State and local government agencies will have one less obstacle in creating a Geographic Information System (GIS) with a new geocoding service offered by the California Technology Agency (CTA), Secretary Ramos announced last week.
"One of the things we are looking at doing is leveraging data that the government already has, and specifically, GIS information," said Ramos to a crowd at the 8th annual TechAmerica conference in Sacramento. "A lot of agencies are using it, the problem is nobody knows about it. Nobody knows how to accesses it, and all of this is public data," he continued.
Launched in August, the new geocoding service offered by the Office of Technology Services (OTech) within CTA allows agencies to convert location-based data to include latitude and latitude coordinates which greatly enhance its use, said State Geographic Information Officer Scott Gregory. By creating new map-based applications, officials can look at the information in a different context, allowing them to make better decisions. Gregory gave the example of making correlations with crime data with other location-based information to enhance benefits fraud detection.
Three components of the service include a web-based client that allows users to upload data, an API service that can be integrated into programming and a web tool aimed at GIS professionals to enhance their work flow, said Gregory. The Office of Technology Services is able to code 2.5 million locations per hour. The office is already working with a handful of state and local agencies to develop applications, he said.
Secretary Ramos also announced his agency aims to put together a geoportal where government and consumers can come in and find innovative ways of using that data, such as spurring app development that may drive economic stimulus. The California GeoPortal will go live in January 2013, said Ramos, who noted that California state agencies have more than 3,700 sets of GIS data.
