Should GIS database design focus solely on agency needs or incorporate requirements of surrounding entities?
For reasons such as exigency/urgency, severe budgetary constraints, and lack of expertise, an argument can be made to focus solely on agency needs. And sometimes, agencies may adopt that posture because they have an “empire unto themselves” attitude. However, the geography that underpins GIS logically calls for designing real-world databases on such principles as interactions and interrelationships with surrounding entities. William Walter, GISP, Florida chapter of URISA, outlines a case situation resolving this issue: “The airport authority, essentially a small city, developed numerous layers capturing infrastructure information used for maintenance and planning activities. When planning for expansions and development-related activities, GIS information generated by the county is required to evaluate impacts on the surrounding community. Significant data manipulation efforts by the airport GIS Staff were required to match local government data with the airport database. Common GIS dat
