The Harlow Report-GIS
2025 Edition
ISSN 0742-468XSince 1978
On-line Since 2000
GIS News Snippets
For the week of
November 17, 2025
Remember When?
A “Harlow Report” From November 18, 2024 —35 Years of Harnessing the Power of Geospatial Data for Decision Making
by Francesco Fiondella
CIESIN's mission is to make complex environmental, social and economic data easy to access and use so that people can make better decisions about pressing issues like climate change, disaster response and sustainable development.
The Climate School's Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) is celebrating its 35th year since its founding as an independent nonprofit in 1989, and its 25th year housed at Columbia University. These anniversaries come with another milestone: a new name. As of today, CIESIN will now stand for the Center for Integrated Earth System Information.
CIESIN's mission is to make complex environmental, social and economic data easy to access and use so that people can make better decisions about pressing issues like climate change, disaster response and sustainable development.
… Since its inception, CIESIN has transformed the way the world thinks about using geospatial and other data-science approaches to pressing interdisciplinary issues such as climate change, pandemics, conflict, disaster risk mitigation and sustainable development.
Read full story at Columbia Climate School…
Now back to 2025
Build Smarter and Faster: New AI Products and Tools From Google Maps Platform
by Divya Dalapathi
Google Maps Platform powers more than 10 million websites and apps—from real estate to travel planning to food delivery and more.
Summary
Google Maps Platform, which already powers over 10 million websites and apps, is launching a new suite of AI products and tools based on Gemini models to help developers build smarter and faster applications anchored in trusted geographic data.
New agent tools simplify development: the Builder agent creates custom geospatial prototypes from prompts, the Maps Styling agent generates custom map themes, and the Code Assist Toolkit provides an MCP server to connect AI assistants with documentation for accurate code generation.
The platform is also enhancing generative AI responses. Grounding Lite will soon enable Large Language Models to connect to fresh Google Maps data for factual, location-based query answers. Furthermore, Contextual View, part of the new Google Maps AI Kit, augments AI responses with stunning, interactive visualizations–like 3D displays–for more engaging user experiences. These tools allow developers to leverage the platform's trusted, comprehensive information.
Read full story at Google Maps…
Esri Supports IUCN Global Initiative for Nature-Based Education
by Esri Insider
New Collaborative GeoPortal Will Help Deliver Data, Maps, Educational Resources, and ArcGIS Technology for Students, Teachers, and Conservationists Around the World
Summary
At the 2025 IUCN World Conservation Congress, Esri, the GIS technology leader, announced a joint initiative with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to expand access to data and maps for Nature-based Education (NbE).
Esri is making a $10 million in-kind donation to develop a new NbE geoportal. This resource will allow students, teachers, and conservationists globally to explore the world through the science of geography, collaborate on critical conservation solutions, and develop essential technical skills. NbE is a holistic approach that cultivates vital life skills, empathy, and responsibility for the environment by placing nature at the core of learning.
This collaboration leverages GIS to provide the critical context of location, helping users understand environmental change and identify areas where action is most needed to protect the world's nature.
Read full story at Esri…
Google Maps Is Getting More Hands-Free for When You're Driving
by Macy Meyer
With Gemini AI baked into Maps, Google is looking to make navigation conversational, situational and personal.
Summary
Google Maps is integrating Gemini AI to enhance hands-free navigation. This includes conversational mode for asking detailed questions, landmark-based turn-by-turn directions, and proactive traffic alerts.
Additionally, an upgraded Lens feature will provide information about destinations upon arrival.
Read full story at CNET…
How Drone Mapping Providers Are Finding Opportunity in Agriculture
by Matt Collins
Drone service providers (DSPs) can find opportunities in agriculture by offering mapping and data collection services.
Summary
For drone service providers (DSPs), merely flying drones isn’t enough to stand out. Success requires understanding client industries, daily needs, and communicating drone value. Agriculture—a vital, financially strong yet traditionally tech-resistant sector—offers significant opportunities despite existing drone use.
Drones serve agriculture in two primary ways: direct aerial applications like spraying, and data collection via mapping and monitoring. FlyGuys’ Jerimiah Contreras, speaking with Commercial UAV News, focuses on the mapping segment. FlyGuys partners with software firms, collecting RGB and multispectral imagery for analysis while avoiding spraying due to specialized requirements.
Contreras began in Southern California’s date farms, facing initial skepticism. He proved value through pro bono projects, such as midnight infrared flights detecting faulty irrigation lines, saving farmers money. He advises DSPs to demonstrate tangible benefits, engage farmers at local meetings, and avoid niching too narrowly—versatile equipment serves multiple industries.
Looking ahead, mapping data will enable variable-rate spraying, optimizing resource use. As technology advances and acceptance grows, agriculture remains a prime growth area for drone services.
Read full story at Commercial UAV News…
The New Economics Of Maps: Turning Location Data From APIs Into KPIs
by Douglas B. Laney
Location data has evolved from a map overlay to a valuable business asset, impacting profit margins, fraud prevention, and customer satisfaction
Summary
Location data, once mere digital plumbing for maps and ride-hailing, has evolved into a core economic asset—driving revenue, cutting costs, and mitigating risk. Nick Patrick, CEO of Radar, calls geolocation “the most important signal of the next decade.”
Legacy map APIs, especially post-2018 Google Maps pricing hikes—up 10× to 20×—have become costly bottlenecks. Enterprises face soaring bills, data silos, and compliance risks under GDPR. Modern use cases demand speed, scale, and integration across fraud, logistics, and personalization.
Platforms like Radar offer a “Location OS,” unifying engagement, protection, and optimization. Charging by active users or events, not lookups, aligns costs with value. Executives must ensure data ownership, measurable ROI, predictable pricing, and built-in privacy.
As location intelligence merges with business systems, it’s no longer about maps—it’s decision-ready context fueling performance.
Read full story at Forbes…
Industry News
In Government
11 Companies Move to Second Stage of DARPA's Quantum Benchmarking Initiative
by Alexandra Kelley
The selected companies will undergo evaluation to determine if their concepts for a viable quantum computer can be constructed and work as intended.
Summary
DARPA selected 11 quantum computing firms for Stage B of its Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, down from 15 in Stage A. The companies — Atom Computing, Diraq, IBM, IonQ, Nord Quantique, Photonic Inc., Quantinuum, Quantum Motion, QuEra Computing, Silicon Quantum Computing, and Xanadu — must prove their utility-scale designs are buildable and operable.
Program manager Joe Altpeter said Stage B will rigorously assess R&D plans against aggressive timelines. Stage C will feature real-time hardware tests without delaying progress. IBM's Jay Gambetta praised the unbiased review, citing the company's public fault-tolerance roadmap. DARPA announced the selections Thursday, reinforcing its push for objective evaluation of paths to transformative quantum technology.
Read full story at NextGov…
Build Stronger Data Governance for State and Local Governments
by by Thomas Sinnott
Strong data governance improves analytics, security, and citizen trust.
Listen (06:23)
Summary
A checklist for refreshing data governance programs includes lifecycle basics, resilience, clear labels, stewardship, architecture, security, and privacy. A starter plan outlines steps for the first 90 days, including forming a governance committee, adopting policies, labeling data, and implementing security measures. Strong data governance improves analytics, security, and citizen trust.
Read full story at NextGov…
Contractors Fear Retaliation if They Try to Recover Shutdown Costs
by Nick Wakeman
Legal rights do exist for companies to recoup their losses, but attorneys say fears of Trump administration reprisal loom over industry.
Summary
Government contractors are grappling with escalating costs and operational disruptions as the federal shutdown nears record length. Beyond delayed payments and expired contracts, many firms hesitate to pursue legal reimbursement rights due to fear of retaliation from the Trump administration’s aggressive actions, including DOGE-led cuts to USAID and mass contract terminations.
Attorney David Dixon of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman notes contractors’ primary concern: “Will the government retaliate against me for simply asking to be reimbursed?” Established processes like requests for equitable adjustment exist, yet the Anti-Deficiency Act blocks new awards or modifications, leaving companies with idle workers, storage costs, and potential terminations.
Lawyers describe an atmosphere of intimidation, with early shutdown tactics targeting Democratic-leaning areas as political leverage. Contractors worry that asserting rights could jeopardize future awards.
Despite risks, experts urge three steps: thoroughly understand contract clauses, meticulously document impacts and costs, and strategically time claims – notifying within 30 days but potentially delaying formal submission up to six years under the Contract Disputes Act.
Read full story at Washington Technology…
In Technology
Adobe Firefly: What It Is and How to Use It
by Jacob Roach
Adobe Firefly is a deceptively powerful AI playground to generate images, videos, and more. Here's how to make the most of it.
Summary
Adobe Firefly, a web-based generative AI hub, integrates dozens of models from Adobe, Google, OpenAI, and others into one creative playground for images, videos, vectors, and production tools.
Beyond text-to-image prompts, it offers ideation Boards, batch editing, video extension from single frames, speech enhancement, upscaling, and Quick Actions like QR code generation — all tied to Adobe’s ecosystem including Photoshop Web and Express.
Access revolves around generative credits: free tier for trials; paid plans (500–4,000 credits/month) unlock unlimited Standard features; Creative Cloud Pro includes Firefly Pro. Extra credits available from $10/month.
Read full story at Wired…
More IT Leaders Are Using AI to Cut Costs — but Not in the Ways You'd Expect, Gartner Finds
by Webb Wroght
It turns out basic uses of AI, such as for infrastructure and operations, could be the surest path to profitability.
Summary
A Gartner survey found that 54% of infrastructure and operations leaders are using AI to reduce spending, with budget constraints and integration difficulties cited as major challenges.
The report suggests that businesses should focus on automating routine tasks with AI, rather than pursuing high-profile projects, to achieve profitability. This aligns with findings from other studies indicating that most businesses are not seeing significant returns on their AI investments.
Read full story at ZDNET…
What Parents Need to Know About Sora, the Generative AI Video App Blurring the Line Between Real and Fake
by Bethany Braun Silva
Summary
OpenAI’s Sora, a groundbreaking text-to-video AI app, generates hyper-realistic videos from prompts in seconds, outpacing competitors and sparking intense debate as 2025’s most controversial tech launch.
Experts, including Common Sense Media, rate it “Unacceptable Risk” for kids due to minimal safeguards, enabling misinformation, bullying via misuse of children’s likenesses through the Cameos feature, and blurred lines between reality and fiction.
Despite OpenAI’s watermarks, C2PA metadata, consent-based controls, and teen restrictions, enforcement falters—users bypass bans on copyrighted or harmful content. Videos spread rapidly across TikTok and YouTube before moderation.
With no federal AI-video laws and spotty state proposals, parents must educate kids to question online media, avoid uploading personal images or voices, review apps together, and discuss AI’s broader impact on trust and self-esteem.
Read full story at ABC News…
In Utilities
A Hydrogen “Do-Over’”for California
by Melanie Davidson
Getting hydrogen energy resources to work will require broadening the type of hydrogen we can live with, writes Melanie Davidson, former head of clean fuels strategy at San Diego Gas & Electric.
Summary
Federal funding exceeding $2 billion for California and Pacific Northwest hydrogen hubs, focused on renewable electrolytic hydrogen, has been terminated. These hubs aimed to replace fossil fuels in heavy-duty transport, ports, and power generation using solar-powered electrolyzers targeting $1/kg by 2030.
Economic hurdles—rising electrolyzer costs, high interest rates, water scarcity, and California’s $0.22/kWh industrial electricity rates—render production costs over $20/kg, far from competitive. Curtailed solar and low capacity factors fail to offset massive capital expenses for storage and fuel cells.
Instead of abandoning hydrogen, the industry should embrace “clean hydrogen” (≤4 kgCO2/kgH2). Methane pyrolysis, splitting natural gas into hydrogen and sequestered solid carbon, offers costs of $5–8/kg today, potentially $2–4.50/kg by 2045 with a carbon intensity of 1.8. Collocation eliminates transport costs, leveraging existing pipelines.
Read full story at UtilityDive…
Energy Names Its Third Permanent CIO Since the Start of Trump 2.0
by Edward Graham
Dawn Zimmer has had multiple stints this year as the department's acting CIO.
Summary
The Department of Homeland Security is advancing planned layoffs of 54 employees in CISA’s Stakeholder Engagement Division, asserting compliance with a federal injunction barring workforce reductions during the government shutdown. Notices were issued Oct. 11—before the court’s order—and target non-union positions outside “competitive areas” covered by the lawsuit from eight unions.
CISA insists no new reductions have occurred post-injunction and affected roles, spanning partnerships, international affairs, and academic outreach, are exempt. A filing table marks them “No” under injunction coverage. The agency declined comment on litigation.
Amid broader cuts targeting 4,000 federal workers, CISA’s actions highlight legal maneuvers enabling Trump administration personnel reductions despite shutdown constraints. Once a bipartisan priority, CISA now faces scrutiny over past misinformation efforts, fueling GOP claims of censorship.
Read full story at NextGov…
How Can Utilities Navigate the Promise and Pitfalls of AI?
by Aaron Goldfeder
The technology gets the hype, while utilities get the hard questions.
Summary
Utilities face a challenging planning environment due to factors like electrification, data centers, and regulatory pressures. While AI offers promise, utilities must navigate its pitfalls, including the need for human oversight and the risk of over-reliance on probabilistic systems.
By building AI literacy, starting small, and focusing on practical applications, utilities can leverage AI to enhance operations and customer experiences while mitigating risks.
Read full story at Latitude Media…