Opening Keynote Speaker
URISA & NENA are happy to welcome Cheryl Benjamin to the 2009 Addressing Conference to present the Opening Keynote Address.
Cheryl Benjamin
NYS Office of Cyber Security & Critical Infrastructure Coordination
NYS Office of Cyber Security & Critical Infrastructure Coordination
Keynote Address: Building a Successful Partnership to Maintain a GIS Address Database
New York State built and is now maintaining a statewide GIS Streets and Address Points database through a unique public-private partnership. In a State with more than 1,600 local governments operating under “home rule”, mandating local government participation in a state-led data maintenance program was not an option. Instead, New York State chose to formulate a data maintenance partnership involving New York State agencies, local governments, the emergency response community, and commercial industry leaders who develop and maintain GIS street address databases. New York State’s approach in bringing together such diverse groups to share and maintain street address information is built on a foundation of key principles that can be applied to partnerships at any level of government. These principles will be presented with a focus on how they are being applied in New York State’s unique partnership.
Maintaining New York State’s GIS Address database of over 135,000 miles of public streets and more than 3.1 million Address Points (and still growing!) has not been without it challenges. Struggles with technical issues, budgetary constraints, maintaining momentum with our partners, and most recently, a change in our commercial data maintenance contractor, will also be discussed.
Cheryl Benjamin is a Mapping Technologist in the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination. In her 21 year public service career with the State of New York, Cheryl has been held various positions in the State’s Base Mapping Program from her initial position as the Program’s primary liaison with federal, state and local government providers of source information, to higher level positions as Production Manager of several digital and printed base map products, the Program’s System/IT Support Manager, and for the past eight years as the Project Manager for developing and now maintaining New York State’s GIS Streets and Address Points database. Since 1998, she has also chaired the NYS GIS Standards & Data Coordination Work Group, which operates under the direction of the NYS GIS Coordinating Body. Cheryl holds a B.A. in Geography from the State University of New York at Buffalo with certificates in Cartography, Urban & Regional Analysis, and Systems Analysis & Design.
