If I Had a Big Enough Lever...
Often, collecting data is only the first step. After you know where everyone lives, you need a mechanism to share that
information with other organizations that need to know, too. Those organizations, in turn, may have information you need.
Once you know who has what, the next priority becomes figuring out how to leverage those resources; fostering collaborations
that take advantage of work that has already been done, rather than wasting time and money starting from the ground up every time.
The City of Terre Haute and Vigo County recognized that by working together they could not only acquire more data, they could
also get that information back out to the public.
The City and County initially hired a contractor to develop a plan for their data sharing process. The plan called for
the City to keep records on utilities, with the County responsible for parcels and property ownership. They converted
all the existing paper maps and documents, and linked those files to digital maps that could be shared electronically.
Results
- The City of Terre Haute has access to updated parcel and ownership information on a daily basis
- Vigo County can see and use utility information for planning and analysis
- The taxpayers only pay for the information to be collected once, and shared between the two agencies
- The public can access much of the information online at the combined City-County website, which received thousands
of hits the first few months after its release: website
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