{"id":517972,"date":"2024-04-15T19:05:23","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T19:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=517972"},"modified":"2025-09-22T19:05:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T19:05:39","slug":"top-5-tech-trends-in-public-works-the-role-of-gis","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/top-5-tech-trends-in-public-works-the-role-of-gis","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Tech Trends in Public Works &#038; The Role of GIS\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">Each year since 2018, the American Public Works Association (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.apwa.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">APWA<\/a>) surveys their 30,000+ membership to identify the Top 5 Tech Trends for the Public Works community. For 2024, they are:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Artificial Intelligence (AI) Condition Assessment Data Collection&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Availability of Centralized Community GIS mapping data&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Lead Service Line Identification&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Microgrids&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Sustainability Due to Severe Events\u2014Improving Transportation Infrastructure&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">As in previous years, GIS was included, but its influence is manifested in the other four trends, as GIS is an integrative technology. For public works, location is never an afterthought, GIS is continuously recognized as a mission-critical, foundational, enterprise IT business system and the community\u2019s reliance on the technology to support daily operations and provide significant business value has increased for decades.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">Here are some examples of GIS integration with the 2024 Top 5 Tech Trends for Public Works:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-artificial-intelligence-condition-assessment-data-collection-nbsp-nbsp\"><strong>Artificial Intelligence Condition Assessment Data Collection&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">GIS and AI, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/capabilities\/geoai\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GeoAI<\/a>, can provide significant business value in many areas including data collection and assessment of asset condition. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/lg\/industry\/public-works\/stories\/county-innovates-using-geoai-to-inventory-ada-curb-ramps-saving-significant-time-money\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Douglas County, Nebraska<\/a>, leveraged deep learning models within ArcGIS for extracting features from imagery to identify over 34,000 ADA curb ramps within the county. This model saved a considerable amount of time and money and allowed the county to shift human labor to other prioritized capital improvement projects that needed more assistance.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/This-Map-Douglas-County-1024x576.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-517982\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/This-Map-Douglas-County-1024x576.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/This-Map-Douglas-County-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/This-Map-Douglas-County-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/This-Map-Douglas-County.jpeg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>A countywide view of all ADA compliant curb ramps located using the model can be seen in red.&nbsp;<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">A year after an ice storm, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/blog\/visualizing-ice-storm-damage-aided-salems-response\/\">City of Salem<\/a>, Oregon recovery teams identified tree canopy loss using before-and-after imagery, GIS, and AI machine learning.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2020_Imagery-No-Layers-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-518002\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2020_Imagery-No-Layers-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2020_Imagery-No-Layers-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2020_Imagery-No-Layers-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2020_Imagery-No-Layers.png 1405w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Nearmap imagery provides a baseline for the company&#8217;s machine learning tools to measure ice storm damage.&nbsp;<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2021_Imagery-with-Layers-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-518012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2021_Imagery-with-Layers-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2021_Imagery-with-Layers-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2021_Imagery-with-Layers-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2021_Imagery-with-Layers.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Areas in red mark the differences that Nearmap&#8217;s algorithm detected from imagery it collected before and after the storm.&nbsp;<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">Esri Startup Partner, SeerAI, used GeoAI and pre- and post-storm imagery to create an unobstructed road network for routing emergency vehicles for Florida within 24 hours after Hurricane Ian hit. What used to take days is now able to be done in minutes, and AI can serve as an accelerant to help make decisions that may be extremely challenging or slow to make without the assistance of this technology.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"490\" src=\"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2024-02-27_11-12-46-1024x490.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-518022\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2024-02-27_11-12-46-1024x490.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2024-02-27_11-12-46-300x144.png 300w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2024-02-27_11-12-46-768x368.png 768w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2024-02-27_11-12-46-1536x735.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/2024-02-27_11-12-46.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>View the Hurricane Ian StoryMap <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/002255d92fc04262b524cf5a2e8caa69\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>here<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-availability-of-centralized-community-gis-mapping-data-nbsp\"><strong>Availability of Centralized Community GIS mapping data<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">St. Johns County, FL. is an innovative leader when it comes to the application of GIS to support Public Works. They provide multiple ways that the public can access centralized community GIS mapping data:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Central Access Hub \u2013 this is the home website for Public Works GIS&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Open Data Hub \u2013 this is the home for Public Works Open Data&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Asset Management Inventory \u2013 this site provides interactive public access to asset management information on:&nbsp;\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>County Maintained Roads&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Transportation Assets <\/li>\n\n<li>Storm Drainage Assets <\/li>\n\n<li>Drainage Easements <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/adamblog1-1024x489.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-518042\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/adamblog1-1024x489.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/adamblog1-300x143.png 300w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/adamblog1-768x367.png 768w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/adamblog1-1536x733.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/adamblog1.png 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Public-facing public work application that provides constituents of the community access to publicly accessible asset condition data. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-lead-service-line-identification\"><strong>Lead Service Line Identification <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) require water systems to prepare and maintain an inventory of service line materials by October 16, 2024. The 2023 EPA Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment estimates that there are more than 9 million lead service lines and 2.8 million stand-alone galvanized service lines in the US.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">GIS can be used to integrate disparate data types. In addition, in response to the EPA\u2019s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, Esri developed the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/solutions\/index.html?domain=Water%20Distribution&amp;gallery=true&amp;industry=Utilities&amp;solution=heuu81ygmwk88wby85ppia3doj8hoywf&amp;sortField=relevance&amp;sortOrder=desc#home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lead Service Line Inventory<\/a> solution that delivers a set of capabilities that help utilities streamline their inventory, validate material, monitor replacement, and share information with the public. The city of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/cp\/gis-local-government-solutions\/city-of-benton-harbor-case-study\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Benton Harbor, Michigan<\/a>, used this solution as a base framework to configure and customize their water service line inventory project to meet their specific needs and goals.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"499\" src=\"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/benton-harbor-lead-service-lines-article-img-b-1024x499.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-518052\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/benton-harbor-lead-service-lines-article-img-b-1024x499.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/benton-harbor-lead-service-lines-article-img-b-300x146.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/benton-harbor-lead-service-lines-article-img-b-768x374.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/benton-harbor-lead-service-lines-article-img-b.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This dashboard enables Benton Harbor to share real-time data with the public in an easy-to-digest format.<br><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-microgrids\"><strong>Microgrids<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">For decades, electric utilities have used GIS to plan, design, and manage their operations, and microgrids are the latest example of how GIS can provide business value. GIS technology provides the means to model the grid in detail and provides real-time situational awareness by bringing in web services, such as weather, fire, crew location, and social media data. Utilities can monitor construction progress, route crews in an efficient manner, and help identify the best location for repeaters, sensors, PMUs, and new communication backbones. GIS is the mission critical, enterprise IT business system for supporting electric utilities with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/electric\/business-areas\/asset-management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asset management<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/electric\/business-areas\/operations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">operations management<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/electric\/business-areas\/safety\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">safety and compliance<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/electric\/business-areas\/customer-care\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">customer care<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/electric\/business-areas\/design-engineering\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">design and engineering<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"644\" height=\"352\" src=\"https:\/\/uat.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/adamblog2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-518062\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/adamblog2.png 644w, https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/app\/uploads\/2024\/04\/adamblog2-300x164.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">This dashboard provides a centralized view of utility poles with high vulnerability scores.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sustainability-due-to-severe-events-improving-transportation-infrastructure-nbsp\"><strong><strong>Sustainability Due to Severe Events\u2014Improving Transportation Infrastructure<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">As climate impacts are escalating, the need for mitigation and adaptation to increase resilience and sustainability has grown with it. Our transportation infrastructure is a critical part of our communities, so we must improve it and make it more resilient and sustainable in response to climate events. GIS is the tool designed to provide the capabilities necessary to realize this goal. Here are some examples:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/resilience.climate.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation<\/a> (CMRA) Assessment Tool is powered by GIS and helps people assess their local exposure to climate-related hazards.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Maryland DOT developed a GIS-powered <a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/d14029580e314f089267968010179c32\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Climate Change Vulnerability Viewer<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) developed a GIS-powered <a href=\"https:\/\/maps.scag.ca.gov\/climate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Climate Risk &amp; Vulnerability Assessment Tool<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Virginia Beach, Virginia provides a publicly accessible <a href=\"https:\/\/vbgov.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/bea80ec1863942e59cc303c96abc12fb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Severe Weather Impact Dashboard<\/a> powered by real-time GIS&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n<li>Fairfax Co., Virginia released <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fairfaxcounty.gov\/landdevelopment\/land-development-services-releases-new-flood-risk-analysis-tools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">GIS powered tools<\/a> to identify, model, and analyze new areas of flood risk&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">For decades, thousands of public works agencies have partnered with Esri as their first choice to incorporate spatial thinking into their daily operations with ArcGIS. What are your plans for 2024 for implementing GIS and the rest of the Top 5 Tech Trends in your public works operation? For more information on how you can use GIS to support your mission, please check out our website: <a href=\"https:\/\/go.esri.com\/GIS4PW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/go.esri.com\/GIS4PW<\/a>. If you have a GIS success story you would like to share with the community, please visit our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/share-story\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">self-service success story portal<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"undefined block-editor-paragraph\">The role of GIS extends to six focus areas within the public works industry. To view how the next generation of public works are powered by ArcGIS, access our new brochure at <a href=\"https:\/\/go.esri.com\/gis-top-tech\">go.esri.com\/gis-top-tech<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":522,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2452],"tags":[360,287,2462,306],"class_list":["post-517972","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-public-works","tag-geoai","tag-gis","tag-public-works","tag-real-time-operations","industry-public-works"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Top 5 Tech Trends in Public Works &amp; The Role of GIS\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From smart cities to data-driven decision-making, GIS plays a crucial role in empowering public works organizations to harness the power of spatial data.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/top-5-tech-trends-in-public-works-the-role-of-gis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top 5 Tech Trends in Public Works &amp; 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