT is open data and available via PDOK as a map service and as data. We bring the topography into your own application, as a background map or as data you can work with, and keep it up to date.
What is a BRT integration?
The Basisregistratie Topografie (BRT) contains the topography of the Netherlands: roads, railways, water, buildings, land and more, at multiple scale levels. It is maintained by the Kadaster and is open data. Via PDOK, the government's geodata platform, the BRT is available as a map service to display on a map, and as data to work with.
Many applications need a map, and often more than just a picture. A logistics company wants to know which roads exist, a water authority which watercourses, a consultancy wants to run an analysis by type of land. Without an integration, you end up using a map from a commercial service that doesn't suit the Dutch situation, or downloading a file once and never updating it.
We build custom solutions because applications differ: whether you need a background map or data to work with, which scale level, and how often it needs updating. The BRT is maintained by the Kadaster; we make sure it works in your application, alongside your own data.
Topography in your application
The roads, water, buildings and land of the Netherlands in your own map or system.
Map or data
As a background map via a map service, or as objects you can work with.
Up to date
Updated with new versions, instead of a file that goes out of date.
How we build your BRT integration
We start with your application: what you need topography for, as a map or as data, which scale level, and which other data needs to sit alongside it. A combination with other registers, such as addresses or parcels, often turns out to be useful. We include those, so everything lines up on the same map and your users don't have to switch between maps.
Your use, scale level, other data and systems.
Map service as a background, or objects to work with.
With your own data and other registers.
New versions, monitoring, and ongoing maintenance.
What a BRT integration actually does
The components below feature in almost every BRT integration. Which ones you need depends on your application.
Background
Topographic map via PDOK.
Objects
Roads, water, buildings, land.
Scale level
That suits your use.
Analytics
Working with topography.
Combining
With your own data.
Updating
With new versions.
Who we build a BRT integration for
The integration is intended for anyone who uses the topography of the Netherlands in their own application.
Government bodies
Maps for policy and operations. The background map is the core.
Engineering firms
Analyses of land and water. The objects matter most.
Logistics and infrastructure
Roads and routes. Up-to-date data is what you need.
Software suppliers
Maps within the product. The integration is the core.
Technology and integrations
This page is about integrations with the BRT (Dutch Basic Registration of Topography). For all open government geodata, see our page on a PDOK integration; for ownership and land parcels, our page on a Kadaster integration; and for working with maps, our page on a geographic app. You can read about our approach on software development.
Why Appfront for your BRT integration?
A map that doesn't match the Dutch situation, or a file that is years old, leads to wrong decisions. That is what we build on: the official topography, as a map or as data, and always up to date.
Official
The Kadaster's topography.
Usable
As a map and as data.
Up to date
Updated with new versions.
Security and privacy for a BRT integration
The BRT is open data. Your own data displayed alongside it often is not; access to that data follows the permissions in your own systems.
The integration runs in a European data centre or in your own environment, with encrypted storage and daily backups.
Frequently asked questions about a BRT integration
Questions organisations ask before they get started.
The Basisregistratie Topografie (Key Register of Topography): the topographic maps and data of the Netherlands, covering roads, railways, water, buildings and land at several scale levels. It is maintained by the Kadaster (the Dutch Land Registry) and is open data.
PDOK is the platform that hosts much of the government's open geodata, including the BRT. A PDOK integration is about using that data in general. This page is specifically about topography, both as a map and as data.
A map service is enough if you only want to show the topography as a background, for example beneath your own locations or reports. You need data if you want to calculate or search, for example which roads lie within an area or what type of terrain is somewhere. A combination is often best.
That depends on how you use it. Street-level detail needs a more detailed level than an overview of a province. In the first step we look at which level fits. An application can also switch levels as a user zooms in or out.
The integration retrieves new versions as they become available, or uses the map service, which always shows the current version. That way the map in your application doesn't go out of date. Where you calculate with the data, the integration can also show what has changed between two versions.
Yes. Your own data and other registers, such as addresses or parcels, can be shown on the same map and analysed together. That lets you see, for example, which of your locations are next to water or along which roads your vehicles travel.
For organisations and companies that use topography in their own application, as a map or for analysis, and for software vendors who want to include the official topography of the Netherlands in their product.
The topography of the Netherlands in your application?
Tell us what you need topography for, as a map or as data, and what other data needs to sit alongside it. We'll show you what the integration looks like.