What's in it for ME! The case for Local Government.

I was asked a couple of weeks ago to list the benefits for local government to belong to ICIS and I thought it appropriate to post my response here. Many municipalities feel that membership is a one-way arrangement with lots of give but very little in return. Here's what I wrote including a bit on the challenges that we still face:

The Integrated Cadastral Information Society (ICIS) was originally created to build a single seamless cadastral fabric for the Province. The mission has since broadened to encompass the sharing of all kinds of spatial data (digital maps). As a result, there is an expanded interest in ICIS membership and an increased interest in improving the quality all types of cadastral data not just the cadastral fabric.

The question is often asked, what are the benefits to local government for participating in ICIS since many local governments are mainly creators and not consumers of spatial data? Here are some of the benefits we have come to see:

• Less interruption to local government business – Major utility companies, regional districts and other multi-jurisdictional organizations are members of ICIS. They now come to ICIS when they need local government data. This translates to fewer queries that local governments have to respond to that are not directly related to servicing the taxpayer.

• Emergency planning and response – Because ICIS data is accessible centrally and span jurisdictional boundaries it is the ideal place to acquire spatial data that is necessary for emergency planning and response. Like it or not, disasters often do not respect municipal boundaries such as chemical or pipeline spills.

• Grants – ICIS works hard to find additional money that can be given to local governments in the form of grants to improve spatial data and develop GIS capacity. There is currently $250,000 available to local governments under the CivicSpatial grant program with equivalent funding for 2008 and 2009.

• BC Assessment Dependence – BC Assessment depends on ICIS to support its central assessment database used to conduct local government tax assessments. BC Assessment takes this approach because it is efficient and more accurate than manual methods. By contributing data to ICIS local governments are reducing the cost of BC Assessment operations and improving the accuracy and stability of the roll which reduces appeals.

• Political Influence – Local governments have 5 of the 16 seats at the ICIS board table and, as a result, have a high degree of influence over Provincial and Utility members policy and direction as it relates to spatial data issues in BC. Currently 137 of the 187 local governments in BC are already ICIS members.

• One taxpayer – Participation in ICIS reduces redundancy across government levels and industry sectors thereby reducing the burden on the single taxpayer. Efficient exchange of information that is common to everyone benefits everyone.

As ICIS continues to mature we face many challenges that we continue to work on including:

• Differing business needs amongst partners – It’s extremely hard to build one product or service that meets the needs of everyone. ICIS, like any other large organization, faces challenges in meeting everyone’s needs and expectations.

• Solid commitment from partners – ICIS has enjoyed tremendous support from its member groups but that support is often tempered. A cooperative organization like ICIS needs 100% commitment to the vision of sharing.

• Changing technology – Every organization in the world is faced with rapid technological change. ICIS is no different and must find ways creative ways to adapt to technological change without impacting our vision.

• Data standards – Open sharing of data requires some level of standardization. Developing standards and implementing them is a challenging undertaking at its best but is necessary to achieve useable and shareable data.

Given our challenges, ICIS is gaining a world-wide reputation in inter-agency cooperation and goodwill. ICIS continues to prove the power of partnerships that will carry us well into the future.