As I mentioned in my previous post “Redistricting with GIS: Exposing Powerful People to a Powerful Technology”, Geographic Information System (GIS) is the key technology behind the redistricting process.  As the redistricting process winds down and candidates transition into campaign mode, they need to be aware of some tremendous opportunities to continue leveraging the power GIS.

Targeted Campaigning with GIS

If we look at the campaigning process in three phases, GIS brings tremendous value from start to finish.

Phase 1 – Build a Strategy:  Strategists are immediately confronted with the challenge of understanding their new district boundaries and the constituents that fall within.  This information is the foundation for building a strategy for targeting likely voters, efficiently and effectively communicating your message and ultimately getting out the vote.  This process will be especially challenging for candidates from the party that didn’t control the redistricting process.  This is because they have just recently seen the new boundaries while their opponents have been analyzing them for the past several months.

The ability to overlay new district boundaries with relevant political information (age, race, income, party affiliation, past voting results, etc.) is by far the most efficient way to build this strategy.  It allows campaigns to identify the geographic areas of their district that contain voters that are most likely to vote for them.  While using GIS can make this process much more efficient, it can still be a challenge if you’re a state party official that needs this to happen across the state.  This is where web-based GIS applications (Web Mapping Applications) come into play.  State party officials really need to be focusing on building a centralized GeoCampaigning database that is exposed to campaigns across the state via the Internet.  Build it once, use it many.  This type of system will allow campaign strategists from across the state to log in to a website and start using the power of GIS to organize their outreach efforts.  A longer-term benefit of this approach is that you are exposing party officials across the state to the value of GIS and how to use it as a campaigning tool moving forward.  The party that is maximizing the use of geospatial technology will definitely have a strategic edge moving forward.

Phase II – Outreach:  With a campaign strategy built, it’s now time to focus on reaching out to likely voters to gain their support.  This has historically been done with walk lists and canvassers, but I’m proposing that we spatially enable these walk lists and allow canvassers to also leverage the power of GIS while in the field.  Through the use of smartphones and tablets, which most campaign staff already have, canvassers are able to see where they are currently at (via GPS technology) on an interactive map in relation to the portions of the district that they are targeting.  In addition, canvassers can enhance the centralized GeoCampaigning database by collecting information in the field as they place signs, talk with voters, etc.  Because all of this information is being stored in a centralized database that is (securely) being exposed over the Internet via web services, other campaign staff (canvassers, strategists at campaign headquarters, etc.) are able to see this information in near real time.

Phase III – Analysis:  With all of this information flowing in to a centralized location, strategists are able to quickly analyze the progress canvassers are making in addition to the reaction of voters.  Every time a canvasser talks with a voter and collects information, this is represented by a dot on the map.  Dots are color coded by likelihood to vote for the candidate and by clicking on the dot you can see the information entered by the canvasser.  A “common operating picture” for spatially analyzing campaign information and connecting campaign staff is very powerful.  In addition, this information will be stored for analysis against actual voting results and thus preparation for the next election year.

Campaign Message

While you may think that GIS is just a technical tool for making your campaign operate more efficiently, it’s actually much more.  Whether you are for big government or small government, I think that all candidates can agree on a more efficient and effective government.  If this is part of your campaign message, which I personally think should be, then GIS is key to following through on this campaign promise.  We are already seeing this from incumbent John Isbell, Assessor of Property, Sumner County, TN who is referencing “GIS Implementations” as an accomplishment while in office.  I am really encouraged by this and it makes me proud that public officials are looking for ways to leverage technology to increase operational efficiency.  There are very few technologies that bring value to so many different aspects of government.  By visiting the Esri industries page, you can see the vast array of government agencies that can benefit from GIS.

So as you start to build your campaign strategy and craft your message, don’t forget about GIS.  After all, it is the secret to success. 

Come join us for a series of Local Government GIS Seminars to be held in Jonesborough, Crossville, Columbia, Germantown (MAGIC Conference), and Jackson, Tennessee.  

Lunch is on us after the Seminar!

QR CODE GIS SOLUTIONS FOR MAPPING TECHNOLOGIES (updated post…)

QR (short for Quick Response) Codes give you just that – “quick” access to data via a mobile QR code/barcode scanning application.  Unlike standard barcodes, QR Codes provide much more data than your basic RFID because they are linked to some type of external data like text, video, phone number, or url.  This article discusses how QR Codes can be implemented to provide geospatial information and data to the public through local government departments/organizations and to field crews through utility organizations.

QR CODES FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Imagine you are visiting friends in Lincoln Park (Chicago) and must leave early Sunday morning to catch a flight to San Diego for a convention.  As you leave your friends, still asleep from a long night of mischief, you forget to ask them how to get to the Orange Line (Train) that will take you to Midway. You hear a train go by in the distance and follow the track until you discover a station a mile down the road.  As you pay for your fare and haul your booth up the stairs you finally see a map that shows you your location and the routes for the eight other train lines.  With sweat dripping down your face and your muscles aching from carrying the booth, you finally get your bearings and tell yourself, “There has to be an easier way.”

QR Codes can provide you with access to information quickly while you are “on the go,” enabling you to receive information like real-time mapping data.  QR Codes help facilitate the lengthy and frustrating process of utilizing mobile devices to search for information on the web.  Now imagine CTA has created a mobile friendly website with geospatial information related to its train system and linked the site to QR Codes placed strategically across the city:

This time you leave your friend’s apartment that Sunday morning and scan a QR Code at a CTA Bus Stop (on every other corner) in Lincoln Park. The QR Code automatically directs you to the CTA website that has been designed for mobile phones.  The website consists of two icons: a train and a bus. You click on the train.  A map appears that enables you to quickly find information and make decisions about your route.  It navigates you to the nearest station, shows you the arrival schedule at each station, and gives you the option to purchase your ticket. The map and information is found in seconds, enabling you to make decisions immediately saving you time, sweat, and possibly money. You realize that the train will arrive in 15 minutes and the closest station is actually only two blocks east…Pheww!

Several state DOTs and Transportation Authorities have implemented QR Codes in the past two years that provide simple maps that you can download, and use.  I chose to point out CTA because they have one of the most useful transportation authority websites in the country.  Their website supplies tons of useful information including:  CTA “Train Tracker,” Attractions, Transit Schedules, Route Maps, and Travel Tips.  Try finding live schedule information for the Orange Line from Clark to Midway on CTA’s website via your laptop.  No problem, right?  Now try finding that same information using your mobile phone.  How many steps did it take to find the information you were looking for?  Did you find it easy to use, quick to load, and simple to navigate?  Or did you find it time consuming, difficult to read, and frustrating to use?  Imagine doing this while walking in the sticky summer heat of Chicago in an unfamiliar and highly populated urban environment while carrying your company’s booth!  Is it even possible?

CTA has all of the information necessary to provide the public with the most resourceful mobile mapping application in the world, but they simply haven’t designed it for convenient mobile use for people “on the move.”  Similarly, many Marketers and PR personnel are overlooking the fact that although they can more quickly direct people to their information through QR Codes, it is the actual content and design of that information that will manage the successfulness of their campaigns.  Remember websites were not originally designed to be used on small mobile devices such as cellphones.  Even if your customers can get to your website or mapping application in seconds, it is the practical design and convenience of the application that provides the true value for your mobile users.

QR CODES FOR UTILITIES IDENTIFYING ASSETS

A QR Code planted on each utility infrastructure would provide extremely fast identification and deliver more information about that asset than a barcode.  As the shift to tablet field computers and broadband internet access continues, more utility personnel will receive real-time mapping updates.  Instead of scanning a barcode that gives you a number to identify the infrastructure, you could scan a QR Code using a QR Code scanning application that ties into a web based map and enables you to view all of the attributes about that piece of infrastructure.

Can you currently use QR Codes and Trimble Equipment for utility identification?  I downloaded and installed a few code scanning apps to the Trimble GeoExplorer 6000 Series but to no avail.  However, I received this email from their product management department, “Technically, our camera is already capable of reading 2D and/or QR codes.  As you found, there are third party applications for Windows Mobile that allow these barcode formats to be read.  I have found some work on the Geo6000, but the workflow is usually clunky – most are optimized for capturing URLs or phone numbers, and will only ever automatically launch the browser or try to dial a phone number… not particularly useful for data collection. i-nigma, BeeTagg and NeoReader are all freely available on the internet, and all work to varying extents with the GeoExplorer 6000 camera – capturing barcodes and launching internet explorer.”

If you have ever provided GIS / GPS solutions to Utilities you understand that there are some major similarities, but each entity is truly unique.  Their individuality and needs will help provide for some unique QR Code related solutions in the coming months. It will be interesting to uncover all the different ways QR Codes have saved them time and money in Asset Identification.

THE FUTURE OF GEO-LOCATION AND MARKETING TECHNOLOGIES

QR Codes were supposed to create a usage phenomenon in the United States this year.  They have made a major splash in marketing and advertising but have not been used for many other purposes.   I firmly believe that as real-world object recognition applications and near field communication become more advanced, we will quickly see QR Codes disappear.  The promises of these new technologies have overshadowed the QR Codes popularity and resourcefulness in the United States.  But why not utilize the technology we have now to get a better understanding for the ways in which we can utilize the technologies of tomorrow?

ABOUT

Eric Edmonds (Twitter@MarketingGIS) is the Director of Marketing for GEO-Jobe GIS Consulting and lead editor for the company’s sponsored blog:  The Map This! Blog.  GEO-Jobe GIS is a nationally acclaimed and Esri award-winning GIS consulting firm based out of Nashville, TN.  The firm implements GIS and GPS applications for local and state governments, airports, engineering firms, utilities, public safety, emergency management, and universities.  GEO-Jobe GIS is an Esri Business Partner and MGIS Trimble Dealer and provides on-site GIS and GPS training. For questions or commerce about our firm please contact us:  Phone (615) 883-0085, Email info@geo-jobe.com, http://geo-jobe.com.

This video was produced by Jamison Peevyhouse, Director of Weakley County 9-1-1 District.   The video opens up a discussion asking professionals to respond to fundamental 9-1-1 related issues that occur when properties are located within multiple jurisdictional boundaries.  Please leave a comment on our blog or on his Ustream Channel .

The Tennessee Geographic Information Council and the State, Office for Information Resources, GIS Services (OIR- GIS) invite you to take part in the state’s development of a business plan for statewide enhanced elevation data.

This is really a great opportunity for the TNGIC members and the broader GIS community to input/shape
a statewide program.

Visit this link to register.  Visit this other link for more information.  If you are unable to make the meeting you can still watch it live from the Map This! Blog.  Coverage of the meeting starts on Wednesday, August 31 at 9am.  

The first step to accomplish our mission on this project is to create a business plan that identifies the business requirements, costs, and benefits of creating a LiDAR derived elevation GIS dataset.

Using grant funding from FGDC and the NSGIC “50 States Initiative”, OIR GIS Services and Applied Geographics will be conducting regional GIS coordination meetings and stakeholder interviews to gather detailed business requirements that support the argument of why Tennessee should invest in LiDAR/elevation GIS data products.

Here are just some of the ways LiDAR/elevation data can be used:

• Floodplain inundation modeling/delineation
• Emergency management and response planning
• Forest canopy delineation and forest metrics
• Delineation of building structures
• Powerline mapping
• Hydrologic modeling
• Mapping wetland drainage
• Transportation mapping
• Ortho Image rectification
• Soils mapping
• Impervious surface mapping
• Dam breach inundation analysis
• Utility line maintenance

Trimble GeoExplorer 6000 Series Integration Video

Trimble Floodlight Satellite Shadow Reduction Technology Video

Trimble GeoExplorer 6000 Series Imaging Video

QR Code Generator

QR Codes give you quick access to data via a mobile “QR code/barcode scanning app.”  But unlike standard barcodes, they provide much more data than your basic RFID.  So how can QR Codes be implemented to provide relevant geospatial information?   QR Codes must be linked to some type of data like text, video, a phone number, or url.  Mobile friendly websites could be linked to a QR Code to provide people with geospatial information.   For instance, you could scan a QR Code in downtown Chicago that takes you to an interactive map where you could see the closest bus stops and when that bus is arriving.  QR Codes can provide you with access to websites quickly while you are out in the field enabling you to receive real-time mapping data throughout the day.  It is important to have a web based map viewing platform such as Google Maps, Bing Maps or GeoPowered that will support locational data.  QR Codes help facilitate the lengthy and frustrating process of searching for information on the web through a mobile device.

QR CODES AND UTILITIES

A QR Code on each utility infrastructure would provide extremely fast infrastructure identification that could deliver more data than a barcode.  As the shift in tablet field computers and broadband internet access continues, more utility personnel will receive real-time mapping updates.  Instead of scanning a barcode that gives you a number to identify the infrastructure, you could scan a QR Code using a “QR Code Scanning” application that ties into the web based map and enables you to view all of the attributes about the infrastructure.

GEOExplorer 6000 Series

Can you currently use QR Codes and Trimble Equipment for utility identification?  I downloaded a few code scanning apps for the Trimble GeoXH 6000 but to no avail.  However, I receieved this email from their product management department, “Technically, our camera is already capable of reading 2D and/or QR codes.  As Eric found, there are third party applications for Windows Mobile that allow these barcode formats to be read.  I have found some that do work on the Geo6000, but the workflow is usually clunky – most are optimized for capturing URLs or phone numbers, and will only ever automatically launch the browser or trial to dial a phone number… not particularly useful for data collection. i-nigma, BeeTagg and NeoReader are all freely available on the internet, and all work to varying extents with the GeoExplorer 6000 camera – capturing barcodes and launching internet explorer.”

THE FUTURE OF GEO-LOCATION AND MARKETING TECHNOLOGIES

QR Codes were supposed to create a storm in the United States this year.  They have made a major splash in marketing and advertising but have not been used for many other purposes.   I firmly believe that as real-world object recognition applications and near field communication becomes more advanced we will quickly see QR Codes disappear.  Unless, the QR Code becomes the standard “sign” for AR’s object recognition (just a thought for an easy transition into new technology recognition).

To compete with major players like Google (Android) and Apple (iPhone) in the ongoing smartphone arms race, the new Windows Phone ‘Mango’ comes equipped with the ability to navigate large indoor areas in much the same way users would use street maps for finding a location.  With the help of Bing’s Indoor Map Service, this function adds a much greater degree of spatial detail to hand-held navigation, and could in fact be the beginning of the end for plastic shopping mall directories all over the world.

With indoor buildings being a new frontier for the mapping industry, there is still much data to be collected.  Microsoft has currently mapped almost 150 indoor malls for this service, offering not only store locations, but also the locations of ATMs, restrooms, benches, security stations, etc.  This Indoor Map function also allows users to select different levels or stories within buildings, or select from a directory of businesses and relevant locations.  Indoor Maps is more than just a “shopping mall” app, however.  It is meant to include many large locations, both indoor and outdoor, that are not accessible using standard street map applications.  Among these are things like museums, parking garages, large office buildings, amusements parks, or any other pedestrian areas that may require directional assistance.

The reviews seem to be mixed on the convenience of this service so far, but mostly due to the lack of coverage.  It is yet to be seen how Bing’s Indoor Maps will stack up against independent indoor mapping applications for other mobile devices such as Micello or Point Inside.  It does seem apparent, however, that as more data is acquired, this technology will no doubt become a part of how we all get around on foot in unfamiliar places, another example of maps becoming more integrated with our everyday lives.