WILDFIRE DEFENSE SYSTEMS

Business workflow optimization and Esri ArcGIS geodatabase development.

The Wildfire Defense Systems project consolidated information from several insurance companies into an Esri ArcGIS geodatabase feature class designed by GCS. Various insurance companies supplied Wildfire Defense Systems with data in spreadsheets, without any definition of standard attributes or rules for data capture (for instance, how many fields are required to capture house number, street name, and street type for an address and what are they named). The first phase for GCS was requirements analysis and design of the attributes and metadata most important to Wildfire Defense Systems to ensure the consolidation would maintain relevant information and present a scheme that was useful to them.

Another vendor had already implemented a process for importing the insurance spreadsheets into a single database (built for a separate purpose). GCS developed a process using desktop tools in ArcMap to connect to this third-party database and extract data. We created a custom Python script that accessed and downloaded the data into feature classes in the geodatabase we created. This included geocoding of approximately 600 points. Once the feature classes were populated, personnel at Wildfire Defense Systems could use Esri GIS tools to perform various analyses. GCS also provided training and consulting on how best to implement and use the commercial Esri tools to achieve their goals with this data.

As the data from the insurance companies changed, the client used the workflow and scripts GCS developed to obtain a download into the feature classes, compare changed records for versioning, perform new geocoding as needed automatically, and update the geodatabase to the established standards as designed.