5 key benefits of a refreshed geospatial governance structure

A medium-sized municipality’s geospatial program—once among the strongest in the region—had faded away over the years, leaving team members with an inability to take on new projects, a constantly shifting set of roles and responsibilities, and an absence of clear guidance on geo. In this blog post by Esri Canada management consultant Alexandre Guy, discover how the municipality is getting better business outcomes thanks to a renewed commitment to geospatial governance.

In a recent strategy project for a medium-sized municipality, the group of stakeholders talked at length about their inability to take on new projects, the ongoing shifting of roles and responsibilities within the project team, and the absence of clear guidance. They had hired Esri Canada’s management consulting team to put them back on track and wanted us to tell them which way to go. This was a surprise, as the municipality used to be one of the front runners in their regional geospatial landscape.

As it turns out, their geospatial program—once among the strongest in the region—had had its governance fade away over the years, leaving the main geographic information systems (GIS) group buried under IT without visibility. The relationship with IT was stagnant; there was no interest in growing GIS. The GIS group had resorted to being responsible only for the container, that is, the infrastructure and related software deployments, but nothing related to the actual geospatial content. The latter was left to the municipality’s operational departments. Instead of working jointly with GIS, the operational departments had become mutually exclusive from the GIS team. They were working in silos, sometimes using the other groups’ services, hoping that everything would go well.

They knew they were in trouble because this was unsustainable.

As part of the project mandate, we proposed implementing a new governance structure. This key recommendation enhances the local government in many ways, paving the way towards success.

Here’s what having renewed governance means for them:

1. An organizational structure geared toward growth & adoption

One of the main challenges the municipality initially faced was a work structure that was incoherent and that did not reflect their aspirations. In fact, as their geospatial governance faded away, so did the clear roles and responsibilities each department had. Each department had become more and more independent from the others and took their destiny into their own hands.

To address this, we worked on helping the municipality establish a clear vision for the next three to five years. Specifically, we were looking to address questions such as: “What specific business value will GIS provide to the municipality?” and “how will GIS contribute to the municipality’s overarching strategy?”

When the answers came, it was clear that the municipality wanted to make GIS a strategic enabler to allow for better-informed decision-making, reinforce public engagement and optimize operational efficiency.

The next step was to find the most suitable location for the main GIS group to support the vision. We surveyed the various possible departments along with their specific visions and missions and found that there was a clear alignment between the Organizational Performance & Business Intelligence department and what the municipality was trying to achieve with geo.

As a matter of fact, this group was working specifically towards deriving insights from all the data that the municipality managed, enabling better decision-making and seeking continuous improvement. It was a clear fit, and adding GIS to the mix would enhance their capabilities.

We took some time to consider the pros and cons of this move, as follows:

At time of writing, the municipality was still in the process of deciding whether to move the GIS group to the Organizational Performance & Business Intelligence Department, but having a clear sense of the possibilities is helping to support that decision-making process. 

2. Seamless collaboration across teams

Without proper governance and with a misaligned organizational structure, collaboration was achieved tacitly, that is, only through the goodwill of people working for the municipality. Thankfully, municipal staff were open and collaborative by nature, which made it possible to get things done. In times of need, people stepped up and helped one another.

However, this informal collaboration did not account for everything. There were still inefficiencies, business needs that were not answered and a whole lot of problems to address. Moreover, the existing workflow was highly reactive to any crisis that emerged.

To address the issue, we  recommended that the municipality implement some more formal collaboration channels where specific topics would be discussed. The overarching goal was to become more proactive and to foster engagement and leadership at all levels of the organization. With the proper channels, necessary conversations would have to happen. And that’s exactly what we implemented.

A key aspect of the solution was to implement a Community of Practice (CoP), a forum where practitioners come together to discuss specific topics that are relevant to their work streams. For instance, they would discuss data management practices and standards to implement across teams to facilitate data exchange. Moreover, other subjects could be tackled, such as upcoming training courses and skills development that new hires might need to take on.

These were all relevant to promoting cultural aspects of being part of the group: sharing, collaboration, fostering engagement and mutual growth. In a nutshell, it’s all about being part of a community.

3. A technology portfolio that acts as a strategic enabler

When departments could not get their needs addressed and were left on their own, they started doing what they thought was best to address the issue: they looked for solutions online. As a result, the Public Works department purchased a tool to follow snowplow routes, the Ecology department did the same to answer their own needs and other departments soon followed suit. The result was that the municipality effectively lost control of their technology portfolio. Data integration and sharing proved difficult, if not impossible. Moreover, there was a duplication of technologies where departments had bought a solution that was already available internally but had not yet been implemented. These inefficiencies would cost the municipality tremendous amounts of money if not addressed promptly.

To remedy the situation, we recommended that one of the primary activities of the new governance body be to take stock of the solutions currently in use by the municipality. Once they had a clear picture of what was in use, they would have to rationalize the portfolio of solutions in a coherent manner.

The benefit was that over time, they would have a coherent streamlined portfolio which would enable them to reap the benefits from technology synergies and economies of scale. Not only would these technologies have a lighter impact on the budget, but they would also provide more value and capabilities that could be leveraged by many other departments.

4. GIS as a vanguard

When leadership oversight was lacking, so was the visibility of the GIS group. The group was in dire need of recognition for the value they bring day after day and of some well-deserved promotion of their capabilities.

We addressed this issue by promoting the municipality’s geospatial practice at all levels of the organization. First, we recommended that the municipality designate a geospatial champion, someone responsible for promoting the value of GIS in various forums throughout the organization. This person, part of the management team, would promote awareness about the possibilities of GIS amongst municipal leadership. Moreover, this person would engage departments in sharing experiences and recent progress, exploring what others are doing and seeking to develop opportunities in the organization.

At the tactical and operational levels, we recommended that the core GIS group send out quarterly newsletters to communicate updates about the GIS program, featured projects and employees engaged in shaping the future of GIS at the municipality. We also recommended that the organization take part in industry events such as GIS Day, where practitioners nurture GIS awareness through various events and demonstrations.

5. Governance as a framework

With renewed governance now in place, the municipality is well positioned to reap the benefits of a strong GIS program where strategies covering technology, processes and people are aligned and allow for success. This also means that the GIS group now has the visibility necessary to become a business enabler by working jointly with departments to develop GIS-enabled solutions.

Like this municipality, organizations with strong geospatial governance set themselves up for success by clearly aligning their geospatial capabilities with the organization’s vision and goals.

Moreover, they foster collaboration through structured communication, a coherent technology roadmap and a leadership who are aware of the possibilities ahead and, more importantly, are fully invested in reaping the success of a strong GIS program.

Want to add more geospatial strategy tips to your toolbox to help support your efforts to scale up? Sign up for our newsletter, The Geospatial Edge, to get a fresh batch of geospatial strategy resources delivered right to your inbox once per quarter. Simply visit our Preference Centre and select “GIS Strategy” from the available options. Or, to discover 70+ innovative ways of navigating today’s municipal, county-level and regional challenges, download the GIS Playbook for Local Government Leaders today.