Innovation, flexibility, and responsiveness, the new criteria for success in the digital economy, have also become the new mandates for successful public administration.

GIS in Public Policy tells the stories of how those on the front lines of public service--such as teachers, administrators, analysts, legislators, and police--are bringing new power and vitality to their missions. GIS is allowing them to distribute tax money more fairly, to protect life and property more effectively, to serve urban and rural constituencies in new and more efficient ways.

In policy areas that voters consistently say concern them most, such as education, public safety, and the environment, GIS is making a difference that forward-thinking policy makers cannot ignore. GIS can not only implement legislators' and voters' decisions with remarkable effectiveness--its ability to analyze and to demonstrate graphically the policy decisions themselves makes it an indispensable tool of good governing.

With a foreword by Ann Azari, a former mayor and member of the board of the National League of Cities, GIS in Public Policy shows vividly the very real benefits of this technology for anyone with an interest in, or influence over, the ways our institutions shape our lives.