Techwire: How is GIS used to improve government services?
MG: GIS is used in almost all parts of government service. It is used for emergency response and recovery, for running elections more efficiently, for identifying and improving service usage, for fraud and waste detection, for communicating with the public, for managing property and zoning information, overseeing land development and management, for predicting demographic trends and changes, supporting economic development, enabling field data collection — the list goes on and on.
TW: What does Los Angeles County hope to do with GIS in the next six to 12 months?
MG: From a technical perspective, there are a few things. LA County is moving to integrate GIS more tightly into its 911 and dispatch systems — to help locate a caller more accurately to improve response times. It is also using GIS to improve the permitting and land management process by locating permits geographically. Another exciting development is an analysis of stormwater runoff for each property in the county. We are also deploying an application to help our Agricultural Commissioner collect information about exotic pests with a mobile application instead of paper.
From a business perspective, the county is looking to place the power of GIS in the hands of more users through the use of ArcGIS Online — we want to move the power of GIS into the business units of the county so they can move faster with the technology.
TW: How did you come to GIS work?
MG: I started with GIS as a part-time job in college, but quickly became passionate about its ability to answer questions in a unique way. It also coincided with my love of maps. My career started with answering questions about environmental impacts at the Environmental Protection Agency, and my goal to share the power of GIS led me all the way to the position of Geographic Information Officer, and from there to the Chief Data Officer of LA County, where I want to add geographic tools to the other powerful tools we use to understand our county and benefit its citizens.
TW: What kind of procurements are done for GIS software within the county?
MG: For GIS software acquisition, we maintain a Master Purchase Agreement with Esri, as well as an Enterprise License Agreement with Latitude Geographics for a set of tools for building applications through configuration rather than development. We maintain a list of preferred technologies and focus on software that aligns with worldwide standards such as FGDC, Open Geospatial Consortium, etc., but are open to new and innovative uses.
In many cases, vendors have GIS and mapping capabilities built into their software. In those cases, we advocate for the selection of systems that integrate with the county’s rich ecosystem of GIS services.
TW: How should vendors approach the county about GIS software/GIS solutions?
MG: From a procurement approach, the county maintains an Enterprise Services Master Agreement (ESMA) that, once prequalified, vendors are notified about GIS service opportunities. If a vendor has a specific solution appropriate to a business, they can approach a relevant department or its business unit, but we want the relevant GIS Manager within the department to be part of that discussion since they bring the context of the enterprise approach. Of course, the Geographic Information Officer can also be approached.
