Massachusetts

MassGIS is one stop shop for interactive maps and geospatial data for Massachusetts. MassGIS serves the public and private sectors, supports emergency response, real-estate research, environmental planning and management, transportation planners, economic development, engineering services, and transparency in state and municipal government operations. 

The MassGIS portal is heavily used, with approximately 40% of traffic from units of government, 30% from the private sector, and the remaining 30% from utilities, academia and others. The private sector traffic is largely from engineering, survey, real estate, and environmental communities. Most data is generated by agencies and municipalities, updated at regular intervals, and submitted to MassGIS for verification and hosting. 

MassGIS has 15 staff members and an annual budget of $2,000,000.

Substantial anecdotal information states that the resources MassGIS hosts make it substantially easier to do business in Massachusetts.  

Things to Emulate

1. The MassGIS portal is an excellent one-stop shop for standardized, easy-to-access data. 
2. A staffed entity with someone in charge (MassGIS Director) is very important. 
3. Having an incentive (911 grant eligibility) is critical for municipal partners to participate in data updates.