Mapping What Matters: Powering Public Safety and Citizen Experience with Geospatial

Geospatial data is no longer optional — it is mission-critical for modern governance. Whether enabling rapid wildfire evacuation, managing transportation networks, or planning resilient infrastructure, geospatial tools are proving indispensable for state and local government (SLG) leaders. Yet despite this recognition, adoption lags. Too many agencies remain stuck in pilot projects or niche applications, unable to scale geospatial into a true enterprise capability.

The stakes are high. Rising infrastructure demands, increasingly frequent natural disasters, and major global events like the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will place extraordinary pressure on SLG systems. Citizens expect fast, accurate, and transparent services — and will judge their governments’ effectiveness by how well they respond in these moments. Agencies that delay will struggle to meet rising demands, while those that act decisively will gain lasting public trust.

This paper draws on fresh survey data and real-world examples to show where SLG leaders stand today, the barriers preventing progress, and the proven strategies for closing the geospatial gap.

 The Growing Awareness of Geospatial 

Harnessing geospatial is clearly becoming more important for SLG leaders. Over one-third (36%) rate geospatial data as “very important” and another 11% as “critical” — the highest rating across all levels of government. This demonstrates strong recognition that location intelligence drives efficiency, safety, and service delivery. And adoption is spreading. Nearly 7 in 10 respondents (69%) report using geospatial data to a moderate or great extent, and SLG leaders are more likely than either federal civilian or defense respondents to view geospatial platforms as key to improving government efficiency. 

Still, more than half (54%) of respondents admit they only “know a bit” about geospatial tools. In practice, this knowledge gap creates a ceiling on innovation: agencies may recognize the value, but without deeper expertise, they struggle to embed geospatial into daily operations.

Strategic considerations of geospatial’s potential are critical. Leaders know geospatial is important, and many are experimenting with it, but few have translated that awareness into integrated, enterprise-level strategies. Without leadership action, agencies risk plateauing before they unlock the full transformative potential of these tools.

Barriers to Adoption: Doing More with Less

The reasons for stalled progress are familiar to anyone in SLG leadership: budgets are tight, staff capacity is limited, and systems are rarely integrated.

More than half of respondents identified budget constraints as the single greatest obstacle to geospatial adoption. Agencies have to stretch every dollar, even as they are asked to deliver new capabilities. Yet a notable 27% of respondents said their agencies are making geospatial funding a top or near-top priority, signaling a shift in mindset from treating these tools as optional to viewing them as essential. Leaders who fail to make that same pivot risk starving their agencies of capabilities that could reduce costs and improve services over time.

Workforce readiness is an equally pressing challenge. Nearly half (45%) of respondents highlight training gaps as their most urgent capability shortfall, and 51% rank it as the single greatest barrier to broader adoption. When only a handful of specialists can operate geospatial platforms, innovation slows, integration falters, and the benefits remain limited. Building geospatial capacity across the workforce is therefore not just a technical issue but a strategic leadership imperative.

Integration remains another stumbling block. Only 16% of respondents said their geospatial data is highly connected to core systems like ERP or AI platforms. Without this linkage, geospatial remains an add-on, valuable for specific tasks but incapable of shaping decisions at scale. Data sharing tells a similar story: just one in five SLG respondents said their agency’s collaboration with partners was “very effective,” compared to one in three in defense agencies. In contexts like emergency response, where jurisdictions must coordinate quickly, that lack of interoperability can have life-or-death consequences.

These barriers are not new, but they can be stifling. Without leadership intervention to break through, SLG agencies will remain locked into limited use cases, unable to scale geospatial into the transformational capability it could be.

Changing Lives, Saving Lives

For all its challenges, geospatial is already changing the way agencies serve their communities. Emergency response stands out as the area of greatest impact, with 71% of respondents identifying it as 

the top benefit and 61% highlighting it as the leading use case. When wildfires, floods, or hurricanes strike, the ability to visualize data in real time helps leaders mobilize resources, issue timely warnings, and coordinate across agencies. In these moments, geospatial is not a convenience — it is a lifesaving tool.

Decision-making more broadly also benefits from visualization. Sixty percent of SLG leaders said geospatial maps improve their decision-making, the most frequently cited advantage across all levels of government. This makes sense: visual information cuts through the noise of data overload, allowing leaders to grasp patterns, test scenarios, and communicate with stakeholders quickly and clearly. In a climate where misinformation spreads easily, such clarity strengthens both internal decision-making and public trust.

The benefits extend to both everyday operations and infrastructure writ large. Transportation and logistics, long a pain point for cities and counties, can be optimized with geospatial insights that reduce congestion, improve fleet management, and support smarter mobility planning. Environmental resilience is more effective and targeted with visualization and analysis tools: agencies like the South Florida Water Management District use geospatial tools to analyze 75+ petabytes of satellite data and predict harmful algal blooms, reducing manual work by 75% and protecting water for 9 million residents. 

And when it comes to communication, geospatial has proven indispensable. During a wildfire emergency event in 2017, the City of Los Angeles reached 3.5 million residents in just 36 hours with real-time emergency maps. Eagle County, CO delivered wildfire evacuation maps viewed 550,000 times during a single crisis. These examples demonstrate the power of geospatial data to not only strengthen operations but also build a vital bridge of trust between governments and the people they serve.

Unlocking the Next Level

If agencies want to move beyond isolated successes, they must scale geospatial to the enterprise level. Cloud-based platforms represent a critical enabler, allowing governments to process and share large datasets in real time without the prohibitive costs of on-premises infrastructure. For budget-constrained agencies, this shift removes one of the most persistent barriers.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning point to the next frontier, enabling agencies to move from reacting to crises to predicting them. Nearly half (45%)  of SLG leaders expect moderate to high AI integration with geospatial in the near future, reflecting a growing appetite for predictive tools that can forecast traffic flows, model disaster impacts, and anticipate infrastructure needs.

Mobile access is another force multiplier. When GIS tools are in the hands of frontline staff, the gap between headquarters and the field narrows, ensuring that decisions are made with the most current information available.

But ultimately, the most decisive factor is people. Technology cannot succeed without workforce enablement. Simplifying tools, embedding them into everyday workflows, and investing in training ensures that geospatial is not confined to a small circle of experts. Leaders who recognize this will be the ones who transform geospatial from a promising technology into a foundational capability.

A Roadmap for the Future

1. Assess your agency’s geospatial maturity: Only 9% of respondents report being “very” or “fully ready” to scale integration. Understanding the baseline is the first step.
2. Prioritize high-impact use cases: Emergency response, logistics, and infrastructure planning demonstrate value quickly and build support for broader adoption.
3. Integrate across systems: With integration rates at just 16%, connecting geospatial to ERP, AI, and case management systems is critical.
4. Invest in people, not just tools: With nearly half citing training gaps, workforce development must go hand in hand with technology investments.
5. Select scalable, cost-efficient solutions: Nearly 60% cite budget as a barrier; cloud-based platforms minimize upfront costs and expand as needs grow.
6. Champion adoption at the leadership level: Leaders who elevate geospatial from tactical tool to strategic capability will drive the most meaningful transformation.

Conclusion

State and local leaders are already proving that geospatial saves lives and enhances the citizen experience through emergency response, logistics, and climate resilience. They continue to do the best with what they have, stretching limited budgets and training to deliver impact. Yet there are still gaps that need to be addressed to bring the full capabilities of geospatial to these agencies. Through  assessing maturity, prioritizing use cases, integrating systems, investing in staff, and adopting scalable solutions, state and local agencies can close the geospatial gap and deliver safer, smarter, more resilient communities.

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