Daytona Beach, Florida, Races toward Enterprise GIS

Dayton, OH, March 23, 2006—The city of Daytona Beach's geographic information system (GIS) team has been busy creating custom Web-based mapping applications utilizing ESRI’s ArcIMS software and other commercial off-the-shelf software for departments throughout the city. They created multiple applications ranging from permitting for the water system utility group to code enforcement, zoning, and police and fire applications.

The right mix of low-cost, standardized commercial software applications has allowed the city's GIS team to quickly create custom applications using in-house resources to integrate enterprise databases with ArcIMS Web mapping services. The city's GIS Department found a fantastic way to generate custom on-demand applications that are quickly being accepted by both city employees and members of the public because of their ease of use.

Whatever the GIS needs of internal user groups or the public, the city's IT/GIS personnel race to the scene, creating custom applications in a matter of days. From crime fighting to reducing the number of phone calls from the public requesting information, below are some of the applications built to date.

The Water System Application was created to assist the Utility, Water, and Permit and Licensing departments. This unique application provides searches by parcel owner; addresses; hydrants by street, ID, and assigned fire engine; water valve; flush points, blow-offs, and flush points at the end of a waterline; and water main by ID. Employees at City Hall rely on this application as a way to instantly respond to citizens' requests for information along with making their job more productive. The Water Department also uses the application with its GPS capabilities as a general location finder.

The Drainage System Application provides end users with the location of national pollutant discharge elimination system outfalls; drainage manholes, junction boxes, inlets, and mains; and end walls. It also provides the Federal Emergency Management Agency flood zone information, allowing citizens to see what flood zone they are in. The storm water engineer frequently uses the Drainage System Application to quickly respond to the numerous phone calls from citizens with the detailed information they need about the storm water service.

The Code Enforcement Application helps reduce the workload of the code enforcement officer by searching owners, addresses, and parcels by ID. The code enforcement officer can then verify and inspect an address and create a mail merge that enables him or her to send certified letters to parcel owners. The Code Enforcement Department loves the ease and speed of this application.

The Zoning Application provides data about parks, census, zoning, future land use, redevelopment zones, and commission zones on a regular city map. The zoning officer really likes the zoning site and is better able to answer inquiries from the public by providing an e-mail link that redirects public inquiries to a Web site that answers commonly asked questions about zoning. This application also reduces the number of calls that come into the department every day.

The Public Service Application provides the public with the location of schools, libraries, future schools, mosquito control, hospitals, school districts, hospital districts, county fire hydrants, fire stations, and fire response zones.

The Watershed and Soil Web site was built for the public so that they can stay informed about where water drainage goes and what type of soil they have such as sand, mud, and so forth.

The Countywide Projects Application enables the public to locate the following types of projects: storm water, water retention, road (including resurfacing), dirt road reduction, and intersection. Dates and future dates of each project keep the public informed of the status of each project.

The Internal Detective Application provides historical data from 2001 to the present. The detectives are able to search crime data easily by type of crime based on the record of the call. Along with viewing the data, they are able to see crime patterns and identify areas more prone to certain types of crime.

The city used the following software to create these applications: Freeance, Freeance Direct, ESRI's ArcIMS, and Microsoft SQL Server. For more information on how other cities and counties nationwide are creating on-demand GIS applications, visit www.Freeance.com.

About Freeance

Freeance has become a leading solution for building Web mapping applications using ArcIMS software. License fees for Freeance Release 4.0 start at $6,750 per server and allow organizations to build an unlimited number of internal and external Web-based applications. An optional software module, Freeance Direct, brings event mapping and batch geocoding to browser-based and mobile mapping applications.

For more information, visit www.Freeance.com.

###