GIS for Federal Government
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GIS for Federal Government Building a National GIS Community GIS for Federal Government GIS Solutions for Natural Resources Conservation Services Building a National GIS Community Farm Service Agency Bureau of Reclamation Office of Surface Mining U.S. Forest Service A geographic information system (GIS) builds on the study of National Park Service geography by providing the means to organize, manage, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service U.S. Geological Survey integrate the complex data that is collected in the study of the U.S. Department of Agriculture earth, its contents, and its processes. It also provides a frame- U.S. Department of the Interior work for making this knowledge accessible to scientists, planners, Bureau of Land Management Department of Justice decision makers, and the public. Department of the Treasury Federal Bureau of Investigation Bringing geographic measurements together with powerful tools Federal Emergency Management Agency for visualization, analysis, and modeling, GIS technology has Federal Reserve been implemented successfully in tens of thousands of easy- Secret Service to-use applications and is increasingly being integrated into the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Transportation Security Administration planning, decision-making, and business processes of organiza- United Nations tions. Today, geospatial data and technology represent major World Bank investments on the part of the U.S. federal government because United States Agency for International Development State Department nearly everything that happens in the public realm happens in United States Trade and Development Agency the context of geography. Peace Corps International Broadcasting Bureau GIS applications are constantly evolving, and for nearly four Organization of American States decades, ESRI has been leading the way in advancing the tech- Smithsonian Institution nology to meet the new challenges that our ever-changing world Bureau of Indian Affairs Health and Human Services ® brings. The ArcGIS suite of software solutions reflects ESRI’s Housing and Urban Development commitment to empower GIS users with the most advanced Federal Communications Commission tools for exploring and sharing geospatial information. This is Internal Revenue Service General Services Administration why more than 93 percent of GIS users in the federal sector rely Social Security Administration on ESRI® products. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention United States Postal Service While federal agencies are using GIS to analyze complex situa- Department of Labor tions, visualize problems, and create geographic plans and solu- Small Business Administration tions, they are also increasing efficiency, reducing costs, improv- Library of Congress Congressional Research Service ing communication and collaboration, and helping to coordinate Census Bureau work across organizations. U.S. departments and agencies rely Veterans Affairs on GIS technology to advance their operations including tackling Department of Transportation National Aeronautics and Space Administration the growing demand for accountability, improving communica- Environmental Protection Agency tion with citizens, accurately counting U.S. residents, managing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration the nation’s natural resources, and protecting the environment. Department of Energy Department of Education Tennessee Valley Authority Streamlining Processes GIS technology is evolving rapidly, and adoption of the innovations is critical to federal organizations’ successful implementation of a geospatial line of business. This will enable the sharing of spatial data, services, and resources within the federal government. Federal agencies involved in law enforcement, emergency response, health care, education, transportation, environmental management, and homeland security have found that their business objectives are effectively and efficiently carried out with geospatial data and ser- vices. Organizations with GIS services are able to • Effect the use and reuse of location-based information. • Create long-term savings. • Streamline workflows. • Share and collaborate effortlessly. - GIS Enterprise Development The federal government is putting increasing pressure on its Federal Enterprise License Agreements agencies to perform more efficiently, provide evidence that To fully implement their geospatial line of business objectives all aspects of an issue have been considered, and reach the and improve government operations, many agencies, including maximum number of people with its policies. Coupled with the departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Commerce, have this is the government’s commitment to fulfilling its geospatial begun integrating a number of systems into a single network— line-of-business initiatives that define how GIS data and an enterprise architecture—so that geographic data and services technology will be used to augment the business activities can be built once but used many times. of each department. The sum of geospatial endeavors at the federal level—data, standards, technology, staff, systems, Agencies are finding that early investments in building databases and services—represents a majority of many agencies’ can pay off in terms of more effective and accurate responses to responsibilities. With so much at stake, inefficiencies, such as logistical and strategic problems. redundant systems, poor data quality, data inaccessibility, and Part of the SmartBUY initiative, the ESRI Federal GIS program limited sharing capacities, can adversely affect the bottom line in simplifies procurement of software and services for employees terms of cost and performance. of the U.S. federal government. Agencies that have signed an The types and needs of current and potential users of geospatial enterprise license agreement (ELA) with ESRI are entitled to technology in the federal government vary greatly. GIS users immediate and unlimited deployments of the ESRI suite of GIS range from casual consumers of geospatial data and services to software products. These agencies include U.S. Environmental those federal employees who are GIS professionals charged with Protection Agency, U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Census the support, development, use, and maintenance of data, appli- Bureau, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. cations, and services, whether they are delivered via GIS servers, To learn more about any of ESRI’s federal programs or to talk data warehouses, the desktop, or mobile devices. with an ESRI federal sales representative, contact the ESRI federal The flexibility of GIS software enables agencies to design team at 909-793-2853, extension 2243, or send an e-mail to enterprise-wide information management systems with a spatial [email protected]. component that integrate databases and applications from disparate systems. Agencies use these geoenabled applications to improve and streamline decision support. Four fundamental developments in ESRI’s ArcGIS family of software have enabled the adoption of a system of systems for the U.S. government and are being realized in an integrated network architecture that leverages the multiple ways many different federal GIS users deploy mobile, desktop, client/server, and network tools. These strategies are the following: • Enhancing the core desktop GIS platform as a productivity tool • Strengthening and simplifying geodata management • Extending the GIS server environment to support many users • Providing more access to mobile GIS tools and GIS Web services GIS Enterprise Architecture in Action U.S. Department of Agriculture To improve the delivery of imagery to its staff in field offices across the nation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Ser- vice implemented ArcGIS Image Service, which delivers imagery to the regional, forest, and field offices in seconds. The agency can now quickly and seamlessly serve large amounts of imagery through its enterprise via an intranet, eliminating the need for users to download large files to their computers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conser- vation Service (NRCS) provides soil maps and associated data through its National Cooperative Soil Survey. NRCS launched the Web Soil Survey (WSS), which provides online users with access to the survey database and maps, to help eliminate paperwork and to make government services accessible to more people. Pre- viously, soil survey maps and data were printed and bound into books that were distributed to the public. With WSS, users can simply go online, select a land parcel anywhere in the country, access the survey database, generate soil interpretations, and download or print a PDF file. The application uses ArcGIS Server and ArcIMS® to perform navigational functions, display and manage user-defined areas of interest, and generate maps. U.S. Census Bureau The U.S. Census Bureau’s American The Field Data Collection Automation program is FactFinder Web site (www.factfinder designed to support U.S. Census Bureau field enu- .census.gov) provides official and merators who follow up and collect survey data from current demographic, economic, households that did not return their census forms. The and geographic data to the public. field enumerators will be equipped with GPS-enabled American FactFinder thematic maps, mobile devices that include ESRI’s ArcPad® software, reference maps, and geographic address searching capabilities which give field personnel the ability to capture and were developed using ArcIMS and ArcSDE® technology.