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ORStats displays a list and dynamic map of projects.
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On Feb. 5, Gov. Kulongoski signed into law Go Oregon!, a state stimulus package that dedicates $175 million for construction, renovation and major deferred maintenance of buildings and other facilities that are owned by state government, local communities, universities and community colleges.
Less than three months later, because of work by members of the Department of Administrative Services’ Geospatial Enterprise Office and ODOT’s Major Projects Branch, six state agencies are already able to track, map and report on where that money has gone and who has benefitted from it, through the Oregon Stimulus Transparency and Accountability Tracking System, or ORStats.
“As with the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the watchwords of Go Oregon! are transparency and accountability: Where did the money go, what did it do, and how effectively was it used?” said Tom Lauer, Major Projects Branch manager. “In the same way that a watershed maps all the contributing streams to a river system, ORStats maps the path of dollars through specific communities.”
In ORStats, viewers see two versions of the same information: a list of projects and a dynamic map of projects that is live and updatable in real time. A user looking for information about projects scheduled near Astoria, for example, could zoom in to see them depicted at street level, or overhead with photos from the state’s aerial photo library.
Accompanying the map is basic project management information such as where the money is coming from, the name of contractors receiving money and amount of payments, and the number of contractors who are from Oregon. Where other states’ online stimulus maps simply show project location and budget, ORStats links the project budget, funding source, contractor, any subcontractors, and the community, providing the transparency and accountability the state and federal government are looking for as they disburse taxpayer dollars to stimulate the economy.
“This application will eventually provide many of our partner agencies, both state and federal, with accurate information in a highly efficient way,” said Cy Smith, statewide GIS coordinator. “It takes advantage of the same data elements and Web-based delivery already developed for the Bridge Reporting System on the OTIA III bridge program, and it generates reports that match what federal agencies need, so data from state and local agencies doesn’t have to be entered twice.”
The initial version of the system went live April 24, and its developers have demonstrated it to almost every state agency and the cities of Portland and Salem. ODOT’s Support Services Branch will enter data from Go Oregon! to pilot the new application.
“This is a great tool to move beyond the multiple manual systems we use now,” said John Fagan, business manager of Support Services. “With an easy single point of entry, we can quickly access data to respond to the hundreds of requests we receive about the status of the various ODOT Go Oregon! stimulus projects.”
At a certain point, the body of data becomes predictive, that is, it can be used for planning. The Oregon Employment Department, which is partnering with ODOT, provides information about all Oregon contractors and unemployed people, including those in the construction trades. The ORStats map can display the concentration of unemployed by area. When administrators need to prioritize competing projects, they will be able to run an analysis that ranks all projects based on addressing the greatest rate of unemployment. With other data, for example, figures on crime, health or education, the application could be extended to measure additional impacts of stimulus dollars.
ARRA rules require that the recipient have a fund-tracking system in place. Because of ODOT’s extensive experience in administering contracts, the new Oregon database and mapping application may serve as a prototype for other organizations and jurisdictions.
ODOT has 101 projects worth $4.4 million in the Go Oregon! program. Sixty-one are already complete, and all the remaining projects are under way. Fifty-seven contracts, valued at more than $1.1 million, have been awarded to disadvantaged, minority-owned, women-owned and emerging small businesses.
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