Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are being implemented by an ever increasing number of cities and municipalities throughout the country, all seeking to take advantage of this latest technology to streamline their operations. CISs have been highly touted as a means to increase productivity and efficiency by organizing work flows, eliminating redundancies, linking departments and agencies together, organizing records, databases, and documents by linking them to spatial features, and performing a variety of spatial analysis queries.

In 1990, the Village of Schaumburg commissioned a feasibility study to determine the costs and benefits of implementing a GIS. The results of the study indicated that Schaumburg could save an estimated 20% of its geographic related cost by implementing a GIS. The study also revealed what staff was already painfully aware: The mapped records, maintained primarily on paper, Mylar, and microfilm, proved bulky to handle, time consuming to update, and deficient in accuracy and completeness. Duplication of effort between departments was also evident in several areas relating to maintenance of both graphic and tabular data.

Schaumburg subsequently began implementing GIS. To reduce initial implementation costs, yet still begin to gain the benefits of a GIS, a phased approach to implementation was chosen. The key to Schaumburg's phased approach lies in the GIS acronym itself. A GIS is like a puzzle with many components or pieces to be assembled. The "G" in GIS, which stands for Geographic, was the first piece of the puzzle. In keeping with this, initial efforts were channeled into developing the geographic portion of the database.

The first phase of developing the geographic data included capturing planimetric (surface) features for approximately 19 square miles. As recommended in the GIS study, Schaumburg chose aerial photography as the method for capturing this data. A photogrammetric firm, Geonex, Inc., was contracted to produce the aerial "ortho" photographs and to digitize planimetric features from the "orthos." The features included streets, sidewalks, parking lots, driveways, building outlines, and surface utilities. Two foot interval contours were also generated from the orthos by means of extensive ground control survey.

As utility infrastructure inventory and maintenance will make up a significant portion of the GIS, it was critical that the utility information gathered be as complete and accurate as possible. Therefore, prior to the aerial photography being "flown," Schaumburg Public Works crews pre-marked the esisting surface utility features (manholes, hydrants, etc.) by painting symbols on or around them. This made it possible to identify these features on the aerial photography. The aerial photography was flown in April of 1992, and the subsequent hard copy and digital products were delivered over the next three years.

To utilize and manipulate the digital data delivered, Schaumburg needed to acquire the necessary hardware and software. Research by staff lead to the recommendation and purchase of hardware and software from Intergraph Corporation. In November of 1993, a single "standalone" workstation, along with a large format scanner and an inkjet plotter, was installed within the Engineering Department. Software included Intergraph's Modular GIS Environment products along with Microstation as the CAD "engine."

Once the Automated Mapping/GIS Workstation became operational, initial emphasis was placed on developing utility infrastructure data. The utility premarking mentioned above proved to be a highly successful means of capturing accurate locations of surface utility features from the aerials. However, since underground utility lines obviously could not be seen on aerial photography, a decision had to be made as to the method for capturing these also. Schaumburg chose to perform this task in-house, and the method developed for doing so turned out to be quite simple, yet effective:

With the surface features already present, the operator merely refers to existing "as-built" plans and performs a "connect the dots" process to digitize the underground utilities. Areas constructed after the aerial photography was taken are captured by scanning and digitizing the drawings using an on-screen or "heads-up" method.

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Aeiral photograph of a portion of the Village of Schaumburg's Robert O. Atcher Municipal Center. (Note the painted surface utilities.)

Plot of the planimetric data of the same area compiled from the aerial photograph.

Schaumburg began initial mapping of underground utilities late in 1994, and expects to complete this process early 1997 utilizing one workstation. This is truly amazing when compared to the fact that it originally took one drafter approximately seven years to complete these maps using manual methods. Not only does the new System allow for faster completion, but it also provides for quicker and more accurate updates.

One of the first uses for the planimetric and utility data involved the preparation of graphic maps and exhibits. Many such maps and exhibits, such as those for Village Board meetings, have been generated on the workstation. For example, at the time this article was written, maps were generated for Public Works crews looking for accurate locations of water valves in order to service an emergency water main break.

The next letter in GIS, "I", gives us a clue as to the next phase of Schaumburg's project - the linking of non-graphic tabular "I"nformation to the spatial geographic data. It is said that 75% of all the information compiled by a municipality is geographic in nature. In other words it can be linked to known geographic locations. Schaumburg is no exception to this. In fact, while Schaumburg was developing the geographic map data described above, it was also developing non-graphic informational databases on its existing PC and data processing network. Included within these databases are those that comprise a master property information database with Property Identification Numbers (P.I.N.s) being the common link. Schaumburg is currently testing its GIS software to link this data to the graphic base.

The benefits of linking informational data to graphic features are many. For one, it organizes the data so that it is readily available, easily located and accessed. As with most, if not all municipalities, Schaumburg employees have always found it necessary to go through a variety of operations to locate information. Whether it be wading through mountains of old ar-

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chived records and files, searching through rolls and rolls of microfilm, or tapping the memory of the "lifer" employee who has been around for twenty or thirty years. Another benefit is that GIS software allows the user to manipulate the information and run queries and/or "what-if" scenarios. The results of these queries are displayed graphically, making for effective visual interpretation of the data and the query results.

To complete the breakdown of the GIS acronym, we come to the "S" as the final piece in the puzzle. It is Schaumburg's goal to expand the GIS into a Villagewide "S"ystem with each department linked into its graphic and non-graphic data. In this way each Department will share in the benefit of this technology. Each Department will also be responsible for maintaining its specific information within the system and thereby contribute to the total information available to the users. Just a few of the potential benefits to some of the departments are as follows:

• Public Works officials will be able to use the system to create and maintain inventories and maintenance histories of Village water and sewer infrastructure.

• Village planners will be aided in the preparation of concept plans and land use studies. They will also be able to perform a variety of spatial analysis queries to support their planning and decision making processes.

• The Engineering Department will use the system to produce and maintain maps and exhibits, and to create engineering design plans for public improvement projects. The system will also aide daily inspections, and incident and complaint tracking.

• The Building and Health Departments will be aided in the areas of permit and inspection tracking, and address matching and geocoding.

• The Police and Fire Departments may eventually be linked to the system to support their efforts in crime analysis, response studies, beat planning, hazardous material locations, emergency preparedness, and 911 operations.

Up to this point Schaumburg's "one-piece-at-a-time" approach to GIS implementation has been a successful one. The Village of Schaumburg is very excited about putting all of the pieces of its CIS puzzle together to create a fully functional Geographic Information System. •

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