New Jersey Geospatial Users Group

GIS is considered by some to be an invasive technology. Even though some of the “invasive” data like lot lines and ownership are in the public domain, the easy access to large data stores of personal information is a cause for concern among privacy advocates.

Some information is protected under federal laws like HIPAA, State laws (such as our own OPRA) often protect information that could be used to identify an individual. The Government Records Council has upheld redaction of information that personally identifies an individual. Any other information stored by a government entity (with exceptions) can be requested by anyone.

Google is now making the case that complete privacy does not exist. Some agree with Google. I personally feel that if it’s something that’s available to you but not readily accessible, making it accessible through the internet is not an invasion of privacy. What’s your take on privacy? Where should the line be drawn?

I had lunch with a business partner yesterday.  He asked me where I thought GIS was going, and whether there was money in municipal GIS.  I thought of the perfect analogy to illustrate my response – in the evening.  So I present it here now.

From a GIS consultant’s perspective, a municipal GIS is like harvesting cherries.  The process takes a lot of time, it is labor-intensive, and has a low profit margin.  You can’t reproduce it on a mass scale, just like you can’t pick cherries with a combine harvester.  This is especially true of New Jersey’s municipal market, significantly influenced by New Jersey’s Home Rule.

Large companies – software vendors or consultants – do not fare well in this environment.  Large companies need to produce at mass scales, and generate mass profits.  ESRI’s dramatic shift towards server GIS architecture is but one example that proves my point.  Another is the ongoing onslaught and subsequent retreat from the New Jersey municipal GIS market by various giant national and international engineering-planning-architectural-surveying-landscaping-GIS-GPS-plumbing-and-fashion-design companies.

Back to the original question – there is definitely money in municipal GIS.  But it takes a nimble organization to collect it.  You have to be patient and focused, provide personalized attention, keep the client happy, and be satisfied with a modest profit.

If you are a New Jersey municipality – go small for your GIS implementation needs.  You’ll thank me later.

Disclosure: I am the owner of ENTCHEV GIS Architects, a nimble organization.

New Jersey Geospatial Forum’s OPRA Task Force will be hosting a meeting with Government Records Council Executive Director Catherine Starghill. The meeting will take place at the Department of Community Affairs on Friday, July 18th at 10am.

Microsoft is starting a new video series on its Channel 9 blog. Focusing on Virtual Earth and the technology behind it, the first episode of Behind the Maps deals with the UltraCam and its UltraMap software.

Planning Magazine, a monthly periodical from the American Planning Association, has published a great write-up on the use of GIS in planning. You can read it in the July 2008 issue or online.