The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) has been facilitating an aerial photography project in our region since 2002. Funding comes from fifty partners, including local governments, public utilities, and public service providers. This collaborative partnership does two important things: it allows the group to buy expensive data that they could not afford on their own and it creates a common basemap for public entities to use for their planning and operations. After the 2014 imagery project, the partners asked DRCOG to pursue a similar model for additional data. Specifically, they wanted planimetric features – delineations of the built environment – to be drawn from the high-resolution imagery product that we were already buying. With over twenty partners, we successfully completed a project to generate very detailed building roofprints, edge of pavement, sidewalks, parking lots and more. In addition, the products – which cover over 1100 square miles of the metro area - were made available for public download. The partners and DRCOG had use cases in mind when purchasing the datasets including asset management and bike/pedestrian planning. After making this data open, we realized that others – including public, private, and academic entities – saw potential with the data as well. Since publishing it, we’ve seen a proliferation of uses in everything from technology startups to 3D modeling to energy research. This project is an example of how open data can drive entrepreneurship, innovation, collaboration, and partnership.

1. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title style
Presented by:
Ashley Summers
September 2018
A Case Study
of Open Data
Driving
Innovation
Regional
Planimetric
Project

2. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleDRCOG’s mission
in the areas of:
transportation and
personal mobility
growth and
development
aging and disability
resources
where local governments collaborate to:
establish guidelines set policy allocate funding
DRCOG is a planning organization
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3. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleDenver Regional Aerial Photography Project
DRCOG has facilitated a project to acquire high
resolution aerial photography over the Denver Region
every two years since 2002 on behalf of about 50
public partners.

4. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleValue of imagery program
passes cost savings on to partners
Due to economies of scale, DRAPP partners benefit from the lower square
mileage costs of capturing a large area and splitting those costs amongst
partners with overlapping needs.
increases collaboration in the region
The product provides a common “basemap” that our partners can reference
when working together. It’s also the underlying data source for planimetric
features like building footprints and sidewalks.
reduces duplication of effort
If our partners individually attempted this project, they’d each have to write
requests for proposals, manage contracts and vendors, and perform quality
assurance and quality control on their deliverables. With DRAPP, DRCOG
provides these services.
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5. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleImagery uses
basemap
static maps and print
publications, web applications,
field units for data collection
and dispatch
asset management
monitoring change in the built
and natural environment
derivatives
data development such as land
use classification or feature
digitization
5
analysis
multi-jurisdictional storm
water master planning
studies, property owner
flood risk notifications,
vegetation studies, project
planning (replace or reduce
field work)

6. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title stylePlanimetric data
DRCOG’s regional planimetric project creates detailed built
environment features from high-resolution orthoimagery in the
urbanized area of the Denver region.
building outlines, edge of pavement, parking lots, sidewalks,
driveways, trails, ramps

7. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleValue of the data
very detailed
• 1:100 map scale
manually drawn
• no automated methods = no errors of
commission
based on DRAPP imagery
• high resolution and strict positional
accuracy standards
current
• updated every two years following
completion of DRAPP
regional
• consistent collection methods for
1000+ square miles so analysis can
cross jurisdictional boundaries

8. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleQuality testimonial
“As entrepreneurs who have become experts at
determining the quality of public data, we assert that
DRCOG data is in the top 10 percent of all data we
have uncovered.”
- Karl Ulrich, Building Footprints USA

9. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleFunding the data
Almost 30
public partners,
including local
government
and utility
providers
$0
$100,000
$200,000
$300,000
$400,000
$500,000
$600,000
$700,000
$800,000
$900,000
2014 2016
Cost
Initial collection is expensive, but
maintenance is reasonable as long as the
project is routine and contiguous in extent.

10. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleFunding models
Traditional Innovative

11. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleFree distribution
Access
Data is freely
available for
download on the
Regional Data
Catalog.
ROI
To promote
research,
entrepreneurship,
and innovation

12. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleUse cases
public agencies
water modeling, emergency response planning, floodplain analysis,
asset management, bike/ped master planning, scenario planning,
identifying change
private companies
app to help the visually impaired navigate as pedestrians, selling
attribution that attaches to our geometries, consulting firms doing
better work for local clients like cities and counties, site selection
apps
researchers
evaluating intersection safety, estimating energy savings

13. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title style
USE CASES: FUNDING PARTNERS

14. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleArapahoe County
Participation in the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency’s Community Rating
System for the National Flood
Insurance Program.
Increased safety and
decreased insurance costs by
identifying structures in the
floodplain.
Decreased analysis time from
weeks to days.

15. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleDouglas County
Sidewalk ramp asset
inventory.
Interns checked the
points in the field and
added information
about the ramp.
Since an accurate point
already existed, no
GPS point collection
was needed.
Field time was cut in
half.

16. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleAurora
Built a custom
basemap to use in
its web viewers
and field collection
applications.
Used by the fire
department to
create
pre-plan maps.

17. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleDRCOG
Visualizing development and zoning scenarios in 3D.
Supporting continual conversations about growth assumptions.
• local development scenarios
• informing regional planning assumptions

18. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleThanks to the funding partners
Adams County, Arapahoe County, City and County
of Denver, Douglas County, Jefferson County Open
Space, City of Arvada, City of Aurora, Town of
Bennett, City of Boulder, City of Centennial, City of
Commerce City, City of Englewood, Town of Erie,
City of Fort Lupton, Town of Frederick, City of
Glendale, City of Golden, City of Greenwood
Village, City of Lafayette, City of Lakewood, City of
Littleton, City of Lone Tree, City of Louisville, City of
Northglenn, City of Thornton, City of Westminster,
City of Wheat Ridge, Town of Windsor, Denver
Water, RTD, FHWA, DRCOG.

19. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title style
USE CASES: OPEN DATA USERS

20. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleNational Renewable Energy Lab
Generated city-scale energy models to study the
potential effects of energy efficiency programs
Customized each building model to a unique building
footprint, further reducing uncertainty in the model
and improving its predictive capabilities

21. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleGoCode Winner: Carbos
Calculated the amount of
impervious surface for each
site to generate a water
sequestration score.
Added a carbon
sequestration score to
further enhance the model.
“Colorado has the potential
to generate $30 billion from
carbon trading.”
“By bringing small carbon offset
projects to market, Carbos allows
environmentally conscious
business owners to invest in local
carbon sequestration resources.”

22. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleBuildingFootprintsUSA
A wireless telecom company placing
rooftop infrastructure can visualize the
infrastructure viewshed then perform
complex radio frequency propagation
analysis in downtown Denver.
BuildingFootprintUSA collects
building footprint geospatial
data from hundreds of sources
nationwide and turns that data
into a product with added
attribution like addresses and
unit information.
They license our products to
industries as diverse as
insurance, telecommunication,
real estate, utility and mobile
advertising.

23. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleHDR + RTD
Identified existing edge of
pavement, surface and
structured parking
Performed field work to mark
curb restrictions
Drew conclusions about
curbside management and
opportunities for rideshare
loading/unloading

24. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleValue of open data
Open data allows city planners, researchers, analysts, consultants,
and entrepreneurs to spend more time answering questions
and less time developing data.
Promotes collaboration between public, private, and academic
sectors
“It is a great service to have free building footprint data because it
serves a lot of analytical purposes and is very time consuming to
build.” – Kristy Bruce, Logan Simpson
“Having this data has saved hundreds of hours of digitizing.” -
Heather Hoelting, South Metro Fire Rescue

25. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleValue of open data
Leverages investments in data that are already being made
and extends their value
• More applications in the community
• More data to attach to the open product
“We have benefitted greatly from the planimetrics sidewalk
GIS data by providing our clients in the Denver Metro Region
with more accurate walkshed information.” – Drew Parker,
HDR

26. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title style
Partners fund open
data
Open data is
consumed by
everyone
Some users add
more value
Added value is
shared back only to
funding partners
Sustainable funding model
Two product-types
1. Foundational, regional
data sets with detailed
geometries and limited
attribution (open to all)
2. Value-added data sets
with additional
attribution (restricted
to funding partners)

27. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleEnvy of our peers
“..most [of our projects] are one-off efforts that aren't structured under an
umbrella like you have going on. (Which is really wise and fantastic, btw.)”
– Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission
“Your regional planimetrics project sounds like a great example of a region
working together.” – Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of
Governments
“Benefits [of your program] are just fantastic” – Atlanta Regional
Commission
“Don’t I wish [we had a similar program]! – Baltimore Metropolitan Council
“I definitely see the value in having something similar to your [project]. I
would very much be interested in developing something of the sort for
CAMPO!” – Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization

28. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title styleJoin us!
Planimetric
Project
2018
Funding
Added
Value
Support

29. Click to edit Master title styleClick to edit Master title style
THANK YOU!
Questions? Contact me at asummers@drcog.org.