{"id":578481,"date":"2025-08-29T23:33:57","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T23:33:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/?post_type=blog&p=578481"},"modified":"2025-08-29T23:37:10","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T23:37:10","slug":"next-gen-public-works-pwx-2025-recap","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/industries\/blog\/articles\/next-gen-public-works-pwx-2025-recap","title":{"rendered":"Esri Brings Next-Gen Public Works to PWX 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n

Arrival in Chicago<\/h2>\n\n

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 \u201cfeels like\u201d temperature of 98! Also, it seemed that the world had come to Chicago as traffic was creeping on the drive in from O\u2019Hare 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\u2014Chicago 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.<\/p>\n\n

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Saturday: APWA Technology Committee<\/h2>\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n

Sunday: Opening Ceremony and Booth Launch<\/h2>\n\n

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<\/em>. 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.<\/p>\n\n

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:<\/p>\n\n