History of GIS in Livingston County
Computer-aided mapping technology has a long history at Livingston County. Beginning in the mid-1990s, the Planning Department started building geographic information system (GIS) capabilities. Today, the GIS Division of the Information Technology Department provides GIS data to other county departments and the 911 operation for a wide variety of uses. Development of the GIS program followed a phased approach beginning in the late 1990s.
After approval of the Enterprise GIS concept in 1998, the County created a GIS Management Department led by Aaron Burk. The Implementation Plan provided the blueprint for the development of GIS during the first years of the Enterprise system.
As determined by the Implementation Plan, the existing GIS data sources were not accurate or current enough to meet the needs of a rapidly growing county. Thus, under the direction of Dawn Siegel, the GIS Management Department began creating the data layers that would eventually become the County Basemap. Due to the rapid growth of the County during this phase, orthophotography was updated in quarter-county sections
Custom applications including an intranet application available to all county employees were developed shortly after completing the basemap. The GIS Management Department evolved into an agency responsible for establishing data development standards, distributing accurate data, and promoting GIS use throughout the County. During Phase III, the GIS Management Department merged with Computer Information Services to become the Information Technology Department.
Additional datasets to support county operations were developed during Phase IV. GIS use expanded across service areas including public safety and asset management through deployment of GIS-centric software. Improvements to addressing standards were accomplished by developing an address point layer and creating an Addressing Ordinance.