This map was created by Matthew T. Campbell from the Department of Cartography and Geography East Central University (Oklahoma).  The map was based on 120,464 respondents who were asked what they called “soft drinks.” – Pop, Coke, Soda, Other.  I wonder what “Other” is….  Also, Alaska is very interesting…  leave a reply and let us know what you call soft drinks today!…

Click to Enlarge

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. 

With the increase in political debates, campaign rallies and attack ads, it is clear that we have entered a new election year.  What you may not know is that the elections this year will be completely different from those of the past.  The 2012 elections will be the first to be held on new political boundaries that have resulted from redistricting.  While I won’t go into a lot of detail on what Redistricting is, the process involves adjusting political boundaries/districts (U.S. Congressional, State Senate, State House, County Commission, etc.) to account for population changes that have taken place over the past decade.  Politics is of course a part of this process which means that decisions are not strictly made based on population counts.  Redistricting officials also use this process as an opportunity to shift the political makeup of districts and put their party in a better position to gain or retain control moving forward.

While gaining political power might be important to you, for me, the most exciting thing about redistricting is that it is exposing very powerful people to the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).  GIS is the analytical engine that powers the redistricting process.  It provides the ability to overlay relevant information (streets, population counts, demographics, political boundaries, past voting results, etc.) on an interactive map for officials to spatially analyze and base decisions.  More politicians than ever are seeing, firsthand, the value of leveraging GIS to gain a more thorough understanding of information which ultimately translates to more informed decision making (political strategizing in this case).  What these elected officials need to know is that the value of GIS is not isolated to redistricting and it definitely doesn’t stop when the Governor signs these new political boundaries into law.

The U.S. Department of Labor has identified geospatial technologies, which GIS is part of, as one of the fastest growing industries.  This rapid expansion is driven by the fact that the value GIS brought to redistricting is also brought to nearly every sector of the economy.  This is especially the case in the public sector.  By visiting the Esri industries page, you can see the vast array of government agencies that can benefit from GIS.  Below is a small sample:

• Public Safety
•  Property Assessment
• Public Works
• Environmental Management
• Planning & Economic Development
• Education (Geospatial Learning)

The good news is that government is already a big user of GIS, but we are just scratching the surface.  What this means is that there are real opportunities to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government through the increased use of GIS.  With the explosion of cloud based capabilities and widespread Internet connectivity, we find ourselves in a perfect position to deliver targeted, lighter weight, more cost effective GIS solutions these new users.  This ability, in combination with support from our elected officials, can set us on a path to creating an efficient and effective government that we can all agree on.

In conclusion, I am someone that truly believes in the power of GIS.   I believe that it can play a key role in creating a more efficient public sector, a more competitive private sector and ultimately a more competitive nation as a whole.  My hope is that the exposure to GIS that has resulted from redistricting will trigger a sequence of events:  Increased use of GIS in campaigning  ->  The election (or re-election) of pro-GIS public officials  ->  Increased support for the use of GIS within government  ->  A more efficient and effective public sector.

If “GIS in campaigning” caught your eye, check out GIS: The Secret to 2012 Campaign 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!

As our Director of Product Development, Jeremy is responsible for ensuring that the solutions we develop as a company are aligned with industry trends allowing our clients to fully benefit from the power of GIS technology.  Jeremy’s background in computer science gives him a thorough understanding of the vast capabilities of GIS technology.  This technical knowledge on the different ways to deliver GIS solutions, coupled with his business knowledge of state and local government, puts Jeremy in a perfect position to (1) identify opportunities where public sector agencies can benefit from the technology and (2) deliver solutions that capitalize on these opportunities.

Jeremy worked in the public sector for seven years with the State of Tennessee where he was thoroughly involved in the Tennessee Base Mapping Program.  One of the first mapping programs in the state, it initiated a multi-million dollar statewide GIS data foundation.  Once created, the focus shifted to maximizing the return on the investment by ensuring that the data was maintained moving forward and effectively distributed to stakeholders in both the public and private sectors.  Jeremy played an important role in developing maintenance tools and establishing state/local government partnerships that now make up a very impressive parcel data maintenance program. Jeremy played a lead role in being on the cutting edge of implementing Esri geodatabase replication technology to facilitate parcel data sharing between government stakeholders at the state and local level.  These efforts have resulted in a statewide parcel geodatabase that is updated on a nightly basis from 50+ distributed geodatabases across the state.  This ultimately ensured that stakeholders at the state and federal level are able to, with confidence; leverage the parcel data for decision making purposes.  In addition to parcel data activities, Jeremy was involved in developing GIS solutions for local election administration and redistricting.

Jeremy finished his career with the State of Tennessee as the Assistant Director of the Office of Local Government.  In this position, Jeremy was responsible for overseeing a variety of GIS services provided to local government agencies across the state.  In his final two years, Jeremy played an important role in the establishment of the Geospatial Learning initiative.  This initiative focuses on the use of GIS technology in classrooms to help students learn.  This initiative has tremendous potential with both short and long term benefits for tomorrow’s workforce

So... Do you climb it?

Jeremy is a graduate of Western Kentucky University (WKU) in Bowling Green,KY.  As a Hilltopper (whatever that’s supposed to be), Jeremy received a BS in Computer Science with a minor in Geography/GIS.  He also played soccer for the division one men’s soccer program at WKU and still enjoys playing from time to time.

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 .

As hurricane season approaches and the first to touch down in North Carolina, we thought it would be interesting to bring you hurricane related maps this fall.  Below is the storm surge simulator for Miami-Dade County Florida.  The map was published for the public by Florida International University and is used for Emergency Management.

The map illustrates a worst case snapshot for a hurricane category under perfect storm conditions.  The column to the left enables you to view the different surges in feet for each type of category hurricane.  You can also compare the surge to a person, house, or villa to give you a better estimate of possible flood conditions.  Click on different areas in the map to view the storm surge depths.  Click on the map below or this link to go to the mapping application.  

Trimble GeoExplorer 6000 Series Integration Video

Trimble Floodlight Satellite Shadow Reduction Technology Video

Trimble GeoExplorer 6000 Series Imaging Video