August 4, 2008
San Diego, California—The National Association of State Fire Marshals has demonstrated vision and leadership, using ESRI's geographic information system (GIS) technology to better serve the world. To recognize this passionate approach to applying GIS solutions, ESRI will present the organization with the Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award on August 6, 2008, at the 28th Annual ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC) in San Diego, California.
Both the National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM) and its member Metropolitan Fire Chiefs Association (Metro Chiefs) use GIS in emergency response. Applications range from determining better locations for hydrants and fire stations to providing incident commanders with real-time access to mission-critical data. GIS also serves as an ideal platform for collecting and managing incident data, which is crucial to better planning and prevention activities. Using GIS, the organizations improve both the quality of emergency response provided to citizens and the safety of responders. Additionally, accurate data that is easily managed and integrated helps all aspects of an incident scene be managed more effectively and efficiently. Both NASFM and the Metro Chiefs continue to encourage their members and other emergency response groups to embrace GIS, having widely distributed the fire service data model to other organizations.
"At ESRI, we are always deeply impressed by the innovation of our users," says Jack Dangermond, ESRI president. "We want to recognize the efforts of these individuals with our Special Achievement in GIS Award. This recognition is well deserved for how they've applied geospatial technology to address the needs of their industries and communities. They are defining GIS best practices."
GIS combines computer hardware, software, and data to create a tool for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographic information. Virtually any information can be linked to a geographic location, allowing users to see that information as part of a complete picture to be analyzed and applied to a problem or issue. With GIS, people can see firsthand how the world works and changes, view and manage information about locations, analyze spatial relationships, and visualize processes. From underground mine modeling to air traffic control, more than 300,000 organizations worldwide rely on GIS to better analyze their environments and make smarter decisions.
Other organizations being honored at the ESRI UC are Chesapeake Energy, the City of Austin, Forsyth County Schools, Greater New Orleans, Inc., the Marine Advanced Technology Center, the Navajo Department of Transportation, the City Planning Department in Bangkok, Thailand, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, the United Nations Joint Logistics Center, Qatar Petroleum, and more.
To learn more about the 2008 SAG Award winners and to view their photos and project descriptions and images, please visit www.esri.com/sag. More information about ESRI and its GIS solutions can be found at www.esri.com.
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Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and
plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than
300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the
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