Welcome to the City of Southfield’s Geographic Information System (GIS)
Geographic Information Systems combine layers of information concerning a particular area to give people a better understanding of that area. Different layers of information can be combined and filtered to provide different perspectives and unique views of information, data, and analysis.
GIS technology integrates common database operations such as “query” and statistical analysis with the unique visualization and geographic analysis benefits presented by visual maps. These abilities make it valuable to a wide range of public and private enterprises for explaining events, predicting outcomes, and planning strategies.
The City of Southfield GIS Mission Statement
“To efficiently and effectively provide geospatial information and applications to city employees and the public in order to enhance city operations, improve decision making, and provide better public service.”
Since 1998, Southfield’s GIS has provided geospatial information and applications to over 200 employees in almost all city departments. By distributing location-based data throughout the city, GIS allows city employees to make more efficient and informed decisions. In addition to rapid access to spatial data, Southfield’s GIS also offers powerful analytical, visualization and reporting tools that can be assimilated into everyday workflows.
Many organizations that have implemented a GIS have found that one of its main benefits is improved management of their own resources and improved collaboration. Because GIS’s have the ability to link data sets together by geography and create shared databases, they facilitate interdepartmental information sharing and communication. This leads to one department benefiting from the work of another - data can be collected once and used many times. As communication increases among individuals and departments, redundancy is reduced, productivity is enhanced, and overall organizational efficiency is improved.