Department of Finance & Administration
Mark Emkes, Commissioner
Message from the Director's Corner
October 4, 2011
In spite of our tough economic times, there are many opportunities to use GIS in support of making government work more efficient and effective.
With Governor Haslam's "Customer Focused" government initiative, OIR GIS Services is continuing to lead the way on a variety of statewide GIS efforts.
First, in conjunction with the Tennessee Emergency Communications Board, OIR GIS Services is helping create, maintain, and sustain a statewide GIS dataset to support implementation of Next Generation 911 (NG911). Using the core GIS data developed through the initial production efforts of the Tennessee Base Mapping Program and enhancements that were made through a contract with TeleAtlas, the Tennessee Information for Public Safety (TIPS) GIS dataset is being implemented throughout all 100 emergency communication districts. Having a statewide standardized GIS dataset for street centerlines, address points, and ESN boundaries is essential for NG911 implementation. Over the next two years, five OIR GIS Services staff (including three regional support staff) will be working with each district to standardize and modernize the TIPS GIS data. Once complete, the goal is to assist, monitor, and provide technical assistance to the local districts, not only to support TIPS and NG911, but to leverage the statewide TIPS data in support of other state agency GIS needs. Build it once, use it many!
NG911 is not the only public safety driven effort that is leveraging GIS. Currently, in response to the major flood events that have occurred over the last 1.5 years in Tennessee, OIR GIS Services is leading an effort to develop a business plan for enhanced elevation GIS data. The vision is that a better elevation GIS dataset can be used to support planning and mitigation efforts for floodplain management, but also using the enhanced elevation GIS data in support of emergency response during a flood event. Through an FGDC CAP grant, Applied Geographics is leading the business planning effort. To date, we have completed a number of stakeholder interviews and regional workshops and gathered a significant amount of information that can help us build the business case, well beyond just floodplain management, to invest in enhanced elevation GIS data.
In addition to these statewide coordination efforts, OIR GIS Services is continuing to provide a variety of enterprise GIS services to State agencies and other GIS consumers. Through the TNMap portal, OIR GIS Services is hosting a variety of geospatial content that can be consumed through ArcGIS desktop, mobile devices, and custom web GIS applications. The latest web GIS development project is an effort funded by the National Park Service and the Tennessee Library and Archives to map the significant number of Civil War battlefield locations throughout Tennessee. In conjunction with the sesquicentennial events surrounding the Civil War, this provides researchers, historians, Civil War enthusiasts, and others with a wealth of information all linked to geography and place.
We'll have several updates to these efforts as we move forward under the leadership of Governor Bill Haslam.
Best Regards,
Dennis Pedersen
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