Community Information Utility Project
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Funded by:
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
Nova Scotia Economic and Rural Development and Tourism (NSERDT)
Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency (ADEDA)
Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC)
Presented by
Dr. Bob Maher, Senior Research Scientist
Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG), NSCC
to
Municipal Leaders in Southwest Nova
July 4 - 5, 2011
Outline
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Background
Definition of CIU
Feasibility Study
Time Line
Purpose of the visit
Opportunity for input
Questions
What is a Community Information Utility?
The concept of a Community Information Utility (CIU) is
complex. Paul Beach offers the following description from
Sault Ste Marie:
“Like a water utility or electric utility, an information utility
provides information services including data hosting and data
analysis within a community. This new model has resulted in
the cooperative, efficient and cost effective sharing of
information amongst community organizations and partners.
With the emergence of the Sault Ste Marie CIU, the analysis of
shared information has led to significant improvements in the
overall health, public safety and operational efficiency of the
community.”
Description of CIU concept in Sault
Sainte Marie
• Main proponents
– City of Sault Ste Marie
– Utility
• Initial investment in building spatial data
warehouse
• Spent 5 years building spatial database at cost of
$5m
Description of CIU concept in SSM
• Once created, then CGC was able to develop large
number of GIS applications
• Questions for Paul Beach
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Involvement of private sector
Not-for-profit model
Significant Health and Utility applications
Not a rural setting
Advice on governance structure
Background
History
- visit by Paul Beach, SSMIC May 2010
- draft proposal to ACOA
- Feasibility study funded by Team Southwest
partners
Feasibility Study of Community
Information Utility for Southwest Nova:
Geography
 5 counties: Annapolis, Digby, Yarmouth,
Shelburne, and Queens
 18 municipalities
 3 Regional Development Authorities
This was response to request from Team Southwest
and the state of the local economy.
Components of Feasibility Study
1. What is the current investment in GIS and
geographic information in Southwest Nova
2. Identify partners in the study
- provincial government
- municipal government
- private sector
- academic institutions
Components of Feasibility Study
3. Evaluate the CIU concept, determine if it can work
in rural NS
4. Develop a sustainable business model
5. Make recommendations for governance structure
6. Produce final report for review by DM committee
With Funding, we hired CFN (Atlantic)
consultants
Team
Ron L’Esperance
Jon Corston
Tom McGuire
Jason Googoo
Time Line: Six Months
Kick off meeting: May 20th
Final report: October 30th
The process (to date)
1. Paul Beach invited to make presentation
• WTC, Halifax
• COGS, Lawrencetown
2. CFN set up meeting with key stakeholders
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Provincial government (SNSMR, ERDT)
Municipal government (this visit is a start)
Private industry
Other interest groups
(NS Power, Health)
The process (to date)
3. Darko Poletto invited to make presentation
• GANS, Halifax
• COGS, Lawrencetown
4. Road Trip: Jim Stanley, Bob Maher,
Jon Corston from CFN
4. Steering Committee meeting
• July 22nd
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Next Steps
Purpose of Visit
1. Make sure municipal interests are aware of the
project
2. Seek recommendations on contacts for GIS and
Geographic Information
3. Address any questions about the concept, the
process
Opportunity for Input
1. Should we plan municipal stakeholders meetings?
2. If yes, where and when?
3. Do you have feedback on?
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Use of GIS and Geographic information
The CIU concept
How to engage municipalities
Other
The Argument for Southwest Nova
1. We need high quality geographic information for
better regional planning
2. By taking a ‘case study’ approach we avoid large,
province wide expenditures
3. SW Nova has benefit from both COGS and AGRG
4. Representative of rural Nova Scotia
Challenges
1. How does CIU concept fit with GeoNova strategy?
2. Should we adopt a provincial vs. regional
perspective?
3. Can we identify a subset of thematic layers to
avoid too much data at the outset?
Transformative Power of
Geographic Information
• Focus on issues of geographic concern
which require cross-departmental
collaboration
• Focus on regional concerns, avoid
duplication of information management
Transformative Power of
Geographic Information
• Share common information
about geography
• Reduce multi-level jurisdiction
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Municipal units
Regional development agencies
School and health boards
Provincial departments
Challenges
1. Do we have the capacity to run and maintain CIU
in the region?
2. Is language an issue?
3. Are there other government activities that impact
the concept?
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Rationalize RDA’s
Role of the CIO office
Access to high speed internet
Fiscal constraints, efficiency
Jobs Here Economic Strategy
Questions
Contact:
Dr. Bob Maher, Senior Research Scientist
Applied Geomatics Research Group (AGRG)
Email:
robert.maher@nscc.ca
Phone: (902) 825-5477
Jim Stanley, Principal
NSCC, Annapolis Valley Campus
Email:
jim.stanley@nscc.ca
Phone: (902) 825-5451
CFN Consultants
Ron L’Esperance, Associate Consultant
Email:
Phone:
rlesperance @cfncon.com
(902) 491-4279