Author: Bob McLaughlin, Senior Vice President, Project Management, Surdex Corporation
Abstract: Practical step-by-step guidelines and useful recommendations in designing and implementing a Geographic Information System over the Internet. Primary focus is how to design a system that affords the highest degree of functionality for the greatest number of users. Discussion of the various "nets," creating a web-based Geographic Information System (initialization, design, construction, and training), and a general description of data maintenance and project management.
The Internet was born of necessity for national defense systems to share information among an incredibly diverse group of users, using dozens of proprietary computer languages, making information available - and usable - to everyone. With the end of the Cold War, public entities, with information and a need to share it, are now only beginning to see the possibilities made available by this remnant infrastructure of a bygone era. With personal computers in approximately 40 percent of all households (and increasingly in libraries, schools, and universities), municipalities and other public entities can now provide information to the public at their homes or offices, enabling public servants to work more efficiently and quickly.
The Internet is a complex and widely misunderstood system. Here is a simple way to view it. Say that you and a friend have computers. Your friend has some files on his hard drive that he wants to give you. In the not too distant past, if he wanted to give you that data, he would have to copy it to a disc. He would transfer the files from his hard drive, over a wire in his computer, to a disc in his disc drive.
While this system works, it is inefficient because your friend would have to hand-deliver the disc to you. To make this system more efficient, you could connect the hard drives of both computers with a cable (similar to one of your printer cables). Now you can send files directly to your friend's hard drive, and he can send files back. Now envision that instead of just these two computers, millions of computers have cables that connect to each other. This is, albeit greatly oversimplified, the basic concept of the Internet.
This system is a boon to public entities because they now have the ability to provide almost all their information services over the Internet. County / municipal employees, taxpayers, businesses, schools, libraries, emergency service providers - these groups can all benefit greatly from a county / municipal / regional information system. Through such a system, taxpayers can examine public records; assessors can instantaneously query deed records or liens; sheriff's departments can direct emergency vehicles on the fastest routes; and on and on.
All the different "nets" can be confusing. Here is a simple summary of the main types:
The most efficient data management system available to county / municipal entities today is the Geographic Information System, or GIS. These are digital "intelligent maps" created from aerial photography. Any number of files can be incorporated into the map - documents (such as deeds), images (such as pictures of a property), and data (assessment records). These maps can be used for a very wide range of uses: by emergency services for EMS routing; Assessors for address matching, query / update of property ownership, and field appraisals; County Recorders for lien information / deed mortgage; County Clerks for routing of warrants, thematic mapping, and lien information; Engineering Departments for permit review and tracking, site analysis, generating routes / schedules, public inquiries, and locating addresses; and Planning Commissions for plan review, query of property ownership, site analysis, address matching to property information, and to produce and maintain land use / zoning maps. All this information may be accessed on a GIS through a very simple interface, making it easily accessible by county staff and the general public alike.
Until recently, the technology to operate a GIS on the Internet did not exist; even then, the initial systems were impractical because of slow modem speeds. But now with fast transmission methods (cable modems, DSL, ISDN, and T-1 / T-3 lines) and new technology, a GIS can operate on the Internet with a high level of speed and functionality. The practical application of a web-based GIS is extensive; thematic maps can answer hundreds of questions: show me all parcels valued at $5,000 or more; show me all parcels touching parcel number 202008; show me all the parcels with 75 feet of parcel number 202016.
This intuitive, intelligent mapping system enables public workers to provide taxpayers, business, and other departments or public entities with a great deal of information on demand, from any location. This allows counties / municipalities to serve the users at the user's location, providing convenience to both the public entity and the user. Users experience higher levels of responsiveness and reduced waiting for their information, and public entities can deliver more information, with fewer staff members, to a larger group of people. Invariably this type of system eliminates wasteful redundancies, allowing governments to reduce spending and operate more efficiently. As a side benefit, since the source data is digital, it can be backed up and protected against a catastrophic loss of unique records. All this can be achieved in a secure protected environment that assures confidentiality. The systems should be designed to be as easy to use as possible, operating out of standard web browsers (Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer). As such, no special training is required of county / municipal staff, and similarly the users - from business people to taxpayers - with even nominal computer skills can operate with ease.
There are many factors involved in creating a truly useful, optimally functional GIS. The most important factors are to identify the known and potential users, identify the types of data that users need, identify their needs (e.g., what do they need to do with the data), and what kinds of resources are available for this system. By carefully evaluating all factors, a public entity can create a GIS that offers the highest level of ease and functionality for the greatest number of groups.
The planning process ideally should be fed by input from all users (or "stakeholders") because they have a vested interest in the systems functionality. Typically those initiating the creation of a web-based GIS organize a planning committee of technical experts, representatives from user groups, and representatives from funding sources.
Every effort should be made to get a clear understanding of the project as possible. Clearly outline the overall project goal(s) and the tasks necessary to achieve those goals. Evaluate sources of data (what kind of databases do the participants have?) and other resources (which group currently has the technical staff to provide support?). It may prove valuable to glean ideas from other web sites that work well, or from other projects that have similar needs to your own project. You may wish also to involve professional designers.
The committee should examine the needs of each stakeholder group (the Auditor's office, private enterprise, Sheriff's office, Engineering Department, etc.). What do they need to accomplish? How will they use the data? Who has subject matter expertise with the tasks? How will the information be used in the community? For example, you may conclude that the Assessor's office would like to be able to conduct address matching to property information, display property values and acreage, and conduct field appraisal. Other entities may wish to perform many of these same functions, and know this will help the committee prioritize functionality. Once priorities are established, the committee can examine the desired functionality in light of budgetary and other considerations.
Once the critical functionality is established, it will be necessary to determine the software requirements necessary for achieving the desired functionality. A modest system may only require a handful of applications, while an extremely complex system, for use by dozens of groups, may have far more extensive software and system requirements. It is our experience that any GIS should utilize mainstream software produced by a industry-leading GIS software application firms (Esri, Novalis / SDS, PlanGraphics / Bluegrass GIS, Sidwell, GDT / ETAK, etc.).
Once initial software needs are evaluated, the committee will need to consider hardware resources, most importantly, answering the question of web hosting. Web hosting is a term used to describe the actual computer system(s) that will "host" the data. This means that the data is stored on the computer and "served" from the computer over the Internet connection. There are two options for web hosting: internal hosting or external hosting.
Internal hosting is a term describing a web-based system that is maintained by the user (in this case a county / municipality or one of its members. A City for example may make a specific purchase of a server and locate it in the Computer Department. The City would have its existing computer technicians to install and maintain the system (or perhaps hire new staff specifically for the task). Alternatively, externally hosting the system involves contracting with a firm, an "Internet Service Provider" (or ISP), to manage the system. ISPs rent, lease or sell servers, and they can supply services for web programming, web / GIS / database systems analysis, website administration, network and firewall services, and application services. With such a complex mix of software / hardware requirements and the need for highly specialized technical services, hosting with an ISP can prove to be as much as one eighth of the cost of hosting your own web-based GIS in-house.
Designing the actual system will be based upon decisions from all the preceding discussion plus consideration of several integration issues. This phase moves from the "purely theoretical" to the "planned practical." Whomever your technical consultants may be, they will evaluate the system integration requirements of the project. This includes an examination of the existing hardware, network connections, existing data integration, and software functionality.
The technical consultants will make specific GIS software recommendations. (Again, we highly recommend using industry standard professional GIS software.) The GIS software integrates the existing systems and the GIS system; it will include desktop / query and analysis software and any number of special GIS modules for specific purposes (depending on the desired use). Decisions will be made about the GIS software for Internet / Intranet application as well. All these considerations should be clearly documented in the form of a Software Requirements Specification (SRS). The SRS is a living document, flexible and prone to evolution. The committee should make every effort to apprise stakeholders of the SRS as it changes, ensuring that all parties are well aware of the planned functionality.
Another important stage in the design of a web-based GIS is to prioritize the desired functions. As we mentioned earlier in this paper, perhaps every one of the user groups wants to conduct address matching to property information, while only one or two groups wants to monitor crime trends. These priorities, having been established during project initialization, will impact the design of the system as possibly other choices such as software. Yet another consideration is the impact that the number of participants will have on the overall price. Two or three primary users will shoulder a heavier financial burden for creating / maintaining a system than a half dozen users. The more groups involved in a system, the less expensive, overall, it is for everyone.
The only phases remaining are to build and test / debug the system. Note that the lion's share of our discussion is about the planning involved in establishing a web-based GIS, opposed to the actual building of the system. This is mainly because the software engineers / programmers will build whatever you tell them; the real trick is to provide them with the best blueprint from which they can build. The best "technically functional" GIS in the world cannot achieve its goal if it doesn't meet its users' needs (perhaps it doesn't include all possible users? perhaps it has omitted functions that would have been highly desirable?).
But on to the actual construction of the system. Once the actual design is determined, it is almost an academic exercise to build the system. Technical staff will write all algorithms, modules and routines using industry-standard tools and software, continuously evaluating and modifying the SRS to fit users' evolving needs. Persons in charge will communicate regularly with the users about project status.
Once the "draft version" of the web-based GIS system has been launched, the technical staff will test its various functions. Testing should occur at both the vendor's and clients' sites. Naturally the vendor's internal testing should focus on ease of use, usability, and the elimination of any bugs. The final stage is for the user groups and the community to evaluate the system, making any adjustments as necessary. Invariably users will discover minor glitches or otherwise desire modification. To assure constituency groups of the highest level of satisfaction, any web-based GIS should include a contact name where one can report problems. Technical staff members should gather and prioritize any problem reports for evaluation and fixes.
As mentioned earlier, a web-based GIS system, since it operates through popular commercial browsers, will prove very easy to navigate by almost any user, whether they be a county / municipal staff member or private citizen. Nonetheless, it is a wise idea for county / municipal employees and other service providers to become very well versed with the system, so a certain degree of training is in order.
If someone were to take a photograph of you, it would be a visual record of you at a specific moment. It is a snapshot of you in time. The moment you move, the picture is no longer a truly accurate depiction of what is, only what was. The effect is cumulative with time, as you will change clothes or even get gray hair with time. So it is with a Geographic Information System. The day after a GIS is deemed "fully operational," the moment someone purchases a new lot, builds a new home, or puts in a new street, the system contains data that is no longer completely accurate. It is important to realize that a GIS is almost organic; as your community or region changes, so too the GIS must change in order to be accurate and, consequently, valuable. The yardstick of a GIS's value is whether users can, at any given moment, obtain data that is 99.9% accurate and current.
When planning a GIS, the participants must determine which group is the most logical choice for bearing the responsibility of maintaining the system. This may cause a good deal of discussion because one party may be an ideal candidate but does not want the responsibility, while another party may not be the best candidate but it presses to get the responsibility. It is important for the participants to make a dispassionate, logical choice about which member is best suited for maintenance duties.
Certainly staffing issues enter into the mix. Perhaps the Engineering Department has existing staff possessing the computer skills. Perhaps the County Clerk's Office would be best because they have the most data in your GIS. But these are not the most important criterion for making a selection. Invariably, participants will be best served by selecting the group that has the most legal responsibility. For illustrative purposes, assume that the Assessor's Office is charged with the public responsibility of keeping accurate property records. (There are probably more opportunities for legal problems stemming from inaccurate property records than there are about inaccurate records about impervious surfaces reported by the Sewer District.) If you assign the responsibility of data maintenance to the Engineering Department, let's say, and the data are not updated with enough frequency or become inaccurate, which entity will catch the flak? The Assessor's Office. The theory, relative to this illustration, is that no other entity will take the care that the Assessor's Office would take to maintain the data. As such, despite staffing issues, despite hardware issues, they are the most sensible selection. It stands to reason therefore that during the planning stage, the participants determine the ideal party and make provision for staffing and hardware maintenance.
Management of a web-based Geographic Information System has two components: the communication between the vendor and the City / County / Consortium; and the communication among the participants in the GIS. During the actual creation of the web-based GIS, a high degree of communication between the vendor and County (again for example's sake) will not only keep the County apprised of progress, but will also stimulate the vendor to keep on task. If it is guaranteed that a County will become aware of all delays, it drives the vendor to meet all deadlines. It also ensures that the County will have input at all times, being able to ask questions, and even make modifications. It enables the County to Quality Control (QC) the product and report back any changes.
To meet the demands of building sophisticated Geographic Information Systems, leading mapping firms such as Surdex use their own web-based Project Management System. These systems allow clients to use their Internet browsers (Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer) to log in to a password protected web site, enabling them to review status reports, correspondence, even contract documents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. These systems provide clients with access to their management documents at a moment's notice. They are an integral component of Project Management, supporting (but not replacing) person-to-person contact with Project Managers. Since all members of the GIS can access the system, it fosters a higher level of communication among all participants.
In the past three years, the Internet has gone from an obscure, and in many circles inaccessible, mystery to an everyday source of information. Almost everyone in the United States, even those living in small towns, generally have access to the Internet, if not in their own homes, then at work or through public libraries, schools, or other sources. They are fast becoming the new television (is there a home in America today that doesn't have a television? Or two or three?), and in fact the near future will blur the distinction between the television and computer until they are functionally the same. Whether the Internet will replace books, newspapers or the need for other print media is up for some argument, since television has never succeeded in doing so, but there is no argument about the Internet's ability to serve as an immediate conduit for public information. The Internet's efficiency at delivering public information will invariably do to some forms of communication what the telegraph did to the Pony Express.
Bob McLaughlin
Senior Vice President, Project Management
Surdex Corporation
520 Spirit of St. Louis Boulevard
Chesterfield, Missouri 63005 (greater St. Louis metro area)
Voice: 636) 532-3427
Fax: (636) 537-9638
email: bobm@surdex.com
Surdex Corporation has been recognized as a premier geo-spatial data provider since 1954, supplying accurate and precise information to a variety of clients from coast to coast in a timely and economical manner. Surdex provides geo-spatial services for municipal, county, state, federal, and private agencies interested in the acquisition of accurate geo-spatial data, GIS applications, and enterprise solutions for their respective markets.