Engagement methods
Community profiling: in-house GIS
Most public service organisations have an in-house team of analysts, with access to the same data, as well as additional refinements. These local GIS tools often integrate local activity data, management information, and other administrative data, to provide a layering of information.
For example, local GIS analysis may show you the demographic profile of a neighbourhood, together with the incidence of certain crimes, and resident satisfaction ratings from local surveys.
Another advantage of an in-house GIS service is that this may give you more flexibility for defining the neighbourhoods or communities which you want to analyse. For example, you may wish to focus on different geographical clusters, or on specific demographic groups within an area or neighbourhood.
You may find that your GIS unit is pretty busy with corporate tasks, and that special profiling tasks need to be scheduled. Some analysts also may require you to give them a detailed specification of what you want. It therefore is helpful to invest time in developing the relationship with GIS experts, and to work together to establish what can be achieved and how.
 |
 |