Posted: July 28, 2010 2:03:31 PM PDT
The City of Bellingham received a Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award on July 14, 2010 at the 30th Annual Esri International User Conference (Esri UC) in San Diego, California. The distinction honors vision, leadership, hard work, and innovative use of Esri's geographic information system (GIS) technology. The City of Bellingham was selected from more than 300,000 organizations worldwide.
The City utilizes GIS mapping information daily for decision support, infrastructure management, customer service and public safety within most City departments. Regionally, the City is recognized for integrating GIS into business systems and work processes throughout city government. The local Esri office nominated the City for the innovative development of CityIQ web mapping application which provides a simple-to-use interface for the public and staff.
The City of Bellingham GIS staff are recognized leaders in cartographic standards and map production. Chris Behee, Senior GIS Analyst, received second place honors in the “Best Analytical Presentation” category for his poster "City of Bellingham Daily Population Cycle." The poster illustrates a dynamic 24-hour population distribution for a typical weekday during the school year.
GIS combines computer hardware, software, data, and people to collect, manage, and analyze geographic information. Virtually any information links to a geographic location, helping people see that information as part of a complete picture. GIS users can view relationships, processes, patterns, and trends in the form of maps, globes, reports, and charts. Whether they are responding to a natural disaster, growing a business, or sharing information with the public, GIS helps people solve problems and make smart decisions. More than one million people worldwide rely on GIS to learn and plan geographically.
Additional information on SAG awards and the Esri International User Conference can be found on the web at http://www.esri.com
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Media Contact:
Don Burdick, GIS/Technical Services Manager
Public Works Department
(360)778-7835
dburdick@cob.org
Chris Behee, Senior GIS Analyst
Planning Department
(360)778-8346
cbehee@cob.org
