Tag Archives: emergency services

New York State Thruway Authority Drone Program Continues to Soar

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Trained and certified operators work closely with state and local agencies in a myriad of data collection and inspection programs

Over the past three years, the New York State Thruway Authority‘s Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) program has been expanding the application of drone technology across multiple areas of state governments. With support and encouragement from executive leadership coupled with dedicated staff in operations, the program has grown quickly and the benefits continue to be realized. The program is based on a commitment to safety, innovations, and increased government efficiencies.

The use of drones reduces the cost and time of bridge inspections significantly. This image shows the Skydio S2+. Here is a great/short Skydio video on bridge inspections.

From Bridge Inspection to Bird Boxes: A Diverse Program

While the program began by exploring applications for UAS in bridge inspections, opportunities to apply the technology have grown agency-wide. Efforts by the UAS team in 2023 lead to a $1.5 million Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing
Transportation (SMART) Grant U.S. Department of Transportation as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to update workflows and inspection procedures, and develop exciting capabilities like structural monitoring and digital 3D modeling.

Done missions in the last year has included the UAS team traversing the State of New York to inspect bridge mounted falcon boxes, searching for the presence of beaver in flooded areas, verifying the condition of rock in drill holes more than 40 feet deep for bridge piles, gathering data for corridor mapping along the right-of-ways, and covering commemorative events for media relations.

The drones offer a fast and safe way to survey locations of bird boxes located on Thruway bridges across the state. The process can be done without disrupting the birds versus having an inspector do the work. Using drones for the inspections is much more efficient and cost effective. This bird box is on the Castleton on Hudson Bridge outside of Albany.

Building a Skilled Team: Rigorous Training and Certification

The Thruway’s UAS team of FAA licensed, Part 107 pilots, which now exceeds a dozen, originate from a wide array of professional backgrounds including Land Survey, Environmental Planning, Traffic Management, and Highway Design. The program is currently refining the agency training program, while adhering to Federal, State, and local regulations, offering in-house practice opportunities, and live flight training across the system.  Additionally, the program benefits from the exceptional training programs supplied to state agencies by the NYS Department of Homeland Security. This includes equipping the team with advanced skills and knowledge from Part 107 Test Prep, Basic Flight Operations, Night-Flight Operations, Drone Thermography, and certification classes for Remote Pilot Proficiency Evaluation. With some of the T-pilots certified as Level 1 Thermographers, staff can utilize infrared cameras to analyze concrete and pavement as well as provide support for emergency services for search and rescue and Haz-Mat detection. The Thruway trains along with NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, NYS Troopers, County Sheriffs, and other first responders at the NYS Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services mostly at the State Preparedness Training Center (SPTC) in Oriskany.

Drone cages have evolved to help protect device propellers in confined spaces, particularly inside structures and infrastructure systems. Here, the Thruway is using drones as part of the inspection process during the construction of bridge footings.

The team also works closely with representatives from Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (NUAIR). The not-for-profit drone research coalition provides subject matter experts as consultants to ensure that the program keeps up with evolving regulation, as well as testing and showcasing for new drone technologies.

Drone thermal imaging can also be used in a myriad of public safety applications including search and rescue operations.

Tech Exploration: Choosing the Right Tools for the Job

With more and more manufacturers entering the market, hardware options are becoming more specialized for individual tasks. And with the greater availability of hardware and technology options comes the increased scrutiny required to select the right tool for drone-related work. Much of the Thruway drone fleet consists of domestically produced, National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) compliant aircraft, in conformance with the Buy American Act. The program also have a specialized drone designed for confined spaces with fully caged rotors and supplemental lighting added. Training drones are inexpensive, durable, in-door only drones that have no flight stability assistance or GPS which new pilots use to develop “stick skills” before progressing to live outdoor flights. The Thruway UAS pilots are always on the look out for the next aircraft which will improve efficiencies in data collection and continue to promote user safety.

Data Acquisition and Processing: After the Landing

While flight time in the field remains the most exciting draw to the program – it’s the data processing portion of the job where the real work is done. Just as hardware options expand, so does the software. As such, Thruway drone staff continue to explore various software platforms for mapping and modeling. Packages like Bentley’s iTwin, and Pix4D are currently in use while the team looks to expand knowledge of other options provided by companies like ESRI’s Site Scan for ArcGIS. The UAS team also continues to collaborate with the Thruway’s internal IT department and the GIS team to create effective data handling solutions for the large datasets created and associated with drone technology.

Summary

Upon creation of the program, the NYS Thruway Authority discovered a coalition of state agencies in New York and beyond which routinely gather and communicate to share experiences and knowledge about the UAS industry. All state agencies operating drone programs meet to train together and explore different aircraft and software platforms. Along the way building a team of drone experts which will promote safe and efficient inter-agency operations. NY State Fire, NY State Police, NYSDEC, NYSDOT, several county sheriffs, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and many other agencies all work together to provide drone support state-wide. In doing so, benefiting from the collective experience and shortening the learning curve. “In addition to reducing costs in data collection and mapping efforts, drones offer new efficiencies and safety benefits to our organization”, notes UAS Department Director and Senior Surveyor, Andrew Kosiba, “Thruway staff continues to identify new uses and applications of the technology as our program branches out wider than we originally thought possible.”

Contact:

Joel Kayser, PLS
Land Surveyor & UAS Remote Pilot
NYS Thruway Authority HQ
200 Southern Boulevard
Albany, NY, 12209
Joel.Kayser@thruway.ny.gov

 

10 Questions: Peter Carlo

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From my level, it’s a rare occurrence any more running into someone in the geospatial field when I can make reference to Arc/INFO and AML (ARC Macro Language) without him or her giving me a big blank stare. A testament to how long we have both been around.    One of those individuals is Peter Carlo, who works for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in the forestry division having worked in the geospatial field for over thirty years.  Yes, learning the ropes at the dawn of GIS with command line Arc/INFO and one of the most senior GIS professionals in the vast New York City government GIS user community.  I was fortunate to catch up with him recently to discuss some of the highlights of his long career in the Big Apple.

eSpatiallyNewYork: Maybe a little of your background and where you are originally from?

Carlo:  I was born in the northern Bronx.  In my early years, the family moved to southern Vermont.  After graduating high school I briefly attended Castleton College in Rutland, VT, though eventually returned to New York City to attend Lehman College in the early 1990’s and enrolled in the geography department.  Since then I’ve lived in a couple places in the metro-NYC area but now live with my family on Long Island.

eSpatiallyNewYork:  What is your current responsibility(s) with NYC Parks Department?

Carlo: I am currently the GIS Supervisor at NYC Parks I.T. division.  Our team is made up of  six GIS specialist and our primary goal is to administer the Parks GIS central geodatabase and to support geospatial projects throughout the Agency.  These projects range from configuring Survey123 mobile data efforts to writing data ETL’s (extract/transfer/load) to our central data warehouse.

eSpatiallyNewYork: So geography at Lehman College in the early 1990s.  Where did it go from there?

Carlo: Yes, I really found the passion for GIS technology at Lehman College.  In 1991 or so I had the opportunity to build an ESRI “enterprise” GIS at the GIS lab at Lehman.  Everything from backend data to an ARC/INFO front end access.  I found a passion in setting up hardware and software solutions while configuring components like digitizing tables and then spending hours digitizing contour maps of the Bronx geology.

Soon after graduation from Lehman, I was hired by the NYC Parks Department Forestry Division and started working on the (first) 1995 street tree survey dataset, which was done by associating a tree location with an street address.  At that time, the Parks Departments Forestry offices where located in each of the five boroughs and were managing their own tree data in a disk operating system (DOS) program called Tree Manager.  I also worked with the Parks I.T. Division to setup the our first central geodatabase using SQL Server and ArcSDE.  Working with Lehman College interns we were able to map out all park athletic facilities, playgrounds and comfort stations.  This data still serves as the foundation for the Parks geodatabase.  (Editor Note:  An entirely different read on its own is the effort behind the New York City Street Survey program.  The most recent 2015 tree survey, which is coordinated by NYC Parks,  inventoried nearly 700,000 trees in the five boroughs.  Read here for more details.) 

eSpatiallyNewYork: In this capacity what are some of your current projects?

Carlo: We are currently working with our Forestry division to deploy an interagency Survey123 application that will be used during storm events.  It will be the second version of this solution.  The application will stream 311 hazardous tree request (like tree downs and limb downs) to potentially over 300 field inspectors made up of Parks, FDNY and DSNY staff to name a few. A large part of our work is making our GIS data interoperable with legacy software/data solutions.  We also participate in integrating spatial data and functions into new business and software solutions.

eSpatiallyNewYork:  Do you have a “favorite” GIS project you’ve worked on while in the NYC Parks department?

Carlo:  I would say working (about 10 years ago) on Forestry’s first mobile storm response application.  It was called Storm Mobile.  It worked on the thick IBM Toughbook tablets utilizing wireless and GPS technology, 311 integration and data from the 2005 Tree Census. That was all new stuff for us and everything worked just fine.  I made some lifelong friends during that experience and learned so much.  A majority of our mobile application use smart phones and tablets with AGPS.  However, there are some teams that use Trimble units when needed.

eSpatiallyNewYork: NYC Parks Department is an ESRI shop – what about other software programs, hardware components in your office?

Carlo:  We are using Infor EAM (Enterprise Asset Management) for a work order management software.  This is highly integrated with our central GIS database.  We also have a new group of data scientists who are utilizing open source GIS tools at a high level. Currently the Agency has over 200 ArcGIS Desktop Pro installation, Multiple SQL/SDE central data repositories and an internal data warehouse that serves as a point of access.  A lot of our ArcGIS Desktop/Pro users utilize extensions such as Spatial Analysis, Workflow Manager and Geostatistical Analyst.  We are also using Cyclomedia Street Smart and Pictometry oblique photos.

Parks is currently on a path to migrate over to a more web GIS approach to spatial data access.  We’ve been moving over to Enterprise ArcGIS 10.8 by utilizing ArcGIS Server and ArcGIS portal to build web apps, Survey123 and Collector solutions.  Around the ArcGIS Online (AGOL) framework.  This has allowed us to streamline workflows and make GIS data more accessible to non-GIS specialists.  Overall, spatial data has increasingly become more integrated throughout the Department data footprint – it is just going to continue to grow.

eSpatiallyNewYork: What other NYC departments do you work the most closely with in GIS/geospatial efforts?

Carlo: The Parks Department works closely with many of the other City Agency GIS units.  We often share data with NYPD, FDNY, OEM and DoITT.  I think interagency data and resource sharing is the next big thing for all NYC Government GIS units.  I finally imagine a central GIS data portal coming together, where all city agencies can upload standardized data that could serve as a central data store for Agencies System of records. It’s kind of the next step from the Open Data portal.  Beyond the geospatial perspective the Parks Department maintains an impressive list of partners in doing work with throughout the city system..

eSpatiallyNewYork: What’s the next big “geospatial thing” in NYC Parks?

Carlo:  I would say that it is data interoperability, web GIS and the move to cloud solutions.  For my team it’s going to be about quickly standing up “no code” data collection and analytical tools that will empower end users (subject matter experts) without them having to be GIS experts.

eSpatiallyNewYork:  Are you involved on any level contributing to the NYC Open Data portal?

Carlo: My specific unit isn’t directly involved in publishing to the portal but NYC Parks as a whole contributes significantly.  Right now I believe there are close to 100 NYC Parks datasets available.

eSpatiallyNewYork: Yankees or Mets?

Carlo:  BIG TIME YANKEE FAN!  I remember watching the Yankees during the Bronx Zoo era!

Contact:

Peter Carlo
GIS Supervisor
NYC Parks I.T. division
peter.carlo@parks.nyc.gov
https://www.nycgovparks.org/services/forestry

10 Questions / Preguntas: Daniel Munoz

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Daniel Munoz, GIS Manager, Orange County GIS Division, has been an integral part of the Orange County GIS program for over twenty years and involved in geospatial initiatives in municipalities across the county as well.  Somewhat atypical of how other county programs across the Empire State originally evolved, Daniel led implementation of the countywide effort from its beginning from inside the Orange County Water Authority and later on overseeing development into key enterprise programs in the areas of Real Property Tax Services and Emergency Services.  With Spanish being his native language, I also asked Daniel to offer any thoughts/ideas on how to expand and provide geospatial tools to the growing Spanish speaking populations across the Empire State. In further supporting this issue, this eSpatiallyNewYork post is published in both Spanish and English.

Daniel Muñoz, Gerente del SIG, Condado de Orange División de SIG, ha sido una parte integral del programa SIG del Condado de Orange por más de veinte años y también ha participado en iniciativas geoespaciales en los municipios del condado. Un poco diferente de cómo evolucionaron estos programas en otros condados en el Empire State, Daniel dirigió la implementación de los esfuerzos del condado desde el inicio en el Departamento de Agua del Condado de Orange y luego supervisó el desarrollo de programas claves en las áreas de Servicios de Impuestos de Bienes Inmuebles y Servicios de Emergencia. Como el español es su lengua materna, también le pedí a Daniel que ofreciera conceptos / ideas sobre cómo expandir y proporcionar herramientas geoespaciales a las crecientes poblaciones de habla hispana a través del Empire State. Para respaldar aún más esta situación, esta publicación de eSpatiallyNewYork es disponible tanto en español como en inglés.

1.  eSpatiallyNewYork: Let’s start from the beginning.  Where are you originally from and when/how did you end up in Orange County government?

Munoz:  Here is the short story! I’m originally from Mexico City where I earned my Professional Engineer (P.E.) stripes.   I graduated as an industrial engineer from the Autonomous Metropolitan University of Mexico City and initially worked as computer system analyst for an international kitchen appliance company. I was fine with reading English and working with computers programing languages, but struggled with conversational English.  Since I had friends in the city,   I decided to move to Boston, Massachusetts to learn English.  While there I met a woman from Orange County which I married and ultimately moved to Orange County.

eSpatiallyNewYork:  Empecemos por el principio.  De donde eres originalmente y cuando o como terminaste en el gobierno del Condado de Orange?

Munoz: Esta es la historia corta! Soy originario de la Ciudad de México donde obtuve mi titulo de Ingeniero.   Me gradué de Ingeniero Industrial  de la Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México inicialmente trabaje de Analista de Sistemas de Computación para una compañía internacional de electrodomésticos de cocina.  No tenia problemas leyendo ingles y trabajando con lenguajes de programación de computadoras, pero me costaba trabajo el inglés conversacional. Decidí mudarme a Boston, Massachusetts para aprender inglés ya que tenia amigos en esa ciudad. Allí conocí a una mujer del Condado de Orange con la que me casé y finalmente me mudé al Condado de Orange.

2.  eSpatiallyNewYork: What were your earliest Orange County GIS efforts?

Munoz:  I started with the Orange County Water Authority (OCWA) which is a “cousin” of county government.  My title then was digital systems analyst, which in hindsight, was “being in  the right place at the right time”. When I moved here, Orange County had not developed an E-911 system, but OCWA had started gathering  various databases and integrated computer mapping technology to create a county wide Geographic Information System.  Which ultimately led to  OCWA starting  to  serve a significant  supporting role in developing the new computerized E-911 system.  It was during this time I developed my own passion for GIS technology.   Since then I have learned about and worked in the fields of emergency management, planning, tax mapping, public works, and many other areas of county government.  We are providing and integrating data for all services!

eSpatiallyNewYork: ¿Cuáles fueron tus primeros esfuerzos de SIG en el Condado de Orange?

Munoz:  Comencé trabajando para Orange County Water Authority (OCWA) la cual es un agencia del gobierno del Condado de Orange.  Mi título entonces era analista de sistemas digitales, en retrospectiva, fue “estar en el lugar correcto en el momento adecuado”. Cuando me mude aquí, El Condado de Orange no había desarrollado el Sistema E-911, OCWA había comenzado a recopilar varias bases de datos y tecnología integrada de mapeo por computadora para crear un Sistema de Información Geográfica para todo el condado.  Lo que finalmente llevó a que OCWA comenzara a desempeñar un importante papel de apoyo en el desarrollo del nuevo sistema computarizado E-911. Fue durante este tiempo que desarrollé mi propia pasión por la tecnología SIG. Desde entonces, he aprendido y trabajado en los campos de gestión de emergencias, planificación, asignación de impuestos, obras públicas y muchas otras áreas del gobierno del condado. ¡Estamos proporcionando e integrando datos para todos tipo de servicios!

3.  eSpatiallyNewYork: Do you remember the version of ARC/INFO you got started with and what ESRI products are you using today?

Munoz:  Oh boy.  I do and this really dates  me!   My GIS experience didn’t start with ARC/INFO, I started with ArcView 1.0 with option to update to 1.0a.  I still have the box almost intact with the 5¼” installation floppy disks (picture below). We did most of the work with ArcCAD an ESRI plugin for AutoCAD. My first interaction with ARC/INFO was at Version 7. Nowadays we try to keep up to date as much as possible but avoiding the “bleeding edge”. We are in the process of moving our full enterprise GIS to V 10.6.1. I use the full ArcGIS suite including  ArcServer and  ArcMap with the following extensions:  Network Analyst, Spatial Analyst and 3D Analyst.   I have tried ArcGIS Pro but still has some issues.  As far as the web environment, I created all of our websites with the old ESRI flash builder and have started to update them with Web AppBuilder.

Like many others across the state, Daniel got his start with desktop ArcView software.  Still an ESRI favorite to seasoned GIS professionals.

eSpatiallyNewYork:  ¿Recuerdas la versión de ARC/INFO con la cual comenzaste y que productos de ESRI usasactualmente?

Munoz:  Ay Caramba! Recuerdo bien y revela cuanto tiempo ha pasado! Mi experiencia en SIG no comenzó con ARC/INFO, comencé con ArcView 1.0 con la opción de actualizar a 1.0a. Todavía tengo la caja casi intacta con los discos de instalación de 5¼ ” (imagen abajo). La mayor parte del trabajo fue echo con ArcCAD una extensión de ESRI para AutoCAD. Mi introducción con ARC/INFO fue en la versión 7.0. Hoy en día tratamos de mantenernos actualizados tanto como sea posible, pero evitamos estar a la “vanguardia”. Estamos en el proceso de actualizar nuestro completo SIG a la versión 10.6.1. Uso el paquete completo de ArcGIS, incluyendo ArcServer y ArcMap con las siguientes extensiones: Network Analyst, Spatial Analyst y 3D Analyst. He tratado ArcGIS Pro pero todavía tiene algunos problemas. Entorno de la web, construí  todas nuestras paginas de web con la antigua tecnología de flash pero ya comencé a actualizarlos con la tecnología de Web AppBuilder.

4.  eSpatiallyNewYork: You left GIS  for a while to take another position in County Information Technology –  but then came back to GIS.  Tell us about that.

Munoz:  For me,  GIS & IT always go hand to hand.  While working  for the County,  I always found myself splitting my work projects between GIS & IT.  At the beginning of my career in order to build a better GIS program I had to build a better IT infrastructure.   During this time, I obtained a Windows & Network professional certification. Having this expanded  IT background gave me the opportunity to move to an IT Director position which at the time was a good professional advancement for me.   Two years ago, the County decided to upgrade the County’s  GIS and I was asked  to be part of the team to interview  candidates and  proposals. Going through this process reminded me how much I enjoyed geospatial technology so I made the decision to move back to managing the Orange County GIS program.

eSpatiallyNewYork:  Dejaste el SIG por un tiempo para tomar otra posición en el departamento de Información Tecnología del Condado – pero luego regresaste al SIG. Platícanos a cerca de esto.

Munoz:  Para mí, el SIG & la IT siempre van de la mano. Mientras trabajaba para el Condado, siempre me encontraba dividiendo mi tiempo y proyectos de trabajo entre SIG y IT. Al comienzo de mi carrera, para construir un mejor sistema de SIG tuve que construir una mejor infraestructura de IT. Durante este tiempo, obtuve una certificación profesional de Windows y Redes. Teniendo esta experiencia ampliada en IT me dio la oportunidad de cambiarme a un puesto de director de IT, lo que en ese momento fue un buen avance profesional para mí. Hace dos años, el Condado decidió actualizar el SIG del Condado y me pidieron que formara parte del equipo para entrevistar a los candidatos y sus propuestas. Ser parte de este proceso me recordó lo mucho que disfrutaba la tecnología geoespacial, así que tomé la decisión de regresar a dirigir el SIG del Condado de Orange.

5.  eSpatiallyNewYork: So which areas of County government are the biggest users of geospatial technology?

Munoz:  Definitely Emergency Services!   They have three divisions working  24×7 using and creating data everyday.  Second would be the Planning Department and following very close the Department of Public Works.

eSpatiallyNewYork:  Entonces, ¿Qué áreas del gobierno del Condado tiene los mayores usuarios de tecnología geoespacial?

Munoz:  Definitivamente el departamento de Servicios de Emergencia! Este departamento tiene tres divisiones que  trabajan 24×7 usando y creando datos todos los días. Segundo sería el Departamento de Planificación y siguiéndolo muy de cerca el Departamento de Obras Públicas.

6.  eSpatiallyNewYork:  The County still offers hardcopy maps, shapefiles, and other products for download.  How has this changed, if at all, over the years?

Munoz:  It seems that technology is always driving the associated GIS changes.  The GIS offices are quieter these days as the phones don’t ring as much.  We use to answer the phone constantly to take requests, return calls to inform the caller their  request had been completed.  Today, our online automated GIS request website has taken care of many of these issues.   Individuals can create accounts, make  mapping or data requests, and be notified when the request has been fulfilled with instructions on how to obtain the request.  The website also has an area for data downloads and can notify registered users when County data layers have been updated by our staff.

eSpatiallyNewYork:  El Condado todavía ofrece mapas impresos, shapefiles y otros productos para descargar. ¿Cómo ha cambiado esto, si es que ha cambiado, con los años?

Munoz:  Parece que la tecnología siempre está impulsando los cambios asociados al SIG. Las oficinas de SIG son más silenciosas en estos días ya que los teléfonos no suenan tanto. Solíamos contestar el teléfono constantemente para recibir pedidos, devolver llamadas a nuestros usuarios para informarles que su pedido esta completo. Hoy en día, nuestro sitio de web tiene un sistema de pedidos automatizados y se ocupa de muchos de estos problemas. Las personas pueden crear cuentas, realizar pedidos de mapas o datos y recibir notificaciones automatizadas cuando el pedido se haya cumplido e instrucciones sobre cómo obtenerlo. El sitio web también tiene un área para descarga de datos y puede notificar a los usuarios registrados cuando nosotros actualizamos las bases de datos del Condado.

7.  eSpatiallyNewYork: Any integration with the AutoCAD environment?

Munoz:  Currently, a  small group of engineers from DPW and the tax mapping division are the only ones that still use AutoCAD.  Some years ago the tax mappers started to maintained the parcel boundaries from their tax maps in  an enterprise database with AutoCAD.  As  previously mentioned, our current  GIS upgrade project includes moving the full tax map maintenance program  to our ArcGIS environment.  Stay tuned!

eSpatiallyNewYork:  ¿Alguna integración con el programa de AutoCAD?

Munoz:  Actualmente, solo un pequeño grupo de ingenieros de el Departamento de Obras Públicas y la división de mapas de cadastro son los únicos que todavía utilizan AutoCAD. Hace algunos años, los mapas de cadastro se comenzaron a mantener a través de una base de datos con AutoCAD. Como se mencionó anteriormente, nuestro proyecto actual de actualización del SIG incluye mover el programa de mantenimiento de mapas de cadastro a nuestro sistema de ArcGIS. ¡Mantente al tanto!

8.  eSpatiallyNewYork:  As GIS Manager, what are your biggest challenges today?

Munoz:  I would have to say staffing.  Believe it or not in the last two years I have had to replace the GIS technician positions four times.  While each time each person has been  a competent young professional,  It seems to me the new generation of GIS technicians wants to keep moving on with the next opportunity for advancement.  As opposed to staying in one place for while and building a career in one place.   I find myself training people to see them gone within  6 – 12 months.   A huge challenge!

eSpatiallyNewYork:  Como Gerente de SIG, ¿cuáles son tus mayores desafíos hoy?

Munoz:  Tendría que decir que es el personal. Lo creas o no, en los últimos dos años he tenido que reemplazar las posición de técnico en SIG cuatro veces. Cada vez la persona ha sido un joven profesional competente, pero me parece que la nueva generación de técnicos en SIG siempre anda buscando la próxima oportunidad de avance. A diferencia de permanecer en un lugar por un tiempo y construir una carrera en ese lugar. Me encuentro entrenando personas para que desaparezcan en los próximos 6 – 12 meses. ¡Un gran reto!

9.  eSpatiallyNewYork: What’s the next big geospatial thing in Orange County?

Munoz:  The County is finalizing the Orange County Shared Services Property Tax Savings Plan.  One section in particular reads:

The County of Orange will offer geographic information services (GIS) to any and all of its 43 municipalities. This will include all cartography and geographic data services such as map development, maintenance and printing.

Coordinating and standardizing 43 municipalities will be our biggest project and will keeps us busy for a good while.  I’m hoping for staff continuity!

eSpatiallyNewYork:  ¿Cuál es la próxima gran cosa geoespacial en el Condado de Orange?

Munoz:  El Condado está finalizando el Plan de Servicios Compartidos de Ahorro de Impuestos de la Propiedad del Condado de Orange. Una sección en particular dice:

El Condado de Orange ofrecerá servicios de información geográfica (SIG) a todos y cada uno de sus 43 municipios. Esto incluirá todos los servicios de cartografía y servicio de datos geográficos, como el desarrollo de mapas, el mantenimiento y la impresión.

Coordinar y estandarizar 43 municipios será nuestro mayor proyecto y nos mantendrá ocupados por un buen rato. ¡Espero y el personal sea continuo entonces!

10.  eSpatiallyNewYork:  You are of Hispanic background.  Do you have any thoughts or ideas on how GIS technology could be extended to the regional Spanish speaking population?  Where and how would you start?

Munoz:  The beauty of GIS is that it can help everyone in so many ways.  But the challenge continues to be building applications which are relevant, accessible, and easy to use.  Research show that Hispanics are less likely to have an internet connection at home.  Hispanics are early technology adopters, and Hispanics are mobile-first community. These statements contradict each other a bit but it is because the Hispanic demographic is young. Based on this information I would focus available resources to build, design and post GIS apps in Spanish on mobile platforms (cell phones and tablets) where we know Hispanics are spending their time. These early adopters will spread the message among their social groups faster than any other method.

eSpatiallyNewYork:  Eres de origen hispano. ¿Qué piensas o que ideas tienes sobre cómo la tecnología de Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) podría extenderse a la población regional de habla hispana? ¿Dónde y cómo empezarías?

Munoz:  Lo bonito del SIG es que ayuda a todos, pero debemos asegurarnos de distribuirlo a ellos. Las investigaciones demuestran que los Hispanos tienen la menor probabilidad de tener una conexión de internet en casa, los Hispanos adoptan la tecnología tempranamente y son una comunidad que usan los dispositivos móviles primero. Estas declaraciones se contradicen un poco, pero es debido a que la demografía hispana es joven. Basado en esta información yo pondría todos los recursos disponibles en crear, diseñar y publicar aplicaciones de SIG en plataformas móviles (teléfonos celulares y tabletas) donde sabemos que los Hispanos pasan la mayoría de su tiempo. Estos pioneros difundirán el mensaje atreves de sus redes sociales más rápido que cualquier otro método.