Planners and Technology

In recent years planners and especially environmental planners have at there disposal a wide variety of technology and tools to perform there jobs. Great programs graduate students who are proficient in quantitative methods and geographic information science almost every spring. So if we have all of this technology available to us, then why do our local planning offices still lag behind in the technology curve? It is not because the consumer does not want it, or the planner does not know how to use it. Maybe it is the funding?
I think that the red tape is slow to catch up to the technology. When a legally binding map such as a floodway map is determined to be faulty beyond a reasonable doubt because of a change to superior technology I believe that the system should be set up to easily amend the map. We now have programs such as hec ras and survey grade GPS that can accurately measure and delineate 100 year flood plains and watershed boundaries with relative ease. Let s use the technology!