SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 6
CS&B COMMITTEE AGENDA
JULY 31, 1997
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: July 16, 1997
CC File: 1189
TO: Standing Committee of Council on City Services and Budget
FROM: Chief Information Officer in consultation with the General
Managers of Community Services, Corporate Services and
Engineering Services
SUBJECT: Geographic Information and Automated Mapping System (GIS)
Project Financing
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve an allocation of $247,800 to fund the
establishment of two temporary full time technical positions
in the Information Technology Department for a period of 24
months to provide application development and technical system
support to the expanded Geographic Information and Automated
Mapping System (GIS). The positions are subject to job
evaluation by the Director of Human Resource Services.
Funding for these costs is available in the 1997 Operating
Budget provision for Corporate Information Systems
Replacement.
B. THAT Council approve an allocation of $192,500 to cover staff
training, data conversion and integration, and additional
costs of the expanded Geographic Information and Automated
Mapping System. Funding for these costs is available in the
1997 Operating Budget provision for Corporate Information
Systems Replacement.
C. THAT Council approve an allocation of $400,000 to provide GIS
hardware and software for the expanded system. Funding for
these costs is available in the 1997 Operating Budget
provision for Corporate Information Systems Replacement.
GENERAL MANAGERS' COMMENTS
The General Managers of Community Services, Corporate Services, and
Engineering Services RECOMMEND approval of A, B and C.
COUNCIL POLICY
On June 19, 1990, Council established 'information' as one of the City's
corporate priorities.
On December 8, 1994, Council approved an Information Systems Plan for
the City containing the following visions for GIS:
Ensure that shared information is available for GIS access and
analysis. A high proportion of municipal information becomes
dramatically more useful when it can be viewed and analysed
geographically.
Consider the GIS as an early access tool - Relatively simple
Geographic Information System (GIS) based applications can provide
information in support of a number of departmental requirements.
On July 23, 1996, Council approved a Long Term Financing
Strategy--Information Technology Replacement Program that identified
funds for a number of information technology projects. Staff were
directed to report back to Council for approval to spend funds
identified in the Strategy.
SUMMARY
GIS has been identified in the Information Systems Plan as one of the
City's core infrastructure technologies. Phase 1 of the GIS
implementation has been successfully completed. This Report provides a
strategic plan for providing resources for Phase 2 of the GIS project
which will expand access to the City's GIS. GIS supports the principles
described in the Information System Plan regarding data access and
sharing. The funding being requested will provide necessary
infrastructure for benefits to be gained by Better City Government and
other initiatives such as the Development and Building Regulation
Review, Business Licensing, Solid Waste Management: Garbage
Collection-Residential, the Emergency Operations and Communications
Centre, and CityPlan. As business cases are developed for these and
other applications, the benefits relating to GIS will be identified.
Geographic location is the common denominator in linking together
information related to a significant component of the City's business.
When fully implemented, GIS will provide staff with simple access to
most of the City's geographically-based information. Examples of the
type of data that are or will be accessible include addresses,
assessments, inspection districts, permitting activity, registered
voters, street conditions, and building restrictions, to name just a
few. This information will be accessible in a variety of familiar ways
including "point and click" Windows screens, as well as other direct
entry means such as by entering an address. Being able to view the
geography on the screen will make it easier for staff to retrieve and
integrate data as well as providing a highly visible way of examining
data and trends. There will be benefits gained over time; some will take
the form of tangible savings while others will take the form of better
service to the public.
BACKGROUND
Vancouver, like all municipalities, creates, manages, and utilizes
enormous quantities of data. It is estimated that 80% to 90% of this
data is geographically-based. Examples of such information systems in
the City include the Tax System, the Permits and Licenses Systems,
Central Address Services, Voters List System, and many other systems in
Engineering, Planning, and other departments. The geographical reference
is usually the address, however there are others such as coordinate,
inspection district, or voting division. GIS is an enabling technology
designed specifically to allow the City to more effectively manage, use,
and analyse this geographically-based data. Because of the value of
such a technology, the City acquired a corporate GIS in 1994 to replace
an aging automated mapping system operating on an obsolete computer.
However, funding for the initial implementation provided only twenty-six
user licenses, basic training, hardware, software, and data conversion
to support the development of prototype GIS applications to demonstrate
the value of GIS. No ongoing support staff resources were provided. As
a result, the GIS data and capabilities has not been made available to
all who will benefit from its use, and support for GIS and the
applications has been provided by Engineering staff, an external
consultant, and on an ad hoc basis when funds were provided by various
users.
Phase 1 of the GIS project has been successfully completed. The
automated mapping system has been replaced, the GIS has been
implemented, data created with the original mapping system has been
converted into the GIS and new data is being created, and a number of
GIS applications have been developed. Phase 1 savings in excess of
$300,000 annually will continue after the internal loan is paid back in
2000. Key applications developed during Phase 1 are used by staff to:
automate revisions to the boundaries for residential refuse
collection beats,
create and maintain an authoritative source for City addresses
which will ultimately be used by most City systems for
validating addresses (this data is used by DOMINO and
License+),
create and maintain the authoritative graphic source for
zoning and residential subdivision information, as well as for
other land and utility data,
provide a base map for design and presentation thereby
eliminating the need to re-draw the base during the creation
of Engineering design drawings,
notify owners within a user-defined area around a parcel when
development, rezoning, neighbourhood projects or local
improvement projects are to occur,
track activities and events on City streets including sewer
and water line construction, filming, and other special
events, and
modify voting division boundaries for the November, 1996
municipal election as a result of changing numbers of
registered voters.
Phase 2 of GIS in Vancouver will substantially increase access to GIS
for City staff, and will move towards fully integrating it into line of
business applications within the City. Staff now recognize the value of
GIS and as a result, a large number of applications have been identified
for future development. The purpose of this Report is to provide the
shared infrastructure that is a prerequisite to making GIS more
accessible so that staff who need to see a map or use geographic data
can do so easily on-line using their PC. Ultimately, GIS should become
another personal productivity tool like word processors, electronic
mail, and spreadsheets.
As part of the strategy of integrating GIS into line of business
applications, the City is also considering participation in an
application development partnership with the Regional Municipality of
Ottawa-Carleton, the City of Ottawa, other municipalities in the Ottawa
area, the GIS vendor, and other municipal clients of the vendor,
including Calgary and Pinellas County (Clearwater), Florida. The
purpose of this partnership is to deliver GIS-based applications that
meet the needs of the participating members in a more cost-effective
manner than any one municipality could do alone. The partnership would
also deliver a site license for the software so that it can be used by
as many staff as required without incurring incremental costs for the
GIS software every time a new user is added. Funding for the cost of
participating has been identified in the Long Term Financing
Strategy--Information Technology Replacement Program previously approved
by Council. Staff are currently evaluating the benefits of participating
in this partnership and will be reporting back to Council later in 1997.
However, the infrastructure being requested is a prerequisite for
participation.
A complete discussion of the project phasing is included in Appendix A.
DISCUSSION
Customer Service and Efficiency
Staff throughout the City need access to significant amounts of
information to perform their jobs. When helping customers, front line
staff may need to check the status of permits, the size of a lot or
assessments. Currently, staff often need to check a variety of sources
for the desired information, and may not be sure about the accuracy or
currency of the data for which they are looking. QUICKFIND is
addressing this issue from the directory and frequently-asked-questions
perspectives; GIS will address this issue in that the GIS database can
become a "one stop information source" for geographically-based data
once the additional data that staff require is linked to GIS. Improving
staff's ability to access current information will improve the level of
service staff can provide to the public and other staff.
Phase 2 GIS Work Plan and Applications
The work plan for the GIS project over the next two to three years will
focus on two general areas. The first will be providing technical
support for the foundation activities that must take place for the GIS
to stay current and include the data required by its users, and to make
GIS accessible to more staff (this funding will provide for an
additional 150 to 250 users, of whom 50 to 75 can be concurrent,
depending on type of use). Activities in this area include migrating to
new releases and their accompanying functional enhancements as they
become available, transforming the survey base for the database,
implementing new PC products and functionality, and adding additional
servers and licenses as required so that more users can be served. A
significant amount of data conversion will also be required to provide
information on which the applications are based. These include
digitizing data from manual sources and conversion and integration from
existing sources. The proposed operating budget provides for a limited
amount of data conversion work; other conversion work will be justified
as part of the business case for the application. Activities also
include providing additional means of accessing GIS data and exploring
opportunities for marketing GIS data to the public.
The other area on which activities will focus is the development of
applications. Staff in many departments have identified a wide variety
of applications that should be developed in GIS, including the
following:
Desktop Data and Address Viewer--Many staff, particularly
front line staff, throughout the City routinely access
geographic information on paper maps which may be out of date.
This application is designed to allow them to access current
information on their PC whenever they need it for their own
use or for the public (will be used by all departments).
Contaminated Soils Tracking--Staff require information on
contaminated sites to be accessible in the graphics
environment provided by GIS. Tracking the contaminated soils
in GIS will help the City comply with new legislation in
effect as of April 1, 1997 (will be used by Community Services
and Engineering).
Business License System interface--An interface is being
developed between the new business license system and the GIS
so that staff can determine where licenses are located and
what is in the proximity of that license. This service could
be provided to the public to generate additional revenue (will
be used by Community Services).
Traffic Accident Analysis--Staff have expressed an interest in
having traffic accident information maintained in the GIS so
as to facilitate staff s analysis of the accidents and reduce
staff time allocated to compiling information (will be used by
Police and Engineering).
CityPlan Analysis and Mapping--With the commencement of the
CityPlan visioning process, there is a need to produce a wide
variety of presentation quality maps. While much of the data
that is required exists within the GIS, other data has to be
added, and the flexibility to produce alternative map types
increased. This will reduce the amount of time required to
produce the maps and will provide benefits to users in all
departments.
Facilities Planning and Management--GIS-based applications
will be used by staff to manage and maintain the substantial
infrastructure that the City owns including water mains, sewer
mains, building, park furniture, etc. (Will be used by
Engineering and Parks).
Aerial Photography--The overlaying of digital aerial photos
over the GIS map base will provide staff with better site
information and the ability to produce aerial maps for
presentation purposes (will be used by many departments).
Other applications will be facilitated by increasing access to GIS and
by creating and maintaining GIS data, however they are being developed
or procured separately, or will require separate reports to Council for
funding:
Development and Building Review (DBR) Support--This new
application will support Community Services and other staff
involved in the permitting, rezoning, and inspections areas
and is designed to significantly improve service to the
public. Access to information maintained in GIS such as
addresses, spatially-based building restrictions, cost
restrictions, and legal dimensions is an important component
of the re-engineered process.
Street Tree Maintenance and Tracking--Information on the
City's trees is currently managed by staff at Parks and
Recreation, however this information is not readily available
to other staff in the City. Accurate information on tree
locations would be particularly important to Engineering
operations branches (such as sewers) whose construction plans
are affected by street trees.
EOCC Data and Support-- The City has started a process to
procure dispatching software for the new Emergency Operations
and Communications Centre. There is an expectation that this
new software will ultimately make use of data from the City's
GIS, as will associated Record Management Systems.
Benefits of GIS Applications
Benefits that can be derived from improving staff's ability to utilize
geographic data are more obvious when we consider how many staff use
paper maps in their day-to-day work as a means of recording, viewing, and integrating geographic data. In departments like Permits and
Licenses, Planning, and Engineering, a substantial proportion of the
staff make frequent use of maps and the accompanying geographic data in
different ways. This is seen by the variety of data that is recorded on
maps--examples include utility locations, zoning and subdivision
information, development permit information, bike routes, parks,
greenways, traffic volumes, inspection areas, locations of various
facilities, and a substantial amount of policy and planning data
(including data from BCAA, Statistics Canada, etc.), to name just a few.
However, using paper maps can be a time consuming process, there are
limits to the amount of data that can be manually recorded on one map,
and the paper maps are often out of date shortly after they are printed.
In those cases where they are not out of date, it is usually because
staff have taken it upon themselves to manually update their own maps as
time permits.
Specific benefits resulting from integrating GIS into line of business
applications can be categorized into the following four areas:
1. Staff productivity
reduced search times for information linked to a specific location
(e.g., tree ownership and location) as data becomes more
integrated. Fewer sources of information implies greater ability
to provide consistent information with less searching.
fewer site visits to confirm the presence and location of physical
assets (e.g. trees, signs, curbs)
quicker response to the impacts of "what if" scenarios (e.g.
parking meter rate changes, zoning changes)
less space for storage of paper files and maps
reduced duplication of data entry and improved accuracy given a
central repository for data (e.g., traffic accident databases exist
in both Engineering and Police).
new opportunities for information exchange among City departments,
the GVRD, utility companies, and BC Assessment Authority
less duplication of effort in maintaining geographic information
and maps, particularly addresses and lower costs in distributing
current information
ability to integrate different data types, such as images, into the
database (eg., pictures of trees or intersections) and perform
analyses not otherwise easily done
reduced time to produce output for reports and public meetings;
there is a potential reduction of expense for external assistance
to do this
2. Operational and Infrastructure Improvements
ability to more specifically target facilities maintenance
activities and reduce costs through better information about
maintenance histories and problems related to individual facilities
ability to "stretch" infrastructure replacement funds given better
information about the condition, age, maintenance patterns,
facility failures, and life of facilities
route planning and optimization for refuse collection, recycling,
street cleaning and streets maintenance activities which can reduce
operational costs in these areas
better coordination of street activity conflicts related to
construction, festivals, use of sidewalk space, etc.
reduction in the risk that City and other staff will be exposed to
potentially harmful soil, thereby reducing the number of potential
fewer delays in work)
reduction in the amount of space required to store documents and
maps
provide better information for, and minimize duplication among,
City and regional dispatch systems
better coordination of activities such as tree planting and
sewer/water connection installations that ultimately saves time and
money
3. Public Service Improvements
faster response to the public about questions related to
geographical activities and information (e.g. What is the
construction crew doing in front of my house?, What is the status
of my local improvement request?)
better information support for Neighbourhood Integrated Service
Teams around recurring problem sites and areas
better information access to support the "one-stop shopping"
concept
opportunities for direct public access to information about their
property or neighbourhood through interactive maps on Internet or
in public kiosks without having to call City staff
4. Decision Support for Strategic Corporate Goals
ability to respond to "what if" scenarios only possible through GIS
types of analysis (e.g. what is the impact of zoning and land use
changes on housing stock in the City by local area?)
visual presentation mapping to show areas of the city with varying
levels of services, facilities, or incidents (e.g. crime
statistics, tree deficient areas, streets near schools and parks
without sidewalks, census information)
Resource Requirements for Phase 2
The infrastructure being requested in this Report is required to support
the widespread deployment of GIS to staff. GIS is similar to some other
information technology where that basic infrastructure, shared by many
users as opposed to being dedicated to a single user, is provided
corporately. Providing licenses, server hardware, applications, and
development and support centrally, as the City does for many other
computer-related resources, eliminates the need for any one user or
department to bear the burden of providing shared resources. This
reduces the user's marginal cost of utilizing the GIS technology and
makes it easier for users to build upon the infrastructure. This
approach is similar to when Council approved an Internet infrastructure
report in December, 1995 to facilitate the development of the QUICKFIND
application, subsequently approved in October, 1996.
Where necessary, the GIS Steering Committee (Community Services,
Engineering Services, and Information Technology) will set priorities as
to the allocation of resources.
In regard to software, when additional applications are developed and
users are added, additional software (for both the GIS and the database)
is needed so that they may run concurrently. The City needs to add
licenses so that an increased number of concurrent users and developers
can be supported. Several PC-based GIS modules are available and the
City will purchase these so as to make GIS applications more usable and
to speed the application development process.
In regard to hardware, it will be necessary to substantially increase
the processing power available so that an increased number of GIS users
can experience acceptable performance. Regardless of the type of
platform (Windows-based PC or workstation), users must access the
database and applications. Continuing a multi-server strategy will need
to expand and will also allow processing to be decentralized to
departments or work groups where appropriate.
PERSONNEL IMPLICATIONS
To date, GIS has been supported in the City in a somewhat ad hoc manner.
Core technical support has been provided by Engineering Information
Services, while overall project management has been provided by
Information Technology. Application development has been provided on a
full-time basis by one Engineering staff and one external contractor,
and until recently, part-time by an Information Technology programmer.
It is the intent of this Report to create a group of two temporary staff
to provide support and application development services for GIS within
the Information Technology Department so that a better level of
consistent service to staff can be provided and so the help function can
be integrated into the Information Technology Help Centre. This will
occur because it will be possible to leverage off existing expertise in
Information Technology to provide better backup and associated skills.
The necessary technical knowledge can be shared by a larger number of
staff and integrated into other technical support expertise being
provided. Centralizing this function will enable purely departmental
applications to be developed and supported by the departments.
Accordingly, approval is being sought to create the following positions:
1. Technical Support--This position will be responsible for
supporting the GIS software, database, and operating system, and
will ensure the ongoing functioning of the GIS. This position will
also allocate time providing support for technical interfaces
between GIS and other applications such as DOMINO and DBR at an
application and data level. This is an important task if GIS is to
provide the integration of data that users require.
2. Application Development--The primary focus for this position
will be on applications and utilities of interest to multiple
departments. This position will reduce, if not eliminate, the
current dependence on the services of an outside contractor for
application development.
The focus of both of these positions is on corporate activities. Where
possible, they will also provide support for departmental applications.
However, in general it is expected that departments will provide their
own resources or new resources (subject to business case justifications)
to develop departmental applications.
These two positions are temporary and will have a term of 24 months.
There is also a need for an ongoing commitment to GIS project
management. This is currently being provided by Information Technology
and no new staffing is required.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
This Report requests that the following funds be allocated from the 1997
Information Technology funding previously approved in the 1997 Operating
Budget:
$247,800 for the two new temporary positions identified above;
$192,500 for staff training, data conversion and integration, and
additional costs of operation; the majority of these funds are for
the incremental maintenance costs for new hardware and software;
and
$400,000 for additional software and hardware to be spent between
1997 and 1999 as required to support the implementation of
applications and the addition of users.
While not being put forward as a source of funds to support Phase 2 of
GIS, annual savings in excess of $300,000 from Phase 1 will continue
after the financing loan is fully repaid in 2000.
Prior to the end of their term, staff will report back to Council with
an ongoing funding plan, the intention of which will be to provide for
these resources through user charges, additional savings, and increased
revenues that result from usage of GIS.
BENEFIT PAYBACK
In some cases, the future applications described earlier in this Report
are of a size and nature that will not require reporting back to
Council. However, where appropriate, there will be reports back with
business cases and further details; these business cases will identify
and value the specific benefits resulting the inclusion of GIS in the
applications.
CONCLUSION
Phase 1 of the City's GIS implementation has been successfully
completed. GIS is now seen as an important technology cornerstone for
the City. However, without the resources recommended in this Report, it
will be very difficult to move forward with GIS application development
and system support in a timely and effective manner to achieve
additional benefits that accrue from incorporating GIS capabilities into
line of business applications.
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Appendix A: GIS Phasing and Expansion Plan
Introduction
The implementation of GIS is a multi-phased long term project, although
there have been benefits since the implementation commenced. This
document briefly describes the two major phases of the plan for making
GIS available to City staff. This is done so that the current Council
Report can be placed into the appropriate context.
Phase 1--Procurement and Implementation
Between 1990 and 1992, City staff wrote and issued an extensive RFP for
a GIS, received and evaluated responses, and selected a vendor. By the
end of 1992, the City had migrated off of the automated mapping system
that had been in place since 1981 and implemented an interim system
based on more common standards. This interim system was used because of
the amount of work required to implement the full GIS and the need to
move off the original system as quickly as possible due to
unreliability. Staff used the interim system to do their work during
1993 and the early part of 1994.
Since the acquisition of the VISION*GIS in 1994 and into 1997, staff
activities have focussed on:
adding new data to the GIS database
implementing system support procedures
developing a basis for expanding GIS access
developing a variety of GIS applications.
The application development activities have focussed, for the most part,
on the specific needs of certain users. This includes data creation and
maintenance applications, sanitation beat determination, notification,
streets activity management, and elections preparation.
Phase 2--Expand Access to GIS Data and Applications
While the activities pursued thus far have resulted in successful
applications, GIS is not yet accessible to a large number of staff. The
primary reason for this has been a lack of resources, which includes
hardware, software, support staff, and additional applications.
However, expanding access is one of the highest priority activities
during Phase 2. The current submission to Council seeks funding for the
GIS infrastructure necessary to expand access. This infrastructure
includes the hardware and software, as well as dedicated staff positions
to provide technical and application development support. This strategy
recognizes the fact that different tools are required by different users
and looks to accommodate that by making the core GIS data available in
different methods.
An integral part of this is to move GIS technical support from the
Engineering Information Services Branch to the Information Technology
Department. This will allow Engineering to focus more on application
development and allow support to be integrated into the technical
support structure for the City.
Many of the City's core line of business functions either require access
to geographic information or would benefit from easy access to
geographic information. To support the need for GIS to be integrated
into these processes, the City is also considering participation in a
Municipal Application Partnership with other municipal VISION*.
Applications nearing completion by the Partnership will support the
maintenance of property, water and sewer, and roads and traffic
information and the development tracking process. During the next few
years, applications will be developed to support land use planning,
solid waste planning, infrastructure maintenance and management,
complaint tracking, municipally-owned property, routing analysis, census
data management, recreation planning, infrastructure permits, and
capital project management, among several others. These applications
are very much in line with many of the City s priorities over the next
several years. By participating in the Partnership, the City will have a
voice in how these applications are developed to ensure that our needs
are met.
Staff are developing a proposal for participation and will bring it to
Council at the appropriate time. Funding for participation
(approximately $1,400,000 to be contributed over four years) has been
identified in the Long Term Financing Strategy--Information Technology Replacement Program which was approved in July, 1996. The staff report
will identify any other costs that are associated with participation and
formalize the business case for moving in this direction.
The implementation period for the Partnership line of business
applications will span three to four years depending on the number of
applications actually used (a participant may find that a specific
application is not required, although it is unlikely that the City will
choose not to deploy more than one or two of the already-identified
seventeen applications). During this time, other applications may be
developed by City staff if the need exists.
There will be costs associated with the implementation process which
will be identified when we report back to Council. The current proposal
is that the costs associated with implementing corporate applications
will be funded corporately, whereas the costs associated with
implementing departmental applications will be funded departmentally.
APPENDIX B on file in City Clerk's Office
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