How to Automate ArcGIS Compliance with FME Flow

Key takeaways:

• Creating an automated compliance workflow mitigates risks better than manual reviews and audits.
• Sweco and LVNL implemented a solution that continuously monitors ArcGIS, comparing every change against the organization’s policies and security rules.
• FME Flow powers this process, connecting to your organization’s systems, integrating with AI for more intelligent checks, and logging potential issues the moment they arise.

Automation is transforming how organizations approach GIS compliance. Traditionally, compliance relies on manual reviews and audits, but the issue with this is that errors aren’t often caught until after they’ve already caused problems. By automating compliance, you can mitigate risks and build operational trust. This is important for ArcGIS Enterprise environments, which are complex systems with many moving parts, including data layers, services, users, and connections. Without consistent oversight, it’s possible for issues to arise, such as accidentally publishing development services to production, inconsistent naming conventions or metadata, exposure of sensitive or personal data, and a lack of visibility into who changed what.

Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL), with the help of Sweco and FME Flow, has implemented an innovative solution that continuously enforces compliance and ensures secure, reliable ArcGIS operations. By following a similar process, your organization can build a framework like this one for operational excellence.

• For a deep dive into this topic, watch our webinar, Automating ArcGIS Compliance for Operational Excellence.

Sweco’s compliance automation solution, powered by FME Flow, continuously monitors ArcGIS Enterprise and Online environments, comparing every change against the organization’s policies and security rules. When an issue is detected, it’s automatically logged and assigned for resolution before it becomes a problem.

How It Works: Compliance as a Workflow

At its core, the compliance system integrates ArcGIS and FME Flow into an automated feedback loop.

1. Real-Time Monitoring: Each time a change occurs in ArcGIS (like saving a web map or publishing a service), a webhook notifies FME Flow.
2. Automated Audit: FME retrieves item details through the ArcGIS REST API and compares them against defined “data-driven working agreements.” These could include:
   • Naming conventions
   • Environment references (e.g., ensuring test data isn’t used in production)
   • Publishing permissions
   • Security baselines
   • Privacy and sensitive data detection
3. Reporting & Notifications: If a rule is violated, FME Flow automatically reports it through the organization’s chosen communication tool, such as Jira or email. The issue is assigned to the responsible user, who can then resolve it. Once fixed, the system recognizes the correction and marks it complete.
4. Adaptable Integration: Because FME Flow is an integration platform, it can connect with virtually any system (like databases, spreadsheets, SharePoint lists, or ticketing tools) making it easy to fit within existing workflows.

Real-World Impact: Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL)

For LVNL, maintaining strict governance is critical. Their GIS team manages essential spatial data that supports air traffic operations, working closely with Sweco to align systems and processes.

Before implementing the automated compliance solution, LVNL relied on documentation and manual checks. Mistakes still happened, especially when multiple people collaborated on complex systems. The new automation has been a game changer.

During a recent full-system scan, the tool identified a web application that was still referencing a test environment before it went live. The issue was automatically reported and fixed immediately, avoiding what could have been a costly or confusing deployment.

The ability to detect and resolve problems in real time builds trust in the GIS platform and gives the team the confidence to innovate.

AI-Powered Privacy Protection

Sweco has taken the compliance system a step further with AI-assisted privacy auditing.

Using Azure OpenAI, the system can analyze datasets to detect potentially sensitive information, like names, IDs, or personal details, even when it isn’t obvious from field names alone. If something appears to contain personal data and is publicly shared, the system alerts the organization’s privacy officer for review.

This intelligent detection not only strengthens data protection but also helps meet privacy regulations. It’s impossible to manually check every dataset, but with AI, you can do it faster, smarter, and more accurately.

Best Practices for Building Your Own Compliance Framework

1. Align Technology with Process. Automation works best when paired with clear governance policies and workflows that reflect your organization’s structure.
2. Make Rules Data-Driven. Define compliance checks as data; for example, store naming rules or environment mappings in Excel, SharePoint, or a database. FME Flow can read from these sources to drive automation.
3. Support, Don’t Police. The goal isn’t to punish users, but to empower them. Automated feedback helps users learn and correct issues quickly, creating a culture of shared accountability.
4. Start Small, Then Expand. Begin with a few critical checks (like environment and permission validation), then grow your library of rules over time.
5. Leverage AI for the Hard Stuff. Sensitive data detection is a perfect use case for AI, where automation can flag potential risks far more efficiently than manual review.

Conclusion

By combining FME Flow’s automation power with ArcGIS governance, organizations like LVNL and Sweco have achieved real-time detection of compliance and security issues, reduced risk of accidental data exposure, faster resolution times and fewer production errors, and increased user trust and operational efficiency. This is a scalable, repeatable model for any organization managing GIS environments.

• Request a demo from Sweco to see the compliance tool in action.
• Explore the FME Academy for free FME Flow training.

With the right framework, your organization can move from reactive fixes to proactive excellence, ensuring every map, service, and dataset meets the highest standards of accuracy, security, and trust.