GIS in Local Government

Distributed versus Centralized Environments

A local government GIS may be implemented in either a distributed or a centralized environment. In the distributed environment, GIS exist in different departments, each of which provides tools and analysis for their own use. In the distributed environment, practitioners may share all, some, or none of their data between departments. In the centralized environment, most spatial data are provided on a common platform for storage and dissemination that adheres to standards set by the jurisdiction. A centralized environment accommodates the workflows of multiple departments, establishes responsibilities for individual data themes, and avoids the duplication of efforts by separate departments with the trade-off being the cost of compromise in the development of a standardized data frame and the loss of individual control over data. Although a local government may have a centralized implementation of GIS, it does not always mean that all spatial data are stored in a central repository. There may be issues associated with certain data themes that prevent them from being stored with the jurisdiction's centralized data. Examples are data pertaining directly to law enforcement, health and human services, or homeland security.

Department Location and Staff

GIS may fall under the purview of the information technology department, may be an independent department, or may exist under another department, such as Planning or Public Works. GIS is data and technology resource intensive, use a variety of software, and contain applications for internal and external (public) use. Each jurisdiction must examine its needs and organizational capacity to best locate the management of their GIS.

GIS implementation at the local level often depends on the size of the jurisdiction. Large jurisdictions typically have a more centralized system with support from programmers, IT staff, and administrators. In small jurisdictions, the GIS staff is usually composed of one or two people who perform all functions in support of their GIS instance.

GIS Functions and Applications at the Local Level

GIS in local government supports many different governmental functions.