HUTT CITY COUNCIL NEWS RELEASE

23 May 2015

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Innovation nets Hutt City Council international award

Hutt City Council has scooped an international award for its innovative use of a popular mapping software program used by many governments and the world’s most successful companies.

The award recognises outstanding work related to managing emergency events with a mapping software program called ArcGIS, which connects users with maps, data and apps through Geographic Information Systems.

Council will receive the Special Achievement in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) award at a conference in the United States next month.

GIS is a way of capturing, managing and displaying different kinds of data, such as streets, buildings and vegetation, on one map. It makes the data easier to analyse and understand.

More than 100,000 institutions around the world use ArcGIS, including many Fortune 500 companies, federal and local governments.

Despite the large number of users, it was Hutt City Council’s innovative use of the software for managing emergency events in the city which impressed US software developer Environmental Systems Research Institute.

Council’s Land Information Services Manager John Floyd, who will attend the ESRI Users Conference in San Diego to collect the award, says he was surprised at the win. A New Zealand distributor for the software had championed how Council was using it, he says.

“It has been great to get the recognition. While GIS is not new, in recent years advances in technology and software have seen an explosion in new and better ways it can be used. Ultimately it helps Council make better decisions for residents.”

Mr Floyd says attending the five day conference will also be invaluable for Council to find out more about the latest uses of GIS. “This will be our first opportunity to get direct exposure to international users. Hopefully I can come back with more ideas of great things we can do.”

ENDS

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