We recently kicked off our first Local Government Special Interest Group (SIG) virtual meetup, bringing FME users together to connect, learn from real-world stories, and get inspired. Here’s a recap of the top takeaways, scenarios, and how to get involved in the next SIG.
Learn more about FME SIGs in our blog about the Utilities & Energy meetup
User story #1: Web and systems monitoring with FME
Donnie Owsley of Snohomish County demonstrated how his team leverages FME to monitor public-facing web pages and internal systems. His team uses FME to check the health of internal and external websites by pinging URLs listed in a simple CSV. If an error code is returned, FME automatically sends an alert to a designated contact.
Previously, a staff member manually checked 15 web pages each morning. Now, FME handles it entirely, sending a daily summary that has significantly improved efficiency and reliability.
By harnessing FME’s SystemCaller, the team can restart services, monitor server disk space, check logged-on users, and even remotely troubleshoot kiosk systems, all from within FME.
They created a web app that lets staff restart services themselves (e.g., during month-end crunch times) without having to wait for IT. The system sends confirmation emails and tracks who initiated the restarts.
Donnie’s takeaway: Automate your way out of boring work so you can focus on bigger problems. His demo showed just how far FME can go beyond GIS and ETL.
User story #2: Advancing roadway safety and capital planning with FME
Caner Akin of GHD walked through how they overhauled a major roadway safety analysis project, shifting from a rigid, 2000-line Python script to a modular, transparent, and highly flexible FME workflow.
They needed to identify roadside hazards (e.g., ditches, hydro poles), assess if guide rails are needed, prioritize which segments to remediate, and generate cost and safety impact summaries.
The old model treated each guide rail as a single record. The new model broke these into multiple parts (approach, hazard, departure), complicating the calculations. FME’s FeatureMerger, StatisticsCalculator, and AttributeManager helped manage this complexity.
FME was used to dynamically link attributes, apply Ministry of Transportation design standards, and create remediation cost estimates based on rule-based logic. With modular workspaces and clear annotations, even non-technical traffic engineers could run and troubleshoot the workspaces themselves.
The result was faster delivery, better collaboration between geomatics and transportation engineers, and a flexible system ready for future projects.
FME Technical Update
To wrap up the session, our team shared a technical update about new features and improvements designed for FME users in local government, including:
- New PDF Writer & Styler: Generate polished PDF reports with far less effort, replacing complex workarounds with a clean interface similar to the HTMLReportGenerator.
- MS Word Reader: Read Microsoft Word documents directly into FME, opening the door for document parsing and AI-driven insights.
- FME Realize App: A free iOS app for viewing 3D/AR data in the field—perfect for asset inspections or stakeholder engagement.
- AI Assist Enhancements: FME now includes built-in AI guidance for transformer suggestions, documentation help, and workspace improvements, right inside the canvas.
- Data Virtualization: Build APIs on top of FME workspaces for real-time, read/write access to filtered datasets—ideal for custom dashboards and app integrations.
- ArcGIS Online Connector Package: A cleaner, consolidated connector for managing Esri data, with added transformers for versioning and attachments.
Check our FME Product Updates and Security Central to stay informed about releases and patches.
Stay connected: Join the Local Government SIG
Interested in learning more? We invite you to join the Local Government SIG on the FME Community, where you’ll find this session’s slides and recording and be able to shape future meeting topics. Plus, it’s the best place to connect with other professionals in your field.
We also have dedicated groups for Utilities & Energy and Airports & Aviation.
We hope to see you at the next meetup!
