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Toronto, ON - ESRI Canada is pleased to announce that retired Lieutenant-Colonel Pierre Bilodeau has recently joined ESRI Canada as the Public Safety Industry Manager. Lt. Col. Bilodeau will work with the public safety user community by providing existing and new public safety customers with unique insight into how they can leverage GIS technology to improve their operations.
"GIS is playing an increasingly important role in public safety," said Alex Miller, President, ESRI Canada. "Lt. Col. Bilodeau's leadership will strengthen ESRI Canada's support for municipal, provincial and federal government in their use of GIS for public safety. Our users will be able to access Lt. Col. Bilodeau's expertise in applying GIS to problems in Defence and Public Safety."
One of the primary roles of government is to provide safety and security for its citizens, property, critical infrastructure, and natural resources. Natural disasters, emergencies, and crimes require rapid response and comprehensive planning from public safety agencies. GIS technology helps organizations achieve better situational awareness and provide better protection over the geography of their communities. GIS technology is an essential capability for analyzing and displaying historical events, natural and technological hazards, vulnerable populations, and critical infrastructure that are key to the community's sustainability. From border control and arctic sovereignty to organizing and policing major security events, GIS is an essential planning, response and recovery tool.
Lt. Col. Bilodeau brings to ESRI Canada an impressive 32 years of service with the Canadian Forces as a Military Engineer with a specialty as a Military Geographic Officer. With a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from RMC and a post graduate Diploma in Surveying Engineering from UNB, he has coordinated and led numerous Defence and Public Safety related mapping projects both domestically and internationally. He is a graduate of the Land Force College and Command Staff College, and has served on operational tours with the United Nations in Bosnia in 1992-93, the humanitarian assistance mission to Uganda in 1996 and the Red River flood operation in Winnipeg in May 1997. Lt-Col Bilodeau served over 18 years at 615 Booth Street in Ottawa with the Mapping and Charting Establishment (MCE) and the Directorate of Geospatial Intelligence (D Geo Int), employed in various command and staff Geo positions. From 2002 to 2005 he was Deputy Director responsible for developing national and international Geo policies, negotiating co-production programs and coordinating GIS requirements. He was an active member of the GeoConnections Management Board and Emergency Response node, NRCan GeoBase Steering Committee, Geomatics Canada Advisory Committee, Inter-Agency Committee on Geomatics and CANUS Geospatial and Imagery Working Group among others. From 2005 to April 2008 he commanded MCE, the Defence mapping unit responsible for providing Geospatial Information and Services to domestic and international military operations.
"I am eager and excited to be joining ESRI Canada as their new National Industry Manager for Public Safety," said Lt. Col. Bilodeau. "ESRI GIS technology offers users within the public safety sector an integrated platform to perform mission critical operations and make timely life-saving decisions. I look forward to meeting these dedicated users and building new relationships within this growing community."
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About ESRI Canada
Established in 1984, ESRI Canada is a Canadian owned company specializing in geographic information systems (GIS) solutions. ESRI Canada distributes the world's leading GIS software including solutions from ESRI Inc., Miner and Miner, I.S.M. International Systemap Corp. and Azteca. In order to provide organizations with complete industry-specific solutions ESRI Canada has established an extensive business partner program that includes more than 130 Canadian organizations. ESRI Canada also provides professional services including consulting, training, technical support, and enterprise GIS implementation. ESRI Canada is a leader in providing world-class enterprise GIS solutions for many industries including public works, land management, utilities, defence, public safety, business demographics, education, natural resources and transportation. ESRI Canada has fifteen regional offices across the country, with headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. For more information, please visit http://www.esricanada.com/ or call 1-800-447-9778.
Media contacts:
Leslie Keyser
Marketing Communications Manager
ESRI Canada
T: 416-441-6035
E: lkeyser@esricanada.com
W: http://www.esricanada.com/
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