The Polis Center, a unit of the IU School of Informatics and Computing--IUPUI, was established in 1989 to link two types of expertise—academic and practical—for the benefit of communities in Indiana and elsewhere. It specializes in providing and the training of place-based research tools (geospatial technologies, such as GIS) to analyze and visualize data into usable information to help communities make informed decisions. The Polis Center also offers online tools such as the SAVI community information system (http://www.savi.org/) to help nonprofits, academia, government, and health organizations assess trends and conditions, identify service gaps, and better target areas of concern based on the social, economic and other demographic realities in more than 2,000 Central Indiana communities. The Polis Center is deeply committed to collaboration, partnerships, and the practical use of advanced technologies. Its entrepreneurial nature results in a unique and diverse range of projects.