I am certainly glad last week is about over and thankful for a 3 day weekend. For some reason this year our Budgeting process has increased my stress level a notch or two and I only have had a very small part. However, I’d like not talk about that much this week. I would like to pull something out from my observation of our budgeting process that as a GIS professional believe would be of great value to the decision makers and to all those they have to report to or be held accountable. I heard the term “Efficiency” several times this year, however I have not heard how we are going to achieve this leaner, meaner government. Some believe the only way to achieve efficiency is by cutting budgets and definitely not allowing growth. Cutting back is a way to become leaner, but certainly does not take into consideration that by adding or improving something in one area could save many resources later on down the road. So now let me get on my GIS train….
Philosophically speaking (seems to be a phrase used a lot in our Board meetings), technology tools (especially where GIS is concern) are quickly becoming core infrastructure components of our workplace. Where Government is concerned technology is just as important as….well I better shy away from making a comparison here, however technology IS infrastructure. Now my 30,000′ view in local government is that if we invest in technology with a plan to improve upon our processes, the net long-term gain far exceeds the initial expenditure. I believe any organization that invests and support a GIS, sends a message that they are investing in all the possible improvements to organizational efficiency. Current government these days tend to make me wonder what is efficiency worth in their minds and why do government officials speak of efficiencies, yet struggle to support it? Then again my interpretation of what an efficient measure does may differ from leadership. Improving upon workflow by using some form of technology reduces the level of effort that in turn allows for more work to be accomplished. Introducing GIS to property management 10 – 15 years back has opened a lot of improved work processes and has allowed for better record keeping. Doing this has allowed us to do and provide more services to other County Departments as well as the business community and general pubic. I am not sure I need to list example after example, however if we look at just one service that has made the largest impact on Linn County and the public I would pull out our Web services. Internally, we have reduced foot and phone traffic a great deal not only with our department but with others such as the Assessor(s), Planning and Development, etc. With this Web application running our staff time is able to be allocated to focus on better data maintenance and improving services for our office as well as other County divisions. However I believe the two (2) most important facts that this web mapping tool offers is it allows the public to see how the County is managed and provides the economic development community a tool to attract new business.
So to just wrap this entry of last week up, I am closing with our GIS division’s commitment to our customer. The GIS division will continue to focus on products and services that improve County efficiencies. Hopefully County Leadership will notice the improvements around them.
