Geospatial Information Services Strategic Plan

GIS Strategic Plan 2006 �

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v7.08

August 2007

Geospatial Information Services


Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 2. Current Environment

2.1. Division Overview 2.2. Land Records 2.3. Mapping and Project Services 2.4. Technology Solutions 2.5. Strategic Planning and Program Support

3. Values 3.1. We Treat Each Other with Dignity and Respect 3.2. We Believe in Change to Increase Efficiency and Quality of Service 3.3. We are Honest and Ethical in All Dealings 3.4. We Provide Quality Service 3.5. Our Customers are the Only Reason We Are In Business 3.6. Everybody is a Customer

4. Strategic Vision 4.1. Accurate, Timely Data 4.2. Open, Documented Products and Processes 4.3. Information Warehousing and Distribution 4.4. Cutting Edge Technology 4.5. Efficient, Reliable, Cost-Effective Solutions 4.6. GIS Integration 4.7. Strategic Partnerships 4.8. Regional GIS

5. Critical Success Factors 5.1. Stakeholder Support 5.2. GIS Data Usability and Reliability 5.3. Centralized GIS Functions 5.4. Customer/Business Need Driven 5.5. Training 5.6. Resources

6. Strategic Plan Implementation 6.1. Adherence to Values and Vision 6.2. Customer Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan Review 6.3. Annual Strategic Plan Initiatives

7. Selected Sources Appendices A. Customer Service Declaration B. Customer Needs Assessment C. Annual Strategic Plan Initiatives D. Key Concepts – Additional Information



1. Executive Summary

In 2005, Mecklenburg County created the Geospatial Information Services service organization. A combination of staff from Information Services & Technology and Land Use and Environmental Services Agency, for the first time in its history GIS has been consolidated into a single, enterprise-level service. While Mecklenburg County already has one of the most well regarded local government GIS programs in the country, the new GIS division gives Mecklenburg County the opportunity to realize a world-class GIS program. This strategic plan is designed to help Geospatial Information Services reach this ultimate potential. The business of local government is to make decisions in the public interest. The final mission of GIS, therefore, is decision support. GIS lends support to every stage of the decision making process.

GIS provides data capture, maintenance, and management services, the backbone of the decision making process.

GIS provides the tools and business intelligence to transform data into meaningful information.

From the information, GIS provides the technical tools and knowledge to derive creative solutions.

Using these solutions, Mecklenburg County can make confident, accurate, data-driven decisions.

Roughly 80 percent of the average local government’s work involves geographically related issues or tasks. GIS is the key to bringing all of this information together in a seamless framework to maximize efficiency and effectiveness. GIS brings together disparate groups of people with different knowledge bases and helps them understand problems through a common visual language. While GIS has met with nearly unparalleled success at Mecklenburg County, including numerous national and local awards, we believe our success is outweighed by our potential. As stated in the Values section of this document, we believe in using change to increase efficiency and quality of service. This strategic plan is the first of many steps Geospatial Information Services will take to insure our division moves forward with a clear vision and an unconditional commitment to excellence for our customers. We look forward to working with all of our strategic partners to make Mecklenburg County the best local government it can be.

Kurt Olmsted, GIS Director



2. Current Environment

2.1 Division Overview Our Mission To provide quality geospatial data and technology solutions, empowering customers of Mecklenburg County to make data-driven decisions. Our Vision To be recognized as the national leader in local government geospatial technology delivery and preferred provider of geospatial data.

GIS Stakeholders

Land Records Technology Solutions

Maps and Project

Services

Strategic Planning and

Program Support Geospatial Information Services is divided in to five task-oriented groups, each of which is described in this section. Each group has a designated leader that reports directly to the GIS Director and can range in size from a single individual to ten or more employees. The GIS Director in turn reports to the GIS Stakeholder Committee, a large group of Mecklenburg County organizations for which GIS provides key services. Above all GIS is accountable to it’s customers and is committed to providing the best possible customer service. All key decisions are made with a team consensus and with support from our GIS stakeholders. It should be noted that while members of our division fall in to a single team made up of three budget units, team members actively collaborate across groups to share knowledge and accomplish tasks. We value individuals and interactions over organizational structures and procedures, and our division’s structure is intentionally porous and unrestrictive. The primary focus of GIS is decision support. Each stage of the traditional decision making process is supported by GIS:

GIS provides data capture, maintenance, and management services, the backbone of the decision making process.

GIS provides the tools and business intelligence to transform data into meaningful information.

From the information, GIS provides the technical tools and knowledge to derive creative solutions, making the best use of limited staff and financial resources.



Using these solutions, Mecklenburg County can make confident, accurate, data-driven decisions.

The core business of the functional groups in GIS is to support one or more of these decision making stages. Each of these groups will be described in more detail below.

2.2 Land Records Data is the foundation upon which GIS is built; without quality, timely data, no other piece of the enterprise can succeed. The Land Records division of Geospatial

Information Services is responsible for maintaining ownership files and cadastral maps for all real estate in Mecklenburg County. Land Records maintains a database of over 300,000 tax records that comprise 528 square miles of land, instrumental in the assessment and collection of property taxes, Mecklenburg County’s largest source of revenue. Land Records also maintains both the street centerline and master address table databases, the backbones of geolocation for both Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte, including critical E911 and Homeland Security services.

2.3 Mapping and Project Services Data must be transformed into meaningful information before it can be useful to the enterprise, and this task is handled by Mapping and Project Services. Maps,

reports, and data analysis are the core functions of this group. Mapping and Project Services also manages vendor contracts for geospatial data, including aerial and land based photography, elevation data, and feature data, and acts as a node for NC One Map/National Map, a seamless, collaborative digital map at both the state and national levels.

2.4 Technology Solutions From geospatial information, Technology Solutions builds hardware and software systems to provide solutions for our customers. Technology Solutions uses

cutting edge technology and architectures to build everything from simple application extensions to complex, stand-alone systems to provide automation, maintenance, analysis, and public access solutions to our customers. Technology Solutions also provides administration



and support for data sharing and application hardware and software systems.

2.5 Strategic Planning and Program Support Strategic Planning and Program Support (SPPS)

coordinates strategic planning, customer relationships, strategic technology, and division performance metrics. SPPS works with outside agencies and identifies areas where GIS can form strategic partnerships and make a positive impact for the enterprise. SPPS seeks to understand, evaluate, implement, manage, and communicate spatial and non-spatial technology driven solutions and their applications to GIS divisions and our customers, with the goal of supporting decision making and creating more efficient and effective government. .



3. Values

Mecklenburg County has an established standard that represents the values its employees must uphold, and Geospatial Information Services actively works to meet and exceed those standards. In addition, we hold the following values to be critical to our success. 3.1 We Treat Each Other With Dignity and Respect

In the GIS division, treating each other with dignity and respect is the key to fostering communication, teamwork, efficiency, and employee satisfaction. It is the core value upon which all team and customer interactions are built.

3.2 We Believe in Change to Increase Efficiency and Quality of Service

As a technology field, our business is constantly changing. The tools we use today may not be the tools we use tomorrow, and innovation can create opportunities for reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and creating products of superior quality. Bureaucratic organizations, particularly governmental organizations, can be slow to adapt and embrace changes. The GIS division sees change as a positive catalyst for innovation, and embraces the opportunities change provides to improve our services and help our customers.

3.3 We are Honest and Ethical in All Dealings

As a service organization and a leader in geographic information system technology, Geospatial Information Services frequently interacts with customers, private contractors, and outside agencies. In all of these interactions, we adhere to the highest ethical standards and believe honesty is not the best policy, it is the only policy.

3.4 We Provide Quality Service

As a service organization, everything we do is focused on quality. Whether it’s data maintenance, map production, or application development, quality is our number one focus. We continuously measure the quality of our work, both internally and with our customers, and look for ways to improve our services.

3.5 Our Customers are the Only Reason We Are in Business

As a service organization, we exist only to service our customers. Without customers, a service organization serves no purpose. While, like any organization, we have our own set of policies, practices, and paper trails, we value individuals and interactions over processes and tools, and whenever the two come in to conflict, the customer will always win.



3.6 Everyone is a Customer To GIS, everyone is a customer. Everyone GIS interacts with can benefit from our services in some way and it is our mission to see these benefits realized. We do not keep lists of who we will provide services for and whom we will not; everyone can consider themselves a customer of GIS, and every customer is afforded an equal opportunity for service.

4. Strategic Vision

4.1 Accurate, Timely Data Data is the foundation upon which GIS is built; without accurate and timely data, no other piece of the enterprise can succeed. Accuracy is a measure of data's correctness; timeliness is a measure of data's currency. Geospatial Information Services is committed to providing best in class data accuracy and the most complete, up to date information available. Quality control procedures will monitor data accuracy, and documented procedures for error tracking and submittal will allow customers to report errors and Geospatial Information Services to make corrections as quickly as possible.

4.2 Open, Documented Products and Processes

Geospatial Information Services believes transparency is the only way to achieve success, both as a service and a governmental organization. Documentation clarifies products and processes for our staff and allows our customers to see and provide feedback on what we provide and the way we work. All of our products and process will be fully documented. All geospatial products will have FGDC compliant metadata. Map products will be documented so they can be easily reproduced. Application development methodologies and system development documentation will be documented and published. Data maintenance practices will be documented to insure consistency and efficiency. Geospatial Information Systems will set the standard for transparency and consistency in all of its business practices.

4.3 Information Warehousing and Distribution

Geospatial Information Services will act as a central data warehouse and distribution point for the enterprise and the public. Data warehousing and data integration of multiple data sources allows GIS staff to show very complex data relationships. GIS will continue to capitalize on the wealth of data within Mecklenburg County government as well as other sources. Distribution mechanisms can include file shares, web services, database servers, and FTP servers, as well as printed maps and reports. The first hindrance to any data-based process is accessing the data itself. We are committed to providing free, easy, documented geospatial



data access for the enterprise, including hardware, software, and staff resources.

4.4 Cutting Edge Technology Geospatial Information Services will evaluate emerging and embrace new technology as tools to provide the most robust, cost-effective solutions to our customers. GIS is inherently a technology field, where change is the norm rather than the exception. Government is often slow to adopt new technology; we will embrace technological change to improve efficiency and the quality of our services.

4.5 Efficient, Reliable, Cost-Effective Solutions

Geospatial Information Services will create technical solutions that are efficient, reliable, and cost-effective. Our products will enable customers to automate tasks and perform analytical operations in the most efficient, user-friendly manner possible. Our products will also have the underlying technology, programming, and support staff to operate with best in class reliability, minimizing any down time and lost productivity to our customers. We will also insure that our solutions are cost effective, using the best tools at the lowest cost available and having a staff trained to create products with the most efficient methods available.

4.6 GIS Integration

Roughly 80 percent of the average local government’s work involves geographically related issues or tasks. In order for government to make the best possible decisions involving spatial data and relationships, GIS must become a mainstream tool for the enterprise. Geospatial Information Services actively works toward this goal, striving to make GIS tools available throughout the enterprise and educating customers on what GIS is and how it can help them perform their jobs more efficiently and effectively.

4.7 Strategic Partnerships

Geospatial Information Services will work with its customers and other GIS agencies to organize and facilitate strategic partnerships. These partnerships will allow us to share knowledge and information with other agencies, helping us keep abreast of new technologies, techniques, and trends in the industry. We actively seek to form strategic partnerships on local, regional, state, and federal levels. Initiatives already in place include:

1. The Charlotte Visualization Center, UNC-Charlotte

Initiative: 3-D modeling for economic development and homeland security

2. Central Piedmont Community College – GIS Department Initiative: Intern program at Mecklenburg County GIS



3. UNC-Charlotte Department of Geography Initiative: Metadata training

4. Charlotte Chamber Initiative: Economic Development

5. Mecklenburg County/City of Charlotte Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Initiative: GIS resource support on EOC Technology Team, E Team training, applications enhancement and development.

4.8 Regional GIS

Mecklenburg County GIS will continue to build on regional partnerships and lead the County’s efforts in the regional collaborative use of GIS. Geospatial Information Services is already engaged in many regional GIS initiatives and is positioned to support County customers in need of regional data support. Initiatives already in place include:

1. National Map 2. NC One Map 3. Regional Ortho Photography Partnership 4. Public Health and Homeland Security GIS Data support

for twelve County area A good example of a regional GIS initiative would be to build regional datasets and analysis capabilities into the Charlotte Chamber's Economic Development GIS application. 5. Critical Success Factors

Geospatial Information Services does not work in a vacuum; our success is to some degree dependent upon a number of factors largely out of our control. While we actively work to provide best in class service to our customers, a number of elements exist that are critical to our success. These critical success factors include the following: 5.1 Stakeholder Support

Geospatial Information Services is a service level organization, and as such, our success is both bolstered and limited by the agencies we service. Aside from simple fiduciary support, stakeholders should be champions for GIS in the enterprise.

5.2 GIS Data Usability and Reliability

GIS data is the foundation upon which all of the other aspects of our division are built. Geospatial Information Services must provide high quality data for GIS to be successful in the enterprise.



5.3 Centralized GIS Functions

In order to provide consistent, high quality service and maximize efficiency, GIS is and must remain centralized in Mecklenburg County.

5.4 Customer/Business Need Driven

Our customers are the only reason we are in business. The focus of our division is and must remain on servicing the needs of our customers.

5.5 Training

GIS is still a relatively new technology, and as such continuous change is the rule. One of our core values is to embrace change to bring about increased efficiency and higher quality services. In order to embrace and use technological change for positive improvement, Geospatial Information Services staff must receive training on new technology on a continuing basis.

5.6 Resources

Like any activity pursued by government, GIS takes resources to be successful. This includes physical (hardware, software, budget, etc.) and human (staff) resources. Geospatial Information Services must have adequate resources to realize its potential in Mecklenburg County.

6. Strategic Plan Implementation

The implementation of the strategic plan involves three components: adherence to our values and strategic vision, performing needs assessments with our customers, and creating yearly goals and milestones to actualize the strategic plan.

6.1 Adherence to Values and Vision Our values and our vision act as a compass to orient us in the right direction. Our values describe who we are as an organization. Our vision describes where we want are organization to go over time. By neglecting either our values or our vision, our organization, as both a service provider to our customers and as a positive environment for our employees, will ultimately fail. Every decision made by GIS will be weighed against both our values and our vision, and every GIS employee will reserve the right to go to their manager and the division manager to discuss actions or policies that conflict with said values and vision.



6.2 Customer Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan Review As a service organization, ultimately our success is based on our ability to serve the needs of our customers. As such, Geospatial Information Services will perform a customer needs assessment no less than once every three years. These assessments will form the basis of our strategic plan initiatives and a summary of each will be appended to the strategic plan in Appendix B. During our needs assessment, we will also review our Strategic Plan for opportunities for improvement. We view this as a living document, and revisions over time will be both inevitable and beneficial.

6.3 Annual Strategic Plan Initiatives

Based on our customer needs assessments, we will create strategic plan initiatives each year. These initiatives will be goals for the forthcoming year that further the vision of the strategic plan and meet the needs of our customers. These initiatives are how we will turn our vision into actionable goals. Rather than performance benchmarks, these goals will be used to set the direction of the division over the proceeding year. Strategic Plan initiatives will be appended to the Strategic Plan in Appendix C.



7. Selected Sources

The following is a selection of sources used for research when creating the GIS Strategic Plan. 2004 GIS Strategic Plan - 2004, Corporate GIS, Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska Corporate GIS Model & Strategic Plan – January 2000, Capital Regional District, Washington, D.C. GIS Strategic Plan – 2001-2003, State of New Mexico Geographic Information Systems Strategic Plan, Town of Castle Rock, Colorado Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Strategic Plan - 2004, City of Tampa, Florida Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Needs Assessment, System Design, and Implementation Plan, City of West Sacramento, California Building a Spatial Data Infrastructure for Nebraska – 2000, State of Nebraska Supplement Enterprise Information Technology Strategic Plan, Nevada County, California Strategic Plan 2005-06, Bureau of Geospatial Technologies, State of Pennsylvania Santa Clara County GIS Strategic Plan - 2002, Santa Clara County, California Geographic Information Services FY 2005-2007 Business Plan, Wake County, North Carolina Mecklenburg County Strategic Plan – 1999, Convergent Group GIS in Public Policy, R. W. Greene, ESRI Press Beyond Maps: GIS and Decision Making in Local Government, John O'Looney, ESRI Press



Appendix A - Customer Service Declaration

“As a commitment to customer service being our primary mission I have asked all of the Geospatial Information Services Team to read and sign this document. Each one of us represents Geospatial Information Services and by signing below you are indicating that the Customer will always be your number one priority and when dealing with a customer you represent all of Geospatial Information Services.” Kurt Olmsted

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Appendix B Customer Needs Assessment 2006 1. Executive Summary

The Customer Needs Assessment was conducted over a 4 month period. Customers were segmented into the following categories, 1) Mecklenburg County Departments, 2) Affiliate Customers including non-profit and academic institutions, other government agencies such as the US Bureau of the Census and local government in the cities and towns of Mecklenburg County. The methodology was tailored to each customer segment; County customers received an on-line survey and a follow-up focus group to review results and to gain consensus on GIS’ Strategic Initiatives. Affiliate Customers were invited to discuss geographic data and technology needs and their customer relationship with GIS in a focus group as part of an overall introduction to County GIS organizational structure and services. Content of both the survey and the focus groups emphasized the following concepts in accordance with Mecklenburg County’s eGovernment Strategic Plan:

1. Customer/Stakeholder a. GIS Customer Service b. GIS Data Integrity and Accuracy c. GIS Data and Technology Accessibility

2. Business Process

a. Customer Service Improvements enabled by implementing GIS technology

b. Internal Efficiencies to operations enabled by implementing or enhancing GIS technology including routing capabilities as well as mobile and wireless connectivity to support the County’s mobile work force

c. Integration of GIS with non-GIS information systems d. Overall GIS Information Use

3. Employee/organizational capacity a. GIS Education b. GIS Training

Twenty-one (21) completed surveys representing 10 Divisions were collected from County departments. A summary of results is presented below:

• Overall satisfaction with Geospatial Information Services is reported at 90% (N=19). Departments reporting less than satisfactory customer service indicate a lack of knowledge about the services that are offered by Geospatial Information Services as the basis for their response.

• 16 respondents report using some form of geographically-based information to do their work.



• 96% indicate little to moderate level of GIS education and training (N=21). • 72% want more GIS training (N=18). • 67% report that their department would like the ability to convert their existing

data to a geographic format for mapping and analysis. • 10 respondents desire more services from Geospatial Information Services and

cite a growing need to create on-line efficiencies for customers and to expedite decision making on an operations level.

• 100% (N=12) trust the integrity of Geospatial Information Services’ data and 92% report that GIS data is accessible.

• 93% indicated that GIS web applications deliver complete information needed by their respective departments. (N=12)

• 99% of respondents (N=15) report good to exceptional retrieval of GIS information via the current GIS web applications.

The survey also requested feedback on which GIS internet-based applications were most frequently used. Respondents indicated that they use the following GIS web applications at least twice weekly:

GIS Application Number of Respondents who said they use application

POLARIS 10 Address Information Center 5 Floodzone Application 5 Map & Go! 4 Surface Water GIS System 3 Well Information 3 Student Assignment Express 2 The Park Locator 2 Air Quality Monitoring Sites GIS 1 Voter Information Express 1 N=12; Respondents indicated each application used.

POLARIS continues to be the most frequently used GIS web-application. It is used by both customer segments based on results from the survey to County Departments and feedback from Affiliated Customers in the focus group. It is used to provide information to customers and as a resource for internal business operations. The fact that it is parcel level specific with such a comprehensive data library makes it a viable system for many different operations. Both customer segments emphasized customer service as a strength of Mecklenburg County GIS. Accessibility, willingness to meet, timeliness and follow-up were key characteristics that impressed GIS’ customers. Additional information about GIS’ services was requested and a lack of awareness of possibilities about implementing geographic information and technology was identified by attendees in the focus groups. These GIS’ Annual Strategic Initiatives are framed according to the results obtained in the Customer Needs Survey and were confirmed with customers attending the focus groups. For Fiscal Year ’06 -’07 Mecklenburg County Geospatial Information Services will focus




on 2 broad Strategic Initiatives, 1) Employee/Organizational Capacity and 2) Business Process Improvement. These initiatives support Balanced Scorecard objectives and are consistent with eGovernment strategies. GIS will contact each department and/or agency representative that participated in the Customer Needs Assessment to develop a work plan and action items, which addresses these initiatives in the context of their individual department/agency needs. Individual items not falling into one of the Strategic Initiatives will be addressed by Geospatial Information Services’ Management Team, the GIS Stakeholder Group and Mecklenburg County’s Information Technology Executive Team (ITEC). These items require additional feedback and guidance from executive management. GIS looks to these entities to help guide investments and strategic leadership.

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2. Survey Results by Division

2.1 Areas of Need

Charlotte

Fire Department

Health

Department Library

Manager’s

Office IST Real

Estate Services

Women’s Commission

Department of Social Services

Board of Elections LUESA Sheriff’s

Department

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Mobile GIS

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Spatial Analysis

Mobile Data Collection

Integrate GIS with non-GIS IT systems

GIS Strategic Plan 2006



2.2 Meeting eGovernment Challenges

As stated in the Strategic Plan, the Customer Needs Assessment will be initiated no less than once every three years. These assessments will form the basis of GIS’ Annual Strategic Plan Initiatives. These Initiatives will be goals for the forthcoming year, which operationalize our responsibilities to the corporate scorecard focus area ‘effective and efficient government’. eGovernment is a key focus for GIS. The eGovernment Strategic Plan (September 2005) identified GIS’ role in its strategy to Improve usability and integration of data to provide easy and timely access to information by staff and customers and to reduce/eliminate information silos. Specifically, GIS will 1) extend data warehousing to those with a demonstrated need and 2) expand integration of GIS and non-GIS data and applications. GIS will use this framework to develop strategic plan initiatives that address the results in this survey. The 2006 – 2007 fiscal year initiatives are outlined in Appendix C of the Strategic Plan.



Appendix C FY2008 Strategic Initiatives Land Records

• Land Records Office upgrade Phase 1: Stand alone IPM (Integrated Parcel Maintenance) replacing Novalis Parcel Editor

• Land Records Office upgrade Phase 2: IPM integration with AssessPro (CAMA system) • Additional technology upgrades: Master Address Table maintenance integration, Register

of Deeds (Hart) integration, Centerline maintenance integration • Meet new Balanced Scorecard measurement of 30 day turn around time on all deeds

filed. • Work with City to resolve issues with mailing address problems and reduce returned mail

Technology Solutions

• Utilize WMS and WFS technologies for improved GIS data sharing and interoperability • Continue to develop partnerships with non-profit agencies who share the same service

goals as does Mecklenburg County Government by partnering and developing GIS applications that benefit the Citizens of Mecklenburg County.

• Review existing GIS web applications and to develop a new application and mapping framework to improve information delivery to the public.

• Develop a contingency and recovery plan for GIS Technology Solutions in regards to network infrastructure.

• Continue to build on GIS-Based web services and develop APIs to enhance non-GIS applications and database management systems

Maps and Project Services

• Complete 2007 Aerial Project Delivery to all users • Complete 2007 Oblique Project Delivery to all users • Capture and Complete 2008 Oblique Imagery for Re-fly of Multivision contract • Train multiple users and customers in Multivision Software • Support Multivision Software and Imagery throughout the county • Set up and Train Users needing ArcGIS introduction training • Continue to provide custom mapping to all customers at exceptional level of service • Continue to work with Local, State and Federal Agencies to promote Regional GIS

initiatives • Complete update of Building Outline Layers to 2007 Capture date. • Work with Land Records/Addressing to initiate Digital Subdivision submission process • Work with Application Technologies to support Mobile GIS Projects • Continue to support all LUESA and County Agencies with mapping and analysis

Strategic Planning and Program Support

• Implement WMS and WFS technologies for improved GIS data sharing and interoperability

• Work with Sages Networks to optimize GIS web site navigation and GIS application performance and usability

• Expand our enterprise service oriented architecture initiative to include REST and mapping web services

• Research and build collaboration tools for GIS • Implement and test GIS Disaster Recovery • Facilitate 'address validation' across the enterprise as new applications come on-line and

legacy systems undergo rewrites


• Manage regional data support for emergency management • Implement customized training for the enterprise and external customers



FY ’06 – ’07 Strategic Initiatives

Initiative: Employee/Organizational Capacity eGovernment Strategy:

• Provide a collaborative work environment for knowledge workers. • Expand customer and employee self-service capabilities as

aggressively as practical.

Employee/Organizational Capacity

Tactical Project List Desired Balanced Scorecard Outcome Agency 1. Improved Communication and

Information Management GIS Training and

Education - Accessibility to Information to

do Job 2. Increased satisfaction rating on GIS customer service

Women’s Commission

DSS

LUESA – PALRM Code Enforcement Water Quality Water and Land Records Sheriff’s Office – Field Operations

IST – Desktop Services Real Estate Services

Employee/Organizational Capacity

Tactical Project List Desired Balanced Scorecard Outcome Agency

1. Improved Communication and Information Management

GIS Training and Education

- Accessibility to Information to do Job

2. Increased satisfaction rating on GIS customer service

Town of Mint Hill

Town of Cornelius

Town of



Huntersville

Town of Pineville

Town of Matthews

Town of Davidson

Initiative: Business Process Improvement eGovernment Strategy:

• Support mobile workers and customers. • Improve usability and integration of (GIS) data.

Business Process Improvement

Tactical Project List Desired Balanced ScorecAgency Department level application development and mapping and project services work

Improved Employee E

DSS – Services for Adults

1. Determine customers living within ¾ mile to bus stop.

2. Identify service zones for transportation and delivery of nutrition services

3. Mapping and Spatial Analysis

DSS – Compliance and Quality Assurance

1. GIS application that assists social workers in the field identify ‘hotspots’ in geo-districts and integrates community resources into a service plan.

2. Mapping and Spatial Analysis

1. Development of appraisal and assessment GIS tools (spatial regression) LUESA –

PALRM 2. Routing Field Work 3. The ability to use GIS to make CAMA



system changes 4. Wireless ‘field’ capability for full

integration with field data collection for appraisal and auditing

1. EDMS 2. Area maps/aerial photos for managing subject areas and daily work assignments

LUESA – Water Quality



Business Process Improvement Tactical Project List Desired Outcome Agency

Department level application development and mapping and project services work

Improved Employee Efficiency

LUESA – Water and Land Resources

1. Future needs related to EDMS, flood mitigation database management, floodplain map maintenance

2. Mobile GIS data collection via EDMS

Sheriff’s Office – Field Operations

1. Address validation for paper process system

2. Routing for paper process system

3. Integration of crime data and call for service data with paper process system and for serving papers at a particular address

Health Department – Communicable Disease

1. GIS Routing to deliver medicines or dispensing clinics

2. Mapping and spatial analysis for treating, dispensing, public health education, surveying, etc

Public Library North Regional Library

1. Demographic data needs for planning; service area summaries; periodic mapping project or on-line service area identifier

2. Mapping and spatial analysis

1. Capital Projects GIS integrated with libraries, schools and other government projects for joint planning

County Manager’s Office – Strategic Organizational Improvement



Business Process Improvement

Tactical Project List Desired Outcome Agency Department level application development and mapping and project services work

Improved Employee Efficiency

IST – Desktop Services

1. The Help Desk needs to know where all County employees are located.

2. Wireless capability for field work

Real Estate Services

1. GPS and GIS integration

1. Database management/cost Effectiveness

2. Develop two-way communication with the towns (obtain zoning PDF files)

3. POLARIS generated zoning verification letters

4. Tie subdivision plats from the towns Surrounding Towns

5. Provide an automated update on subdivision approval

6. Develop shared web services

7. More shared services on a regional level

8. Focus on watershed education for citizens




Appendix D Key Concepts – Additional Information Several key concepts and industry standards inherently guide the implementation of GIS’ Strategic Initiatives. These concepts compliment each project throughout its life cycle, creating efficiencies at start-up and long into the maintenance phase. These concepts are described below: Open Source Software Open source software is software whose source code is published and made available to the public, enabling anyone to copy, modify and redistribute the source code without paying royalties or fees. Open source code evolves through community cooperation. These communities are composed of individual programmers as well as very large companies. Open source represents a new, pragmatic way of evolving software in a rapidly changing environment. Its advantages include lower software costs, lower hardware costs, transparency, reliability, scalability, and security. Geospatial Information Services believes is using open source software when appropriate to save costs and deliver better products to our customers. Open Standards Open standards are publicly available and implemental standards. By allowing anyone to obtain and implement the standard, they increase compatibility between various hardware and software components, since anyone with the necessary technical skills and resources can build products that work together with those of the other vendors that base their designs on the standard. Geospatial Information Services believes in using open standards to maximize interoperability, encourage vendor neutrality and flexibility, lower risk, and increase the quality and durability of our services. Service Oriented Architecture Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) expresses a business-driven approach to software architecture that supports integrating the business as a set of linked, repeatable business tasks, or "services". Services are self-contained, reusable software modules with well-defined interfaces and are independent of applications and the computing platforms on which they run. SOA helps users build composite applications, which are applications that draw upon functionality from multiple sources within and beyond the enterprise to support horizontal business processes.


Geospatial Information Services' SOA is based on a set of Web services standards (e.g., using SOAP or REST) that have gained broad acceptance in the industry. By creating a SOA, we realize a better return on investment through code reuse, our applications are more mobile with better testing and fewer deficits, we support multiple client types, and we realize easier management and more security. Customer Service GIS partners with customers to provide a continuum of GIS services, using industry-standard notation to differentiate the depth of expertise and related responsibility for problem resolution:

• Level 0 (Self-Help): Web-based self-support and eGovernment solutions empowers customers to solve their own problems using self-help tools, applications manuals, and web-based technology solutions.

• Level 1 (Information Service Generalists): Business focused, single-point-of-contact, support call-center(s) for internal and external customers, 2HELP and Charlotte-Mecklenburg 311 respectively. Emphasizes a close relationship with customers, helping them leverage technology and triaging calls to solve their business problems and needs. Involved mainly in customer management: Level 1 application and GIS services support to help customers with computer settings that meet application requirements, and directing customers to Level 0 and Level 2 customer support.

• Level 2 (Internal Experts): Technically focused, handling problems that require more technical knowledge. Typically involves project management, custom mapping and analysis, end-user training, systems and operations support and recovery, desktop support, and application support and recovery.

• Level 3 (CRM and GIS Management): Strategically focused, handling all aspects of the GIS services portfolio including desktop and network infrastructure and enterprise capacity management. Leads GIS staff in problem avoidance and customer relationship management. Level 3 service support is directed first to Information Services and Technology’s Customer Relationship Manager who is assigned to GIS. Level 3 support is assigned to GIS Division Managers and the GIS Director, as needed.


Geospatial Information Services Strategic Plan

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