ESRI Press Book - GIS as Great Investment

15 January 2009, 11:20am

Redlands, California—January 15, 2009 - Government officials today face enormous fiscal challenges. They’re trying—often on limited budgets—to provide high-quality public services, repair infrastructure such as streets and sewer systems, and stimulate economic growth while still protecting the environment.

GIS for Decision Support and Public Policy Making, a new book from ESRI Press, describes how geographic information system (GIS) technology can help streamline these operations and deliver smart solutions that save time and money. The book also shows how GIS can be integrated into many other aspects of governing and policy making such as planning for residential development, revitalizing neighborhoods, and updating emergency management plans.

Chapters cover topics such as how to use GIS for making budget-related decisions, reaching compromises, allocating resources, supporting policies, making decisions under pressure and on the fly, and involving the public in the decision-making process.

The book provides 27 examples of how government organizations used GIS software to analyze and map data, collect information from the field, and publish geographic information services on the Web. GIS was used, for example, to help find the best locations for fire stations in Denver, Colorado; prioritize waterline repairs and construction in Houston, Texas; track code compliance problems in Pasadena, California; analyze natural disaster risk areas in British Columbia, Canada; and map immunization data in Utah to improve health care for children.

“Oftentimes, community leaders are recipients of the by-products of GIS such as reports, maps, and analysis,” said the book’s coauthor Christopher Thomas, government industry manager at ESRI. “The book shows how GIS directly supports management and elected officials in developing and implementing decisions and public policy—not as a by-product but rather as an integral part of the process.”

GIS analysts and other professionals representing the government organizations provided the case studies, which Thomas and coauthor Nancy Humenik-Sappington, a writer for ESRI, incorporated into the book. These case studies describe the projects in detail, the GIS software needed, and the return on investment (ROI).

The book also includes screen shots of maps and GIS-enabled Web mapping services to give readers a template of sorts for emulating the success of these 27 projects. Exercises at the end of the chapters underscore the importance of including GIS methodology in the decision-making process. The book's ROI matrix illustrates how the use of GIS in these projects paid off in terms of

* Saving time and money
* Increasing efficiency, accuracy, and productivity
* Generating additional revenue
* Enhancing communication and collaboration
* Automating workflows
* Improving allocation of resources

“Geography and GIS can provide enormous benefits to an organization including providing the right kind of support to make accurate and informed decisions,” ESRI president Jack Dangermond wrote in the book’s foreword. “Government officials are under increasing pressure to make the right choices while minding the budget and delivering value at the same time. You’ll find many examples in this book about how they are doing just that.”

GIS for Decision Support and Public Policy Making (ISBN: 978-1-58948-231-9, 204 pages, $24.95), is available at online retailers worldwide, at www.esri.com/esripress, or by calling 1-800-447-9778. Outside the United States, visit www.esri.com/esripressorders for complete ordering options or contact your local ESRI distributor.

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Geo: International