Low on Cash, High on Flash: A Mobile GIS Solution for Local Government

Tom Tricot, PhD, GISP
City of High Point
High Point, NC

James Vogl, GISP
City of High Point
High Point, NC

There is a demand for our mobile computing environment to include real-time interactions with enterprise data. Field workers must have the ability to view and edit existing data. Management needs the ability to make decisions based upon immediate service needs. In the face of current budgetary and personnel constraints, City of High Point Geographic Information Services is using an unconventional approach to provide these services by utilizing existing technologies and in-house personnel. Items such as smart phones, laptops, GPS units, .NET web-services, and Flash technologies are being pulled together to connect what is happening in the field to supervisors in the office. Customer Service and Public Safety personnel are already benefiting from this approach and helping to provide the platform for future development.

Tom Tricot is the GIS Manager for the City of High Point.  His responsibilities and interests include the quality assurance of E911 mapping services, project management duties encompassing field data collection and interdepartmental data sharing, and the coordination of long-term maintenance efforts of digital geographic data for various City departments.  In addition to his work at the City, Tom teaches GIS courses at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where in December, 2010, he completed his doctoral studies in Geography.

James Vogl is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where he mastered in Geography and Information Systems.  He began work with the City of High Point’s Geographic Information Services Division in 1998.  His job responsibilities include Database Administration and Web Application and Design.