Abstract:

“Your proverbial nightmare.” That's what Horry County, S.C., assistant information technology (IT)/GIS director Tim Oliver calls the multiple centerline databases that served Myrtle Beach during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The county and five cities maintained their own databases, each with entirely different information. The mismatched data made it difficult to coordinate intergovernmental emergency response and cleanup efforts during hurricanes and other catastrophes. “Not one of these agreed with another,” says Oliver. “Something had to change.” Change came in 2004 as part of a new GIS division. The first order of business: create a single, integrated system. Meanwhile, Horry County's public safety director Paul Whitten called attention to a need for intergovernmental public safety services. This required highly accurate data, hefty computing power, and a high-speed, fiber-optic communications network. With the support of county council members, the county's IT manager, Sheila Butler, teamed with Oliver and Whitten to create an information management system that crosses departments and jurisdictions.