PlanGraphics Speeds up Parcel-Update Process for Rocky River, Ohio, With an ROI of More Than 200 Percent.Business Editors/High-Tech Writers FRANKFORT, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 2003 PlanGraphics, Inc. (OTCBB OTCBB See OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB). :PGRA PGRA Plant Growth Regulator Abstracts (database) ) has completed an assignment that dramatically speeds up the process of updating parcel data for the City of Rocky River, Ohio Rocky River is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is named after the river of the same name that forms its eastern border. The population was 20,735 at the 2000 census. Geography Rocky River is located at (41. . PlanGraphics accomplished this task by developing and implementing an automation program to import digital County Auditor parcel data into Rocky River's working GIS system. The City uses ArcView software from ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., Redlands, CA, www.esri.com) The world's leading developer of geographic information systems (GIS) software, including programs that plot ZIP codes and addresses, demographic information and detailed, color-coded data. for its GIS and mapping needs. The City receives an update of its MetroScan software and data from TransAmerica Intellitech, Inc., once a month. The MetroScan software is both an application and data warehouse of County Auditor data. The software allows the City to access up-to-date digital parcel information for the City of Rocky River. The City's original process was to update the GIS parcel data by dictating the information from the MetroScan software and manually updating the GIS data within ArcView. This process occurred monthly and took staff approximately two to three days to complete. PlanGraphics developed an automation program within ArcView that imports the digital MetroScan data into the City's GIS system and automatically updates the parcel data. The new program reduces the time required to update the parcel data to approximately one staff hour, and the program itself can be run in non-working hours. The program also minimizes the introduction of errors into the data. Andrew Faley, PlanGraphics' project manager, noted that the resulting productivity enhancements would deliver a return on investment (ROI (Return On Investment) The monetary benefits derived from having spent money on developing or revising a system. In the IT world, there are more ways to compute ROI than Carter has liver pills (and for those of you who never heard of that expression, it means a lot). ) of more than 200 percent over three years. "It also frees up City staff to do other tasks," he said. PlanGraphics also enhanced the GIS graphical user interface graphical user interface (GUI) Computer display format that allows the user to select commands, call up files, start programs, and do other routine tasks by using a mouse to point to pictorial symbols (icons) or lists of menu choices on the screen as opposed to having to being used by the staff, including the development of a search, query and display tool of the updated parcel data. This initial implementation is intended to be a catalyst within the City as it continues to move forward in developing an enterprisewide GIS. PlanGraphics, founded in 1979, is a full life-cycle systems integration and implementation firm providing a broad range of services in the design and implementation of information technology in the public and commercial sectors. PlanGraphics' experience with spatial information systems and e-services capabilities provides a critical discriminator dis·crim·i·na·tor n. 1. One that discriminates. 2. Electronics A device that converts a property of an input signal, such as frequency or phase, into an amplitude variation, depending on how the signal differs from a among other IT consulting and integration firms. PlanGraphics is headquartered in Frankfort, Ky., and has regional offices in Maryland, Colorado, California, Rhode Island Rhode Island, island, United States Rhode Island, island, 15 mi (24 km) long and 5 mi (8 km) wide, S R.I., at the entrance to Narragansett Bay. It is the largest island in the state, with steep cliffs and excellent beaches. , and New York. On the Internet: www.plangraphics.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion