How a six-city Public Works seminar series is inspiring innovation and transformation.
A First-of-Its-Kind Experience for Public Works GIS
Though Esri has been working with Public Works agencies for over forty years, we have never delivered an in-person seminar series dedicated to Public Works GIS. We decided to check that item off the list this year with a series of six seminars titled, “Next-Generation Public Works is Powered by ArcGIS.”
From May to October, we presented this “art of the possible” event designed to inspire our public works users with success stories from their peers on how they are delivering next-generation public works powered by ArcGIS.
Seminar stops included:
- Orlando, FL
- Raleigh, NC
- Fort Worth, TX
- Houston, TX
- Salt Lake City, UT
- New Brunswick, NJ
Over 500 ArcGIS users attended from diverse types of organizations, cities, counties, regional, state, transit authorities, water, stormwater, utilities, community development, airports, ports, IT, GIS, administration, public safety, land records, AEC, transportation, schools, and engineering.
Designed for Decision Makers
The content is designed for executives, managers, and other decision makers. The presentation begins with the video, Executive Strategies for a Location-Aware Future. That is followed by defining the vision of Next-Gen Public Works. The Public Works GIS community is one of the oldest and most innovative. We review the history of Public Works GIS including a highlight of Esri’s oldest Public Works customer, Orange Co., CA (customer number = 50, pop. 3.14M), who signed their first Esri license agreement in 1981, before the release of ArcInfo, and an update on the history of their innovation and success.
How ArcGIS Transforms Your Business for the Next Generation.
This vision segment provides examples that show the scalability of ArcGIS to provide support for Public Works in an enterprise capacity by highlighting Salem, OR (pop. 177,000) and Newark, DE (pop. 30,000).
These examples illustrated how ArcGIS serves as a gateway to integrate advanced technologies such as:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Real-time data
- Digital twins
- 3D GIS
- Indoor mapping
- Drones
- Extended Reality (VR/AR/MR/XR)
Deep Dive into Six Public Works Focus Areas
The bulk of the rest of the seminar is a review of each of the six Public Works focus areas
- Operations & Maintenance
- Streets, Roads & Bridges
- Field & Fleet Management
- Capital Project Design & Engineering
- Public Grounds & Facilities
- Emergency Response
For each area, we:
- Identified key challenges
- Shared customer success stories
- Demonstrated one of the 50+ Public Works ArcGIS Solutions live
- Reviewed the ArcGIS components that support each domain
Key Takeaways
- ArcGIS is a mission-critical enterprise IT business system, is scalable, and supports the entire spectrum of Public Works.
- ArcGIS is a gateway to advanced technologies that can transform your operations.
- ArcGIS Solutions offer the most sustainable path to expanding your GIS capabilities.
Stay Connected
The conclusion includes resources and best practices on how to get started on your journey to realize Next-Gen Public Works powered by ArcGIS. We’re evaluating additional seminar locations for 2026. The best way to stay in the loop for the latest news on the seminar series and everything about Public Works and Engineering with ArcGIS is to subscribe to our monthly digital newsletter.
We hope to see you at a seminar soon!
