Local governments and utility organizations face significant challenges in alerting communities and managing disruptions during crises resulting from natural disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires, and storms. These pose constant threats to communities, particularly in diverse climates like those of the United States. ·Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become essential tools in crisis preparedness and response, offering web-based mapping solutions that serve a wide range of stakeholders, from citizens and emergency responders to public health officials and utility providers. By enabling proactive monitoring and planning, GIS strengthens emergency procedures, enhances communication, and supports community resilience,” Drew Millen, CTO of VertiGIS, states in a written press statement.
The untapped potential of GIS for asset management workflows
When asked why GIS is not more widely used for this purpose, Millen answers that organizations commonly will use their ERP system to manage their assets, since that’s typically the system of record for the asset inventory and financial data. He thinks that using GIS for asset management workflows has untapped potential: “Since the GIS is the system of record for the location of assets, it can be used as a connecting tissue between and across existing business systems like ERP, CRM, outage management, and ADMS. Assigning work related to assets - the workforce management and work order assignments and completion workflows - can benefit greatly from location information for routing, and other data only available via GIS. For example, using GIS for routing and finding assets in the field, and understanding proximity to critical infrastructure can help field workers complete their work safely and efficiently.”
Beyond immediate crisis response, GIS supports long-term operational resilience, writes Millen: it enables real-time communication with residents through alerts and advisories, coordinates response teams by mapping asset and resource locations, and ensures accurate documentation throughout an asset’s lifecycle. Preventive strategies supported by GIS reduce the risk of unplanned outages, extend infrastructure lifespans, and protect critical investments. Ultimately, the integration of GIS with asset management empowers organizations to modernize operations, improve recovery efforts, and build stronger, safer communities in the face of increasing climate volatility.
Making GIS accessible and friendly to users of all types
While the benefits of GIS technology are obvious after reading Millen’s plea for a broader adoption of the technology, adopting new technology requires organizational and technological changes. But the benefits are bigger than the challenges to overcome to implement new solutions: “When end users are given tools that are accessible, easy, friendly, and save them time, they’re usually quite bought in to the value it provides. GIS has suffered from antiquated user interfaces and sophisticated desktop tools designed for a select few GIS professionals. By making GIS accessible and friendly to users of all types, through elegant and thoughtful user interfaces, organizations will have a better connection to the value that GIS can bring. Once it starts saving time, for an individual or a team, there’s usually no pushback because the value becomes obvious. Then, organizations can turn their attention to optimizing their GIS workflows to further benefit every employee in the organization.”
New technology such as AI can help organizations transform data into actionable insights, says Millen: “Like many tools, GIS systems can be overwhelmed with massive volumes of data. Especially when used in combination with IoT sensors, the raw data can accumulate and become unwieldy. This is exactly the kind of problem that today’s LLMs are very equipped to solve. By analysing datasets too large for humans to query and interpret manually, AI can generate insights that would otherwise be hidden. There is still a requirement for good prompt engineering and users with some education on how to invoke AI for maximum benefit.”
