Project Goal
GIS at the City of Goshen, IN is leading the way for AI preparedness city-wide through strong data governance and innovative thinking. Operating under the mantra that AI tools are only as powerful as their inputs, the City is leaning on lessons learned from building its GIS architecture to prepare records and data for AI tools.Business Problem Solved
Finding accurate answers to questions about Goshen’s operations, rules, infrastructure, and more has always relied on deep institutional knowledge or massive investigative efforts. Staff comb through conflicting sources across departmental data silos trying to determine what is the most recent and accurate information. The public may seek answers to questions about downtown public parking or other services but stumble upon legacy documents on the City’s website.
As the City begins to embed AI tools into its workflows, the challenge of determining what is true will only persist and exacerbate without interventions that improve data governance. The example of Goshen’s GIS program development offers a path forward by prioritizing a single source of truth and creating a clear platform for accessing authoritative data.
Technology Implemented
Goshen’s GIS data governance efforts are built on the architecture of ArcGIS Enterprise. The Enterprise portal creates an internal staff environment for hosting authoritative data. The portal is configured with highly restrictive publishing rights for maintaining a data catalogue made up of authoritative data sets only – ensuring that staff accessing the City’s GIS only ever find the best available data. The City’s ArcGIS Online environment is used as a sandbox that allows for layer development, experimentation, and learning. Here metadata tools, categories, tagging, deprecation markers, and more are all leveraged to clearly differentiate a data set’s authoritative value and status.
Development Team Biography
Mattie Lehman recently became Goshen’s first-ever Director of Innovation and Technology. During her three years as the City’s GIS Coordinator, she re-built the system architecture and grew the program from a few users and editors in Engineering to nearly 100 editors contributing to and using Goshen’s spatial data. Recognizing the value of aligning infrastructure management with data strategy, Mattie was chosen by Mayor Gina Leichty to lead a new department overseeing the City’s GIS and Asset Management programs along with its enterprise IT.
Dustin Sailor is the Director of Public Works and Utilities and was an early champion of GIS and has overseen Goshen’s GIS program from its inception 20 years ago to its maturation embedded into daily operations across the City. His leadership helped position GIS as a critical tool deserving resources.
AmeriCorps volunteers Jordan Gibbs and Nathaniel Wise were critical in building the capacity of the GIS program during their service terms.
Company Overview
The City of Goshen, located in north-central Indiana, prides itself on being a small city with outsized ambitions. Home to 34,000 residents, Goshen’s primary industry remains the manufacturing of Recreational Vehicles. A recognized regional leader in the arts and food, Goshen hosts First Friday events attracting thousands of visitors a year.
Goshen places a high value on quality of life—investing in safe neighborhoods, accessible parks, infrastructure, climate resilience and its vibrant downtown. To make these values a reality with few resources, Mayor Gina Leichty challenges her staff to bring innovative thinking and creative problem solving to their daily work which includes preparing for a future where City services are improved and supported by Artificial Intelligence.
Return on Investment
In 2025, Indiana overhauled its tax structure with big impacts on local revenue, and Goshen will have to address aging infrastructure with far less resources. The new Department of Innovation and Technology has been tasked with providing the tools city staff need to do more with less.
While the return on investment for Goshen’s AI preparedness initiative is not yet realized, the GIS program has shown many times over how the resulting trust and analytical insights realized through good data governance can lead to operational efficiencies and smarter investments.
Condition information collected and analyzed in GIS already drives decision making for Goshen’s sidewalks, roads, street signs, utility infrastructure, and more. While investing smarter, insights from GIS also tell the story of how those investments are inadequate to maintain infrastructure and resident services. Backed by data, Goshen’s leadership continues to advocate for more resources.