Merced County Selects DATAMARK Public Safety and GIS Expert Team for NG9-1-1 Preparation

Synchronized, accurate master road and address data will benefit public safety organizations as well as enterprise planning groups

SANTA ANA, Calif., May 29, 2019 – The Merced County California GIS Department, along with its Public Safety Communications Division, awarded DATAMARK the nearly $109,000 contract to develop a master road and address database for use by public safety agencies and enterprise planning committees. The project, which goes through December 2019, will leverage DATAMARK’s expertise in GIS and public safety and DATAMARK VEP to increase both the completeness and accuracy of Merced County’s road and address database for address management and Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) GIS data preparation purposes.

DATAMARK will work with Merced County GIS and Public Safety Communications professionals to assess and create the master road and address database from existing sources of address data. In addition to assisting the public safety groups with their current 9-1-1 and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems, the newly created database advances Merced County’s readiness for the transition to NG9-1-1. Enterprise planning groups will also leverage the complete and accurate address database to better serve roads, assessors, election and planning committees.

“I first met DATAMARK at an NG9-1-1 educational workshop and conversations continued from there about how Merced County can be proactive about implementing GIS data for NG9-1-1,” said Gene Barrera, GIS Manager, Merced County. “The DATAMARK team’s cross-disciplinary expertise in public safety and GIS, as well as the work they have been conducting in support of California’s NG9-1-1 initiative, makes them a true partner and leader in GIS innovation.”

Merced County will also utilize DATAMARK VEP, a powerful SaaS-based validation, editing and provisioning tool for both current 9-1-1 systems and the transition to NG9-1-1 systems. DATAMARK VEP focuses on all aspects of the GIS information provisioned to an NG9-1-1 system – from data creation and cleansing to data quality, integration and maintenance workflows. It resolves the upgrade challenges, improves public safety communication location precision and ensures the data meets the stringent NG9-1-1 requirements.

“Serving multiple departments with a single data source is visionary for public safety and enterprise planning and execution,” said Jeff Ledbetter, Public Safety GIS Expert at DATAMARK. Merced County’s proactive work with DATAMARK meets the current and future needs of not only public safety but additional county departments, and positions them at the forefront of NG9-1-1 preparedness.”