




Prince George, BC - The City of Prince George was recently presented with an Award of Excellence at ESRI Canada's Regional User Conference for the second consecutive time. Myron Doherty, Manager of Pacific Region for ESRI Canada, presented the Award to Mayor Colin Kinsley in recognition of the City of Prince George's work in developing their geodatabase with the implementation of data models including sewer, water, and roads. More than 100 GIS professionals were on hand for the presentation. "The Award of Excellence is going to a very deserving organization that is dedicated to the advancement of GIS and the collection and distribution of data within the community," said Mr. Doherty. "Their work with the collection of asset data in the field and in developing and supporting geodatabases is an example for other governments across Canada - I applaud their efforts." The City of Prince George has adopted an enterprise approach to the development, maintenance, and distribution of GIS data. Using this approach allows the City to maximize the efforts of its small GIS staff for application development, analysis, and data management, and allows users across the organization access to the GIS at their desktop. Data models are built by staff using available ESRI templates where possible. Key users in each division are able to access the ArcSDE enterprise geodatabase for their mapping needs. Those same key divisional users are also able to manage the many field data collection projects that are ongoing in support of asset management. The City's ArcSDE driven Internet mapping systems are the primary interface to the GIS for staff in public works, planning, regulatory services, emergency response, and transportation divisions. This system is linked to all of the City's permitting, licensing, and utility billing systems, thereby providing a single portal to property records. Currently in development is a link to City's document management system. The City also maintains a comprehensive Internet mapping system that is widely used by the community. Also in development is a GIS-based capital planning system and maintenance management system, using the ArcSDE enterprise geodatabase as the primary asset registry. This centralized approach will assist the City in meeting the PSAB reporting requirements facing municipalities beginning in 2009. About the City of Prince George: City of Prince George is the largest Municipality in Northern BC and is often referred to as BC's Northern Capital. Prince George is a bustling city of over 77,000 situated at confluence of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers. As a major City of the Pacific Rim, Prince George is firmly tied to the global market. 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 solutions from ESRI Inc., Miner and Miner, 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 125 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 local government, utilities, public safety and defence, 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: Heather Adams Communications Specialist ESRI Canada T: 416-386-6463 E: hadams@esricanada.com W: http://www.esricanada.com/ Wendy Nordin Supervisor, GIS City of Prince George T: 250-614-7826 E: wnordin@city.pg.bc.ca W: http://www.city.pg.bc.ca/