established funding strategies, and infrastructure. The demand for GIS is growing and recognized. The current economic situation has created an opportunity for shared service offerings and consolidation of similar functions. Support for these activities is very widespread among all levels of state government. Additional staffing and resources are needed at the statewide level to oversee coordination activities and establish governance standards. It is difficult to discern the number of positions in Washington State government. GIS position-classifications do not exist, and GIS support is often scattered throughout an agency. GIS is often not centralized as part of an agency’s IT department. It is difficult to assess the cost of GIS in our current statewide accounting system. Often, GIS costs are not identified in IT project reporting. Most GIS funding mechanisms penalize the service provider or those who are early adopters. State agencies may be reluctant to consolidate or contribute resources, especially if they are currently able to meet agency needs. Decision makers do not understand the full value of GIS. This lack of understanding has undermined the adoption of the technology as an essential component of IT projects. Opportunities The current economic situation is encouraging all agencies “to make do with less.” This trend has brought greater support for reducing redundancy, taking advantage of partnership opportunities, finding innovative solutions, and exploring options to enhance long term viability. Environmental regulations are driving a need for consistent spatial information for permit approval and to report on compliance activities. Federal agencies are requiring more spatial reporting on activities, often as a deliverable and contingency associated with the receipt of federal funding. Private companies depend on spatial data produced by governmental entities to provide Threats Products like Google Earth have given GIS mainstream exposure. However, these products have also given the impression that GIS is free. This causes the public to believe that all GIS services should be free. Implementation of GIS services and data collection has protracted cost requirements, when compared to traditional IT systems. Decision makers need to be educated as to the return on investment that GIS services can provide. State agencies vary in their spatial positional and relative accuracy requirements. Finding common ground may prove difficult, or may result in some agencies’ inability to fully participate in the use of shared services, and the need for some agencies to create and
consumers with information (i.e., navigational data, commerce information, school district information, health department information, environmental information affecting site planning and building developments). Potential partnership opportunities exist that could provide private funding. The provision of shared services helps provide smaller agencies with access to GIS technology. Political leaders can employ GIS technology to assist with communicating accomplishments within districts, regions, counties, cities, and statewide. Activities are underway to create and use standard framework datasets. Activities are underway to create and use Shared Services. GIS efforts provide a powerful visual illustration which can be leveraged to show the importance of GIS, and educate on potential uses of GIS. The establishment of a GIS Shared Service provides customers with consistent, repeatable results. It would also reduce duplicative efforts and expenditures among state agencies. Central access to spatial data is needed and desired. (Cited from Geographic Information Systems Strategic Plan: Mapping Washington’s Future, 2010 -2014, Appendix B - Stakeholder Outreach: Synthesis of Findings). Access to improved spatial data can expedite tax collection by identifying unreported property improvements and land use changes. support revised versions of data and services. Delaying establishment of a centralized GIS office to handle coordination efforts, including the development of standards and processes, will cause individual agencies to seek their own solutions and implementations that may not be in keeping with an overall, long term approach. Legal issues can impede the sharing of data and services. For instance, purchased data and data provided by other entities may have legal stipulations regarding use and redistribution. Washington currently has liberal public disclosure laws, but these laws can change if political views shift. Political and economic pressures can alter priorities and stakeholder commitment. Strategic approach to our LeaderPath Capstone project Our following recommendations on GIS service implementation strategies are based on: Interviews with Washington State GIS leaders Research of Washington State agencies’ GIS implementations
costs and shrinking revenues. Encourage more Public /Private Partnerships Maintain base information needed by businesses in a format that is friendly for their needs. This information would allow them to learn about current services provided and available market opportunities. In return, businesses can lobby for funding GIS Shared Services. Information about available land, buildings, zoning, transportation, environmental conditions, support facilities, ownership, and property value is critical to attract economic development investment. Marketing to the business community would be challenging. Business priorities change frequently. These changes could affect what information needs to be collected for GIS services, and whether the company will continue in their participation. It can be difficult for state agencies to partner with local entities because of a lack of common understanding of issues, project timing, project needs, and overall project communication. Combine federal grant monies to help fund the creation of shared services - utilize the knowledge each agency has in gaining grants in their areas of expertise. These grants typically provide a way to acquire the start-up costs to build GIS infrastructure. There is still need to find a funding source for maintenance and operations after the grant period ends. Grants may also be restrictive in how the money is spent (i.e., maintenance and operations are usually costs not covered in grant awards). Increased tax revenue collection because of better tax assessment information due to GIS data - GIS data and geoprocessing enable the precise determination of location boundaries (i.e., special districts, city, and county boundaries) for facilities — such as Property would be assessed the correct tax percentage or fee. This would not be the same as raising taxes per se, but rather collecting the correct tax amount on a parcel of land because of better data through GIS. For example: Orange County, FL, increased revenues from cellular telephone franchise fees by using GIS to determine which cell towers were in their tax jurisdiction. The postal address put some towers in other counties. They now collect an additional $ 650,000, every year because of GIS To keep up the correct amount of tax assessment, there would be an increased need to maintain current GIS data.