November 20th is G.I.S. Day

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) technology allows for the visualization and understanding of geographic data as it relates to the operations of County agencies. Understanding this data allows Cook County to observe what is going on, measure an event or impact, analyze disparate data, develop plans and ultimately, help County agencies decide on a course of action as it relates to geographic locations. The Department of GIS provides geographic maps, applications and data to County agencies as well as makes GIS data and maps available to the public via web application. The County also allows all constituent municipalities the ability to receive, free of charge, all data pertinent to their respective geography. The Mission of Cook County Department of GIS is to provide quality GIS services through collaborative geospatial partnerships and innovative applications, feature rich data, adhere to GIS standards, and update maintenance and access to Cook County’s enterprise GIS. “Enterprise GIS has been proven to render cost savings, improved workflow among agencies and to provide analytical tools for more accurate decision making,” said Mary Jo Horace, Directory of the Cook County Department of Geographic Information Systems. “It is our goal to show every County sector − property, public safety, health and administration − how GIS can be used as a practical solution to improve their business needs.” The Cook County department of GIS is a vital member of several consortiums which share data, GIS standards and technology. The goal of this collaboration is to share knowledge and application/infrastructure, produce data of high quality, and encourage professional development of GIS personnel. As part of a multi-jurisdictional collaborative with surrounding local governments and agencies, Cook County is developing a Municipal Cloud infrastructure to promote and encourage easy access to Cook County data and application assets. This site will be secure and provide a common platform to host applications and data which includes Orthoimages, Oblique images, and map tools for GIS, a communication outlet, municipal zoning ordinances/changes, and a master street address file. Cook County GIS is a core technology that touches numerous business process, systems data, and other applications. Cook County GIS is hosting a GIS Day on Wednesday, November 20th, in order to connect different County GIS workers, and present the latest updates to Web Map Applications and data. GIS Day will feature speaker Michael Masters, the Executive Director of Cook County Homeland Security and Emergency Management and the winners of Cook County Department of GIS’s map contest. (Any Cook County employee interested in the map contest, should submit their map before 5pm on November 18th to: Steve Marsala: 118 N. Clark St, 4th Floor or Wig Ingente: 69 W. Washington, 27th Floor.)