2005
Finance
Brett Forsey, Alfred Power, Conrad Power
The Socio-Economic Spatial Analysis (SESA) team at the Newfoundland and Labrador Statistics Agency provides provincial, federal and municipal government users and citizens with a method for organizing, analyzing and visualizing large collections of spatially related information. This is done through the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies, allowing stakeholders to custom develop data products. This team’s work contributes to successful regional or community economic development initiatives by providing current local information for policy planners in formats they can understand and use.
The unit’s three full-time employees have over 45 years of combined experience in public service administration and spatial analysis expertise. This team provides “smart mapping” technology with maps linked to data representing physical objects such as roads, businesses, fire and police services, and social and economic factors such as income, labour force characteristics, health attributes. By integrating digital mapping technology and geographic data with available physical, social, economic and health data, users are better able to analyze, display and map the characteristics of citizens, infrastructure and resources in the province. A single picture is definitely proving to be better than a thousand words.
To date, the team has created more than 300 physical, social and economic map layers. They incorporate advanced GIS technologies to allow users to statistically determine, with a high level of confidence, future demands for required services and outcomes for specific communities and regions. This enables stakeholders to analyze the best location and allocation of government services and resources and descriptions of catchment areas for schools, hospitals, courthouses, school bus systems and ambulance services, to name a few.
SESA’s work has made Newfoundland and Labrador a leader in information and knowledge management. Other jurisdictions envy our abilities in this area. SESA should be applauded for its ability to maintain existing knowledge of the province’s social and economic geography and continually build upon it. The value the SESA team brings to the work of government departments and agencies, as well as the private sector, has been touted asa vivid example of the core values of the public service and its employees.