| GISdevelopment.net ---> GITA 1999 ---> User Perspectives |
APWA Infolink Pilot Sets Sights on Becoming Nation Wide Information Hub
Tony Lopez
Project Consultant
M.J. Harden Associates, Inc.
1019 Admiral Blvd
Kansas City, MO 64106
Chuck Firquain
Manager of Distribution Services
Water District No. 1 of Johnson County
7315 Frontage Road, Suite 202
Merriam, KS 66204
Tony Lopez
Project Consultant
M.J. Harden Associates, Inc.
1019 Admiral Blvd
Kansas City, MO 64106
Chuck Firquain
Manager of Distribution Services
Water District No. 1 of Johnson County
7315 Frontage Road, Suite 202
Merriam, KS 66204
The Purpose of APWA Infolink
Building and construction professionals are constantly faced with the daunting task of wading through a great amount of regulatory prerequisites. Prior to beginning any construction task, contractors, engineers, architects and other professionals must be knowledgeable of what specific forms, regulations, specifications, licenses, statutes, ordinances or codes they will need to comply with. This entire process begins by contacting the various Information Providers (1P) - federal, state, county or city agencies that maybe effected by work done in their jurisdiction. Additionally, contact must be made to various “call before you dig” organizations who will identify specific utilities in the area. The entire rocess creates a flow of information and communication that many times results in inefficient use of time and resources, loss of required information such as forms or documents and a mismanaged approach and mentality to customer service.
The APWA Internet application provides a funnel for a variety of different types of information, specifically designed to meet the needs of the planning, design and construction community. The application is navigated either by accessing links in drop-down or pick-list boxes or by drilling-down through an interactive map interface. Information is captured, managed and presented in such a way as to allow for an incredible amount of control and organization over what is communicated in the form of documents, forms, maps, etc., to this community of users. The control is maintained by each individual 1P, each being required to maintain their own specific data about their organization on-line. The organization of the information on site is maintained by following a template-driven approach to presenting information to end-users.
The Beginning of APWA Infolink
The project began as a way to meet the information sharing needs between design professionals and local agencies in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The initial concept was to provide a directory of utility company representatives that could be contacted by those needing information with regard to utility locations, right-of-way, easements, design criteria, shut-off, relocations, construction, etc. The constant changing nature of this information though, quickly dispelled this as a viable option. Focus quickly changed to the use of a community bulletin board. Although this would provide digital access to information, technology requirements made this a limited option. The next phase was to provide information via a “fax-back” setup. Potential IPs would be required to send in various documents to a central clearinghouse for processing. The information would be coded and entered into a system that would provide “touch-tone” access to desired documents. But this again had limiting potential and was a “document processing” nightmare.
Enter the Internet. With widespread acceptance and progression of Internet technology, APWA InfoLink was designed and created to take advantage of this huge information gateway.
The intemet application, which can be accessed at www.mjharden.corrdapwa-infolink, is now a national pilot project being funded by Bell Atlantic and Ameritech Corporation through Bellcore (Bell Communications Research). Support and cooperation is provided by the Mid-American Regional Council, Kansas City Area Development Council, Kansas City Chapter of American Institute of Architects and Builders Association. Application development, design and Web hosting is provided by M.J. Harden Associates, Inc. The project, which will run through the 1999 calendar year, includes the seven-county metropolitan Kansas City area including Johnson, Leavenworth and Wyandotte in Kansas; and Clay, Cass, Jackson and Platte in Missouri.
Creation of the Infolink Internet Application
During the creation of the application, the focus was on how to best create an Internet application that could be easily maintained by each participating 1P, provide users with complete and up-to-date information, provide low site maintenance by host provider and take advantage of the latest in technology. The focus areas pointed the development team in the direction and creation of a database-driven, template-focused, dynamic Internet web application. The application needed to allow the IPs to define and update the content - not the application administrators. Thus, putting the burden of providing the most current information concerning the planning, design and construction community in the right hands. The real focus and challenge was how to create a virtually hands-free site.
Database-Driven
In order to make this site as dynamic as possible, it was apparent that the site had to have a relational database as its primary foundation. The first step was to create a database model that would accommodate the initial needs of the pilot project. A design committee was formed early with representatives from private, city and county agencies. The design committee addressed everything from typical needs and requirements of each agency to potential future uses of the completed web application. Information gathered from numerous meetings was used to create the initial database model.
The original database used in preliminary development efforts was an off-the-shelf Microsoft Access database. This provided very “quick and dirty” creation and testing of the proposed database design. Design members could work independently of one another, make changes and see the results very quickly. The use of Access as the preliminary database soon outgrew the requirements of the site. User hits and many concurrent sessions began to take a toll on this database. The decision to migrate the application to an Oracle database ensued.
A mirror of the site was created and data was migrated from Access to an Oracle 8.0 database. The current connection to the new database was established with an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) data driver from InterSolve, now Micro Focus. With the migration complete, the site could now handle the current and fiture load of Internet activity.
Template-Defined Dynamic Web Page
With the primary users of the site being the planning, design and construction community, the design committee focused attention to the capture and presentation of the eventual data to be stored on the site. Information accessed on the site was to be provided by several different types of IPs. These IPs include federal, state, county and city government agencies, as well as utility, railroad and private companies. Special organizations and regional agencies complete the list. Because it was obvious that different types of information would be provided by the various IPs, a special capture and presentation format needed to be used. The format must be similar in structure and general look, but at the same time be flexible enough to provide uniqueness to each 1P.
The solution was to create a dynamically generated web page driven by information input into the database by the IPs themselves. The resulting page for capturing 1P information is called the “APWA InfoLink Data Template” (Figure 1). The template is populated appropriately with information needed to begin organizing and adding their data. Once registered, each 1P is assigned a username and password. This gives them access to an on-line data entry application that presents them with a raw template. The eventual data to be linked on the site is organized by categories. These categories are used to help organize all of the information to be linked on the site. Once the appropriate information has been linked using the on-line data entry application, the information is immediately available to the user community.
Figure 1. APWA-InfoLink Data Template provides for a flexible and common information entry process.
The template is also used for the presentation of the individual 1P information to the eventual end-user in what is called the “APWA InfoLink Web Page” (Figure 2). This page is similar in format for each 1P. This page presents the final level of information that is presented to the end-user for access to 1P information.
Figure 2, APWA-InfoLink Web Page allows Information Providers to organize and present their information in an effective and focused manner. It also gives end-users a very recognizable, easy and focused format for accessing needed information.
Hands-Free Site Maintenance
Site maintenance on the Web application has been virtually eliminated. The site’s administrative team is required only to maintain proper connection to the Internet, provide general housekeeping and solid backup of site, provide the availability of the application and associated database and research new technologies that could be useful on the site. The team is not required to update or maintain any IP-specific information on the site. All of the updates to the site are the responsibility of each individual 1P. They have total control over what is displayed on their portion of the site.
APWA Infolink Development Tools and Emerging Technologies
The web application currently uses the Microsoft Internet Information ServerTM (11S) and Interdev Application DevelopmentTM tool. Database connection is established using ODBC and the Oracle 8.0 Enterprise Server. The underlying application uses VBScript and Active Server Page (ASP) as its primary source of coding. Special Java applets round out the development tools used on the site.
Searching technology used on the site is provided through the AltaVista search engine. Since the site is extremely focused on the planning, design and construction community, a specific search index is maintained and constantly updated. This index provides a very focused access to a multitude of indexed documents either maintained on the site itself or on another site (such as the American Public Works Association server in Washington, D.C.).
One navigation and analysis technology now being used on the site is the use of web-enabled Geographical Information System (GIS) (Figure 3). The GIS tool will eventually allow users to navigate through the site via a dynamic GIS map interface. Users will be provided with a multitude of layers from which to choose from and can include aerial and satellite imagery. This type of technology will allow the APWA InfoLink site to be rich in data resources. Users will be able to access GIS layers of information from anywhere in the country. These layers of information can also exist and be maintained in different parts of the country on separate servers. They will be provided in a common projection and be part of a web distributed GIS landbase.
Figure 3. Web Enabled GIS technology allows users to drill-down to a much greater level of detail and also provides specific analysis capabilities.
Other uses of GIS technology on the site revolve around specific applications created and stored on individual 1P sites. The applications can be linked and accessed through the specifically created and defined link on the site. The created application may be designed to meet some type of real-world application that could be solved in part through geographic means. For example, an application might include an address-match search tool or display aerial photography to paint a more complete picture for a contractor working in a particular area of a city.
APWA Infolink as a Nation Wide Information hub
One of the goals of the web application design team was to investigate the possibilities of rolling out the application to a nation-wide user base. The purpose would be to allow providers of needed information, from all over the country, to “post” their information to a central location. This central location would provide a very “focused” point of entry to professionals in the planning, design and construction community. The result would be an incredible resource and opportunist y to provide needed information from across the country.
The information could be in the form of a GIS base map, an aerial photograph, a word document, an Microsoft Excel@ file or a scanned document. Federal, state, county and city agencies could provide important links to this user base, which could streamline the day-to-day operation of business. Utility companies could provide specially accessed on-line applications, which would provide their developers/contractors with centralized access to project information. The potential to share and access permit, license, regulation, ordinance or design standards information from within one extremely “focused” sight would be possible.
With the web application in full operation, its focus at this time is providing an information hub only for the seven-county metropolitan Kansas City area. In preliminary design meetings with the design team, it was evident that limited funding early in the project required the team to design an implementation plan that could possibly fall short of what would be needed for a nation wide roll-out of the application. This would be true mostly as it pertained to the design of the database model. But with fhrther analysis of the base application design, and of the real needs of users, nation-wide access to this application can be realized with fewer modifications than originally expected.
Increased and carefid use of particular technologies such as Web enabled GIS, object oriented databases and virtual networks to name a few can be used to link together and create a nation wide distributed information hub. Providers of information would have access to their own location on the web site and could maintain links to all of their information. Users from all over the country could access all available information via the defined links.
Realization of Time & Cost Savings
For Water District No. 1 of Johnson County, Kansas, one of the primary benefits of the APWA InfoLink web site is in efficient use of staff time. While reducing staff phone time, it provides for improved up to date communication with developer/contractor concerning the status of their individual job. It also provides a method whereby the applicable City, Fire District and County agencies, without contacting the Water District, can view individual project status. The District’s water main extension design and estimating process is divided into milestones which require timely input from the Developer, the Developer’s Engineer, the City and the Fire District before a Main Extension Contract can be sent to the Developer. The site provides very focused access to this information. Less time is spent on the phone by District staff attempting to contact the right individual or agency about providing relevant information. The time saving by District staff is redirected to completing their designs, cost estimates and contracts in 30 days or less. The site provides an easy accessible and cost effective method of maintaining contact with developers/contractors on a daily basis. This site provides for 24 hour and 7 days a week communication, not only around town, but anywhere in the world.
The web site also provides new and out of town developers with a one-stop location to retrieve all of the Water District’s requirements concerning development within the designated service area. For example, in 1998 the Water District contracted for 135 new Developer driven commercial and residential water main extensions. This includes main design, material and installation cost estimating, contract administration and water main installation by the Water District staff or its various contractors. This amounted to 54 miles of new main, totaling more than 9 million dollars.
By using the web site as a vehicle for communication, access to valuable on-line information and the use of Web enabled GIS applications, a decrease in District main extension contract turnaround time can be realized. The potential reduction of staff time per contract will increase efficiency by Water District No. 1 and provide for increased service to our customer.
Conclusion
The potential uses of the web site are numerous. Its core purpose is to provide “focused” information as it relates to the planning, design and construction community. Information providers can continually keep digital information updated and available to potential users. Data providers would be in total control as to what digital information would be provided to their potential users through the use of on-line security and data entry forms. End users would have, available to them for the first time, up to date information required to bid, plan and complete projects on a 24 hour, 7 days a week time-table. Realized savings of time and costs could be achieved through the carefil presentation and navigation of information posted on the site. Increased communication and customer service would also be greatly increased.
With the APWA InfoLink web site, the reality of a nation-wide distributed repository of information linked together to provide data sharing, maintained by providers of information from various disciplines and accessed by users desiring up-to-date information to complete projects on-time and under budget, is being realized.
Building and construction professionals are constantly faced with the daunting task of wading through a great amount of regulatory prerequisites. Prior to beginning any construction task, contractors, engineers, architects and other professionals must be knowledgeable of what specific forms, regulations, specifications, licenses, statutes, ordinances or codes they will need to comply with. This entire process begins by contacting the various Information Providers (1P) - federal, state, county or city agencies that maybe effected by work done in their jurisdiction. Additionally, contact must be made to various “call before you dig” organizations who will identify specific utilities in the area. The entire rocess creates a flow of information and communication that many times results in inefficient use of time and resources, loss of required information such as forms or documents and a mismanaged approach and mentality to customer service.
The APWA Internet application provides a funnel for a variety of different types of information, specifically designed to meet the needs of the planning, design and construction community. The application is navigated either by accessing links in drop-down or pick-list boxes or by drilling-down through an interactive map interface. Information is captured, managed and presented in such a way as to allow for an incredible amount of control and organization over what is communicated in the form of documents, forms, maps, etc., to this community of users. The control is maintained by each individual 1P, each being required to maintain their own specific data about their organization on-line. The organization of the information on site is maintained by following a template-driven approach to presenting information to end-users.
The Beginning of APWA Infolink
The project began as a way to meet the information sharing needs between design professionals and local agencies in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The initial concept was to provide a directory of utility company representatives that could be contacted by those needing information with regard to utility locations, right-of-way, easements, design criteria, shut-off, relocations, construction, etc. The constant changing nature of this information though, quickly dispelled this as a viable option. Focus quickly changed to the use of a community bulletin board. Although this would provide digital access to information, technology requirements made this a limited option. The next phase was to provide information via a “fax-back” setup. Potential IPs would be required to send in various documents to a central clearinghouse for processing. The information would be coded and entered into a system that would provide “touch-tone” access to desired documents. But this again had limiting potential and was a “document processing” nightmare.
Enter the Internet. With widespread acceptance and progression of Internet technology, APWA InfoLink was designed and created to take advantage of this huge information gateway.
The intemet application, which can be accessed at www.mjharden.corrdapwa-infolink, is now a national pilot project being funded by Bell Atlantic and Ameritech Corporation through Bellcore (Bell Communications Research). Support and cooperation is provided by the Mid-American Regional Council, Kansas City Area Development Council, Kansas City Chapter of American Institute of Architects and Builders Association. Application development, design and Web hosting is provided by M.J. Harden Associates, Inc. The project, which will run through the 1999 calendar year, includes the seven-county metropolitan Kansas City area including Johnson, Leavenworth and Wyandotte in Kansas; and Clay, Cass, Jackson and Platte in Missouri.
Creation of the Infolink Internet Application
During the creation of the application, the focus was on how to best create an Internet application that could be easily maintained by each participating 1P, provide users with complete and up-to-date information, provide low site maintenance by host provider and take advantage of the latest in technology. The focus areas pointed the development team in the direction and creation of a database-driven, template-focused, dynamic Internet web application. The application needed to allow the IPs to define and update the content - not the application administrators. Thus, putting the burden of providing the most current information concerning the planning, design and construction community in the right hands. The real focus and challenge was how to create a virtually hands-free site.
Database-Driven
In order to make this site as dynamic as possible, it was apparent that the site had to have a relational database as its primary foundation. The first step was to create a database model that would accommodate the initial needs of the pilot project. A design committee was formed early with representatives from private, city and county agencies. The design committee addressed everything from typical needs and requirements of each agency to potential future uses of the completed web application. Information gathered from numerous meetings was used to create the initial database model.
The original database used in preliminary development efforts was an off-the-shelf Microsoft Access database. This provided very “quick and dirty” creation and testing of the proposed database design. Design members could work independently of one another, make changes and see the results very quickly. The use of Access as the preliminary database soon outgrew the requirements of the site. User hits and many concurrent sessions began to take a toll on this database. The decision to migrate the application to an Oracle database ensued.
A mirror of the site was created and data was migrated from Access to an Oracle 8.0 database. The current connection to the new database was established with an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) data driver from InterSolve, now Micro Focus. With the migration complete, the site could now handle the current and fiture load of Internet activity.
Template-Defined Dynamic Web Page
With the primary users of the site being the planning, design and construction community, the design committee focused attention to the capture and presentation of the eventual data to be stored on the site. Information accessed on the site was to be provided by several different types of IPs. These IPs include federal, state, county and city government agencies, as well as utility, railroad and private companies. Special organizations and regional agencies complete the list. Because it was obvious that different types of information would be provided by the various IPs, a special capture and presentation format needed to be used. The format must be similar in structure and general look, but at the same time be flexible enough to provide uniqueness to each 1P.
The solution was to create a dynamically generated web page driven by information input into the database by the IPs themselves. The resulting page for capturing 1P information is called the “APWA InfoLink Data Template” (Figure 1). The template is populated appropriately with information needed to begin organizing and adding their data. Once registered, each 1P is assigned a username and password. This gives them access to an on-line data entry application that presents them with a raw template. The eventual data to be linked on the site is organized by categories. These categories are used to help organize all of the information to be linked on the site. Once the appropriate information has been linked using the on-line data entry application, the information is immediately available to the user community.
Figure 1. APWA-InfoLink Data Template provides for a flexible and common information entry process.
The template is also used for the presentation of the individual 1P information to the eventual end-user in what is called the “APWA InfoLink Web Page” (Figure 2). This page is similar in format for each 1P. This page presents the final level of information that is presented to the end-user for access to 1P information.
Figure 2, APWA-InfoLink Web Page allows Information Providers to organize and present their information in an effective and focused manner. It also gives end-users a very recognizable, easy and focused format for accessing needed information.
Hands-Free Site Maintenance
Site maintenance on the Web application has been virtually eliminated. The site’s administrative team is required only to maintain proper connection to the Internet, provide general housekeeping and solid backup of site, provide the availability of the application and associated database and research new technologies that could be useful on the site. The team is not required to update or maintain any IP-specific information on the site. All of the updates to the site are the responsibility of each individual 1P. They have total control over what is displayed on their portion of the site.
APWA Infolink Development Tools and Emerging Technologies
The web application currently uses the Microsoft Internet Information ServerTM (11S) and Interdev Application DevelopmentTM tool. Database connection is established using ODBC and the Oracle 8.0 Enterprise Server. The underlying application uses VBScript and Active Server Page (ASP) as its primary source of coding. Special Java applets round out the development tools used on the site.
Searching technology used on the site is provided through the AltaVista search engine. Since the site is extremely focused on the planning, design and construction community, a specific search index is maintained and constantly updated. This index provides a very focused access to a multitude of indexed documents either maintained on the site itself or on another site (such as the American Public Works Association server in Washington, D.C.).
One navigation and analysis technology now being used on the site is the use of web-enabled Geographical Information System (GIS) (Figure 3). The GIS tool will eventually allow users to navigate through the site via a dynamic GIS map interface. Users will be provided with a multitude of layers from which to choose from and can include aerial and satellite imagery. This type of technology will allow the APWA InfoLink site to be rich in data resources. Users will be able to access GIS layers of information from anywhere in the country. These layers of information can also exist and be maintained in different parts of the country on separate servers. They will be provided in a common projection and be part of a web distributed GIS landbase.
Figure 3. Web Enabled GIS technology allows users to drill-down to a much greater level of detail and also provides specific analysis capabilities.
Other uses of GIS technology on the site revolve around specific applications created and stored on individual 1P sites. The applications can be linked and accessed through the specifically created and defined link on the site. The created application may be designed to meet some type of real-world application that could be solved in part through geographic means. For example, an application might include an address-match search tool or display aerial photography to paint a more complete picture for a contractor working in a particular area of a city.
APWA Infolink as a Nation Wide Information hub
One of the goals of the web application design team was to investigate the possibilities of rolling out the application to a nation-wide user base. The purpose would be to allow providers of needed information, from all over the country, to “post” their information to a central location. This central location would provide a very “focused” point of entry to professionals in the planning, design and construction community. The result would be an incredible resource and opportunist y to provide needed information from across the country.
The information could be in the form of a GIS base map, an aerial photograph, a word document, an Microsoft Excel@ file or a scanned document. Federal, state, county and city agencies could provide important links to this user base, which could streamline the day-to-day operation of business. Utility companies could provide specially accessed on-line applications, which would provide their developers/contractors with centralized access to project information. The potential to share and access permit, license, regulation, ordinance or design standards information from within one extremely “focused” sight would be possible.
With the web application in full operation, its focus at this time is providing an information hub only for the seven-county metropolitan Kansas City area. In preliminary design meetings with the design team, it was evident that limited funding early in the project required the team to design an implementation plan that could possibly fall short of what would be needed for a nation wide roll-out of the application. This would be true mostly as it pertained to the design of the database model. But with fhrther analysis of the base application design, and of the real needs of users, nation-wide access to this application can be realized with fewer modifications than originally expected.
Increased and carefid use of particular technologies such as Web enabled GIS, object oriented databases and virtual networks to name a few can be used to link together and create a nation wide distributed information hub. Providers of information would have access to their own location on the web site and could maintain links to all of their information. Users from all over the country could access all available information via the defined links.
Realization of Time & Cost Savings
For Water District No. 1 of Johnson County, Kansas, one of the primary benefits of the APWA InfoLink web site is in efficient use of staff time. While reducing staff phone time, it provides for improved up to date communication with developer/contractor concerning the status of their individual job. It also provides a method whereby the applicable City, Fire District and County agencies, without contacting the Water District, can view individual project status. The District’s water main extension design and estimating process is divided into milestones which require timely input from the Developer, the Developer’s Engineer, the City and the Fire District before a Main Extension Contract can be sent to the Developer. The site provides very focused access to this information. Less time is spent on the phone by District staff attempting to contact the right individual or agency about providing relevant information. The time saving by District staff is redirected to completing their designs, cost estimates and contracts in 30 days or less. The site provides an easy accessible and cost effective method of maintaining contact with developers/contractors on a daily basis. This site provides for 24 hour and 7 days a week communication, not only around town, but anywhere in the world.
The web site also provides new and out of town developers with a one-stop location to retrieve all of the Water District’s requirements concerning development within the designated service area. For example, in 1998 the Water District contracted for 135 new Developer driven commercial and residential water main extensions. This includes main design, material and installation cost estimating, contract administration and water main installation by the Water District staff or its various contractors. This amounted to 54 miles of new main, totaling more than 9 million dollars.
By using the web site as a vehicle for communication, access to valuable on-line information and the use of Web enabled GIS applications, a decrease in District main extension contract turnaround time can be realized. The potential reduction of staff time per contract will increase efficiency by Water District No. 1 and provide for increased service to our customer.
Conclusion
The potential uses of the web site are numerous. Its core purpose is to provide “focused” information as it relates to the planning, design and construction community. Information providers can continually keep digital information updated and available to potential users. Data providers would be in total control as to what digital information would be provided to their potential users through the use of on-line security and data entry forms. End users would have, available to them for the first time, up to date information required to bid, plan and complete projects on a 24 hour, 7 days a week time-table. Realized savings of time and costs could be achieved through the carefil presentation and navigation of information posted on the site. Increased communication and customer service would also be greatly increased.
With the APWA InfoLink web site, the reality of a nation-wide distributed repository of information linked together to provide data sharing, maintained by providers of information from various disciplines and accessed by users desiring up-to-date information to complete projects on-time and under budget, is being realized.