1. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have come
a long way. From the question of “What is GIS?”
to “What can it do for me?” to “You can build
that?” The science and organizational capabilities
of GIS is why it continues to grow as one of
the most integral parts of today’s enterprise
organizations including city government.
One example of a city that has taken the science
of GIS to new levels is the City of Norfolk, VA. Led
by Fraser Picard, GIS Bureau Technology Manager,
the city has made strides that have elevated them
to poster child status, showing that a strong GIS
program can make everyone’s life better.
Having been with the city since 1994, Picard has
been a leader in incorporating GIS solutions. He
gained notoriety in 2012 by developing, with
his team, STORM — System to Track, Organize,
Record and Map. The program has enabled city
workers to more accurately report and map
damage from storms and simultaneously push
that data out to residents online. The application
has had excellent reviews and the results pre- and
post-Hurricane Irene were tremendous.
But one of Picard’s ongoing successes has been
the incorporation of Pictometry® intelligent aerial
imagery into the City of Norfolk GIS program
starting in 2004. Following an example of a
neighboring jurisdiction, Norfolk was aware that
the young Pictometry International (founded in
2000) had captured its first imagery in the spring
of 2001 and delivered its first complete library
to Arlington County, VA. The imagery was used
by the Arlington County Fire Department during
the response to the September 11 attacks on the
Pentagon. Pictometry was also the first company
to be allowed to fly Ground Zero to help in the
search, rescue and recovery efforts.
City of Norfolk departments
benefit from Pictometry®
JURISDICTION:
City of Norfolk, VA
INDUSTRY:
Government
CHALLENGE:
To implement a true GIS
enterprise solution that
integrates Pictometry imagery
throughout all departments
in the city.
SOLUTION:
The city utilized the Pictometry
CONNECT platform, offering
fast, easy access to imagery
and analytical tools through a
web browser. It is now being
used by 18 city departments.
PRODUCTS:
Pictometry orthogonal and
oblique imagery; CONNECT;
PictometryOnline.
C A S E S T U D Y
888.771.9714 | www.pictometry.com
Copyright © 2008-2015 EagleView Technologies, Inc. - All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2015 Pictometry is a registered trademark of Pictometry International Corp. GOV-035 | 02/15

2. Norfolk followed with their first flights in 2004. They incorporated
a desktop imagery viewing application at the same time,
Pictometry’s Electronic Field Study (EFS). Developed to view,
interact and extract data from the imagery, EFS was unique in
that it allowed users to measure not only distances and areas,
but heights as well, all through the use of a single image. This
surpassed the technology at that time in which involved the use
of two or more overlapping images in order to extract any height
information or vertical measurements.
Pictometry is now being used within eighteen Norfolk City
departments. The assessment department is one of the top users
of the imagery and software. As an early adopter, the City of
Norfolk worked side-by-side with Pictometry as the company
revolutionized the assessment market by allowing assessors to
do more work from their desktop than ever before. The oblique
imagery, invented by Pictometry, provided a forty-five degree view
of structures allowing for views that had never been seen on a
desktop before. The improved communication surrounding the
selection of comparable properties to constituents, significantly
reduced the number of costly appeals for the city. In many states,
assessment guidelines and regulations were modified to incorporate
this new capability.
“We are now looking at incorporating a new product from
Pictometry that was released in 2013, CONNECTAssessment™
,”
stated Picard. “We are already utilizing the dual pane feature in
POL to identify year-over-year change. If we are able to utilize
CONNECTAssessment we will be able to view the changes along
with doing analysis and assignment online in the cloud. It is
what we need to make our assessment office even better.”
With the extreme growth of Pictometry Intelligent Imagery®
in the
assessment market, many jurisdictions have missed opportunities
to integrate the imagery throughout other departments, but not in
Norfolk. “We also use the imagery inside of PictometryOnline™
to
measure building surfaces, determining impervious areas that will
not drain. Commercial properties pay a fee on impervious square
footage to help with storm water control and flooding.”
PictometryOnline (POL) was developed in 2006 to allow users to
access Pictometry images via the Internet. In 2010, the CONNECT™
platform launched incorporating POL as one of many online tools
for imagery consumption and analysis. This cloud-based software
solution offered the functionality and benefits of the EFS desktop
solution remotely through a simple web browser.
In 2014, Picard led the city in an important change, moving
from server edition, a locally hosted software that followed EFS,
to the CONNECT platform. “With eighteen departments utilizing
Pictometry imagery we had to have a strong online solution. I have
personally trained more than 700 employees over the last 10 years.
We currently have 300 who are using the systems daily,” stated
Picard. “We had to have a system that was easy to upgrade, easy
to train and overall easy to use. With the new CONNECTAdmin
functionality it was exactly what we needed.”
“The transition was so smooth it was like driving a new car on new
pavement,” said Picard, smiling. “I don’t think people even knew
the difference. We had to set up GIS layers in CONNECTAdmin
which worked really well. The staff from Pictometry gets the credit.
They understood our system making the transition very easy. It was
great and I was very happy.”
“When we first got EFS in 2004, I thought I would only need to
train about seventeen people. Not so; the popularity of the product
exploded and prior to EFS, I would ask people to commit three days
of GIS training. That was a huge commitment for a very busy staff,”
noted Picard. “Now with the CONNECT platform we have trainings
a couple of times a year and reduced the training class to half of a
day. Word has spread on how easy it is to use and how powerful it
is for data collection and analysis. I have people asking to get
on board constantly.”
“The list of use cases goes on and on,” continued Picard. “The legal
department uses PictometryOnline for appeals and our land use
uses it to check vegetation violations along the Chesapeake Bay
to ensure public safety and the protection of the Greenland spaces.
Our events coordinator uses it for park events for booths, vendor
communications and researching new and different areas. Our
public arts manager uses it to research and investigate suitable
areas for placing art. Everyone uses it every day for presentations
including the city council for their short and long-term planning.”
Using Pictometry imagery, Picard’s team has also built numerous
applications including Norfolk AIR (Address Information Resource).
They developed it to aggregate property data along with imagery
from as far back as 2004 with the goal of viewing properties
over time. Making it accessible to the public they now see over
a thousand hits a day and believe that without the photos there
would not be this level of interest. City officials and residents
now share common imagery and information when reviewing
building codes, set-backs and property development.
“The City of Norfolk has been an amazing long-term customer
who truly has embraced the importance of Pictometry imager
and solutions,” stated Robert Locke, president of Pictometry
Government Solutions. “Fraser’s leading role incorporating the
technology into all of the departments has provided a model
for other GIS departments and jurisdictions.”
“Pictometry is part of our culture and our overall organizational
success,” concluded Picard. “If anyone tried to cut it, I would have
eighteen departments yelling, so it is clear that it is not just the GIS
office that needs and depends on this technology. It should never
be under just one department. For GIS solutions and Pictometry
imagery, the more people using it the better the investment.“
888.771.9714 | www.pictometry.com
Copyright © 2008-2015 EagleView Technologies, Inc. - All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2015 Pictometry is a registered trademark of Pictometry International Corp. GOV-035 | 02/15