Councils of Governments

The Connecticut Councils of Governments (COGs) possess a wealth of GIS expertise and data.  They support transportation, community development and public safety planning programs with mapping and GIS data analysis.

“GIS staff in CT are currently working as individual silos with the only coordination being done by individuals who seek it. There is tremendous waste as common datasets and needs are often developed individually instead of in cooperation with one another.” MetroCOG

Suggestions/Needs for CT

  1. Promotion and development of data standards and authoritative coordinating body for Connecticut GIS
  2. Reliable periodic aerial acquisition program – every 3 years is recommended
  3. Development and hosting of statewide authoritative datasets

“Legislation is the only way. CT has been scrappy and managed to get data regularly.” WestCOG

Councils of Governments GIS Strengths

  • COGs develop and distribute value added regional datasets such as parcels, zoning, land use. Multi-model transportation and trails.
  • Provide GIS services to municipalities that do not have their own GIS capabilities. Development of regional datasets provide cost savings to the towns.
  • Knowledge of their member municipalities data needs and strengths.

“Our biggest benefit is providing GIS as a regional service to our member municipalities. By coordinating GIS efforts across town boundaries we are able to provide savings through economies of scale. Since the towns all vary in GIS expertise, providing regional GIS services brings raises the GIS usage in all towns.” MetroCOG

    Dedicated GIS Staff Main use
CRCOG Capitol Region Council of Governments 1-3 FTE across 6 people community, environmental, public safety, and transportation planning as well as travel demand modeling
MetroCOG Metropolitan Council of Governments 2 transportation planning, congestion modeling, basemapping (aerial, Lidar, planimetrics) and municipal parcel viewers. Support towns to update parcels, addresses, zoning, open space mapping, emergency management
NVCOG Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments 2 create asset and regulatory boundary layers, transportation planning, support environmental decisions, assist municipalities with local land use issues and promote economic development
NECOG Northeast Council of Governments 0 online parcel viewer for 9 towns, parcel updates, support municipal projects
NHCOG Northwest Hills Council of Governments 1 regional parcel mapping for emergency response, planning, regional trails viewer
RiverCOG Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments 0 map and GIS services to towns and nonprofits, municipal land use, planning, emergency management, economic development, housing, conservation
SCCOG Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments 1 online parcel viewer, transportation programs, municipal support
SCRCOG South Central Regional Council of Governments 0 provide interactive map viewer with regional parcel dataset, zoning, land use and other layers, open space inventory, tree canopy assessment, asset mapping, recreational trails, planning
WestCOG Western Connecticut Council of Governments 2.3 regional parcel viewer, annual parcel data collection and processing, stormwater mapping, trails data collection, open space inventory, regional zoning