Letter from President

Dear ESRI Users,

Maps are one of the most powerful communication tools we have to illustrate the impacts of human activities on our world.  We face many daunting issues in the 21st century including climate change, water shortages, rising energy costs, social conflicts, threats of pandemics, poverty, increased traffic congestion, air and water pollution and urban sprawl.  Geographic information systems (GIS) provide the knowledge base and analytical capabilities that help us address our society's issues. Maps created using GIS help us find solutions to many of these problems by telling stories about our environment, our economy and our society.

ArcGIS continues to evolve as a tool for modeling our world and publishing ever more sophisticated maps.  New cartographic tools help us create better maps for both printing and the web.  New tools for workflow and distributed data management ensure that data shown on these maps is up-to-date.  New Internet tools for publishing content on the web let GIS users participate in the new world of Web 2.0.  In 2008, ESRI Canada will continue to expand the Geography Network Canada portal (www.geographynetwork.ca), adding free national base maps to the already published base map services of Ontario, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Nova Scotia.

As we begin another year, my colleagues and I are more committed than ever to serving you by better understanding your needs and helping you understand our products and services.  This coming year we will be hosting 17 user group meetings, 30 special interest group meetings, attending many conferences and holding dozens of seminars across the country.  GeoConnections is again holding a series of workshops across Canada in 2008 to better understand the needs of those who use Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) as a source of geographic knowledge.  I look forward to personally meeting many of you at these events.

On behalf of all of us at ESRI Canada, I want to thank you for your support and look forward to serving you for many years to come.

Yours truly,

Alex Miller, President