Grade your Data and be NG9-1-1 Ready

Calling all geospatial first responders! Yup… if you maintain authoritative street centreline and address point data, you are a geospatial first responder! That’s because your data is required for Next Generation 9-1-1.   

A key goal for NG9-1-1 is to have accurate data. If you don’t know that your data is quite ready to be consumed for NG9-1-1, don’t panic. We have a solution that will help get you there. It’s called the NG9-1-1 GIS Validator! 

Frequently Asked Questions about NG9-1-1 

The NG9-1-1 GIS Validator is a free, easy to use online application developed for GIS data owners—like you!—to validate their data against the NENA Standard for NG9-1-1 GIS Data Model.  

The current roadmap estimates the transition to NG9-1-1 to be completed in 2025.  This means local governments need to begin the process to standardize their data now. Working with municipalities and the Emergency Services Working Group (ESWG), Esri Canada was asked to come up with a solution to support this standardization process.  

Geospatial first responders upload their data into the app and get a report that uses a scoring system to identify missing or mismatched data for review and correction.  

“GIS data is a critical component to ensure the future success of NG9-1-1 call routing. The NG9-1-1 GIS Validator will allow local governments to understand and assess their readiness to provide this essential location data for NG9-1-1 in 2024 and beyond,” said Robert Darts, co-chair, TIF92 and senior manager – Application Services, E-Comm 9-1-1, a member of ESWG. 

There are 4 main components to the Validator: 

Currently, the Validator accepts and performs checks on the following GIS layers: 

• Site/Structure Address Points 
• Road Centrelines 
• Emergency Service Boundaries (Police, Fire, EMS) 
• Provisioning Boundary 

As part of the Validator application, you can view and download a scorecard detailing how well your data matches the NENA GIS Data Model. 

After running the Validator, you can modify your data based on the scorecard results and re-submit. Odds are, though, you won’t get it right the first time, but the good news is that you can rinse and repeat the process to your heart’s content. Remember – failure is just another opportunity to do better! And please note that this is an anonymous process. Esri Canada does not keep your data. You simply upload, it does its thing, you get the analysis results, we delete the data. 

The NG9-1-1 GIS Validator is available now.  And because it is an online app, there is no software to install! 

If you would like to learn more about the NG9-1-1 GIS Validator, check out the following: 

• Free informational webinar on June 8 – registration is required
   

Happy Validating!!!

This post was translated to French and can be viewed here.