Emerging GIS Resources
Emerging GIS Resources
What’s It All About?
The NYS GIS Association was awarded a $10,000 grant by The Fund for The City of New York to assess the GIS needs and resources for municipalities throughout NYS and identify potential strategies and solutions for the increased use of GIS. Although GIS is used extensively in many areas, there are still places in New York state that do not use GIS or could use it more effectively. This page provides a central repository of resources that are available to anyone wanting to learn more about growing GIS in New York state.
GIS Return on Investment Calculator
The NYS GIS Association in collaboration with the Fund for City of New York has developed GISCalc, an Excel return-on-investment tool. GISCalc allows you to quickly estimate the benefits to your jurisdiction of using GIS. The formulas in GISCalc are based on a hundred documented GIS applications which were grouped into benefit categories, and whose ROI metrics were extracted for use in the model.
GISCalc allows you to adjust inputs based on easy-to-find characteristics of your own jurisdiction. It also allows you to either accept default benefit factors or to customize them as you wish. There is a worksheet included where you can also factor in costs. You may run GISCalc as many times as you wish to gauge benefits according to different benefit and cost scenarios.
Please take GISCalc for a spin and see if it provides you with useful information. We want to know if you found GISCalc helpful and whether you have recommendations for improvement. Please provide feedback or requests for assistance to info@nysgis.net.
We’d like to thank Paul Epstein and Brett Whysel for their work in designing GISCalc. Thanks also to Dr. Mary McCormick, President of the Fund for the City of New York for providing the funding that made the development of this tool possible.
Real Project Descriptions
Interviews were conducted with New York State County and Municipal GIS Leaders
Video Series
State of the State in GIS
County and Municipal GIS Contacts
Regional Group | Name POC | Jurisdiction | Type Jurisdiction | Phone | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adirondacks | Star Carter | Regional-DANC | State Authority | scarter@danc.org | 315-661-3261 |
Adirondacks | Mickey Dietrich | Regional-Tug Hill Commission | State Authority | mickey.nysgisa@gmail.com | 315-785-2380 |
Adirondacks | Jim Walker | Herkimer County | County | jwalker@herkimercounty.org | 315-867-1280 |
Adirondacks | Ben Goff | Essex County | County | bgoff@co.essex.ny.us | 518-873-3792 |
Adirondacks | Matthew Owen | City of Watertown | Municipality | mowen@watertown-ny.gov | 315-785-7793 |
Adirondacks | Glen Cutter | Clinton County | County | glen.cutter@clintoncountygov.com | 518-565-4567 |
Adirondacks | Cynthia Dumas | Franklin County | County | cdumas@co.franklin.ny.us | 518-481-1504 |
Adirondacks | Jason Pfotenhauer | St Lawrence County | County | jpfotenhauer@co.st-lawrence.ny.us | 315-379-2292 |
Adirondacks (N Country) | Barry Baker | Hamilton County | County | realproperty@hamiltoncountyny.gov | 518-548-5531 |
Adirondacks (N Country) | Sara Frankenfeld | Warren County | County | frankenfelds@warrencountyny.gov | 518-761-6410 |
Adirondacks (N Country) | Heather Weller | Washington County | County | hweller@co.washington.ny.us | 518-746-2130 |
Adirondacks (N Country) (CDRPC) | Troy Hilts | Saratoga County | County | thilts@saratogacountyny.gov | 518-884-4705 |
Adirondacks (Tug Hill) | Michelle Bunny | Jefferson County | County | michelleb@co.jefferson.ny.us | 315-785-3144 |
Adirondacks (Tug Hill) | Russell Brownell | Lewis County | County | russbrownell@lewiscounty.ny.gov | 315-377-2026 |
Capital | Mary Millus | City of Albany | Municipality | mmillus@albanyny.gov | 518-434-5286 |
Capital | Todd Fabozzi | Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC) | Regional | todd@cdrpc.org | 518-453-0850 |
Capital (CDRPC) | Laura DeGaetano | Albany County | County | laura.degaetano@albanycounty.com | 518-447-5670 |
Capital (CDRPC) | Jolene Weidlich | Rensselaer County | County | jweidlich@rensco.com | 518-270-2682 |
Catskills | Thomas Hynes | Ulster County | County | thyn@co.ulster.ny.us | 845-334-5396 |
Catskills | Jennifer Stone | Sullivan County | County | jennifer.stone@co.sullivan.ny.us | 845-807-0224 |
Catskills | Spencer DeVaul | Delaware County | County | spencer.devaul@co.delaware.ny.us | 607-746-2944 |
Catskills | Daniel Munoz | Orange County | County | dmunoz@orangecountygov.com | 845-615-3791 |
Catskills | Ray Ward | Greene County | County | rward@discovergreene.com | 518-719-3525 |
Central NY | Don Jordan | Onondaga County | County | donjordan@ongov.net | 315-435-2631 |
Central NY | Don Jordan | City of Syracuse | Municipality | donjordan@ongov.net | 315-435-2631 |
Central NY | Michael Ellis | Madison County | County | michael.ellis@madisoncounty.ny.gov | 315-366-2348 |
Central NY | Eric Lopez | Cortland County | County | elopez@cortland-co.org | 607-753-5043 |
Central NY | Nick Colas | Cayuga County | County | ncolas@co.cayuga.ny.us | 315-253-1276 |
Central NY | Kyle Dornich | Otsego County | County | dornichk@otsegocounty.com | 607-547-4220 |
Central NY (Tug Hill) | Adrian Armstrong | Oswego County | County | aarmstrong@oswegocounty.com | 315-349-8315 |
Central NY (Tug Hill) | Jeffrey Quackenbush | Oneida County | County | jquackenbush@ocgov.net | 315-798-5009 |
GIS SIG | Mike Ross | City of Rochester | Municipality | mike.ross@cityofrochester.gov | 585-428-6103 |
GIS SIG | Dawn Allen | Orleans County | County | dawn.allen@orleansny.com | 585-589-5400 |
GIS SIG | Erin Pence | Genesee County | County | erin.pence@co.genesee.ny.us | 585-815-7901 |
GIS SIG | James Kirsch | Wyoming County | County | jkirsch@wyomingco.net | 585-786-8828 |
GIS SIG | Scott McCarty | Monroe County | County | smccarty@monroecounty.gov | 585-753-7502 |
GIS SIG | Angela Ellis | Livingston County | County | aellis@co.livingston.ny.us | 585-243-7550 |
GIS SIG | Bret DeRoo | Wayne County | County | bderoo@co.wayne.ny.us | 315-946-5919 |
GIS SIG | Roger Paddock | Yates County | County | realproperty@yatescounty.org | 315-536-5165 |
GIS SIG | Mike Karlsen | Seneca County | County | mkarlsen@co.seneca.ny.us | 315-539-1719 |
GIS SIG | Sheri Norton | Ontario County | County | sheri.norton@co.ontario.ny.us | 585-396-4482 |
GISMO NYC | Colin Reilly | New York City (5 Counties) | Municipality | creilly@doitt.nyc.gov | 718-403-8394 |
Hudson Valley | Robert Wills | Dutchess County | County | rwills@dutchessny.gov | 845-486-3643 |
Hudson Valley | Doug Schuetz | Rockland County | County | schuetzd@co.rockland.ny.us | 845-364-3421 |
Hudson Valley | Sam Wear | Westchester County | County | stw1@westchestergov.com | 914-995-3047 |
Hudson Valley | Jane DeGennaro | Columbia County | County | jane.degennaro@columbiacountyny.com | 518-828-7334 |
Hudson Valley | Arlene Owen | Putnam County | County | arlene.owen@putnamcountyny.gov | 845-808-4000 |
LIGIS | Ross Baldwin | Town of Southampton | Municipality | rbaldwin@southamptontownny.gov | 631-702-1994 |
LIGIS | Ed Eisenstein | Nassau County | County | eeisenstein@nassaucountyny.gov | 516-448-7072 |
LIGIS | Jim Daly | Suffolk County | County | james.daly@suffolkcountyny.gov | 631-853-6045 |
Mohawk Valley | Neusa McWilliams | Fulton County | County | nmcwilliams@fultoncountyny.gov | 518-736-5660 |
Mohawk Valley | Amanda Bearcroft | Montgomery County | County | abearcroft@co.montgomery.ny.us | 518-853-8334 |
Mohawk Valley | Brian Fleury | Schoharie County | County | brianfleury@co.schoharie.ny.us | 518-295-8770 |
Mohawk Valley (CDRPC) | Mark Storti | Schenectady County | County | mark.storti@schenectadycounty.com | 518-386-2225 x6 |
Southern Tier | Doug English | Broome County | County | denglish@co.broome.ny.us | 607-778-6505 |
Southern Tier | Doug English | City of Binghamton | Municipality | denglish@co.broome.ny.us | 607-77--6505 |
Southern Tier | Steve Wilber | Chemung County | County | swilber@co.chemung.ny.us | 607-873-1150 |
Southern Tier | Dan Kahabka | Steuben County | County | dkahabka@co.steuben.ny.us | 607-664-2268 |
Southern Tier | Louise Windus | Allegany County | County | windusl@alleganyco.com | 585-268-9384 |
Southern Tier | Kristen Van Horn | Schuyler County | County | kvanhorn@co.schuyler.ny.us | 607-535-8211 |
Southern Tier | Steven Graham | Chenango County | County | steveng@co.chenango.ny.us | 607-337-1494 |
Southern Tier | Dave Bubniak | Regional-Southern Tier Planning Council | Regional | gisstc@stny.rr.com | 607-962-5092 x210 |
Southern Tier | Bill Ostrander | Tioga County | County | ostranderw@co.tioga.ny.us | 607-687-8293 |
Southern Tier (SYNERGIS) | Ruth Aslanis | City of Ithaca | Municipality | raslanis@cityofithaca.org | 607-272-1717 x233 |
Southern Tier (SYNERGIS) | Cattyann Campbell | Tompkins County | County | gis@tompkins-co.org | 607-274-5417 |
WNYSGIS | Jim Jones | Town of Tonawanda | Municipality | jjones@tonawanda.ny.us | 716-877-8805 |
WNYSGIS | Dale Morris | Erie County | County | dale.morris@erie.gov | 716-858-7422 |
WNYSGIS | Chris Conlee | City of Buffalo | Municipality | cconlee@ch.ci.buffalo.ny.us | 716-851-5583 |
WNYSGIS | Lisa Casey | Niagara County | County | lisa.casey@niagaracounty.com | 716-439-7121 |
WNYSGIS | Brian Barnes | Town of Amherst | Municipality | bbarnes@amherst.ny.us | 716-631-7069 |
WNYSGIS | Chris Holewinski | Cattaraugus County | County | cdholewinski@cattco.org | 716-938-2322 |
WNYSGIS | Jonathan DeAngelo | Chautauqua County | County | cio@chautauquacounty.com | 716-753-4800 |
A CIO Perspective on Integrating Geo-Information Systems into IT by Alan Leidner
Introduction
As an everyday part of their jobs, CIOs of large county and city governments must integrate an ever-growing and evolving variety of capabilities and technologies to ensure the effective management of computer systems serving the needs of their jurisdictions. Over the past years, CIOs have had to contend with rapidly advancing Internet services, new generations of software and programming languages, high speed telecommunications technologies, wireless communications, cloud computing, making sense of social media generated “big data”, cyber security, building information management (BIM), smart infrastructure, and a proliferation of mobile devices and PDAs. Also, ever since microcomputers sparked an explosion of computer use outside the jurisdiction of the centralized mainframe world, CIOs have had to deal sensitively with a complex environment where agency-based IT managers who did not come under the CIO’s direct control have a major hand in implementing departmental systems. Into this challenging environment, CIOs are also increasingly contending with geospatial information systems (GIS), trying to find the optimal balance between central control and laissez faire policies. The purpose of this chapter is to explore the synergies between central IT and GIS, and the role of the CIO in maximizing and measuring their benefits.
Copyright PTI. “CIO Leadership for Cities & Counties – Emerging Trends and Practices”; second edition; to be published May 2016.
NYS ShareGIS

Authoritative GIS data and tools should be easy to discover, understand and available for use by all. The GIS Core Services team has embarked on an initiative to build the ShareGIS environment in answer to the need for a statewide GIS Platform. More..