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Public Safety

Blue Raster Exhibits and Presents at the 2023 North Carolina ArcGIS Users Group Conference

The North Carolina ArcGIS Users Group (NCAUG) 2023 conference brought together GIS professionals, industry leaders, and innovators within the North Carolina GIS community. Hosted annually by NCAUG, the event showcases a wide array of topics, from advanced spatial analytics to the practical applications of GIS in various industries. This year, the event’s theme was "Sparking Innovation: Energizing GIS Technology for the Future.”

Blue Raster Gets Involved in North Carolina

From September 26 – 29, Project Managers Chris Gabris and Ben Masters represented Blue Raster in Asheville, NC—marking our organization’s first time attending the NCAUG fall conference—where they showcased the ways our team implements innovative GIS solutions for our customers. The week began on the Reem’s Creek Golf Course for the pre-conference tournament, where Ben connected in person with other conference attendees and learned how each of his teammates utilize GIS in their day-to-day roles.

Ben and his teammates at Reem’s Creek Golf Course in Asheville, NC.
Ben and his teammates at Reem’s Creek Golf Course in Asheville, NC.

The following day kicked off the opening of the conference, exhibit hall, and plenary session. As a platinum sponsor of the conference, Chris and Ben were given the opportunity to introduce Blue Raster to the community and present company information during the Vendor Parade. The opening of the exhibit hall allowed them to connect with current customers like the Town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina businesses, and state and local government GIS professionals to understand their current GIS needs and showcase Blue Raster’s latest solutions and services.

Presenting at NCAUG

Chris and Ben presented Blue Raster’s work with the City of Manassas Park, VA, in support of the conference’s theme of innovation in GIS. The presentation told the story of how Blue Raster helped Manassas Park transform their GIS practices, bringing modern solutions to multiple departments and highlighting GIS as an authoritative source of information for city workflows. Chris and Ben covered the history of the engagement, how GIS has grown and been adopted by city employees, and how GIS integrated and improved existing systems. One highlight of the presentation was the deep dive into Manassas Park’s ArcGIS Velocity deployment for public safety and public works vehicles. The topic of real-time data in GIS was a persistent theme at the conference and Blue Raster is excited to support organizations looking to add these capabilities to their GIS practices.

Chris and Ben presenting Blue Raster’s ongoing work with the City of Manassas Park, VA.
Chris and Ben presenting Blue Raster’s ongoing work with the City of Manassas Park, VA.

Parting Thoughts

NCAUG’s fall conference was a great way to connect with GIS professionals and get more involved in the North Carolina GIS community. Both Chris and Ben enjoyed getting to meet new people and reuniting with old customers and colleagues. Blue Raster looks forward to the next NCAUG event and working with those we met at this year’s conference to help solve their GIS problems with advanced solutions.

Blue Raster and the local North Carolina Esri team continuing to build a strong partnership.
Blue Raster and the local North Carolina Esri team continuing to build a strong partnership.

Disposal of Debris after Disaster: Blue Raster partners with CDR Maguire to quantify and monitor disposal of debris material

Following a catastrophic event, the assessment and removal of debris and clean-up efforts of those impacted can create a ripple effect of challenges that communities are forced to overcome. To aid in an efficient approach, crews need assistance quantifying the damages incurred and coordination of how best to begin to confront the disposal of debris. After a referral from ROK Tech, CDR Maguire GIS Manager Deepali Datre reached out to Blue Raster to begin work on deploying the Esri Debris Management Solution with a custom enhancement to support online and offline use.

Debris Management

In this data collection phase of disaster response, Blue Raster and CDR Maguire:

  • Customized and extended the Esri Emergency Debris Management Solution to work offline
  • Configured complex and innovative Survey123 forms
  • Authored and deployed custom Python and JavaScript scripts
  • Recorded information including vehicles in operation, field monitors, type of debris accumulated, method of disposal, and total weight removed per truck load
  • Calculated total weight removed using the truck’s empty and full weight measurements obtained from the weight scales at the final dump location
  • Isolated categorical information including truck certifications, loading tickets by address or parcel, and the amount and type of material removed from each designated site

To manage and visualize the data for CDR Maguire, Blue Raster configured an ArcGIS Experience Builder Reviewer Tool. Utilizing this tool, field contractors can submit field survey forms to develop initial damage reports. The Experience Builder Dashboard provides real-time data to increase oversight and efficiency. These methods provide CDR Maguire with accurate data collection for FEMA reimbursement requirements. Throughout this project, the CDR Maguire team was knowledgeable and a collaborative partner to ensure that a workable solution was created.

Example of ArcGIS Emergency Debris Management Solution, courtesy Esri

While this solution was initially developed to assist in the removal of debris from the Boulder County Marshall Fire, this technology has already been employed to address a similar situation following a wildfire in Texas. The applications of this solution translate to a multitude of circumstances in which the efficiency of response can allow for a swift reaction to any type of natural or man-made catalyst.

 

Modeling a Decision Support System in Response to COVID-19

We are proud to work in partnership with the Space Enabled Research Group at the MIT Media Lab and East Carolina University in developing a decision support tool that can inform public policy in response to challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Vida Decision Support System is a customized online tool designed for use by public sector officials at the city and regional level who are making policies regarding public health, the economy, or environmental management. The Vida Decision Support System helps city and regional leaders understand the relationships between important societal factors. The tool is built on a framework that uses a series of models:

  • Environment
  • Socio-Economic Vulnerability
  • Public Policy and Decision-Making
  • Technology Design

Vida is based on an integrated Data Visualization and Modeling Framework created by the Space Enabled research group at MIT that combines multiple data sources and creates simulations of the current or potential future states of a city or region.

This tool is being developed in partnership with several government entities including Angola, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia, and Mexico. The tool was developed using ArcGIS Dashboards. The “Analysis” tab includes an embedded data comparison tool developed in JavaScript.

Beyond COVID, this tool can be applied to any number of disruptions including drought and extreme weather events, as well as helping to meet sustainable development goals.

 

Manassas Park Deploys ArcGIS Tools to
Modernize IT Infrastructure

Small City + Big Data = Time to Modernize IT

Manassas Park is an independent jurisdiction in Northern Virginia, approximately 30 miles southwest of Washington, DC. The city borders Prince William County and the City of Manassas. It is primarily residential in nature within close proximity to interstate and railway transportation into the heart of the Greater Metropolitan Washington DC area. modernize IT

The city had an aging, homegrown solution for their GIS data and wanted to modernize the system so that it would meet the current and future needs of City operations including tax assessment, public works, emergency response, parks and recreation, and zoning to name a few. Being a small city with an even smaller staff, the system needed to be easy to use and maintain for a team that did not include GIS professionals. 

Creating a Town Square for Data

Blue Raster implemented Esri tools, including ArcGIS Online, Experience Builder, and ArcGIS Dashboards, to aggregate all data into a single cloud-enabled solution. Doing so meant users across city operations had access to data that could inform them of their planning and day-to-day operations. 

  • Economic Dashboards show tax assessment growth over time as well as show revenue generated from meals tax and business licensees by neighborhood.  
  • The parks department now has a single view into their multiple data sources. They can now access and view membership for the city-run waterpark, visitor numbers for that waterpark, and community center reservations in a single application. 
  • The police can now overlay data from multiple ticketing systems (parking, civil disturbance, and traffic) to get a holistic view of where violations are happening.  
  • Fire and rescue can now see 911 data to get a sense of any patterns in where and when calls come in.  
Manassas Park screenshot
Manassas Park Dashboard to modernize IT

First Step Toward Cloud

The city manager is using this GIS project as a pilot to show what can be done when the City utilizes the power of cloud technology. Pointing to the success of these applications, he hopes to gain buy in and funding for modernizing other areas of the City’s IT infrastructure to a cloud-based system.  

Read the Esri case study about the use of ArcGIS Velocity in Manassas Park:

Law Enforcement in Manassas Park, Virginia, Tracks Vehicles and Calls for Service with Real-Time Data Solution

Ready to find out more?

Contact us to learn how we can help you modernize your data and IT infrastructure to help make critical decisions about public safety, recreation, economic investments, and more. Read about we helped other state, county, and city organizations with their efforts to modernize IT.

World AIDS Day 2017: Blue Raster visualizations in PHIA Project Reports

On World AIDS Day 2017, the PHIA Project announced the release of new survey data from five countries, bringing the total number of countries with released survey data up to 7.

In 2016 Blue Raster developed and the launched the PHIA Project communications site.  More information can be found here.

 

Blue Raster works closely with the PHIA Project survey and communications teams to determine the best methods to display the data for the report audience. Find the reports and other information at the PHIA site: http://phia.icap.columbia.edu/

As in previous PHIA reports, Blue Raster  created the maps, charts and graphs that tell the story of these important HIV surveys.

Maps are created in ArcGIS Pro while the charts and graphs are created in R and finished in graphic design editing suites.

In 2018 Blue Raster will develop the PHIA Data dissemination site to provide access to online visualizations and data downloads.

The PHIA Project is led by ICAP at Columbia University – in partnership with US Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  The project receives funding from PEPFAR- the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.


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