One thing we love about working at Cloudpoint Geographics is the ability to spread the good word of GIS and how powerful of a tool it can be for an organization. Over the past few weeks several Cloudpoint staff members have had a variety of speaking engagements ranging in topics from mobile mapping implementation, to overhauling utility mapping, to a general overview of what GIS is, and why updating maps is important. This was true for both Jonathan and Joe as they hit the road to talk GIS and all things geospatial.
Another Successful ILGISA conference!
Every Fall the Illinois GIS Association hosts its annual conference. This year the event was at the Hilton Lisle/Naperville Hotel and Conference center from October 17-19. It was a fantastic event which started with the Monday night social which was sponsored by Cloudpoint Geographics and featured a rousing game of Trivia.
Hodel & Knapp pass the Unmanned Aircraft General (UAG) Exam
SignOps Gets an Upgrade!
Reason to Celebrate: 5 years and growing!
Roanoke, IL- Cloudpoint Geographics recently celebrated its 5-year anniversary on August 25, 2016. We've come a long way from back in the day with a one room office borrowed from the local realtor and an old Lenovo laptop (which we still have in our possession now bearing the label Cloudpoint-LAP 1).
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.
Bloomington, IL Sign Inventory via Bicycle
New Mexico ArcGIS Portal Installation
Local Government Specialty Designation
Roanoke, IL We at Cloudpoint Geographics are pleased to announce that Esri inc. has awarded us with an exclusive designation of being Local Government specialists. The specialty is designed to assist Esri users looking for partners who can help them deploy ArcGIS for Local Government in their organization.
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!