"ESRI Canada is very proud to present the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre with this award for their success in building a GIS solution that enables the understanding of issues ranging from medical epidemiology to healthcare access that can enhance research, save money, and improve service delivery," said John Houweling, Ontario Region Manager, ESRI Canada. "As a result, the centre staff are able to discover trends and analyze conditions and results that make it much easier for the community health and social service organizations to plan and respond to emergencies."

The SSMIC Community Geomatics Centre (CGC), City, Public Utility Commission, and several health and social service related agencies combined ideas, data, and GIS tools in efforts to improve the health, safety, and social well being of the community. Examples include:

• Early Childhood Development: Factors influencing early childhood development are mapped including domestic dispute calls, hospital birth data such as birth weight and age of mother, etc.
• West Nile Virus: Sewer catch basins, used tire storage areas, stagnant water bodies are mapped and analyzed with mosquito and bird testing results along with demographic data to determine high West Nile risk areas.
• Inspector Case Load Distribution: Frequency of inspection per site and the nature of the transportation network are analyzed to determine fair and even inspector caseload distribution for health inspectors.
• Community Indicators: Several indicators are being mapped to track the overall status of the community.
• Sidewalk curb cuts: Several health and public works data sets are utilized to set priorities for future sidewalk curb cuts. Data sets include demographics, parabus client drop off and pickup locations, pharmacies, doctors' offices, and other locations where elderly and handicapped persons' access.
• Sidewalk Sanding: Demographic and handicapped related data sets are used to prioritize sidewalk sanding.
• Tripping Hazards: Utilities data sets were analyzed to identify possible tripping hazards for mitigation.

The above examples, plus others, have had some immediate benefits to the community, other benefits will be long term but all will lead to an improved community.

"This is our second award of excellence from ESRI Canada, however we are particularly proud this time because it is in recognition of our role in community health and human services," Paul Beach, Manager - SSMIC, CGC. "Healthcare can benefit greatly from GIS and our work here is increasing awareness among the healthcare community that GIS can enable services and support decision-making."

ESRI Canada presents Awards of Excellence annually to organizations and individuals across the country for their outstanding achievement in the application of GIS technology.

About Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre:
The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre was founded in 1999 as a catalyst for economic development activities in the IT and knowledge based sectors in the Algoma District. It works closely with community partners to enhance and improve IT sector opportunities.

The Innovation Centre is focused on three core areas: the operation of a business incubator to encourage the establishment and growth of technology start-ups; the provision of support services to the SME (Small to Medium Enterprise) IT community and the development of strategic markets such as the highly successful GIS project. The Innovation Centre has developed and implemented an award-winning GIS product, which serves a number of municipal customers and is responsible for the growth of private sector GIS firms in the Algoma District.

About ESRI Canada:
Established in 1984, ESRI Canada is a Canadian owned company specializing in geographic information systems (GIS) solutions. We distribute the world's leading GIS software solutions from ESRI Inc., Miner and Miner, and Azteca. In order to provide organizations with complete industry-specific solutions we have established an extensive business partner program that includes more than 125 Canadian organizations. ESRI Canada also provides professional services including consulting, training, technical support, and enterprise GIS implementation. We are leaders in providing world-class enterprise GIS solutions for many industries including local government, utilities, public safety and defence, business demographics, education, natural resources, and transportation. ESRI Canada has thirteen 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:
Heather Adams
Communications Specialist
ESRI Canada
T: 416-386-6463
E: hadams@esricanada.com
W: http://www.esricanada.com/
 

Sarah Watson
Communications Officer
Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre
T: 705-942-7927 Ext.3122
E: swatson@ssmic.com
W: http://www.ssmic.com/