July 15, 2009
San Diego, California—Oregon’s Enterprise Information Strategy and Policy Division and Office of Governor Ted Kulongoski received a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award today at the 2009 ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC) in San Diego, California. The organizations received this honor for its vision, leadership, and innovative use of ESRI's geographic information system (GIS) technology. The organizations were selected from more than 300,000 worldwide and recognized during today's SAG awards ceremony for making extraordinary contributions to our global society.
GIS is used throughout the state of Oregon and the Enterprise Information Strategy and Policy Division to support a wide variety of business activities. The Oregon Geographical Information Council, which was initiated by the governor, is the governing body responsible for the GIS development taking place across state government. GIS in enabling government agencies to collectively solve problems in a more intelligent and efficient way and Oregon residents are better informed because information about problems and solutions are presented geographically and not simply in narrative form.
Although the state began using GIS in the 1980’s, Oregon’s enterprise GIS program officially launched in 2001 and later evolved into navigatOR in 2005. NavigatOR is an environment where agencies can share spatial information easily and efficiently. The state created a common operating platform, spatial data and software standards, and a formal organizational and administrative structure. With these essential infrastructure elements in place, the state was able to quickly develop and deploy additional Web-based GIS applications, such as Oregon's economic stimulus tracking tool—the Oregon Stimulus Transparency and Accountability Tracking System. The state says it will continue to develop and refine its GIS Web applications and services, particularly with a focus toward greater transparency to the public.
"Our world is being challenged by rapid change," says Jack Dangermond, ESRI president. "GIS technology is increasingly being deployed as a way to understand the issues facing our society. At ESRI, we are always extremely impressed with the work of our users and want to recognize their efforts with our Special Achievement in GIS Award. Their work is a great example of using GIS to improve our world."
GIS combines computer hardware, software, and data to collect, manage, and analyze geographic information. Virtually any information can be linked to a geographic location, helping people see that information as part of a complete picture. With GIS, users can view relationships, processes, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. Whether they are selecting routes to transport ethanol or studying landslides, GIS helps them see how the world works and changes. More than one million people across the globe rely on GIS to solve problems and make better decisions by thinking and planning geographically.
Other organizations being honored at the ESRI UC include Artesia Water Company, Montana State Library, NASA Langley Research Center, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Yosemite National Park, City of Madrid, DHL Express, Polytechnic of Namibia, Victoria Police in Australia, and the Grammar School at Leeds.
To learn more about the 2009 SAG Award winners and to view their photos and project descriptions and images, 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 United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of
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than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's
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