Agency Interviews
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A Program for Transformed GIS in the State of Minnesota: Agency Interviews FINAL March, 2009 Prepared by: <Intentionally Left Blank> A Program for Transformed GIS in the State of Minnesota: Agency Interviews Prepared by: Prepared on behalf of The Enterprise GIS Steering Team Founding Sponsor Brad Moore, former Commissioner Pollution Control Agency Current Sponsor Gene Hugoson, Commissioner Department of Agriculture Project Leader David Arbeit, Office of Geographic & Demographic Analysis Steering Committee Members Michael Barnes, Department of Transportation Janet Cain, Department of Public Safety Paul Egers, Pollution Control Agency Kathy Hofstedt, Department of Transportation John Lally, Office of Enterprise Technology Fred Logman, Land Management Informatin Center Robert Maki, Department of Natural Resources Larry Palmer, Department of Agriculture Leo Raudys, Pollution Control Agency Wendy Nelson, Department of Health Dan Storkamp, Department of Corrections Jim Warner, Pollution Control Agency March, 2009 Project Manager/Principal Author: Michael Terner, Applied Geographics, Inc. Senior GIS Analyst/Co-Author: Andrew Buck, Applied Geographics, Inc. Contributor: Terese Rowekamp, Rowekamp Associates, Inc. The authors would like to acknowledge the outstanding cooperation and input received from the entire Enterprise GIS Steering Team. In addition, Drive to Excellence sub-cabinet members, Commissioner of Administration Dana Badgerow and Chief Information Officer, Gopal Khana provided critical support and encouragement throughout the planning process. Finally, the authors would like to acknowledge the important direct contributions of David Arbeit, Fred Logman and the entire LMIC staff whose efforts toward producing this document and the successful completion of this project were invaluable. <Intentionally Left Blank> Table of Contents Introduction ..................................................................................... 2 1 Agency Synopses ........................................................................ 2 1.1 Board of Water and Soil Resources................................................................................ 2 1.2 Department of Agriculture.............................................................................................. 3 1.3 Department of Administration ........................................................................................ 4 1.4 Department of Commerce............................................................................................... 5 1.5 Department of Education ................................................................................................ 5 1.6 Department of Employment and Economic Development ............................................. 6 1.7 Department of Human Services...................................................................................... 7 1.8 Department of Health...................................................................................................... 7 1.9 Department of Natural Resources................................................................................... 8 1.10 Department of Public Safety........................................................................................... 9 1.11 Department of Revenue ................................................................................................ 10 1.12 Department of Transportation....................................................................................... 10 1.13 Pollution Control Agency ............................................................................................. 11 1.14 Legislative Coordinating Commission ......................................................................... 12 1.15 Metropolitan Council.................................................................................................... 13 1.16 Other Small, Late Adopters .......................................................................................... 14 2 Agency Profiles ......................................................................... 15 2.1 Board of Water and Soil Resources.............................................................................. 15 2.2 Department of Agriculture............................................................................................ 20 2.3 Department of Administration: Land Management Information Center ..................... 28 2.4 Department of Commerce............................................................................................. 34 2.5 Department of Education .............................................................................................. 38 2.6 Department of Employment and Economic Development ........................................... 42 2.7 Department of Human Services.................................................................................... 45 2.8 Department of Health.................................................................................................... 49 2.9 Department of Natural Resources................................................................................. 54 2.10 Department of Public Safety......................................................................................... 59 2.11 Department of Revenue ................................................................................................ 64 2.12 Department of Transportation....................................................................................... 67 2.13 Pollution Control Agency ............................................................................................. 73 2.14 Legislative Coordinating Commission ......................................................................... 83 2.15 Metropolitan Council.................................................................................................... 86 2.16 Department of Corrections............................................................................................ 92 2.17 Department of Labor and Industry................................................................................ 95 ______________________________________________________________________________ A Program for Transformed GIS in the State of Minnesota: Agency Interviews Page 1 Applied Geographics, Inc. March, 2009 Introduction During this project’s information gathering phase – which included, workshops, interviews and an on-line survey – more than 20 interviews were conducted with state agencies, the Metropolitan Council, the Legislative GIS Office and a federal agency focus group. These interviews were conducted with varying combinations of GIS practitioners, CIOs, and program managers to characterize the major commitments to GIS that each agency has made, with a specific focus on the agency’s perspective about developing an enterprise GIS solution for state government. The interviews provided a snapshot of GIS use throughout state government as well as agency perspectives on enterprise GIS related issues and their potential solutions. The information gained from these interviews helped inform the overall program design and strategy for transforming GIS within Minnesota that is embodied in the companion document titled: A Program for Transformed GIS in the State of Minnesota: Program Design & Implementation Plan. This document is structured into the two sections found below. The first section, Agency Synopses, provides an overview of the business functions that are supported by GIS. These synopses are also found in section 3.1 of the Program Design & Implementation Plan. The second section of this document, Agency Profiles, provides a fuller profile and additional details on each agency’s GIS program as documented through the interview process. 1 Agency Synopses 1.1 Board of Water and Soil Resources Geospatial technology supports six main business areas within BWSR. Landowners submit agricultural conservation best management practices on-line in order to receive Soil and Water Conservation District grant money. Conservation easement geometry data from Reinvest in Minnesota, a program that protects water and soil resources by removing marginal and sensitive cropland from production, is collected to produce a statewide data layer. The Minnesota “Ditch Law” mandates the maintenance of watershed and watershed district boundary files. Minnesota wetlands are defined, violations are detected, and construction mitigation credits are tracked through the use of aerial photography and GIS/GPS tools and systems. Approximately 80% of Minnesota’s published soil survey data has been digitized and contributed to the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service soil database. BWSR, a small but mature adopter, has been using GIS for over 10 years. Two full-time GIS professionals report to the IT manager, who has a GIS background and is a member of the senior management team. There are 17 ESRI Desktop licenses used throughout the agency and AutoCad is used for reading engineering and construction drawings. LandView, an open source GIS developed by eLink’s Web Data Entry tool ______________________________________________________________________________ A Program for Transformed GIS in the State of Minnesota: Agency Interviews Page 2 Applied Geographics, Inc. March, 2009 the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, is used as a desktop data viewer and for simple map production, such as best management practice mapping for local review. A geodatabase of frequently requested data simplifies the