City of Fort Lauderdale - Geographic Information Systems (GIS) - GIS at Fort Lauderdale
City of Fort Lauderdale, Florida - Venice of America
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GIS at the City of Fort Lauderdale

The City of Fort Lauderdale has a centralized enterprise GIS presence operating from the City’s Information Technology Services Department (ITS).  The department’s GIS Division manages the City’s GIS-related hardware, software, and its main data libraries.  The Division has created several automated tools to integrate disparate systems such as the City’s parking meter maintenance, property management, and utility billing systems with GIS.  The integration of these systems with GIS has resulted in an abundance of new opportunities for leveraging and using information.  For instance, by using GIS, the City’s Community Inspections staff is able to produce code violation reports based on neighborhood boundaries.

The City’s GIS data is most often accessed through use of custom desktop and web-based GIS applications, most of which were built in-house by the GIS Division.  The number of staff using desktop GIS applications built by the GIS Division exceeds 150.  Web-based GIS applications serve both staff and the general public, with some allowing only internal use by staff.  Over 5,000 individuals and organizations use the City’s web-based applications on an annual basis. 

GIS Software in Use

The City primarily uses software produced by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) for its various GIS software needs.  Below are descriptions of some of the software in use by the City:

Server Software

 

ArcSDE:

Used to manage geographic data in a relational database management system.

 

 

ArcGIS Server:

This is a tool used to create and manage GIS web services, web-GIS applications, and data.

 

 

ArcIMS:

ArcIMS is a predecessor to ArcGIS Server.  It is still being used for some older web-GIS applications.

 

 

Desktop Software

 

ArcGIS (ArcInfo):

Used for complex spatial analysis, querying of data and to manage ESRI’s advanced data structures such as ArcInfo Coverages and ArcSDE Geodatabases.

 

 

ArcGIS (ArcView):

A scaled-down version of ArcInfo that is used for the querying and manipulation of light datasets such as ESRI shapefiles.

 

 

ArcPad:

ArcPad is a tool for collecting GPS data on hand-held devices for use in a GIS.

 

 

ArcView 3.x:

This is the predecessor to ArcGIS (ArcView).  It is used for the querying and manipulation of light datasets such as ESRI shapefiles.

 

 

GeoMedia:

An Intergraph product used to update GIS data in the City’s Computer Aided Dispatch system.

Feel free to contact the GIS Division at gis@fortlauderdale.gov.