RICHMOND VA—June 2, 2006 – Timmons Group is pleased to announce its completion of a robust GIS interface for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) statewide Data Sharing System (DSS).
DSS has been identified as one of the most “cutting-edge” and beneficial environmental data systems in the US by FEMA, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Science.
In fulfillment of the DHR mission and vision, DSS is a tool to provide spatial analysis and information dissemination of historic, architectural, archeological and cultural resources. DHR employees, property owners, developers, local planners, public agency officials and community leaders leverage DSS to ensure timely and informed decisions are made regarding Virginia’s significant properties.
DSS was developed as a major initiative to counteract shrinking staff levels and budgets. It is a tool that has improved DHR productivity levels as a state agency, even in the face of increased requests for historic preservation services. In FY 2004, DSS helped DHR respond to 4351 federal and state requests for environmental review. Benefits include: increased productivity, better customer service, centralized data repository and efficient workflow for capturing and maintaining state assets.
DSS serves the needs of long-term planning goals, as well as decisions made on an emergency-basis. In its early stages, the application was used by FEMA Historic Preservation Specialists in the aftermaths of Hurricane Isabel and Tropical Storm Gaston. One of the most fundamentally important features of the program is that users are able to map and generate detailed accounts of DHR-managed resources, as well as add custom annotation to the maps highlighting areas of interest when creating hardcopy reports.
“DSS is an example of how Timmons Group can make the most of technology for state agencies and improve their effectiveness to serve the public, thereby helping them to become nationally recognized leaders,” said Dave Lucado, president of Timmons Group.
The DSS site is built on ESRI ArcIMS© and ArcSDE© on Oracle.
About Timmons Group
Timmons Group is a leading provider of geospatial, information architecture, engineering and consulting services across the United States. Headquartered in Virginia, Timmons Group has offices throughout the Mid-Atlantic. As a privately held ENR 500 company, Timmons Group maintains a strong business partner relationship with ESRI and has been a recipient of both the ESRI Business Partner of the Year award and the ESRI Foundation Partner of the Year award.
For more information about the DSS application or Timmons Group services, contact Lowell Ballard at lowell.ballard@timmons.com, or at 804.200.6500.