GIS Needs Assessment
The Town of Belmont wanted a cost-effective solution for sharing and managing its utility and land base data, and retained Weston & Sampson to perform a Geographic Information System (GIS) needs assessment. Specifically, the study focused on the two primary components of mapping and data management needs.
During the evaluation process, Weston & Sampson interviewed department staff and GIS stakeholders to understand how data would be used, accessed, shared, and manipulated. In addition, we conducted a full inventory of the existing standard hardcopy mapping and electronic databases. We assigned priorities to each of these resources based on department input.
Weston & Sampson analyzed cost efficiencies to identify and justify the expenditures necessary for the successful implementation of the system. To ensure that any implementation would not immediately be rendered obsolete, we made recommendations for system workflows (including ingesting new data from subdivision CADD plans), structure, and maintenance that would help the system remain a reliable source of current data for each of the departments involved. Finally, we recommended various software platforms available that would meet the town’s concerns regarding GIS implementation.