Creation of the portal is a key early goal of the Ohio Water Resources Council (OWRC), a state entity comprised of an executive assistant to Governor Bob Taft and the heads of nine state agencies: the Ohio departments of agriculture, development, health, natural resources, and transportation; the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency; the Ohio Public Works Commission; the Ohio Water Development Authority; and the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

OWRC’s objective in creating the portal is to provide easy access to water and related resource data and information though the Internet. PlanGraphics’ services to OWRC will include determining portal requirements of potential users; evaluating a variety of existing operational portals for their capabilities, technologies, and resource requirements and recommending models that Ohio could follow; and producing a conceptual design and an implementation plan for actual portal development.

The project, which is expected to take four to six months to complete, will conclude with a formal report to and briefing of the Council.

PlanGraphics, founded in 1979, is a full life-cycle systems integration and implementation firm providing a broad range of services in the design and implementation of information technology in the public and commercial sectors. PlanGraphics’ experience with spatial information systems and e-services capabilities provides a critical discriminator among other IT consulting and integration firms. PlanGraphics has headquarters in Frankfort, Ky., and regional offices in Maryland, Colorado and New York. On the Web: www.plangraphics.com.