Title The Use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Among New Jersey Government Agencies

AuthorAlexander Buontempo

AbstractThis research is an analytical topic, which looks at how New Jersey government agencies

utilize geographic information systems (GIS) in NJ. Geographic Information Systems are systems that use to assess, update, collect, and present spatial data or geographical data. The idea is to accomplish the goal of how government agencies utilize GIS in NJ and how it can help their cause in their agency. This research will be talking with several NJ government agencies, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, NJ State Police, NJ Department of Transportation, and NJ Department of Labor and Workforce. This research will consist of a procedure for using known knowledge from the author, peer reviewed journals/articles, and survey questions for the agencies selected to complete for a direct approach for the research. The journals used will be in comparison with GIS and how the agencies use the programs. Also, some of the journals will be used for just general knowledge in the research. The four questions that will be answered by the selected agencies will give more information on how the agencies utilize GIS and their opinion on how it helps the agency with their projects. This research journal will go more in depth with how geographic information systems are utilized in New Jersey government agencies.

Key WordsGIS, Government, Geography, New Jersey, State, PPGIS, E-government, Public, Technology, Environment, Transportation, Police, Labor, Workforce

IntroductionNew Jersey government agencies have been utilizing geographic information systems

(GIS) to improve previous and future projects for many years. Geographic Information Systems

were first established in 1968 when a cartographer named Roger Tomlinson wrote a paper titled,

“A Geographic Information System for Regional Planning.” Roger Tomlinson’s title became

“Father of GIS” because he created the system while working for the Canadian Government.

Government agencies officially started using GIS in the 1980s with the US Census Bureau

releasing the TIGER data system. Between that time many different programs and new

corporations started to appear. Geographic Information Systems is a suite of powerful spatial

tools capable of providing better service delivery in a number of different government agencies

such as infrastructure, transportation, zoning, public health and safety. But how, exactly, are GIS

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being used among New Jersey government agencies? This research will contribute to

understanding the ways in which New Jersey government agencies presently utilize GIS

technology. In doing so, this research will contribute to improving GIS training and education

for future government technicians and professionals across the state. In exploring how

government agencies utilize GIS for present and future projects, this paper is organized as

follows. First, I review the literature on how local government agencies utilize Geographic

Information Systems.

Literature Review

The broader literature on government agencies and GIS is outlined below to provided

context for further exploring the use of GIS among New Jersey government agencies. I discuss

the following three key themes in the government GIS literature: the distribution of GIS

responsibilities among different agency scales, internal GIS tasks undertaken by government

agencies, and public facing or participatory GIS among government agencies.

Government agencies are unique in their distribution of GIS responsibilities through a

scalar hierarchy. Local government offices and agencies primarily use GIS to create map queries

and display applications, such as for property, development and infrastructure (Ventura 2010).

Local state government agencies are limited to only a few tasks and the others go to higher-level

federal agencies. These higher-level federal agencies take on the task of major crime-related

instances and natural disasters. In these federal agencies there are technical, organizational, and

institutional impediments or barriers in using GIS. “Technical impediments deal not just with

system design and components (hardware, software, data), but also with the technical capacity to

modify and customize the tools for particular uses” (Ventura 463). This impediment is the reason

why these problems emerge with the agencies technology and the utilization of tools in the

software. “Organizational issues include how well the staff of an organization understands the

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technology and its role, and how the organization adapts to new sources and types of

information” (Ventura 2010). The organizational impediments are how the staff of the

organization comprehends the program and its function. “Institutional factors are all the factors

external to an agency that influence an organizations ability to adopt or use GIS, particularly

political and economic” (Ventura 463). The institutional impediments are the problems outside

of the agency that affect the organizations ability to accept the use of GIS. These impediments

create limitations to government agencies for example the department of transportation.

How specific government agencies use GIS in projects and tasks is another critical

aspect. The Department of Transportation gives three perspectives on how GIS helps with

transportation. The first perspective is map view, which “Favors applications related to

inventory and description, and raises difficult questions of accuracy and interoperability”

(Goodchild 127). This perspective is mainly to “Represent real features as one- dimensional

spaces or centerlines” (Goodchild 129). The second perspective is the navigation view. “The

navigation view assumes that information of a dynamic nature must be represented on the static

geometry of the network, but does not attempt to represent moving geometry” (Goodchild 131).

This perspective is mainly to show how the way the map view perspective is used to create

routes and networks on the roadways or rivers. The third perspective is the behavioral view,

which “deals explicitly with the behavior of discrete objects, vehicles, people, trains, or boats on

and off the linear network” (Goodchild 131). This perspective shows how the physical objects

on these roads, rivers, etc. react with the navigation view and map view.

For government agencies utilizing GIS, the public facing dimension takes place through

the use of E-government and Public Participation Geographic Information Systems. Public

Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) is the use of geographic information

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systems technology to be used by the public for shared mapping exercises or activities. Public

Participation Geographic Information Systems is an extra organizational tool where GIS is an

intra organizational tool (Ganapati 425). Public Participation Geographic Information Systems is

a great extra organizational or external tool because government agencies can utilize the public’s

data to help with their projects. Also, PPGIS is from an outside source, which creates some

originality in the agency. In the agency there are GIS, which are an intra organizational tool that

manages data and creates data from agency staff. The staffs that work at the agency take on an

application called E-government. “E-government is transferring government management and

service functions to the network that making full use of various resources manipulated by the

government and realizing sharing and integration of government information and vocational

work with the technology of modern computer and network” (Li 2). E-government is the sharing

of government data to different government networks for use on projects or jobs. E-government

can also be utilized with PPGIS data only if the data is in at least one of the four areas. The four

areas are traffic and transit information, volunteered geographic information, citizen relationship

management, and decision-making (Ganapati 428). Traffic and transit information is the use of

Internet mapping software to create routes to a location. Volunteered Geographic Information

(VGI) is “The explosion of interest in using the Web to create, assemble, and disseminate

geographic information provided voluntarily by individuals” (Ganapati 429). This indicates that

VGI is volunteers using GIS software to create maps. Citizen relationship management is the

use of government agencies or business organizations to answer questions and to get responses

about policies and procedures of the programs. Decision-making is mainly for institutional use

when it comes to PPGIS, because PPGIS is only for the public usage. If the PPGIS data is in any

of these areas the agency can analyze the data and be capable to be put through the e-government

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process. Now, I will go into my methods and results of what was completed to get direct

information of the research.

Methods and Results

This research solicited email interviews from GIS employees among six New Jersey

government agencies, including: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New

Jersey Department of Transportation, New Jersey Department of Agriculture, New Jersey State

Police, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce, and New Jersey Park Services. The

participants selected were New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey

Department of Transportation, New Jersey Department of Agriculture, New Jersey State Police,

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce, and New Jersey Park Services. Each agency

representative (who remains anonymous in this research) was asked to answer the four questions

(Figure 1) pertaining to their internal and external (public facing) use of GIS. Four of the six or

66% of agencies contacted through email responded to the interview questions and their remarks

are summarized in (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Email Interview Questions and summarized responses by agency representative.

Questions NJDOL&W NJDOT NJDEP NJ State Police1. What types of GIS activities at your agency are directly focused on public-facing activities?

Thematic Mapping of Economic and Demographic Data as they relate to New Jersey’s population and labor force.

Traffic volumes, geodetic control, Marina Locator and Standard Route Identifier.

Deer Hunting Location Viewer, Natural Lands Trust Mobile Applications, Public Access Locations Search, Trail Tracker, Landscape 3.3 Viewer, and more.

Creating countywide evacuation zones and open data sets (farmland land data sets, etc.). Public maps for public events.

2. What types of activities are not seen by the public but are essential to your operations?

Geoprocessing, and Geocoding of administrative data at the State, County and Municipal levels.

Development and support of GeoTrans, an interactive web-based transportation mapping system.

Public Access Locations Search web application.

Mainly used with the staff and shared with other agencies

3. In your opinion, how might GIS methods and

Improve the accuracy of business address/physical

Leverage GIS, ESRI, ArcGIS and AGOL are used to

The program, Web GIS, will be used the most for the

Standardization using GIS will lead to further compliance and

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technology improve the types of activities that your agency conducts in the future?

location data maintained in administrative records.

help with the many incidents that can happen at NJDOT.

specific projects being completed and hopefully the only used program in the future.

work with more agencies.

4. How has GIS enabled your agency to generate insights that were not previously evident with non-spatial data or analysis?

Helps visualize geographical trends and see different data components in, out, and within the three government levels.

Using technology procedures to meet the needs of the business and information.

There is a database that has been used for storing data before GIS became to be.

Adds context to areas where context has not existed before. Generates insight for the public to understand.

Discussion:

When collecting this research what was learned was how four out of six New Jersey

government agencies or 66% showed their opinion on how they use GIS. Each of the agencies

supplied answers to the above questions and also a project map of what they have completed or

in progress. Each question is responded thoroughly and gives great insight on what the agencies

use GIS for, how they use GIS, and what they do with GIS. So now I will go more in detail on

what/how each agency uses GIS.

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce is New Jersey’s agency for employment

and unemployment status for people with job difficulties. New Jersey Department of Labor and

Workforce also have a part in workers compensation and insurance programs for the workers in

need. They were formed in the late 1940s where they started these options. They are located in

Trenton, NJ. Other than that NJDOL&W has a great GIS department that is explained well in

(Figure 1). One of the best answers NJDOL&W responded with was the answer to question 1

where the said, “Thematic Mapping of Economic and Demographic Data as they relate to New

Jersey’s population and labor force” (NJDOL&W 2017). Therefore, thematic mapping of

economic and demographic data is one of the only subject matters that NJDOL&W will provide

for the public to see. Continuing on, NJDOL&W also submitted a map (Map 1) indicating the

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payroll employment of nonfarm areas. Another agency is New Jersey Department of

Transportation.

New Jersey Department of Transportation is the main New Jersey agency for conflicts

with the roadway systems. It was formed in 1966 and the headquarters are in Trenton, NJ. New

Jersey Department of Transportation has a big GIS department because of how they always use

maps for roadways and highways. They created a unit that has an interactive map for park and

ride locations across the state. They explained the program as, “It is used to locate the nearest

Park and Ride lot, choose a county and pick a location within that county or view any location

using the map. In addition to viewing the facility's data such as; capacity, lighting, transit

services, shelter, posted schedule, as well as coordinates for your vehicle's Global Positioning

System (GPS) unit, contact information for the facility is provided” (NJDOT 2017). So, NJDOT

uses GIS for many projects because NJDOT has a lot to do with the geography of the road

system. New Jersey Department of Transportation also submitted a map (map 2) that shows

where the most commuters who work in urban areas live in New Jersey and which urban area

they commute to. Another agency that uses GIS is New Jersey Department of Environmental

Protection.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is the agency to rely on if there is a

problem with the environment. It was formed in 1970 and is located in Trenton, NJ. New Jersey

Department of Environmental Protection has a GIS department that uses maps to show where the

environmental conflicts are, like water pollution that is killing sea animals or air pollution that

can spread diseases to human beings. One question that NJDEP answered that seemed beneficial

to the research was question three because they used a program called, Web GIS, and NJDEP

thinks that this could be the future program for every GIS department in each agency. How

NJDEP answered question number three in (figure 1), “Web GIS will become more popular in

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the near future by replacing paper workflows with faster digital workflows. This has already

started to take place with some programs in our department and will gain more traction as other

groups see the potential they have to save time and increase productivity” (NJDEP 2017). Other

than this NJDEP provided an example map of a project that was completed (map 3) and the map

showed the water management system of 20 regions in New Jersey. New Jersey Department of

Environmental Protection also submitted a website that explains a future and current project that

is in progress.1 Another agency that utilizes GIS is New Jersey State Police.

New Jersey State Police is the government agency that is responsible for highway and

roadway enforcement, statewide investigations, managing emergencies, maintaining criminal

records, identifications systems, and the rules for selling or buying items, for example firearms.

New Jersey State Police was established in 1921 and has its headquarters in Trenton, NJ. New

Jersey State Police has a GIS department so they can map out crime data or even data that can

map out where the most law enforced areas are in need of. They gave an example with the

answer to question two from (figure 1), “We use the 9-1-1 dispatch geo-validation address to

create points on every call reported and create a map that shows where each call was reported in

a yearly basis” (NJSP 2017). New Jersey State Police uses the 9-1-1 responses to create a map

showing wear the crime or help calls are the most displayed over New Jersey (Not allowed to be

brought out into the public eye). Other than this NJSP also submitted a map (map 4) that shows

where each troop should be located and responsible for in the state.

This information is very beneficial for the research because of how the questions that

relate to the research get answered from the source of the topic. Also, being given an example

1 https://njdep.maps.arcgis.com/apps/SimpleViewer/index.html?appid=2c7f541fd80243eba6b9ab2e3b2e5419

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map of the agencies projects are beneficial because of how it shows what each agency use GIS

for.

NJDOL&W NJDOT

NJDEP NJ State Police

Conclusion

Map 1: This map represents the payroll employment of nonfarm areas in New Jersey in September 2007.

Map 2: This map represents all of the areas in New Jersey that are inhabited by people who commute to an urban area.

Map 3: This map represents the 20 regions of New Jersey and the water management in those regions.

Map 4: This map shows the areas in New Jersey where each troop is responsible for.

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This research contributes to the new understandings of the role of GIS within New Jersey

government agencies. One important takeaway from this research is the importance GIS has for

furthering public interests and environmental protection in New Jersey. The agencies use GIS to

create detailed maps to help with state problems or for helpful tools in the state. As I go further

with the research I will attempt to acquire more participants for the questions in (Figure 1)

because of the little amount of agencies that utilize GIS. Also, I will try to email the other two

agencies again so they can answer the questions as well. In the future, New Jersey government

agencies hopefully will improve their GIS departments and use this paper as a good source of

information. So, New Jersey government agencies utilize GIS to positively affect New Jersey

and be a useful tool for the state.

Works Cited

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Map 1: https://lwd.state.nj.us/labor/lpa/content/maps/allmaps.pdf

Map 2: http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/gis/maps/urbanized.pdf

Map 3: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/seeds/docs/watersheds.pdf

Map 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_State_Police#/media/File:NJ_-

_State_Police_Troops.png

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