We are excited to announce the upcoming update of ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App, scheduled for release on February 26, 2025. Below are the planned updates. Please note that all planned updates are subject to change; check back to stay informed about the latest news regarding the upcoming release. Our What's New blog and documentation will provide a comprehensive list of enhancements.
Data enhancement and deprecation
The upcoming release will include updates to the following datasets:
- Advanced Demographics: Thailand 2023, Germany 2024, Japan 2025, India 2024.
- India includes 117 new variables including new categories for spending and segmentation. The village and wards geographic areas have been remodeled into a single consistent layer which provides improved data detail in urban areas.
- Japan includes approximately 350 variables available within 1km and 500m meshes, also known as a grid. The mesh is based on the Japanese Census geographies and has been enriched with additional variables than available in the official Census release. Meshes are only available when working with specific geographic areas of interest and with zoom levels that show extents under approximately 120km or 75 miles for the 1km mesh and 30km or about 20 miles for the 500m mesh.
- Germany includes 28 new spending variables.
- Thailand data has been revised with new demographic models and data inputs.
- Standard Demographics from Michael Bauer Research for 25 Western European countries are updated to the 2025 vintage and 39 Asian countries are updated to align with other global data released in 2024.
- Points of interest (POI) data from Data Axle (November 2024) for US and Canada and SafeGraph (December 2024) for US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. New global Open-Source data from Foursquare (January 2025).
- USA Traffic data from Kalibrate (Q4 2024).
Global POIs data changes
In this release, we will be transitioning to the Foursquare Open-Source Places data as our global POI data source. We understand that this change may be disruptive due to the reduced number of attributes and changes to categories. This release is aligned with Foursquare's strategy to improve their data through crowdsourced assessment. Esri has made several significant improvements to data filtering that have resulted in a reduction in the number of POIs available.
While there are minimal impacts on your workflows, some are unavoidable. You will need to rebuild saved searches and infographics that used previous Foursquare data. Saved POI search layers that were created with Foursquare search results prior to the February 2025 release can still be viewed on the map, but the option to open and edit the POI search layer will no longer be available. All Foursquare-based POI searches that use data from the February release will be editable.
Data changes to SICs codes
SIC codes, or Standard Industrial Classification codes, have traditionally been one of the industry categorization systems available in Data Axle datasets. Starting in 2026, only NAICS codes will be available for searching in Business Analyst. This will allow users to adopt a common, consistent global system for searching for POIs that is source, vendor, and geography independent.
To assist with this transition, several changes will be implemented within Business Analyst Web App to help you gradually migrate to the NAICS code system across different datasets and countries. More details on specific SIC changes to POI and demographic data will be available in upcoming releases.
Infographics updates
Introducing the new report style
Classic reports have long been a favorite among many users. We are excited to introduce a toggle in the Run classic reports interface that will allow you to switch to new, modernized versions of these reports. New style reports are enhanced versions of the Esri classic reports, created through the infographics builder. They offer numerous benefits over the older classic versions, including improved design for better accessibility and interactivity. Additionally, the new report style publishes in digital formats and can be shared through other ArcGIS Online applications (such as Story Maps and Experience Builder).
Enhanced editing experience – Adding logos in infographics
The logo that you can set in the app’s preferences can now be utilized in infographics for both display and export. Plus, a new option in the infographics builder makes adding a logo to a template easier than ever. In addition to image-based logos, SVG logos can also be used, giving you more flexibility.
Improving accessibility in the infographics player
We are dedicated to making our infographics more accessible to all users. To ensure 508 compliance and enable more organizations to share infographics on their websites for public information, we have made considerable progress. The infographics player and the templates displayed will now support keyboard tabbing, making it easier for users to navigate through the content using only their keyboard.
New Gallery infographic templates
- Health Care for At-Risk Populations
- Demographic Snapshot
- Business Summary Report – NAICS (Tabular)
Revisions to Foursquare-based infographic templates
Standard and Gallery templates which use Foursquare data including What's in My Community, Nearby Restaurants and Emergency Information have been updated to use the new data and category system.
Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) updates
Support for the new benchmark comparisons workflow will be added in the upcoming release.
Other enhancements
- Improved performance of the benchmark comparisons workflow.
- Users can now set their own default variables and use customize table options in Geography comparison.
- Added support for sorting custom variables by dates added in the data browser.
- Various minor bug fixes.
ArcGIS Experience Builder: Business Analyst widget
- Several bug fixes and minor enhancements.
