City’s GIS Team Receives 2026 Excellence in GIS Award

The City of Bloomington Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team has been awarded the Indiana Geographic Information Council’s (IGIC) 2026 Excellence in GIS – Large Community award for its Bloomington Housing Dashboard.

The award recognizes organizations for their use of geospatial technology to better serve their communities. This recognition highlights the City’s ongoing commitment to using GIS technology to improve public safety, data transparency, and community planning. The Bloomington Housing Dashboard brings housing and demographic data into one public-facing tool to help residents, staff, elected officials, and community partners better understand local housing conditions and trends.

"Receiving this award three years running reflects not just our team's technical work, but the real need Bloomington residents and city staff have for accessible, clear housing data," said GIS Manager Meghan Blair. "The Housing Dashboard puts census trends, building permits, and demolitions in one place so we can understand how our community is changing."

GIS is a technology that allows the capture, storage, manipulation, analysis, and presentation of spatial or geographical data. The City of Bloomington has utilized GIS tools since the early 1990s, and over the last few years, it has updated its GIS platform to allow for the development of user-centered interactive applications.

The City’s GIS team is responsible for developing and maintaining the City’s central enterprise geodatabase, creating and updating datasets, producing cartographic maps, providing data analysis, and developing web mapping services and applications. The GeoHub showcases city data and applications on a fresh and easy-to-navigate website. 

The Housing Dashboard was developed through collaboration between Information & Technology Services staff and Planning & Transportation staff. ITS staff provided technical development and GIS expertise, while Planning & Transportation staff helped identify housing data needs and project goals.

For more information about the City’s GIS activities and initiatives, please visit bloomington.in.gov/gis. To access the Bloomington Housing Dashboard, visit  Bloomington Housing Dashboard.