We’re small but vital.
For over 30 years, a small group has navigated across all levels of government and industry working to open traditional information silos and curate one of the nation’s most preeminent geographic repositories.
The Automated Geographic Reference Center (AGRC) was established in 1984 by lawmakers who believed locational intelligence is central to good public policy. Location and locational (a.k.a. spatial) relationships are a foundational component that touches all aspects of life, enterprise, and government, especially in Utah where urban and rural work together despite stark contrast.
We do cartwheels for maps!
We at AGRC believe mapping is fundamental public value to help organize public information. Real estate, elections, the economy, the environment are all effected by geography. Maps are a basic output of what we affectionately like to call Geospatial Information Systems (GIS). A technically correct way of describing the work that goes into the finished product of a map.
In today’s world, mapping is more than a picture with a thousand words. It’s thousands of pictures comprised of millions of pixels, it’s an interaction with people and things around us, it attempts to present information we visually associate with a geographic location. Check out our intro to mapping page for more.
As a division of the Utah Department of Technology Services, the data hounds at AGRC maintain the Statewide Geographic Information Database (SGID), a one-stop resource for Utah’s geo-information accessed by users worldwide. Best of all, it’s publicly available and free!
We have a healthy dose of mapping services:
- Our Work
- Map Data
- Cadastral (fancy for precision location, a.k.a. GPS)
- Training
- Technical Support
We traffic pixels for maps and tweet like crazy.
Mobile
We’ve all experienced it – a mobile device and a need to locate something. Mobile based mapping and location services are as common as social media in business and government. Whether it’s a field biologist or a road maintenance crew – day-to-day government operations rely on location. Find out more about AGRC’s recent experience in mobile technologies.
Print
Even the best technologies won’t replace a good printed map. AGRC is home to some of the best digital cartographic talent in Utah. The depth of our design and technical skills pair with the SGID’s rich data resources for a unique ability to convey powerful insight into Utah’s decision making processes.
Web
Web services are truly a key for facilitating cross-agency collaboration that achieves better outcomes and overall efficiencies. Map-based web services provide a phenomenal visual communication that rivals the Utah Jazz Bear’s stunts coming across your monitor in HD. But map services on the web provide more than base maps and data visualization – APIs provide basic geographic insight (how large? how long? where is? what’s here? what’s near?) and data-as-a-service keeps information flows current. Still, it’s always nice to see pretty maps like this one and this one.
Some of the great folks we’ve worked with.
Utah Association of Counties
United States Geological Survey
Division of Wildlife Resources
Public Service Commission
Department of Environmental Quality
Utah State Tax Commission
University of Utah
Brigham Young University
Utah State University
Utah Valley University
Department of Public Safety
Utah League of Cities and Towns
CenturyLink
Utah State Board of Regents
Pacificorp
Utah Rural Telecom Assocation
Utah Department of Transportation
Bureau of Land Management
University of California, Berkeley
US Library of Congress
Utah State Legislature
Utah State Elections Office
Governors Office of Economic Development
Department of Commerce
Utah Communications Agency Network
Valley Emergency Communication Center
Utah Division of State History
Comcast
Public Lands and Policy Coordination Office
Utah Democratic Party
Utah Republican Party
US Representative Rob Bishop
US Representative Jim Matheson
US Representative Jason Chaffetz
US Senator Orrin Hatch
US Senator Michael Lee
US Census Bureau
Federal Communications Commission
Salt Lake City
UTOPIA
Utah Department of Health
Department of Workforce Services