The Value of the Indiana Geographic Information Office

The Indiana Geographic Information Office (IGIO) delivers significant value to its constituents, partners, and stakeholders. It is important for the IGIO to have a clear measure and understanding of the qualitative and quantitative benefits it delivers. Here's why:

• Measurable Metrics: Quantitative data provides measurable metrics—numbers, figures, and statistics. It answers questions like “how much,” “how many,” or “how often.” 

• Macro View: It offers a broad, macroscopic view of the IGIO's cost benefit performance. 

• Decision-Making: Quantitative data informs strategic decisions, resource allocation, and financial planning. 

• Objective Insights: Numbers are generally more objective and less prone to interpretation bias. 

• Context and Depth: Qualitative data adds context and depth to the numbers. It answers questions like “why” and “how.” 

• Nuances and Insights: It captures nuances that quantitative metrics may overlook. Qualitative research explores motivations, emotions, and human experiences. 

• Holistic Understanding: While quantitative data tells you what’s happening, qualitative data explains why it’s happening. It provides a holistic view. 

• Human-Centric: Qualitative research considers human behavior, culture, and social context. 

• Complementary: Quantitative and qualitative data complement each other. Quantitative data gives the “what,” while qualitative data provides the “why.” 

• Informed Decision-Making: When organizations understand both aspects of their value, they can make better-informed decisions. Quantitative data guides strategy, and qualitative data ensures it aligns with human needs and values. 

The IGIO began an effort to determine quantitative and qualitative benefits and relevant costs. That effort resulted in four reports. This story map provides context about the IGIO and summarizes those reports. 

To understand the current status of the IGIO, it is important to understand how far the IGIO has come since its initiation.

Geospatial coordination in Indiana was occurring in the mid-1980s, if not before, as practitioners in government, the private sector, and the university community began to share information about systems, practices, and data.  These practitioners formed several coordinating organizations over time including the University GIS Alliance (UGISA), the Indiana State Government Forum, the Indiana Government GIS Task Force, and the Indiana GIS Initiative (INGISI) which eventually morphed into the Indiana Geographic Information Council (IGIC). IGIC, along with several partners, played a critical role in the passage of legislation that created the position of Indiana Geographic Information Officer (GIO) in 2007.  The GIO then created the Indiana Geographic Information Office, IGIO, within the Indiana Office of Technology shortly thereafter. Indiana is now recognized as a leader among states in the maturity and success of geospatial development and coordination. 

The value of the  IGIO  is examined in summaries of four reports:

• 1. Value of Open Data 

• 2.  Quantitative Benefits of IGIO Datasets and Services  

• 3.  Cost Savings of the IGIO 

• 4.  Qualitative benefits of the IGIO 

The IGIO Value of Open Data report examines the value of open data globally, nationally, and specifically for the state of Indiana. It reviews research and literature on the monetary and non-monetary benefits of open data especially open geospatial data. The report discusses the challenges in accurately measuring the full impact of open data, reviews frameworks for evaluating open data value, and examines the role of Indiana's Access to Public Records Act in the state's open data environment. The report provides recommendations for creating and maintaining a successful open data program. 

• Open data can generate significant economic value through cost savings, efficiency gains, new products/services, and productivity improvements. Estimates range from billions to trillions of dollars in potential global economic impact. 

• Public sectors that benefit most from open data include urban planning, infrastructure, public health, environmental monitoring, transportation, crisis management, and government efficiency. 

• Measuring the full value of open data is challenging due to its indirect, intangible, and network effects. Frameworks have been proposed to capture economic, social, and public value. 

• Indiana has been a leader in gaining value from open geospatial data, with estimates of over $1.7 billion in economic activity supported by the state's open data efforts. 

• Key success factors for open data programs include strong leadership, high-value dataset publication, effective data governance, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable funding. 

• Barriers to open data success include lack of data quality, privacy/security concerns, technical interoperability, organizational silos, lack of skills to use the data, and lack of data availability. 

The report concludes that open data, especially geospatial data, has immense potential to drive economic growth, improve public services, foster innovation, and enhance transparency. Realizing this potential requires coordinated efforts across technological, policy, economic, social, and organizational dimensions. By learning from global best practices and building on Indiana's strong foundation, the state can maximize the future benefits of open data for its economy and residents. 

To learn for about the benefits of open data, please refer to the  summary report  . 

"I think our team has found the IndianaMap open data portal to be extremely impressive...it has not only provided a good tool for Indiana state data sets, but it also provided a good model for what we would want to see: a portal of our own."

The financial impact of the IGIO is positive and significant.  The results of two methods of reporting that impact are provided in this report.  The first considered the value of time and therefore cost savings to the geospatial practitioners who use and benefit from the  IndianaMap . The second method of studying the financial impact of the IGIO was a determination of the utility of the geospatial data and services provided by the IGIO across the major economic sectors of Indiana.

The report demonstrates the significant positive impact of the IGIO, both in terms of cost savings for users and the wider economic benefits enabled by geospatial data and technologies across Indiana's economy. The quantitative analysis provides a strong business case for the continued investment in the IGIO and the coordination of geospatial resources in the state. 

For further information relating to the quantitative analysis including the benefit calculation methodologies, please refer to the  report .

The study considered costs from the standpoint of two groups of stakeholder organizations: five major state agencies and ninety-two counties. For state agencies, two scenarios were considered: cloud-based costs and on-premises costs. For counties, no distinction was made between cloud-based and on-premises costs. Cost savings calculations were made for three scenarios:   

• Major state agency stakeholders, cloud-based 

• Major state agency stakeholders, on-premises 

• Counties 

This scenario considers the cost savings accrued through IGIO’s support of the five major agency stakeholders identified by IGIO (DOT, DNR, DHS, IDEM, DOH). Calculation methods considered the following - Staffing, Cloud Infrastructure, Licensing, Imagery & Lidar, and Data Harvest.

"Certainly, the cost savings of our aerial photography.  Further, State contracts set up by the GIO's office allow data acquisition for other data sets like building footprints and elevation contours at a reduced cost to the Counties.  The GIO's office also has created a framework to allow all the counties and cities to volunteer data, thus creating statewide datasets of basemap layers allowing for analyses of spatial temporal events like flooding, transportation, and regional economic development to occur."

To learn more about the calculations made in this study, please refer to the  report .

The Qualitative Benefits Review provides a comprehensive review of the qualitative benefits of the Indiana Geographic Information Office and the Indiana Geographic Information Officer. The review was conducted through interviews with various stakeholders, a survey of the broader geospatial community, and an analysis of existing benefit statements. The findings highlight the significant value the IGIO and GIO bring to the state of Indiana through thought leadership, collaboration, transparency, and contributions to social, economic, and environmental outcomes.  

• The IGIO has provided thought leadership on geospatial data and applications, advocating for policies and strategies that support the state's open geospatial vision.  

• The IGIO has fostered collaboration among state agencies, local governments, academia, the private sector, and other stakeholders, facilitating data sharing and integration to improve the quality and availability of geospatial data and services.  

• The IGIO has enhanced the transparency and accountability of the state government and institutions by enabling citizens to access and use geospatial data and tools to monitor and evaluate their activities, policies, and performance. 

• The IGIO's work has had significant impacts across multiple domains and sectors, including public health, natural resource management, urban planning, disaster management, and economic development.   

• Stakeholders consistently emphasized the paramount importance of the IGIO's geospatial data, software, training, coordination, and statewide leadership.  

• The IGIO's efforts have resulted in better decision-making, streamlined workflows, cost savings, and practical applications of GIS for various organizations.  

The findings from this review clearly show the substantial qualitative benefits provided by the IGIO and GIO to Indiana. The IGIO's coordination, collaboration, and provision of geospatial data and services have had a far-reaching impact, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of government, businesses, and citizens. The IGIO's role as a thought leader and advocate for geospatial initiatives has been crucial in positioning Indiana as a leader in the use of geospatial technologies. Overall, the IGIO's contributions have been invaluable in advancing the state's economic, social, and environmental goals. 

Based on the interviews the following are benefits that are provided from the current IGIO:

• Allowing those that ability to collect and updates on a regular basis - making the data more authoritative and reliable

• Constant improvement of IndianaMap

• Those interviewed expressed appreciation for local-level professionals that were facilitated through the IGIO
• Fostering widespread sharing of geospatial data and have made the data available for state agencies, local governments, businesses, academia, and the private sector to use.
• Reducing the technology burden for a lot of counties, by providing them with updated imagery and GIS data. 

• Enabling citizens to access and use geospatial data and tools to monitor and evaluate the activities, policies, and performance of the state government and institutions. 

• Huge benefit to the state and have brought GIS in Indiana up to a level that puts Indiana in the top echelon of states nationally. 

• Supporting innovation, problem-solving, and decision-making across various domains and sectors, such as public health, natural resource management, urban planning, disaster management, and economic development. 

Ultimately, the benefits provided by the IGIO and the GIO serve the citizens of Indiana: by making the government more effective and efficient; saving redundant expenditures; and making businesses more capable of serving their customers. As this study has shown, state-level coordination of geospatial efforts is crucial for maximizing the value and impact of geospatial data and technologies.  Coordination enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of geospatial initiatives and contributes to informed decision-making and policy development.  Information collected in various ways for this study clearly demonstrates a wide range of significant qualitative benefits that are being provided by the Indiana Geographic Information Office and recognized and appreciated by the stakeholders who rely upon that office.

For further information relating to the qualitative analysis, please refer to the  report .

The Indiana Geographic Information Office delivers immense quantitative and qualitative value to its constituents, partners, and stakeholders across the state. The quantitative benefits are clear - the IGIO's efforts have generate billions of dollars in economic impact every year, annual cost savings of over $10 million for state agencies and counties, and nearly $3 million per year in time savings for users searching for and accessing authoritative geospatial data. By coordinating and facilitating geospatial data, technologies, and services, the IGIO plays a crucial role in enabling better decision-making, planning, and innovation across major industries like manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, and agriculture. 

The qualitative benefits of the IGIO are equally profound. The office provides vital thought leadership advocating for policies and strategies that align with Indiana's open geospatial vision. It fosters unprecedented collaboration and data sharing among state/local governments, private sector, and academia. The IGIO enhances transparency by empowering citizens to access geospatial tools and data to monitor state activities. Most importantly, its efforts cut across domains like public health, urban planning, disaster management and environmental protection - driving impactful social, economic and environmental outcomes for all Hoosiers. 

In conclusion, the reports summarized in this review clearly show that the Indiana Geographic Information Office is an invaluable state asset, delivering immense quantitative and qualitative returns at a very reasonable cost. By harmonizing geospatial resources and enabling coordination, the IGIO has solidified Indiana as a national leader in leveraging the transformative power of geographic information systems. The office's impacts reverberate across the state, enhancing government efficiency, fueling economic growth, promoting transparency and accountability, and improving quality of life for Indiana's citizens and communities. Sustained investment in the IGIO is both worthwhile and essential to build upon the Office’s remarkable successes.

 _{Imagining life without the IGIO, the first thing that comes to my mind is that Indiana would look terrible to big business wanting to do business in Indiana.  We would look terrible in comparison to other states. We would look as if we don't understand the 21st century. It would be like going into a state and finding out, well, you don't have interstates, you don't have electricity.} 

T he Value of Open Data 

 IGIO Quantitative Benefits and Costs Estimate 

 IGIO Costs and Savings Summary 

 IGIO Qualitative Benefits Review 

IGIO Official  Website 

Keep up-to-date with IGIO by subscribing to their  Newsletter 

5-Year GIO Strategic Plan  StoryMap 

Watch the IGIO Five-Year Strategic Plan  Webinar 

Subscribe to the IGIO  Youtube Channel