USA47: How a Federal Agriculture Program Substituted GIS Portals for Enterprise Architecture Design

Sunil Dutt Jha
Aug 7
1 min read

Updated: Oct 29

Overview:

This case is part of a 100-diagnostic series revealing how government agriculture programs have mislabeled visualization tools as “Enterprise Architecture reform.”

A recurring pattern is treating GIS mapping portals as proof of architectural maturity. Field data was digitized, maps updated in real time — yet the enterprise anatomy linking subsidies, policy enforcement, and cross-program reporting was never modeled.

P1–P6 Insight Preview:

GIS portals improved component visualization (P4) and operational monitoring (P6 business), but lacked agricultural strategy alignment (P1) and integrated process flows (P2).

System behavior (P3) stayed map-centric; tech ops (P6) maintained disconnected program databases.

Role Disconnects:

CEO/Program Director: “We have full geographic visibility” — but policy action is still manual.
CIO: “We can update field maps instantly” — yet they don’t trigger downstream changes.
Sales Head (Programs): “Stakeholders love the portal” — but it doesn’t resolve cross-program conflicts.
Chief EA: “We mapped the land, not the enterprise”
Head of Agricultural Policy: “I see the data, but I still send emails to get action”