Santa Rosa's Digital Timeline

<p>1972-- Santa Rosa begins processing utility bills on computerized punch-card system. It outsources the work to Sonoma County, which loses an entire month of its utility bills.</p><p>1976-- The city hires Xerox Computer Services to begin digitizing records, such as utility bills and police files.</p><p>1980-- The city pays $550,000 for computers and software to retain digital records in-house.</p><p>1983-- City installs word processing workstations.</p><p>1984-- Police Department gets first digital dispatch system.</p><p>1987-- City buys first PC and installs WordPerfect. It slowly begins phasing out workstations.</p><p>1995-- A PC is on nearly every city desk, totaling more than 1,000 personal computers.</p><p>1997-- The city launches its first Web site.</p><p>1998-- The same year Google is founded, employees begin overlaying property lines onto a digital map of Santa Rosa, creating the city's first geographical information system.</p><p>1999-- GIS curries favor with city employees who no longer have to spend hours locating and transcribing addresses to inform residents located near proposed building projects, as required by law. GIS locates addresses and prints out mailing labels within minutes.</p><p>2000-- City Council approves budget for a GIS coordinator. Aerial photos incorporated into GIS system.</p><p>2001 to 2002-- Heaps of digital blueprints, such as the location of sewer lines, fire hydrants, light poles and stop signs, are added to city's GIS.</p><p>2003-- City puts part of GIS system online and makes it available to the public.</p><p>2002 to 2007-- GIS system grows steadily as more digital records added. Building permits are attached to specific residential and commercial addresses. GIS becomes backbone of city's digital records and is relied upon by hundreds of employees.</p><p>2008-- The GIS system enters another period of rapid growth. The city adds 3-D models of downtown, street-level photos from every street and announces plans to enter the latitude and longitude of every fixed asset managed by the city.</p><p>Source: City of Santa Rosa</p>