CDO GIS Still Going Strong After 20 Years

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Way back in 1994 I and my colleagues in the Cebu City GIS Center had the privilege of training employees of the Cagayan de Oro Department of Planning and Development on GIS. We were all mentored by Peter Rabley and Nigel Edmead, at that time engaged by the Decentralized Shelter and Urban Development Project of USAID. The project was administered by Boy Dulce and his boss Harry Dickherber.

Last week I participated in a meeting between DENR X, represented by RTD Jun Melicor, and the City Government of CDO, represented by my friends Telly Sagaral and Sid Borja.  It was good to learn that the CDO GIS Center has continued to function since 1994.  They have more than 60 layers of information in their data holdings, have migrated to ArcGIS, and still operate out of the same office where they started.

Many LGUs established GIS facilities in the last 20 years or so. Only a handful, such as CDO's, have been able to sustain operations. Our interview revealed some factors that helped them to continue operating.  First, an organic Department (the Planning Office) has integrated the GIS unit into its organization. Second, the Center developed a key data layer - parcel files - which are still being maintained, in cooperation with the Assessor's Office. Third, the Center was able to develop bench depth in its technical personnel. Some of the senior operators left for jobs abroad or jobs with ODA projects, but another batch of employees were able to take over their work.

The challenge for CDO GIS, as I see it, is how to engage other Departments of the City Government into using their data and technology. We intend to get Department Heads to accept the role of "Data Stewards" for specific data layers. A Data Steward Department would be maintain its assigned data layer (e.g., Engineering will be responsible for the Road Network) for use by other Departments. This way, we hope, the CDO GIS Center will not only last longer, but will also be able to serve a wider constituency.

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