While the American Public Works Association (APWA) can trace the history of their annual conference back to 1894, it has been known as the Public Works Expo (PWX) since 2016. This year’s event was in Chicago, IL, and as we have done for decades, Esri was there to support the organization, event, and community. This was my fourth PWX, and the best by far. Here is a short recap of my PWX 2025 experience.
Arrival in Chicago
I arrived in Chicago on Friday, August 15, expecting to experience a much-needed break from the heat and humidity back home in Charlotte. Much to my surprise, it was 91 degrees with a “feels like” temperature of 98! Also, it seemed that the world had come to Chicago as traffic was creeping on the drive in from O’Hare International Airport. There was a lot going on that weekend: the Chicago Air and Water Show, a Chicago Sky WNBA game, a Savannah Bananas baseball game, a Chicago Bears game, and UFC 319 at the United Center. No problem—Chicago is one of my favorite cities, and I knew it would be a great visit. For dinner, I walked over to Chinatown and had the best dumplings of my life at QXY Dumplings.
Saturday: APWA Technology Committee
I started off PWX with an inspiring meeting with my peers on the APWA Technology Committee on Saturday. Serving on this committee has been so much fun and rewarding. This is a talented group, and I am excited to continue helping the public works community get the most out of their investment in technology. Stay tuned for more on our planned initiatives.
Sunday: Opening Ceremony and Booth Launch
PWX kicked off Sunday with the opening ceremony and keynote. At Esri, we are focused on helping our customers take their organizations to the next level by using ArcGIS to power the next generation of public works. Everything we did at PWX supported that mission. Our slogan is Start Today, Prepare for Tomorrow. This is our biggest public works event of the year, so we support it with a team of ten, bringing together subject matter experts from across multiple divisions and locations.
Our booth opened on Sunday at noon as the anchor of the GIS Pavilion. We had dozens of our partners also exhibiting, and we shared orange Esri Partner pylons with them to show off in their booths. In our booth, we featured six kiosks, each dedicated to a different topic:
- Capital Improvement Program
- Field and Fleet Management
- Public Grounds and Facilities
- Streets, Roads, and Bridges
- Water
- What’s New in GIS for Public Works
The booth worked out well and hosted many lively conversations with customers, partners, and potential partners and customers throughout the conference.
Sunday Presentations
- Mike Dagle, from our ArcGIS Solutions team, presented one of our new solutions, Sidewalk Management. This is one of our first solutions to incorporate GeoAI (AI + GIS). To automate your sidewalk inventory, you can use an ArcGIS Deep Learning Model and imagery.
- Chase Fisher presented the first of his three presentations on AI.
- I presented on How You Can Use GIS to Power Next-Generation Public Works.
Monday: Solution Hub and More Presentations
My Monday started with a morning presentation with Brett Ruoti, from our partner Trimble: Fast-Track Projects with a Geographic Approach to Permitting. Chase presented on Asset Management GeoAI Tools. Just before lunch, as a member of the APWA Technology Committee, I had an amazing opportunity to lead a new type of PWX session called the Solution Hub. It is intended to crowdsource brainstorming to document the top challenges of public works organizations. The Tech Committee will use that list to guide research into applicable technology applications that can help mitigate those challenges.
This session was invigorating. It was standing room only, and the group was highly motivated and energized. The top five challenges were:
- Data use
- Resource constraints
- Internal processes
- Keeping up with technology
- Infrastructure
Stay tuned for more on this initiative. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm came through Monday evening that caused us to miss the Cubs game against the Brewers.
Tuesday: Final Day
Tuesday came and went quickly, and before we knew it, PWX was over. Chase presented on How to Harness the Power of AI to Optimize Operations and Maintenance. There was a lot of activity at the booth before we had to close it down until next year in Houston.
I can say that our mission was a success. The public works community understands that ArcGIS is scalable and supports the entire spectrum of public works operations, that it is a gateway to integrate advanced technologies into your business, and the most sustainable way to maximize the value of your GIS is with our collection of ArcGIS Solutions.
A huge thanks to everyone that made PWX a success—APWA, volunteers, local chapters, presenters, exhibitors, attendees, and sponsors. We will see you next year in Houston!
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