| | Oct - Nov 201919Integrating GIS and Data to Improve Service Delivery and Asset ManagementThe City of Philadelphia has a long history applying Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Adopted in the early 1990s by the Streets Department, GIS has become part of the fabric defining information technology for the agency.Meeting the mission to provide clean communities and safe streets requires more than knowing where things are located. It demands a detailed understanding of the shared interests and the relationships across programs, related Departments, and a large community of public and private entities with concerns involving the common right-of-way. Integrating applications and data through a spatial framework provides the basis for collaborative planning, execution of work, and evaluation of outcomes towards the management of entire business landscapes. The Department has benefitted by those forces necessary to successful adoption­creative, engaged employees and executive support that remains consistent. The embrace of GIS has positioned us to take advantage of the future.Challenges Only IncreasePhiladelphia has over 1.5 Mn residents. It is among a handful of major US cities dating to the colonial era. The original city plan is nearly three centuries old, and could not have anticipated the contemporary urban environment, including complex infrastructure, increasing development, and roads supporting shared use by vehicles, pedestrians, and bikes. The Streets Department manages 2,525 miles of roads, nearly 200,000 poles and attachments, and over 3000 signalized intersections. The city reviews close to 15,000 right-of-way permits each year, receives between 500 to 600 service requests per day, and provides waste management services to over 530,000 residences. The Department is challenged to achieve quality service at high volume even with a work force of nearly 1,800 employees. Fortunately, GIS supports coordination of our activities as well as those of numerous public and private entities related directly through interests or indirectly through shared space.Solutions Require InnovationThe Streets Department's GIS underpinning is the street centerline. It describes the network of roads in Philadelphia and key attributes such as name, address range, and directionality. Comprised of over 40,000 spatially referenced segments, the centerline is used by numerous City agencies and outside parties. It's critical to activities ranging from 911 and emergency response to planning and development. For the Streets Department, it's indispensible in managing transportation, the condition of assets, and our resources. Dozens of datasets are tied to the centerline. Moreover, this information becomes more valuable as GPS and digital mapping technologies become main stream. Increasing collection and sharing of spatial data creates new opportunities and brings greater sophistication to existing practices. A GIS-enabled tool is being applied by the department to document compliance of curb ramps with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Another application provides web-based mapping of permitted street closures within a specified distance to citizens through their mobile phone. Developing innovative systems that capture and take advantage of geographic data is crucial to improving public service.GIS is a powerful tool for integrating an application portfolio. Where explicit relationships are traditionally defined through key fields such as project ID, GIS not only relates data through reference to features, but supports implied relationships through By Izak Maitin, Director of Information Technology, Philadelphia Streets DepartmentCXO INSIGHTS
< Page 9 | Page 11 >