July 31st, 2024
2024 URISA Exemplary Systems in Government Award Winners Announced

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Des Plaines, IL – The URISA Exemplary Systems in Government (ESIG) awards were first presented in 1981 to recognize outstanding achievement by government agencies in the use of geospatial information technology. This exemplary achievement is defined as the effective application of geospatial technologies and data that result in improved government service delivery and increased benefits to citizens. The award competition is international in nature and open to all public agencies at the local, regional, state/provincial and federal levels.

Applications are made in one of two categories: Enterprise Systems which are used by multiple agencies, and Single Process Systems which are used by one agency. Submissions are required to address specific award criteria associated with system design and implementation, organizational impact, and use of resources to create the system.

A volunteer ESIG Awards Review Committee is formed each year, tasked with reviewing and rating the applications. There were 14 people serving on the 2024 committee: Alex Harper, Alice Wilson, Asher McNicol, Chris George, Curtis Pulford, Dan Giersz, Dianne Haley (Past/Associate Chair), John Nerge, Kim McDonough, Kristin Johnston, Matt Shade, Megan Nehrbas, Patrick Baber, and Rachel Parrinello (Chair).

URISA extends its thanks to the committee members for the time and effort they have put into the judging of this year’s ESIG submissions.

The final results of the 2024 ESIG Award competition are:

Single Process Systems

• Winner: City of Rockwall, Texas: “Restaurant Inspection Scores Dashboard”
  Submitted by: Olesya Powers, GISP, GIS Analyst, City of Rockwall, Texas
• Distinguished System: King County, Washington: “King County Aerial Imagery Program”
  Submitted by: Tamara Davis, King County GIS Center Manager, King County, Seattle, Washington

Enterprise Systems

• Winner: City of Frisco, Texas: “SAFER (Situational Awareness For Emergency Response)”
  Submitted by: Susan Olson, Assistant Director, Information Technology – Geospatial Solutions, City of Frisco, Texas
• Distinguished System: King County, Washington: “King County State of GIS”
  Submitted by: Tamara Davis, King County GIS Center Manager, King County, Seattle, Washington

The following summaries of the two winning entries are taken from judges’ comments.

Single Process Winner
City of Rockwall, Texas – Restaurant Inspection Scores Dashboard

The City of Rockwall, Texas Restaurant Inspection Scores Dashboard was implemented as a GIS-centric permitting and inspection software, which was further automated to share restaurant inspection scores with businesses, the public, and amongst city departments. The City of Rockwall GIS Division automated the publication of Restaurant Health Inspection Scores in a manner that is easily digestible for users, has reduced manual and duplicative work, and has improved efficiency, effectiveness, and timeliness of data sharing. GIS staff leveraged spatial views, custom scripts, and customization of web tools to successfully create a sustainable and elegant map and dashboard, along with access to historic inspection reports. Expert personnel and customization were pivotal in the successful implementation of the Restaurant Inspection Scores Dashboard.

A few judges’ comments:

• This application did a fantastic job of comparing the “old way” versus the “new way” for improving efficiency/timeliness, public accessibility, staff workload and focus, system integration and data management, and transparency for public trust.
• Very positive impacts on internal city departments, as well as making it easier for the public to get up-to-date information.
• Eliminates redundant work and manual data entry, saving time and thus money with efficiency. Transparency for the public in an easy-to-use interface.
• Provides clear, current, and most importantly, accurate information related to restaurant scores when that was not the case before. The previous system was not always updated in a timely manner nor equally across all restaurants and required manual data entry.
• It sounds like a great system and use of technology. It creates an equal and easy to view system for information about the quality of restaurants.
• I want the City I live in to do this too!

Enterprise System Winner
City of Frisco, Texas – SAFER (Situational Awareness for Emergency Response)

Leveraging a strong partnership between Fire, Dispatch, Police, Transportation Engineering, IT, and a local school district, the City of Frisco (Frisco) brought a vision for Situational Awareness for Emergency Response (SAFER) to reality through the in-house development of a geospatial platform. Since its initial implementation, the SAFER platform has gone through a series of transformations, evolving into a Public Safety Digital Twin, incorporating over 30 integrations and 240 GIS data layers. These systems include preplanning such as building floor plans and the location of critical infrastructure, Fire and CAD RMS, 9-1-1 caller locations, fire suppression system impairments, RapidSOS, real-time traffic conditions, vehicle and Motorola radio GPS locations, Waze incidents and road closures, school and traffic live-video feeds, weather conditions and hazmat plumes. Additionally, the SAFER team developed a custom software solution with several components, all developed with in-house resources. The innovative and collaborative relationship that exists between Fire, Police, Traffic Engineering, and IT has yielded a product unparalleled in the commercial market, continuing the legacy as a unique environment that, to date, is unprecedented in the local government sector.

A few judges’ comments:

• The level of real time data integration is awesome. This system should be a model for all cities going forward.
• The dedication of the GIS, Fire, Police, Transportation and other departments to work collaboratively on this is astounding. Bravo for ease of user acceptance. The impact is easy to see given thousands of hours were saved which is big for efficiency. Resource/information sharing is huge and at the end of the day, if it saves lives and property, it is all worth it.
• This is a well thought-out and thorough application. The applicant not only answered each question with examples, but they also defined everything to provide a complete understanding. Anything enhancing the completeness and response capabilities/time of first responders is great, considering seconds can save a life, but this is truly the culmination of years of implementing components and truly understanding the needs of the end user (regardless of their role).
• The design of this system is extremely exemplary for how it was architected as a public safety digital twin. It integrates numerous data sources in a way that was done thoughtfully for the end user, as described in the application. While there are many layers and options, the UI is intuitive and provides key information in a digestible format. It is remarkable how much streaming data and on-the-fly processing is also included for items like traffic response and road conditions.
• This system is exemplary given the sheer amount of data it processes in a streamlined manner for critical incident planning and response. The City of Frisco has invested the resources to keep this system running smoothly for years to come, and to grow it as needed. It is a stellar example of how a GIS platform can transform data and processes in a government entity to improve experiences both internally and by residents consuming their services.

The accomplishments will be recognized during  GIS-Pro 2024. In addition, each system may be highlighted in an upcoming “Excellence in GIS” URISA webinar series. Visit  URISA’s ESIG Award web page to learn more about each system and celebrate previous winners.

Wendy Nelson
Executive Director – URISA
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Advanced URISA GIS Leadership Academy – August 12-16, 2024 – Chicago, Illinois
GIS-Pro 2024: October 7-10, 2024 – Portland, Maine
URISA GIS Leadership Academy – November 18-22, 2024 – Fort Worth, Texas
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