Develop and host a "Community 3-D Basemap" using local LiDAR data

RobertCushman

Help us process our LiDAR!  Many local governments are acquiring very expensive LiDAR data without having the expertise and resources to fully capture its potential value to their customers. 

Would ESRI have any interest in launching a pilot “Community City Engine” or “Community 3-D Basemap” initiative, along the lines of the Community Mapping project? 

I envision neighboring municipalities making their LiDAR data available to ESRI in exchange for some assistance processing this often under-used (and EXPENSIVE!) data into regional 3-D surfaces and even extracted vector layers. 

Once workflows are developed to standardize the inputs and outputs, I can imagine many government entities lining up to contribute and update such a "basemap". 

nvdv

Behind the scenes, we are working hard to make 3D base layers available. More information on the current status can be found in the UC2014 technical workshop "Using the New 3D Base Scene: An Introduction": 
http://proceedings.esri.com/library/userconf/proc14/tech-workshops/tw_746.pdf