Local governments are leading the way forward with innovations using GIS technology.  At the Esri International User Conference in San Diego, presentations on the City of Los Angeles and the City of New Orleans are particularly compelling.

In Los Angeles has released a Community GIS system, the LA GeoHub .  This system goes beyond simply providing data through an open data portal and brings together various data sets to provide information their residents need.  A few examples of apps developed include: 

• The city’s Clean Streets story map shows the status of city street and whether they are clean or not. The data is used to prioritize clean-up efforts, prevent illegal dumping, and deploy trash cans in optimum locations.
• The Road to 2400 app reflects the city’s goal of paving 2400 lane miles every year. The time-lapse app enables users to see progress being made in chronological order.

The City of New Orleans has introduced a new service and information look-up system, Where Y’At?

• The city is collecting data on property blight using two hundred volunteers. To prepare for the effort, city staff first traveled 1,900 miles of roads in the city to capture photos of all properties.  Citizens and other volunteers review the photos and answer six easy questions to assess the condition of the property.
• NOLA’s Adopt a Water Catch Basin app uses 311/CRM data to identify and secure citizen volunteers to “adopt” a basin to keep clean and well maintained in order to function at peak efficiency during storms.