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November 2005 Welcome to The Sensor -- the newsletter of the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS) bringing you the latest developments from Mississippi’s emerging geospatial industry cluster. Please feel free to share this with friends and colleagues. To subscribe, visit www.eigs.olemiss.edu For further information, or to submit story ideas, please contact Lisa Stone - lstone@olemiss.edu |
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Guest Corner: By Bud Douglas, Chief Systems Information Officer for MDHS The Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) is not an agency that one would think of as a high tech organization. The goal of the agency is to assist the needy through troubled times with the goal of helping them become self- sufficient citizens. When Governor Haley Barbour appointed Colonel Donald Taylor for his second tour as Executive Director of MDHS, he once again brought to the agency the vision and perspective of serving the needy and eliminating fraud and abuse of the system. Upon hearing that neighboring Louisiana was using GIS to track fraud in the Food Stamps program, Col. Taylor made a visit to see this system in action. He was so impressed that immediately he directed the Division of Management Information Services (MIS) to work with the staff in Louisiana to bring this technology to Mississippi.
The technology was unique in at least two ways. The GIS functions that this application focused on were location based and used to display graphically locations of clients who receive Food Stamps and the stores that accept the Electronic Benefits Card (EBT) which operate like a debit card to deliver benefits. In addition a standard report writer, WebFOCUS from Information Builders was used to analyze the EBT transactions to analyze patterns in the way the clients were using their cards. An adapter was developed by the iWay subsidiary of Information Builders to take the information from the report and display it graphically on a map generated by the ESRI software, ArcIMS. Both WebFOCUS and ArcIMS deliver information within a standard web browser, the interface of choice at MDHS. The integration of these two technologies makes apparent to fraud investigators behavior that is suspicious that would be very difficult to detect from a standard text based report. Because this application was ported from Louisiana it was implemented in Mississippi at less than a tenth of the cost of developing the initial system. These savings coincide with Colonel Taylor’s goal of maximizing the use of funds and only implementing technology that can demonstrate real dollar savings. Rene Hood, Director of Program Integrity, states that the investigators that have just completed training on the application are excited and optimistic about the results they can achieve due to the information that can be obtained quickly and easily.
In a previous article in Directions
Magazine titled “Mississippi: Proving Ground for the Location Aware
Enterprise,” the authors, Elizabeth Matlack and Susan Kalweit, pointed
out that Mississippi is positioned to be a leader in implementing GIS
systems. A major factor was the fact that the state legislature
established a Remote Sensing/GIS Coordinating Council and a GIS
Clearinghouse to encourage sharing of GIS data and applications among
the various entities in the state. In order to cooperate in this effort
and to leverage the maximum benefit from the work done in developing the
GIS Fraud application, MDHS worked with the council to expand the
geocoded street address database required for the fraud application to a
standard format being developed by the Urban and Regional Information
System Association (URISA) committee under the direction of the Federal
Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). A statewide geocoded street address
database that can be shared by others and be housed in the GIS
Clearinghouse at ITS enables many location dependent applications at
minimum costs. Placing foster children in a secure environment, tracking
sex offenders, routing 911 responders, tracking epidemics, and
evaluating the distribution of services provided by the many entities
that partner with MDHS, are just a few applications that come
immediately to mind. All of these applications benefit from a
standardized geocoded street address database.
The major problem in creating a geocoded street address database in most states is the lack of an accurate and up to date base map and the lack of addressing standards across the state. Mississippi is no exception in this case. To address this problem, Matlack and Douglas are working to establish a standard project plan that can be implemented in each county. The pilot project plan will call for cooperation among those in each county who would benefit from the implementation. Included at the County level are the 911 Coordinators, Firefighters Association, Emergency Management, the Tax Assessor, the Board of Supervisors, the Planning and Development Districts. State agencies that would cooperate are:
The implementation would include the
development of a “Graphical MSAG” to integrate the GIS database with the
Master Street Address Guide (MSAG) used by 911 coordinators. This
concept has been implemented in Harris County, Texas by Marc Berryman,
Director of the GIS for Greater Harris County 911 Emergency Network and
by Susan MacFarlane, 9-1-1 Coordinator for Maricopa County Region 9-1-1.
The integration of these two databases allows one technical team to
support both. The changes that are provided by the telephone company in
the form of address changes, additions and deletions of phone service
will be fed through the MSAG interface. The GIS database will contain
street addresses and locations and will be the target of new
developments and street changes. In addition the project would
interoperate with the Automated System Project (ASP) for Computer Aided
Dispatch and access to all available public safety information. This
project is directed by Major Julian Allen of the University of Southern
Mississippi. Not only would this project implement these applications
for the pilot county but would result in a set of deliverables
describing the project, the key participants, costs estimates, hardware
and software requirements, and training materials for the system users
and support staff. However, the most significant output from the project
will be the definition of a methodology and procedure for maintaining
the database once it has been implemented. These updates must come from
the local entities that issue building permits and administer the tax
roles. If you are interested in being featured in a future issue of The Sensor, please submit material to lstone@olemiss.edu for consideration. |
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Industry Perspective
EIGS is pleased to feature
member company 3001, Inc. in honor of their 40th Anniversary. The Sensor
editor Lisa Stone recently spent a few minutes with Andy Dougherty,
President of Intel Defense Solutions for 3001, Inc. and talked about the
company’s Mississippi focus and future outlook for 3001.
Andy Dougherty:
3001, Inc. was established in 1965 as a Louisiana-based company
operating as the survey arm of an engineering company focused on
transportation and survey mapping. In the late 70’s the company started
to show real growth with the addition of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers as a client which prompted the opening of the New Orleans
office in the 1980’s. In 1986, 3001 was the first company to operate GPS
surveys and it has become the corporate culture to be the company of
“firsts.” With our focus on providing solutions rather than products,
3001 has become a leading-edge technology provider in the geospatial
field. If you look at our customers, you will see that this has been an
extremely successful strategy for 3001 – our customer base is 90 percent
repeat customers. |
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IMAGE OF THE MONTH
Image of Balakot, Pakistan after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake rocked the region. Image taken October 19, 2005 by DigitalGlobe, an EIGS member company. LEGISLATIVE CORNER
The nine-day special session of the
Mississippi Legislature recently concluded and cost taxpayers an estimated
$332,074. Many state leaders have praised the results of the session.
Lawmakers accomplished a great deal during the special session, as the bills
they approved should help to accelerate the hurricane recovery effort. The
most important - and most controversial - piece of legislation allows
casinos to rebuild up to 800 feet from the water. By approving this measure,
lawmakers have made it possible for coastal casinos to move forward with the
rebuilding process - a process that some casino operators say will be
completed in six months. DID YOU KNOW? There is a regional organization dedicated to the benefit of users of ESRI's geographic information software in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, and the Cayman Islands. As a member of SCAUG, the South Central Arc User Group, you gain access to the Digital Resource Guide (DRG). This guide has contact information, as well as email addresses and areas of expertise for SCAUG members. If you are interested in becoming a member, visit www.scaug.org. |
UPCOMING EVENTS
November 15, 2005 On November 9, 2005, the Mississippi Technology Alliance will be hosting the 6th Annual Conference on High Technology at the Jackson Marriott. EIGS will be exhibiting and participating in a panel discussion titled, “Rebuilding Mississippi.” The Keynote Speaker for the conference is John Sculley, former President and CEO of Pepsi and former CEO of Apple Computer. For further details, visit http://www.technologyalliance.ms/. TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Mississippi State
University is offering several ESRI GIS Software Workshops
SEEN AND HEARD "The impact on the geospatial industry at large from sites like MSN Virtual Earth, Google Earth, and Amazon's A9 will be massive. Using Earth imagery as a key component in the local search experience enables site visitors to search for areas of interest, then see their results displayed within the context of maps and imagery. Rather than exposing spatial data to GIS experts only, these new offerings will push online mapping applications and Earth imagery to tens of millions of users, many of whom have never experienced the benefits of geographic data, products, and services. Such functionality promises to drive geospatial technologies into a broader market than ever before, creating opportunities and benefits for consumers, as well as for the traditional GIS marketplace." Scottie Barnes, Editor in Chief of Geospatial Solutions Magazine |
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EIGS Partner News
EIGS extends congratulations to its partner,
the MS Space Grant Consortium for being selected as one of seven
consortia in the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program (Space
Grant). They were selected to expand their role assisting NASA to inspire
students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics. Each consortium will receive a one-time increase of $353,000 to
their existing grant to advance programs in education, research and public
service. The award may be expended over a two-year period with at least
$100,000 allotted for fellowships or scholarships. Guided by the Vision for
Space Exploration, these awards will provide Space Grant with opportunities
to expand their work of preparing talented individuals for NASA-related
careers. |
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GIS Day is slated this year for
November 16, 2005. This is a grassroots event that formalizes
the practice of geographic information systems (GIS) users and
vendors of opening their doors to schools, businesses, and the
general public to showcase real-world applications of this
important technology. The event is principally sponsored by the
National Geographic Society, the Association of American
Geographers, University Consortium for Geographic Information
Science, the United States Geological Survey, The Library of
Congress, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett–Packard, and ESRI. |
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PSI - No Longer a Small Business!
Foster-Miller, Inc., the U.S. based engineering and technology development company which is part of the rapidly expanding QinetiQ North America group of companies, announced August 1, 2005 that it is acquiring Planning Systems Inc. (PSI) for $42 million. PSI is a 350 employee, diversified high technology company headquartered in Reston, Virginia with key engineering and R&D centers in Long Beach and Stennis, Mississippi and Slidell, Louisiana. Founded in 1972, PSI provides applied science and systems engineering expertise; information technology applications and solutions; and custom products to the federal government and commercial clients. PSI has been a strong participant in the federal SBIR and STTR programs which have contributed significantly to the company’s growth and success. PSI’s Stennis operation, just prior to its acquisition by Foster-Miller, was awarded an SBIR Phase 2 grant by NOAA. Foster-Miller is a wholly owned subsidiary of QinetiQ North America, a leading global defense technology and security company. The acquisition is particularly designed to accelerate Foster-Miller’s growth in the commercial, defense, security and transportation markets, and will offer wider business development opportunities for other parts of the QinetiQ group, both in North America and in the UK. Under the terms of the agreement, PSI will maintain its name and operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Foster-Miller, Inc. The acquisition by Foster-Miller brings the total employee base to 675 and increases the company’s presence to locations in fourteen states. |
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Congratulations to Allen Hines, Applied Geo Technologies, Inc.
EIGS
is pleased to extend its congratulations to Allen Hines, President of
Applied Geo Technologies, Inc. for being named by the U.S. Small
Business Administration as the "Minority Small Business Person of the
Year for Mississippi" and the "Minority Small Business Person of the
Year for Region IV." Region IV includes Mississippi, Kentucky,
Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and South
Carolina. (AGT) is a member of the EIGS Geospatial Industry Cluster. |
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EIGS In the News
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sign up to receive The Sensor, visit www.eigs.olemiss.edu |
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