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Track: GIS Management & Implementation
Barbara Quinn
Cincinnati Area Geographic Information Systems
138 East Court Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Telephone: 513-352-1641
Fax: 513-352-3557
E-mail: barbara.quinn@ .rcc.org
Richard Allen, Michael Sweeney
Moving Maintenance into the Mainstream: The CAGIS Integrated Permit Management System
Coordination of information is essential for the benefit of the customer in creating and maintaining quality infrastructure and providing service delivery. In order to achieve it, two goals must be pursued by geographic information systems (GIS) today: to utilize the system within an integrated framework to communicate among the various departments in the enterprises as well as between the enterprises and to deploy GIS data and technology widely to each desktop to facilitate reengineered work flows to better serve the customer. However, true enterprise GIS projects are by nature comprehensive, detailed, and expensive undertakings and the benefits can be elusive if continuous and timely maintenance of data is not performed. The lack of data maintenance and inability to embed GIS technology seamlessly into the organization is most often the reason for its detriment. Organizational and technical barriers exist blocking the necessary transition from manual paper-based work flows to digital data capture at
the source within a GIS framework. If not overcome, these barriers yield results that are not cost effective, timely, or accurate. Thus, the GIS loses its value quickly, and benefits and interest in the investment decline or evaporate. To ensure that maximum benefit of GIS as tools for the community is achieved, the Cincinnati Area GIS (CAGIS) consortium of all city and county agencies and two private utilities has developed a strategy to maintain its GIS data. The Integrated Permit Management System (IPMS) is under implementation. This system represents a computerized subdivision development tracking, permitting, inspection, work order, service request tracking, and licensing system intergovernment initiative. The land, building, environment, and other GIS information shared by all CAGIS participants is created and maintained in the work flows that will be automated using GIS in permit management technologies. An enterprise approach is utilized that combines the technologies of GIS, database
management software, specialized permit management work flow software, document management, the Internet, video conferencing, and global positioning systems (GPS) into an integrated solution. The project is now embarking upon its third year and is introducing not only improved services to the customer but corporate databases maintained by the employees while performing daily work. Data entered one time at the source and made available at each desktop is becoming a reality. The customers and their expectations of the permit processes were identified at the onset of the reengineering analysis and include developers, owners, taxpayers, and government departments delivering services. The results indicate that five to seven months in subdivision/permit processing time is achievable with additional service benefits of 15 to 70 percent per work flow via the implementation of automation and network communication. This paper summarizes the design, implementation, and benefits achieved to date by the IPMS.
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