Customer Spotlight - Janna Baker, GIS Coordinator, Tazewell County, IL

Janna Baker, Tazewell County GIS Coordinator, is a great proponent of applying GIS at the county government level.

Janna Baker is the GIS Coordinator for Tazewell County, Illinois. Here is a little bit of information about Janna, how she got to where she is today, and what GIS has done for her.

Janna has been with Tazewell County for over 2 years.  She was an intern with the County from April to November of 2014, and then took over as the GIS Coordinator.

As part of her duties, Janna is responsible for administering GIS databases through SQL Server software and ESRI software, managing GIS websites/services hosted on-site, creating new GIS websites/services,  handling map/data sales, distributing map services and policy development, troubleshooting hardware/software issues, and identifying data needs, quality, accuracy, and standards,

When asked how her and her staff currently use GIS on a daily basis, Janna says, “GIS is used to increase efficiency in managing spatial data and serving it to the public. An example being parcel data in the Assessor's Office. GIS allows for quick access to parcel information by both staff and the public. Web access to the parcel data reduces the number of public calls to the Assessor's Office, freeing staff for other work. GIS provides staff with the ability to visually identify errors with ease and to correct them quickly. Through the enterprise database platform, these corrections can be immediately served out to GIS users in other departments, like Zoning, who rely on the parcel data to aid in their decision making, and to the public through GIS Web Maps.

Janna knows that GIS will play a large role for Tazewell County moving forward. She emphasized that by saying, “GIS is a very effective method of relaying information both between government entities and to the public. The ability to display tabular data as a model of the real world, and to visually display analysis of that data, is a benefit to government decision making in all areas. GIS will continue to integrate into more departments as it provides a fast, centralized way to manage and share spatial data, both internally throughout the organization and externally to the public."

Cloudpoint would like to thank Janna for her commitment to GIS technology and use of the Esri platform in helping her organization to succeed with providing detailed geographic data to the citizens of Tazewell County.  Because of Janna’s insight, the County is tracking their information and infrastructure like never before, allowing them to build upon her work for years to come.

Getting to know your Culverts...

It's never been easier to maintain an accurate and up-to-date inventory of your culverts using GIS and mobile technology.  Another example of the effectiveness of using mobile apps for inventories is shown during our ongoing project in LaSalle County, IL where Cloudpoint is completing a culvert inventory on all of the county highways.  

Here, Joe is using Esri's Collector app to complete a culvert inventory for LaSalle County, IL.

While climbing into and out of the work van, then up and down ravines, through thick thorns and briers to locate the culverts under county roads, I can not stress how beneficial it was to only have to carry in an iPad. Often times the surfaces I was traversing were slick from water, mud, or moss.  Having to carry in limited material, freed up my hands for a safer approach and handholds. Once I was at the culvert, I could pull up the exact location, drop a point and begin the inventory.  In addition to having drop down menus for various features of each culvert, I was also able to take a quick photograph and attach it to the point, which gives even more detail about the infrastructure.

I can rant and rave about the greatness of this tool, but the best way to understand how powerful it is is to see it in action.  We at Cloudpoint would be happy to give you a demonstration and work with you to see how your organization could benefit from implementing Esri's Collector app.  It's a great way to manage your infrastructure while streamlining your workflow, and we'd be thrilled to help you accomplish those tasks!

Water Maps getting back to Normal

The Town of Normal, IL is taking great strides in its GIS progress under the leadership of two highly talented professionals.  IT Director, Teri Legner and GIS Coordinator, Cassidy Killian are currently working with the water department to update all of their old maps.  The water distribution system is currently all mapped out in CAD however it is not exactly to scale, causing a huge challenge when trying to convert to GIS format.  Normally a simple georeferencing process can stretch or rotate the old maps to fit, however in this case it was not a practical approach due to the scale variance.  

Cloudpoint was brought in to help with this process consisting of referencing old records such as pdf valve cards, construction drawings, and CAD data to reconstruct the data in a GIS environment.  The newly converted data will be in Esri's local government data model and can be easily integrated into all of the latest Esri tools, maps, and apps including the Water Utility Network Editing and Reporting tools which are freely available to the Town as part of their current Esri licensing.  Soon the GIS department will be able to use this new GIS layer for water distribution applications such as valve isolation traces, reporting, and customer outage notifications or boil orders.  

As-built record drawings were scanned to pdf and used for reference in constructing the GIS layers

Water main details are incorporated into the GIS which can later be used for system-wide analysis and reporting.

Having Trimble GeoXH units on hand will allow the water department staff to further "fine tune" their data and collect GPS information with greater accuracy.  The professional staff at Normal has displayed great insight in migrating their data to the GIS environment and using the resources they have in place.

Don't miss the ILGISA Regional meetings

This year we have been actively involved with the Illinois GIS Association (ILGISA).  At two of the recent regional meetings this spring Cloudpoint will be participating through speaking and sitting on a career panel.  Micah Williamson presented at the recent regional meeting in Normal, IL on the topic of Making Your Own Parcel Viewer.  

Micah presents at this year's first ILGISA regional meeting in Normal, IL.  Several more will be taking place throughout the state this year.

Next week, Jon Hodel will talk about routing garbage trucks using ArcGIS Network Analyst at the second Regional Meeting in Macomb, IL.  Cloudpoint is proud to support the ILGISA organization and appreciates all of the efforts that have been put forth to make these localized meetings happen.  If you, or someone you know  is interested in learning more about GIS or becoming a member of ILGISA please visit their web page.

Cloudpoint expanding to Wisconsin

Clark County, WI has partnered with Cloudpoint Geographics to migrate to an enterprise GIS environment and create a seamless workflow for migrating tax and parcel data into a standard format compatible with the state’s Act 20 requirements.  

The State of Wisconsin's Department of Administration is very proactive in their GIS initiative working with all of the counties within the state to create a seamless state-wide digital parcel map.   The Wisconsin Land Information Program (WLIP) allows counties to receive grant funding to address these statutory directives to post parcel information online in a standard searchable format.  The strategic initiative approach is broken down into the following benchmarks:

• Benchmark 1 – Parcel and Zoning Data Submission
• Benchmark 2 – Extended Parcel Attribute Set Submission
• Benchmark 3 – Completion of County Parcel Fabric
• Benchmark 4 – Completion and Integration of PLSS

Cloudpoint Geographics' staff of highly trained professionals have a long history of local government experience specific to county GIS workflows and are pleased to offer these services to Wisconsin counties in meeting these requirements.  For more information on parcel data services or migrating to Esri's parcel fabric, contact Jon at (877) 377-8124.

ESRI Water Conference 2016

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the 2016 ESRI Water Conference in Austin, TX (not a bad place to be in February). This was the second annual iteration of the conference, and this year they included not only utilities, but also water resources. And I think that was an interesting move, to expand the scope to a broader look at the water cycle.

Naturally there were a plenty of interesting GIS uses and technologies showcased from streamflow and flood prediction to a growing number of mobile applications. Primarily interested in the keeping up with the latest ESRI has to offer, I got the most excitement out of the upcoming releases of applications like Collector and Survey123, and the news of development for a new Utility Network Model. It was also pretty awesome to hear what other organizations like the City of Philadelphia are doing with the technology and water management.

Austin was a great venue and the downtown scene had plenty of great food and music. And for those dealing with water and GIS, I'd recommend this conference if you get the chance. It's a nice, more focused alternative to the UC, or early addition / sneak peak.

Stephenson earns GISP certificate

Congratulations to Cloudpoint's, Paul Stephenson, for becoming the team's latest certified GIS Professional (GISP).  Paul was one of the very first people to sit for the newly established GISP examination through the GIS Certification Institute (GISCI) which he took last November.  With his professionalism and outstanding work ethic it was no surprise that he passed with flying colors.  Obtaining a GISP certificate involves an extensive application process which now includes the exam requirement.  With Paul's achievements, he joins Jon & Micah bringing the total number of GISP certified staff members at Cloudpoint to three.  The following are some notes highlighting what makes a certified GISP:

Pictured are Paul Stephenson (left) and Jon Hodel (right) with Paul's new GISP certification

•  Certified Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Professional endorsed by a 3rd party (GISCI) though a peer-reviewed evaluation. 
• Has met the minimum standards for educational achievement, professional experience, and manner in which he or she contributes back to the profession, and practices in an ethical manner. 
• Must abide by higher guidelines for ethical behavior. 
• Continues to educate and reeducate him or herself while preparing for recertification. 
• Has had their professional background scrutinized and reviewed by an independent third party organization. An Institute comprised of leading non-profit associations (AAG, NSGIC, UCGIS, GITA, URISA, and GLIS) focused on the application of GIS and geospatial technology. 
• Can come from anywhere in the world, and current, active GISPs reside in all 50 States and 25 foreign countries.
• Is more than a practitioner of GIS technology. 
• Is a Professional.

Well done Paul!