Houston's Innovative GIS Effort

A comprehensive base-mapping project in Houston has grown from modest beginnings to a huge success.

1 minute read

December 5, 2000, 6:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in regional projects has begun to be widely apprecited. Houston's success with a long-running GIS is an example: "Initially comprised of representatives from six public agencies, the [Houston-Galveston Area Council of Governments' Geographic Data Committee (GDC)] committee formulated plans for cooperative development and funding of the base-map project, then pitched the idea to other agencies and surrounding jurisdictions. In the beginning, entrenched bureaucracies and turf protectionism made for rough going; cooperative agreements among different agencies were often difficult and fragile. But as development of the map progressed, more agencies signed on. What began as informal talks among a handful of agencies is today a committee of eight counties, 25 local and state agencies and several private organizations, including Reliant Energy and Geographic Data Technology."

Thanks to APA Dateline

Friday, December 1, 2000 in Government Technology

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