Execuitive Summary
In 2022, Georgia confirmed the presence of the invasive Yellow-Legged Hornet (YLH), a rapidly spreading predator threatening pollinators, biodiversity, and Georgia’s $74 billion agricultural economy.
To coordinate a large-scale, multi-agency eradication effort, the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) developed a GIS-powered operational platform using the Esri ArcGIS ecosystem. The platform integrated mobile field operations, public reporting, spatial analytics, and real-time dashboards into a unified operational environment that transformed invasive species response into a coordinated, data-driven operation.
The initiative demonstrates how existing enterprise GIS infrastructure can rapidly modernize complex government field operations without major new procurement costs, creating a scalable model for technology-enabled operational efficiency and crisis response that combines geospatial intelligence, public engagement, cross-agency collaboration, and realtime operational awareness — positioning Georgia as a national leader in
technology-enabled invasive species management.
