The objective of this workshop is to provide GIS advocates with the insight, know-how and “do-it-yourself” tools to quantify and communicate the value of GIS to decision makers regarding funding and /other support for GIS-based projects . Relevant for new or mature GIS implementations, the process is based upon the methodology described in Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach published by ESRI Inc. and co-authored by the management consulting firm PA Consulting Group. The method builds upon the insights and guidance provided in an article published in the January 2010 issue of AWRA IMPACT Magazine “Five Critical Success Factors: Beyond ROI” authored by the workshop leader Ross Smith.

This seminar is for GIS advocates who are seeking to better:

• Compete to secure an appropriate share of IT-related budget for geospatial initiatives
• Prove the real value of a GIS-related investment using quantitative measures
• Prioritize GIS-related investments based on the value delivered
• Deconstruct complex GIS programs into manageable components
• Deliver a growing portfolio of complex GIS-enabled initiatives
• Deliver a visible and tangible impact to their organization, not just project milestones.
  
  

The workshop also provides an overview of the book Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach including its free tools and templates that allow attendees to put the insights gained on this workshop into practice at their own organization.

GIS advocates have known for years that geospatial technology in the office and in the field can play a significant role in helping water utilities/ water resources agencies and organizations improve business operations, meet regulatory obligations, improve the customer experience and increase shareholder/public value. However, determining the scale and pace of investment in geospatial technologies in order to maximize their Return On Investment (ROI) has not been so easy. In response, PA Consulting Group teamed with ESRI Inc to publish “Business Benefits of GIS: An ROI Approach” (2008) (www.esri.com/roi) in order to provide the know-how and tools for GIS professionals to build robust quantitative business cases and multi-year strategic plans specific to Enterprise GIS.

The workshop topics include:

• Discussing various valuation methods appropriate for GIS
• Developing GIS Strategic plans and business cases
• Forecasting and estimating GIS program budgets (capital and operational)
• Quantifying the benefits delivered – how to quantitatively model and prove the value of geospatial projects in monetary or other relevant quantitative terms
• Using return on investment models and measures – scenario-based ROI models, Net Present Value, Internal Rate of Return The approach and tools described provide attendees with a pragmatic and understandable means to calculate value, simplifying the seemingly complex financial calculations for non-financial people.
  
  

Attendees will be introduced to the accumulated best practices encapsulated in a robust GIS ROI methodology. They will be able to successfully employ the tools and insights in order to develop sound GIS Strategic Plans, Business Cases and Implementation Roadmaps – or simply to communicate the value of a single GIS project to senior executives. This fully scalable approach is relevant for small or large (Enterprise) GIS programs.

The number of students will be limited to 45. Students will be enrolled in the order in which their registration is received. This workshop has been cancelled.

To present to GIS and water resources analysts ArcGIS capabilities to support hydrologic and hydraulic (H&H) analyses using established GIS tools. The target audience includes hydrologists, water resources engineers and managers, GIS analysts, and anyone interested in learning what GIS can do for H&H data collection, preparation, model assembly, and result processing.

As a technology for spatial data storage, processing, and visualization, GIS offers many capabilities that can be used to support H&H modeling. Over the years, GIS technology has been successfully used to both perform simple modeling and support complex numerical models. This workshop presents GIS techniques that can be used for terrain analyses, spatial and temporal integration, hydrologic and hydraulic characteristics extraction, numerical model input and output, modeling process automation, and result mapping.

HEC’s GeoHMS and GeoRAS, Streamline Technology’s ICPR, and USGS’s StreamStats, each built upon foundation methodologies, data model, and toolset provided by Arc Hydro, form the modeling backbone for H&H analyses used in this workshop. The workshop will take full advantage of ArcGIS and its extensions in order to support a variety of requirements that H&H analyses pose to GIS technology.

The expected outcomes from the workshop are that participants will understand the fundamental principles of GIS and H&H modeling integration, will see GIS and modeling tools in action, will gain appreciation for what GIS can and cannot do for modeling, and understand the GIS and model limitations with respect to quality of supporting data.

Attendees should have some background in GIS and/or H&H modeling. The participants will not be using computers during the workshop, so experience with particular GIS or modeling software is not required.

The number of students will be limited and participants will be enrolled in the order of their registration. The course will be cancelled if fewer than 15 students enroll by March 8, 2010.