Township of Langley Demonstrates the Efficiency of Modern GIS Solutions

The Township of Langley, located east of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley, encompasses an area of 135 sq miles. Although 70% of the Township has been zoned for agriculture, the population of 91,000 is expected to double over the next 10 years. To assist in managing this growth, effective and efficient data sharing amongst departments was identified as a critical objective.

Silos of Information

The Township needed to address how data is shared amongst the various city departments.

The Engineering and Parks Department used Autodesk Map; parts of the Planning Department used MapInfo while Planning Operations used ESRI software. All tied
their graphical data to
independent databases.

Data was routinely transferred from department to department resulting in delays, duplication of data and uncertainty about the currency of the data.

This situation is common with many local governments - different departments select desktop software suited to their specific needs. Integration and data sharing is often of secondary concern.

Township of Langley Objectives

Township staff adopted a number of key objectives to eliminate the information silos that had evolved over time. These included:

• Integrate existing enterprise systems (Financial and GIS)
• Coordinate the functions and datasets of internal departments (a single data source)
• Promote information sharing and standardization of procedures (standards for data collection)
• Reduce redundancies in data collection and maintenance (for example a single source for addresses)
• Increase functionality and efficiency in business processes

All solutions were evaluated against these primary objectives.

Munsys Provides Demonstrable Productivity Gains

In its initial phase of implementation, the Township focused on two specific high profile activities:

• Efficient input of parcel fabric (cadastre) and
• Accurate capture of a topologically correct sanitary sewer network.

Munsys was evaluated and ultimately selected by the Township of Langley as its data capture software because:

1. Munsys ran as an AutoCAD application thereby supporting precise data capture in a familiar environment for engineering and drafting staff.
2. Munsys applications came with proven data models that were easily extended to incorporate external data including the financial data stored in a different Oracle schema.
3. Business rules incorporated into the Munsys applications ensured data integrity and simplified the data capture process.
4. Application specific user interfaces minimized training times resulting in rapid deployment.

Munsys Results Exceed Expectations

The Munsys implementation was conducted over a 4 week period with a total of 5 days of support from Open Spatial Inc. to train users and perform a one time transfer from the legacy format to the Munsys data model stored in Oracle Locator.

On completion of this effort, the Township was able to document both quantitative and qualitative benefits:

Quantitatively:

1. The time required to enter a new parcel was reduced from 15 minutes 2 minutes - a seven fold productivity gain due to the new processes implemented and the submission of digital plans from surveyors and developers.
2. The sewer network was captured with topology in one half of the time required before implementation.

Qualitatively the Township was able to achieve the following

1. Improved data integrity and accuracy
2. Improved data security
3. Direct links to enterprise databases which improved query capabilities
4. Improved data distribution to external users
5. Improved levels of customer service
6. Savings in operating and maintenance
7. Real time data publication (query capabilities)
8. Direct plotting and data export capabilities (via templates )

Transparent Data Sharing with ArcGIS and ArcIMS

In addition to the efficiency gains achieved with the Munsys solution, the Township of Langley was also able to effectively "Bridge the Gap between Engineering and GIS".

Using SDE for Oracle together with ArcGIS and ArcIMS, the Township was able to integrate the data captured and maintained by Munsys with ArcGIS for analysis and ArcIMS for data publishing.

On completion of the project, the Township has the following user profile:

• 10 editors of GIS information (Munsys/ESRI)
• 6 super-users (analysis/cartographic )
• 350 Intranet Web mapping users

Summary:

The Munsys implementation at the Township of Langley clearly demonstrated the benefits of modern GIS solutions that can be implemented by embracing Open GIS standards.

• Oracle, as the proven leader in database technology, stores both attribute and spatial information and can perform the basic GIS functions required by the vast majority of users,
• Engineers can continue to use the CAD technology that they are familiar with for precise and efficient data capture.
• GIS professionals continue to have access to all of the power of traditional GIS products.
• Data is transparently shared at the enterprise level even across different schemas.

The Township of Langley has demonstrated quantifiable benefits that will more than offset the implementation costs in less than 1 year. Of equal importance, they are now positioned to take maximum advantage of evolving GIS and infrastructure management applications with their data stored and maintained in a single database.

Graphics and Information provided by:

Township of Langley - Geomatics Department
Karen Stewart, B.Tech (GIS) GISP
Manager of Geomatics
Corporate Information Services
kstewart@tol.bc.ca
www.tol.bc.ca