Local governments normally
require some form of geographic data when they receive a request from a
homeowner, whether providing an address for an emergency response or obtaining
street names for concerns over road repairs.
BACOG members have a tool which provides comprehensive geographical data
for a certain location or set of locations at a click of the mouse. The Barrington Area Geographic Information
System, otherwise known as BAGIS, was introduced to the public in 2000.
BAGIS is a powerful
computer mapping and data management system.
Zoning, special districts, demographics, and other categories or “layers”
of data can easily be gleaned from BAGIS.
BAGIS can create customized maps by combining different specified
“layers” of data at the user’s request.
Trends, patterns and correlations are revealed through the visualization
and analysis of geographic locations and the information, or databases, linked
to those locations. Each participating municipality will also have the ability
to input new data and more layers of information for its needs.
The creation of BAGIS was
backed by BACOG and funded by a $100,000
state grant. With the cooperation of
BACOG members, local service districts, and a GIS consultant, data was gathered
and inputted for the seven-village, four-county area to create BAGIS. Data and software were distributed to the
villages in 2001.
Recognizing the need to
direct the future of BAGIS, BACOG created a GIS Committee last year to make
recommendations to the Executive Board.
The BACOG GIS Committee, comprised of one representative from each BACOG member governmental entity, addresses topics such as who will be the users of the system,
distribution of data, standard operating procedures, and future maintenance and
funding of the system.
BAGIS will help manage
local government land use information and can be used for analysis purposes by
many departments. This will result in
more accurate forecasting, greater staff efficiency and faster response time to
residents. For example, it can be used
to optimize response times for emergencies, track sensitive environmental
areas, or forecast materials and labor for road repairs. The applications are numerous for local
government and regional planning and decision-making. Supported and administered by BACOG, BAGIS is
bringing state of the art analytical tools to our area.
