CAD News for Govies is a weekly feature on Acronym that scans thousands of industry articles to present you with a regular source of CAD and GIS news, information and ideas that impact the public sector.

Here’s the latest round-up:

Turning a Paper Map into a 3D Image Overlay

This week in Technically News: Civic Hackers (the good kind) Help Local Governments; Agencies Hot for Big Data, But Plans, Resources Are Lacking; NIST, DHS Push Security Automation to the Next Stage; Amazon’s Invasion of the CIA is a Seismic Shift in Cloud Computing; Google & Red Hat Collaborate on App Engine in Private Clouds; DLT Solutions & Oracle to Save Navy $60 Million

Responding to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests can be a cumbersome and time consuming process for government agencies. It involves gathering massive amounts of data, redacting or removing sensitive information, and sending the required material to the requestor in a timely manner. For many agencies – especially in today’s budget and resource constrained environment – responding to FOIA requests has become an increasingly challenging process.

This week in Technically News: NIST Releases New Security Controls; State & Local Governments Collecting Data, Not Analyzing; Zero-Day Explorer Hack Targets Nuclear Weapons Researchers; Officials Preparing for More Mobile Government; DLT Solutions Named North American Partner of the Year for Google Maps for Business

Today, many public sector organizations are facing rising operating costs, but decreasing budgets and high operational growth are overburdening legacy systems. With consumer IT creating demand for familiar e-mail and collaboration technology for the workplace, IT Directors are facing a difficult 2013. How do they satisfy operational needs and lower costs, while satisfying the demands of their coworkers?

By Nancy Mann Jackson When a state or region experiences a major weather event such as a hurricane, blizzard or tornado, numerous agencies and organizations must work together to manage the crisis. For instance, when Hurricane Irene battered the U.S. East Coast in August 2011, thousands of workers were called into action, including fire and rescue personnel, utility workers, public health officials and workers at all levels of state and local government. Typically, each of these groups maintains its own geographical data, tracking a storm, flood or other disaster, and working in a silo to ensure its own portion of the rescue and recovery is completed.

When you need directions to a location, where do you go to find them? If you’re like most people, you go to Google Maps. It’s the most popular mapping application in the world. Its companion application, Google Earth, has been downloaded more than 950 million times. But these familiar tools aren’t just for personal use. They’re also being used in crisis response situations, helping city and county governments to make critical information accessible to their response teams and to the public. Google Maps Engine, formerly known as Google Earth Builder, is a combination of Google Maps, Google Earth and other tools organized to help government organizations streamline emergency management processes.

Maintaining seamless citizen services in a city the size of Charlotte, NC, back in 2009, was quite a challenge. From garbage pickup, administering construction permits, to street maintenance, the City its staff and customer service representatives (CSRs) needed to be able to provide a comprehensive and seamless service to its 730,000+ residents. The problem was that City staff and CSRs had to navigate several applications and conduct multiple searches when responding to inquiries and status requests. Not only was this process time consuming and frustrating to citizens, these legacy solutions were intimidating to Charlotte’s staff and CSRs.

Maintaining seamless citizen services in a city the size of Charlotte, NC, back in 2009, was quite a challenge. From garbage pickup, administering construction permits, to street maintenance, the City its staff and customer service representatives (CSRs) needed to be able to provide a comprehensive and seamless service to its 730,000+ residents. The problem was that City staff and CSRs had to navigate several applications and conduct multiple searches when responding to inquiries and status requests. Not only was this process time consuming and frustrating to citizens, these legacy solutions were intimidating to Charlotte’s staff and CSRs.

Google has now added a 3D bird's-eye view to its mapping service! Government agencies are using this new feature, which enables users to experience the feeling of being in a helicopter when viewing the path they’re traveling.