| Technology: Not Always an ICIS Solution |
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By Barry Logan, General Manager |
Considerable time is spent on the road attending conferences and conducting ICIS regional workshops. Overall, some 30+ events were on the agenda, all demanding time, effort and money. In this day and age, an obvious alternative to this seemingly antiquated style would be to embrace web-enabled sessions and utilize digital communication tools. On the surface, this would seem to be a no-brainer. ICIS has already embarked in this direction not only with fresh web site materials, but supplemented with online training videos, surveys, blogs, and information portals. All of this enhances our product and supplies on-demand services and communication for all of our members.
However, the old-fashioned approach to conducting on-site ICIS workshops still seems to work and have its place. The reasons are pretty basic and fundamental: human contact, interaction, and spontaneity are just a few. ICIS workshops are not just about providing one-way information on where ICIS is today and education on the use of the web map. The workshops have proven to be bisynchronous with collaboration and relationship-building that does not occur digitally and probably would not happen outside of the workshop setting. The unscripted stories, challenges, and questions that pop up would not occur during a controlled scheduled broadcast. I have yet to appreciate or share an appropriate, timely joke while participating in a webinar. The value of a shared geospatial story or a solution to a GIS challenge from a peer in an open environment builds trust and value. Seeing the whites of someone's eyes, the furrow of a brow, or the curl of a smile provide important real time feedback to help "adjust" the agenda and content. Regional, onsite ICIS workshops yield that and more.
Technology driven social networking and collaboration is now an ubiquitous phenomenon and to avoid embracing such tools would be naïve. So ICIS will blog and tweet in order to spread the word, keep in touch, and effectively communicate. In spite of that, I doubt if I am capable of knowing, on a first name basis, one thousand "BFFs." However, no problem knowing, connecting with and remembering many ICIS friends who share ideas with voices linked to faces, names, personalities, and warm handshakes. This is what continues to foster strong business relationships. I know many workshop attendees share this opinion and look forward, as we do, to the next ICIS workshop.
Rock On, whoops, I meant "lol!"
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| ICIS Membership |
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By Ken Rigler, Membership Coordinator |
Welcome to 2010. Our mandate this year is to start receiving our member datasets on a regular basis to ensure currency. The BCSpatial automated delivery will make this painless. Outlined below are some frequently asked questions by our members.
The Termination Date on my DSLA has expired. Does this mean that I am no longer a member of ICIS? No, you are still a member of ICIS.
Section 8.1 of the DSLA states:
"Subject to the other provisions of this Agreement, this Agreement shall commence on the Effective Date and continue in full force and effect for the duration of the Initial Term and shall automatically renew for successive annual terms (cumulatively, the "Term")."
What are other members doing with our data and what benefit is it to us? BC Assessment Authority uses the cadastre delivered to ICIS to ensure that their Assessment Fabric is accurate and current. Having this data available ensures a more accurate assessed value on properties and reduces the amount of challenges by taxpayers.
The Utilities are not adjusting their data to match my cadastre, so why should I deliver my data to ICIS? Utility members are working to adjust their data to match the ICF and Local Government cadastral data. They understandably cannot and will not adjust their data to nonexistent or noncurrent cadastre. ICIS will be continuing to work with Utilities to identify Local Government areas being maintained and delivered on a regular basis.
Remember, ICIS is a collaborative and cooperative society. If each member participates, we can all succeed in meeting our individual goals. |
| AddressBC |
By Ann Archibald, Program Coordinator
For those unfamiliar with this project, AddressBC is a central, authoritative, accurate and accessible point-based civic address registry for British Columbia. AddressBC has been developed as one of the two primary initiatives and end products designed to meet ICIS member business requirements for enhanced spatial information sharing. AddressBC also provides an opportunity for ICIS to align more of its operations with advances in data sharing gained through the development and implementation of AddressBC.
Development of AddressBC applications that began in the spring of 2009 continues with great progress achieved by the ESRI Canada development team. A brief demonstration of the online editing function in November provided ICIS staff with a quick review of the user interface and some of its functionality. Work is continuing on the 'look' of this interface as well as on refining the QA/QC processes to ensure that they remain relevant and are ready for testing.
The initial load of address data to the system is now complete. Over 800,000 addresses have been converted to the point-based AddressBC data model and used to populate the database. Source datasets, from a variety of data submissions from ICIS members, generally contain three types of addresses: point-based, parcel-based, and attribute based. Conversion priorities were established by the ongoing development of AddressBC, 2010 planning within the Olympic Corridor, and development of standard scripting solutions for common addressing formats in current use.
Next steps include communication with address data providers whose data is included in the initial load and planning future training workshops. As well, work is underway to provide 'before' and 'after' snapshots of these initial data loads showing address providers how their address data will be geo-referenced and appear in the resulting product.
Versioning for AddressBC is in progress with Version 1.0 reference document now complete. Versioning will help to align expectations with implementation realities. As well, this will help track future development of AddressBC to meet member's business requirements through subsequent versions. The ICIS team has noted the high level of interest in this project - and the accompanying high expectations. While expectations can be lofty, the fact that the AddressBC project has been met with such enthusiasm from our members is a sure sign that ICIS is on the right track.
Right now, while the AddressBC application is still in development, there is the opportunity to more clearly examine the potential of AddressBC and the realities of initial implementation. Please check out the AddressBC blog for more discussion on these topics and for updates on the project's progress. |
| BCSpatial Coming to Town in 2010 |
By Paul van Nieuwkuyk, BCSpatial Project Coordinor
In 2009, the BCSpatial program concluded successfully in December with a pilot project to better automate the delivery, integration, reporting, and distribution of member data using best-of-breed technologies. We made extensive use of Safe Software's FME Server as a back-end processing engine to handle data delivery, integration, analysis, and load services for a variety of parcel datasets across a spectrum of the membership. ICIS was able to demonstrate robust data handling - critical to managing large volumes of information at frequent intervals, as well as a number of alternative designs for integrating parcel data contributed by multiple levels of government.
Along with these concepts, the pilot program produced several deliverables that will be carried forward into 2010, including a shared data processing infrastructure specification, data models for integrated parcels and data tracking, data transformation specifications, and a work plan for the year.
A key element of the 2010 work plan is a planned higher degree of engagement with data providers to facilitate the data delivery and quality reporting processes. Because so much of the value of member data is directly related to its currency, ICIS will engage on a campaign of delivery automation for members, with the goal of connecting the members' delivery processes directly with ICIS' analysis, integration, and delivery workflows.
Initially, ICIS plans to target member municipalities in the Capital Region, where we can rapidly deploy face-to-face support. The goal is to strive for 100% participation and completion of the CRD which will serve as a success model to portray the value of the project in achieving an integrated cadastral fabric. Over time, this will expand province-wide as we refine our implementation program and ramp up the support team. Additional implementation targets will include CivicSpatial grant recipients and ICIS members who have experienced difficulties submitting regular data contributions. This engagement program will also identify additional data quality assurance services that members have found to be useful bi-products of data submission.
Watch for us coming to your town this year, or better yet, give us a call and volunteer to get on board with automated delivery right away! |
| About ICIS |
ICIS (Integrated Cadastral Information Society) is a non profit organization dedicated to the "collaborative sharing and integration of spatial data for the economic and social benefit of British Columbia."
Members of ICIS include Provincial Government Ministries, Crown Corporations, Local and Regional Governments and, major Utility companies in BC.
Feedback about this newsletter is welcome. Drop us a line at info@icisociety.ca or email Erin Beatson, Administrative Coordinator, at ebeatson@icisociety.ca. | |
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CivicSpatial Grant Program
By Ann Archibald, Program Coordinator ICIS is pleased to be able to extend the CivicSpatial Grant Program into 2010 to continue support for Local Governments who improve the quality of their cadastre and the maintenance and sharing of spatial data.
The CivicSpatial Grant program is funded through contributions from ICIS members including TELUS, Shaw, BC Hydro, Terasen Gas, BC Assessment Authority, and the Integrated Land Management Bureau, as well as grant funding from The Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia.
Originally designed as a three-year program starting in 2007, the CivicSpatial Grant Program is now beginning its fourth year, having disbursed over $250,000 in grant funding to date.
Grants are awarded for projects that increase the accuracy and currency of cadastral data submissions to ICIS. Eligible projects include:
*Commitment to regular submission of cadastral data.
*Adopting Integrated Cadastral Fabric (ICF) by moving infrastructure data to the new base.
*Establishing new survey controls.
*Boundary alignment.
All Local Governments who are ICIS members in good standing are eligible for funding. Recent grants include:
$20,000 City of Courtenay
$2,000 District of Chetwynd
$1,500 District of Tofino
$1,500 Village of Telkwa
To find out more about the CivicSpatial Grant program or to apply please check out the ICIS website or contact Ann Archibald, Program Coordinator. |
| IT Infrastructure Support for 2010 |
By Steffan Chmuryk, Technical Services Coordinator
2009 was full of positive changes and 2010 will present more of the same. We have replaced and upgraded the ICIS primary server and have established several virtual servers to support our applications. This now allows ICIS to create distinct production, staging, and test environments for each product. We are also looking to upgrade the software within our infrastructure, which will become much simpler within these new virtual environments. As always, we appreciate feedback from our users, so please do not hesitate to contact us with requests for new services.
Here are a few planned application upgrades for 2010:
*ArcIMS -> ArcGIS Server.
*FME Spatial Direct -> FME Server.
*SharePoint.
These upgrades represent a portion of the work we will be doing. In addition, we will be placing more emphasis on obtaining frequent data updates from Local Governments. While it is understood that many areas in BC have low growth rates, frequent updates encourages Provincial and Utility Members to rely on the quality of Local Government data. As part of this initiative, ICIS will endeavor to collaborate with Utility Members to correct any spatial errors in their data. In addition, we will be working to gain access to a variety of tabular data sources to assist in providing accurate attribution for Local Governments.
If you have not accessed GeoBC recently, we would encourage everyone to review the freely accessible data that the Province now provides to its guest users. Keep in mind that you now have access to over 80 provincial datasets through your ICIS membership and this access will grow in the next year. Also, ICIS still has Google Earth Pro licenses for local governments, where they commit to timely delivery of cadastral data to ICIS. Please contact Steffan Chmuryk, Technical Services Coordinator, for details. |
| Visiting Victoria?
Come visit us at the ICIS Office |
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Suite 16
1537 Hillside Ave
Victoria, B.C. V8T 4Y2
250.381.9295
1.866.403.0095
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