The topic of CAD-GIS integration is always a hot one, particularly if you’ve ever attended a CAD conference of the Surveying Mapping Summit at an Esri UC.This topic has been discussed in a recent article by RJ Zimmer where he looks at CAD data types vs GIS data, spatial reference systems, and Creating the GIS Data from the CAD Features
From the article… With the appropriate GIS software, one may directly view CAD files and CAD features in a GIS environment in order to display a visual representation of the CAD elements in context with GIS data. Alternatively, one can display GIS data in CAD software. However, in order to empower the CAD data for GIS spatial analysis, the CAD features should be converted to a GIS format that have feature attributes assigned to them. This article explains the simple steps necessary to convert CAD data to GIS format. Read on in – GIS Matters: Convert CAD Data to GIS