One of the big challenges facing Local Government is how to effectively and affordably share information with the public.
Gov 2.0 has steered many councils towards web based solutions for their communications.
In exploring options to facilitate better communications with the broader public, councils are increasingly looking to information systems that incorporate some element of ëlocation intelligence’.
In the case of Gosford City Council on the New South Wales Central Coast, the incorporation of location intelligence into its public website, through the integration of its online mapping application ëGEMS’, has delivered more than just an improvement to public communications.
In the two months following the public release of GEMS, Council experienced a significant reduction in property related queries. During this period, Council registered only 1,500 property related enquiries – down from an average of 2,500.
The 40 per cent reduction in queries was viewed as a major triumph for the project, which was initially designed to provide the community with easy access to Council data via online maps.
GEMS assembles various sources of data and then visually represents the information on a map.
A person can search for details relating to Council zoning, services and development restrictions associated with a particular property, or more basic information around bushfire prone areas or dog off leash zones.
“GEMS provides open and transparent access for the general public to the same information used by Council staff for their daily work,” said Gosford’s Spatial Information Coordinator Darren Santer.
Developed in partnership with location intelligence specialists Esri Australia, GEMS is a progressive and pioneering interactive web mapping application.
The initiative has further solidified Gosford City Council’s position as a leader in the area of information mapping among Australian councils.
*Copy supplied by Esri Australia
