Context
The management of the city’s public green spaces is the responsibility of Vienna’s Municipal Department 42 – Parks and Gardens (MA 42). The project involved procuring software from d.b.g. (Datenbankgesellschaft mbH) to build three digital land registers: a green space register, a tree register and a playground equipment register. These were integrated with Vienna’s geographic information system (GIS) to enable visualisation, analysis and support resource management decisions. GIS is a computer system that works with geographically referenced data, meaning data that has a specific location on Earth. This data can be anything from the location of parks and trees, to population density, traffic patterns or weather patterns.
Objectives
The project had wide-ranging objectives. A key goal was to replace incomplete and unreliable data within the existing registers. This involved geocoding green spaces, trees and playground equipment to spatially link them within the GIS. The project aimed to improve operational efficiency by documenting maintenance work and time spent through a smartphone app, facilitating data transfer and establishing reference times for various tasks. A long-term goal was to give MA 42 the data to make better-informed decisions on resource planning, work allocation and potential outsourcing to improve the quality and consistency of park maintenance across Vienna.
Implementation
Implementation started in April 2016 with a workshop to define the project plan and structure, involving 29 employees from relevant MA 42 units. Project management employed a detailed timeline, and regular team meetings ensured progress. The project proceeded in phases, including data collection, defining fundamentals, outlining detailed software requirements, coordinating with d.b.g for customisation and implementing the adapted software with user training. The City of Vienna’s Chief Executive Office and Municipal Department 01 – Information Technology (MA 01) provided support. While the project was formally completed in July 2018, there are ongoing tasks such as streamlining data transfer, harmonising the three registers and continuous software development in collaboration with d.b.g.