Bringing GIS InsideIndoor Spatial Data, Building Assets, and Facilities Management
For most GIS professionals in local government, the building boundary is where the spatial data stops. The asset register shows all the internal systems and equipment inside - the HVAC units, the electrical switchboards, the fire suppression systems, the elevators, the mechanical plant - but not where they sit spatially. This is the indoor data frontier. And it's where some of the most consequential asset management decisions are being made with the least spatial intelligence. This third session in the series explores how GIS professionals can extend their spatial frameworks inside the building - connecting floor plan layouts, indoor asset locations, condition data, and building system relationships into a coherent spatial model that transforms how facilities are managed.
Key Takeaways
- Connecting indoor GIS to CMMS and BMS: integrating a view of the data that shows maintenance activity (work order history, preventive maintenance schedules, live sensor feeds, and condition ratings) to their space in the building.
- Adding geo-spatial information to a Facility Condition Assessments: adding location inside the building transforms simple asset condition reporting from a document into a queryable, analyzable spatial dataset that supports capital planning.
- Improving response times: easy access to asset locations inside the building enables maintenance or first responders to respond far more quickly and effectively to calls.
- Modeling consequence of failure inside the building: using spatial relationships between assets, rooms, systems, and service functions to identify which building assets, if they fail, will close a facility, displace vulnerable people, or disrupt critical community services.
- Bridging indoor and outdoor spatial models: how to connect building-level asset data to your wider infrastructure GIS, creating a seamless spatial view from the pipe in the street to the pump in the plant room
Why Attend?
Indoor spatial data is one of the least mature areas of local government GIS - and one of the highest-value opportunities. When a school HVAC system fails and the building becomes unavailable as an emergency shelter, or when a boiler at a recreation center breaks down during a winter storm, the consequences extend far beyond a maintenance call. GIS professionals who can build the spatial data infrastructure to anticipate and prevent those failures are delivering something genuinely strategic.
Presenters
Jennifer Perkins
Government Solution Specialist
Asset Management Software | Siemens
Jennifer Perkins has over 25 years of experience in the state and local government and education markets as a practitioner, consultant and industry advisor. It was during her time at the City of Boston that she found her lifelong passion for technology’s role in government operations. She pioneered many efficiency projects while at the City around infrastructure and operations. She spent more than 15 years in a variety of positions for the City rising to the level of CIO. While at the City, she worked in many other areas including budgeting & financial management, ERP implementation, and infrastructure & operations. Following the City, her path has taken her to other public sector organizations (special service districts and higher education) to bring technology solutions to enhance data driven decision making and operational efficiencies. Currently, at Brightly software, she is able to help state and local governments become more efficient using a state-of-the-art solution to manage public assets as well as helping long term financial planning. Ideally, she hopes that Asset Management can become a framework for cross-departmental and cross-functional collaborate that helps communities reach their individual goals. In her free time she volunteers at the local animal shelter and has served on several town/regional boards and committees including Finance Committee, Recreation Committee and currently on the Board of the Dedham-Westwood Water District.
Michael Murphy
PMP | CDPO | CSM | SCPO
Technical Program & Product Management
Asset Management Software | Siemens
Michael Murphy is Technical Program & Product Management with Brightly Software. Mike spent over two decades working at the intersection of geospatial data, technology, and practical problem-solving. That journey has shaped his understanding of what GIS can truly accomplish when it's positioned correctly. HIs experience has consistently centered on one theme: using GIS not just to store or display data, but to improve data quality, enable operational workflows, and support better decisions. He spent a few years outside of GIS – in algorithm and hardware development of wearable medical devices, and as the Senior Prog Manager of Data and Analytics for the world’s largest fitness brand. All this experience has given him a deep appreciation for the power of data - and spatial data in particular — not just as a product, but as a strategic asset that connects systems, informs decisions, and drives operational excellence.
