History of GIS at the City

GIS at the City of Longview has been around for some time. Although the use of GIS was limited by data quality and different projections the data were stored in. Therefore, in March 2004 the City had a GIS Master Plan written. The consultant found that in order to create a successful GIS it would be best to create an enterprise GIS. An enterprise GIS is an approach for implementing GIS throughout an organization to share geographic data and services.
In order to create an enterprise GIS, the following items were needed:

• New staff had to be hired
• New geographic data had to be collected and corrections to existing data were needed
• New software and hardware were necessary
• New processes and procedures were needed

The GIS Master Plan provided a three year framework for creating the enterprise GIS. We finished the three year implementation in 2008 and GIS is currently being used throughout the City of Longview supporting the decision making process for all departments and divisions that access geographically based information. It also provides improvements in efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability of daily operations while providing accurate and up-to-date information to citizens and employees in a fast and effective manner.
In 2009, we implemented a GIS based work order management system to keep up with work being performed throughout the City. Originating in Public Works, the system is now used in Parks and the Wasterwater Treatment Plant. We are currently performing an implentation in the Develpment Services Department.