A Call to CIOs for GIOs

TeleAtlas VP John Cassidy had an article in Government Technology recently making an argument in favor of adding GIOs to CIO offices to continue the expansion of GIS coordination in government.

In Enterprise GIS Strategies Strengthen Government Operations, Mr. Cassidy outlines some of the successes brought to government by the growth of well-coordinated GIS tools, data and processes. He goes on to suggest that CIOs can help things along with some basic guidelines:

• The success of a GIS application is more likely when it's considered a mission-critical IT system and an organization is built specifically to support that system. It's crucial to build a strategic plan to adopt GIS enterprisewide.
• Create a full-time GIS leadership position with a GIO who has adequate staff to build and enhance the enterprise GIS.
• Identify project leaders who have the necessary management and organizational skills to accomplish specific tasks, and motivate people on an interagency basis to overcome the resistance to change.
• Develop communication channels to identify and prioritize GIS application development and spread word of their success.
• Set reasonable goals that produce deliverables over short time frames, so quick results can be readily seen, used and appreciated.