December 11, 2008 By News Report
Photo: Providence, R.I.
Rhode Island Department of Public Safety Director Colonel Brendan Doherty and E 9-1-1 Associate Director Ray LaBelle today presented representatives of nearly 30 Rhode Island communities with new computer technology to help them more accurately plan for a variety of local emergencies.
"Pictometry access brings public safety technology to a higher level of service and excellence," noted Doherty.
The "Pictometry" software allows community leaders to access a digital library of images of a local landscape to see buildings, street lights, fire hydrants and other landmarks from both high-level and low-level angles. This is extremely important imagery technology for first responder missions, GIS mapping, and transportation and community planning.
Associate Director of E 9-1-1 Ray LaBelle said "Every community in Rhode Island will benefit from the multiple interfaces this technology will provide to them."
This is the software that is used by the Emergency 911 center to help describe the location of incoming emergency calls to first responders in cities and towns across the state. Now, thanks to a federal Homeland Security grant from the R.I. Emergency Management Agency, local communities can also use that resource.
Four of Rhode Island's largest communities, Providence, Cranston, Warwick and Newport have already adopted this technology.
This Digital Communities white paper highlights discussions with IT officials in four counties that have adopted shared services models. Our aim was to learn about the obstacles these governments have faced when it comes to shared services and what it takes to overcome those roadblocks. We also spoke with several members of the IT industry who have thought long and hard about these issues. The paper offers some best practices for shared government-to-government services, but also points out challenges that government and industry still must overcome before this model gains widespread adoption.
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