City of Sammamish GIS Strategic Plan Update

The City of Sammamish (population 68,000) is located next to Sammamish Lake in the populous King County, Washington. The city’s proximity to Seattle and Bellevue and the pace of development in the region have led to significant urban development and population growth, which has increased the GIS-related workload of City staff. 

The City wanted to ensure that it was making the best use of its GIS resources, which support a range of activities, including planning, parks and recreation, and asset management. FLO had previously done a GIS needs assessment for the City in 2018. Since then, the GIS department has implemented several of the recommendations (including general funding for obtaining key data sets, improved data management, and staff training resources) and been moved into the IT Department. In 2022, the City decided to revisit the GIS assessment and expand it into a more comprehensive GIS Strategic Plan. 

The process started with a fresh evaluation of the City’s use of GIS, incorporating staff resources, governance, data systems, IT components, and the relationship between GIS and IT. The report was designed to be a key component in informing the City’s overall IT plan and included key recommendations that recognized and accommodated both the increased use of GIS resources and tools and the changes in governance. 

The plan FLO created in close conjunction with GIS staff and the larger IT department recognized departmental needs and concerns across the organization and summarized common threads, threats, and opportunities in an easy-to-digest manner. Providing both concrete and aspirational recommendations, FLO’s updated plan served as a roadmap for the IT department and GIS staff. It demonstrated how GIS could align with the organization’s overall IT and business needs. The GIS Strategic Plan set the City up to manage its growing GIS needs more effectively over the next few years.