The GIS Center launched a revamped Open Data site in early 2026, featuring a more user-friendly design and improved data hosting via ArcGIS Online. Users must migrate from legacy services, set to retire on June 1, 2026. Resources for assistance and verification of service layers are available on the site.
Among the fundamental skills required to be map literate, that is, to be able to read and comprehend maps, are an understanding of scale, the recognition of spatial orientation, and an appreciation of map projections. A higher-level, overarching principle of map literacy is that a single map can seldom tell a whole story, which is a point well made by Dr. Kenneth Field, Esri senior cartographic product engineer, in a recent article in Wired.
King County GIS Training Program partner Eric Pimpler of Geospatial Training Services has authored a fascinating blog post about a building footprint dataset which Microsoft has generated from Bing aerial imagery using artificial intelligence, deep learning, and computer vision.
Data quality at King County GIS includes processes and tools for validation of the contents of the Spatial Data Warehouse. Multiple linked automated and manual steps help ensure good internal consistency and an anomaly-free environment, both for file-system and database objects.
The Geospatial Data Act of 2017, S. 1253, does many things that have long been supported by the GIS community. But there is one section of the bill that has generated opposition within portions of the GIS community.
King County continues its commitment to making GIS data available to the public. This post introduces the release of the new King County GIS Open Data site. Our new site is hosted on Esri’s ArcGIS Online Open Data platform and initially provides access to more than 100 datasets, in fifteen thematic categories, for inspection, analysis, and download.
At King County GIS, we connect with data quality at different levels. This post is one of three introductory posts about how King County GIS is working to improve the quality of the County’s GIS data.
GIS & You 