The AMAP records are being constructed as geographic information system features and, at its core, is the statewide Enhanced 9-1-1 system data. This includes road centerlines and correlated address points positioned over highly accurate aerial photography.  The original mapping and maintenance tasks are performed at the county and city level by 9-1-1 coordinators or other local government staff, then passed to the AGIO for scrubbing, standardization, and publication. The project is a collaborative effort between the Arkansas Geographic Information Office, the Connect Arkansas (a non-profit broadband research organization), and local government agencies in all 75 counties. Prior to the online system, geographically referenced roads and addresses existed in only a few metropolitan areas. With the new AMAP database, anyone doing business with the state of Arkansas can take advantage of either the mapped points or download a table of addresses for any given area of the state. The system will eventually allow state agencies to access accurate address records directly, as part of their normal business processes; thereby, enhancing their ability to deliver services, while eliminating waste and redundant tasks.

One example of the many ways the AMAP is benefiting state and local governments is by insuring accurate point-of-sale tax collection and distribution. Officially known as the Streamline Sales Tax Database, this program is run by the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) and heavily leverages the accuracy of the information within AMAP.  “By comparing our point-of-sale transactions (locations) against AMAP, we have been able to greatly improve the accuracy of our reimbursements to local taxing authorities and are experiencing major reductions in incorrect tax rate charges (due to its geographic accuracy),” said Beau Crawford, GIS Analyst for DFA.

The national next generation of E9-1-1 also known as NextGen 9-1-1 will be driven by internet protocols instead of traditional telephone systems.  The NextGen 9-1-1 system has to be built to accommodate the explosive growth of smart mobile devices that can send text, photos, videos and location coordinates.  The underlying architecture relies on the system’s ability to execute location functions that aid dispatchers in finding emergencies.  The building block to enabling this new system in Arkansas counties will be the availability of the coordinate location of existing address data.  Having the address coordinates already mapped will mean the system can locate calls quickly and more accurately than ever before.  This address coordinate database will help save lives.  

AMAP is the framework dataset that will allow open access to a single, standardized, and highly accurate physical address listing.  We all have and use physical addresses: from getting a fireman to our door in an emergency – to getting an on-line order delivered to our home or business. This is one of the ways AGIO continues to “Put Arkansas on the Map”.  

Coordination delivers first of its kind all digital JP map.

In a 2010 news article the Arkansas Geographic Information Office (AGIO) announced a local redistricting contract specification was available to assist counties in the JP redistricting process.  The US Census released the 2010 population and block data to state and local officials in February, 2011.  That data was released in a GIS format and allowed the real redistricting work to begin.

In this day and age, using paper maps was simply an outdated method for redistricting.  The goal was that counties undertake an all digital redistricting process.  Everyone involved wanted every district in every county born digital.

The collective effort included many contributors.  County Clerks, Election Commissioners, and Election Coordinators at the local level all pitched in to help.  On the State level, the Secretary of State office did a lot of heavy lifting.  Some counties chose to the complete the work in-house using county GIS staff under the direction of the Election Commission.  Others chose to contract the work to GIS consultants.  A good number of counties chose to work with the redistricting staff in the Secretary of State office.  Together they used the AutoBound GIS software that was used by the State Board of Apportionment.  Once each county completed their JP redistricting plans they were required to file the adopted plans with the Secretary of State.  Staff from the Secretary of State office received the legal filing of the districts and then coordinated with each county to collect the digital map.  When the entire state was collected the data was sent to the AGIO where staff began assembling them into a seamless statewide map.  The entire process from start to finish took just over a year.

The completed map represents 789 unique JP districts in the 75 counties.  The odd figure stems from the state law governing the number of districts in each county.  Arkansas Code 14-14-402 sets the number of districts by the county’s total population.  Less populated counties have nine districts while the most populated has fifteen.  The new districts take effect the next election cycle and the maps show incumbents or prospective candidates where the district lies and how it relates to the rest of the county.  Once elected the map will show them the layout of their peer districts just across the county line.

The next steps will involve making the statewide JP districts available to the Census Bureau to be incorporated into the 2020 edition of Census block file.  Although most counties are not ready to look ahead, the digital record will aid them in 2021 when they undertake the redistricting process again following the 2020 Census.

GIS users wishing to access the JP District data can locate it here on GeoStor.

Here at the AGIO we have the occasional moment to conduct a little analysis here or there and so we downloaded the Mobility Fund areas from the FCC to see what the data revealed in Arkansas.  As luck would have it there are several areas in the state that are eligible.  We wanted to know what areas might be the most profitable based on a population density.  Since these areas in Arkansas are predominantly rural we chose the Address Point file as an overlay and then ran a density analysis.  The results show the strongest eligible density in southeast Madison County.

Darkest areas may be the best potential.

You should be saying this map looks wrong.  And, you’d be right.  The map is wrong, or at least incomplete. The density analytic was based only on address points.  You can see large eligibility areas in Polk County with zero density.  You could look at this problem using Census Blocks and population data but a telecommunication business may need more detail from the numbers when deciding where and how to locate their equipment.  They might also like to examine this using tax parcel data.

What’s the point of this article?  Decision makers like stock car racers will run with what they’ve got.  In the case of business decision making about broadband they might choose to bid on southeast Madison County.  Based on the data available it shows that area might have the best potential for more customers.  Arkansas has a solid reputation for making its data public.  The counties not shaded in the eligibility analysis have not finished creating their address point data yet.  We’ll get it publish when they do.  Let’s all work together to continue our state’s competitive position by making our GIS data accessible.  Let’s not learn the hard lesson some other places have learned who kept their GIS data behind a locked door.

NOTE:  You REALLY should not use this map to make a business decision.  But maybe you should?

Full disclosure: Our Director is from Madison County, he’s biased.  We thought you should know.

As of this date we are now awaiting matching funds from Calhoun County.  Their Quorum Court approved the item at their meeting last night and they have communicated the “proverbial check is in the mail.”

Out of the entire list of program participants there are five counties that elected to not participate.  Their choices are reasonable.  Howard, Jackson and Sebastian continued their mapping work in-house even after they applied for the program.  For that time in between the program application and now they’ve nearly finished parcel mapping in their county and decided they would rather finish in-house on their own.  Pulaski County’s application was intended to update existing parcel spatial alignment but their multi-feature data model would require alignment on all the complex features they maintain.  We conferred with them and they determined it would be wise to defer to a subsequent application.

That leaves Newton County on the list of applicants who regretfully wrote in their response letter; they lacked the funding to participate at this time.

So what’s the big news?  This map here is about to get a lot more blue.

Parcel Map Data Published on GeoStor

AGIO is now moving forward with executing the purchase orders on the counties that have raised their match.  This parcel mapping project is now almost at GO!

With outstanding support from the Office of State Procurement, AGIO completed the bidding process in order to have final matching figures for the participating counties.  Since that was done it’s been up to the counties to raise their 40% share so the contracts can be executed.   Two counties; Jackson and Sebastian chose to not participate because they are so close to finishing their mapping on their own. Here’s the list of participating counties that sent their match already.

* UPDATE: Received the matching funds for Pope County on 1/31/2012

*UPDATE: Received matching funds for Lonoke, Ouachita & Saint Francis counties on 2/6/2012

If you live or work in one of these counties, or you know one of the Quorum Court members, take a minute and offer to explain why parcel data might help your organization, business, industry, school, etc.  Education leads to understanding and improved decision making.   As you might imagine it could be pretty tough to pass a budget item you don’t understand.

You might be wondering what is the point of this article?  Well the deadline to participate is quickly approaching. Counties only have February left to decide are we in or out?  Some of these counties could use your help.  Imagine being in the shoes of the County Assessor who might struggle to explain the value to a Quorum Court.   These Members are responsible for the immense task of passing a balanced county budget, and ensuring the county operates within its means.  The Court Members may have limited or no understanding of GIS.  Here’s the list of counties that have not decided on the benefits of funding their 40% share on  parcel mapping.

Our constituent pointed out they constantly run into challenges where their users, their constituents use the syntax “Highway 67.” It was a good swap of ideas that may lead AGIO to revising guidelines about that content.   In the course of communication our constituent said something to the effect of, “Hey sorry for bringing this up,” which brings me to point of this post.

State Geographic Information Officer

The GIS Board and the Geographic Information Office

were created in part to discover and resolve these sorts of issues.  Our state can’t have a successfully coordinated system (GeoStor) if we don’t have a systematic approach to structuring, organizing and storing your data.  So to you my friends, our constituents, I’d like to say never apologize for bringing AGIO issues.  When you find them [ if you stay in this line of work long enough, trust me you will find them], then let AGIO know.

We like it when we hear back from you.  It’s your system and we count on you to help us make it better. We are here to serve you.

The effort got a real shot in the arm when Connect-Arkansas provided a sub-grant  to AGIO through their Broadband Mapping Initiative.   This funding is helping many more counties.   Connect-Arkansas uses the address point to analyze data and create maps  to show where Internet access is available, and more importantly, where access is not available.

Last year ten counties completed their file and shared it with the state.  The counties are leveraging the information for a host of applications with their own GIS.  AGIO has incorporated the address point file into GeoStor and also used it as a key index for an address locator service that can be consumed by GIS users.  GIS users who use this index to geocode are able to create even more accurate analysis of their agency data.

In its present state the file represents 948,668 unique records in 33 counties which makes up 65% of the state’s population.  AGIO estimates the file will eventually represent close to 1.4 million physical points when every county is finished.

The graphic here uses a black background with each point represented as a white dot to illustrate the impact this file.

Address points complete in 32 counties and partial coverage for Hope and Jonesboro.

Shelby Johnson, State Geographic Information Officer

I wanted to say thanks to everyone.  As I wind down 2011 and look back on the year about to pass I sat here at my desk and thought of many of you and a few of the highlights.

I remembered the phrase “It takes a village” which was in vogue in the late 90’s.   At the time Hillary Clinton used those words to describe the importance of people outside the family who can positively influence kids.  The phrase went on to describe all sorts of other situations but to me its central theme is that working together yields dramatic results.

In 2011, 7 counties updated their road centerline file, 14 counties completed and published physical address points for the first time, and 22 counties updated or published their parcel polygons.  All of these were published and shared through GeoStor for our village to use.  These changes came through GIS Board and AGIO programs with extraordinary cooperation.  We’ll expect many more of these in 2012 and the good news is they are becoming routine!

Above and beyond those programs a few counties procured high resolution orthoimagery and then shared it with you.

Thanks for your help gathering the support needed to create the Parcel Mapping Grant Program.  That work will bring even more parcel data into the digital realm.

Our village saw massive changes in political maps driven by our technology.  Population shifts over the last decade brought on numerous changes at many levels.  Our new Congressional districts split counties for the first time in history.  Our state house and senate districts got larger in the delta and smaller almost everywhere else. County Justice of Peace (JP) and School Board districts are all just about to change big time.  In fact, at last look every county was completing major edits to JP districts.  Many of these have been updated and soon they will all be shared with the village.  Most of the base data forming the census blocks used to tabulate the counts came from your local data.

The Arkansas GIS Users Forum gathered in northwest Arkansas for another educational event and by past standards set a new attendance record.  This suggests our village is more than cool enough for new immigrants.  I remember listening to the gentleman who works for a giant in the logistics industry talk about the importance of tracking the location of everything.  It was extremely cool that giant is located in Arkansas.

Throughout 2011 we saw creative new applications on the social level so we can even track ourselves. The stunning growth of location aware smart phones and social networking gives even greater meaning to our cause.  Absent the accurate map underneath, a check-in at a new business, restaurant, or shop just isn’t as useful.

Another fascinating part is seeing you vested in this village.  So thanks for the other way you help us by finding errors, reporting service interruptions, and giving us constructive feedback to help make your system better.  As much as anyone else we want the data to be right and we want it available to you whenever you need.

It’s impressive when an update happens.  The data is coming in and going out from federal agencies, state agencies, counties, cities and others and used for hundreds of different applications.  I’ve always believed this technology to which we ascribe our walk in life can be used to change lives, and it is.

This village thing is working thanks to you.

Shelby Johnson, State Geographic Information Officer & Occasional Village Idiot

Tony comes to us from the private sector where he operated his own GIS consulting business. In that capacity he worked on the centerline, parcel mapping, and address point programs under contract with several counties. Through that work he brings an “in the trenches” perspective to AGIO on the development of those programs. This past year his firm was also engaged in redistricting plans for County Justice of Peace districts and several school boards. Tony is a native Arkansan from White County. He holds a degree from Lyon College in Batesville and he and his wife currently reside in Conway.

Users who may need access to data immediately have a couple of options:

1) access the data by feature or image services http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_h9UFFC88
2) access data on the FTP site http://www.geostor.arkansas.gov/G6/Home.html?q=ftp

We apologize for the inconvenience and ask for your patience as we work restore this service.