Quotes of the Day: ESRI Senior Executive Seminar

"Geography is increasingly at the center of a wide range of intellectual concerns." - Larry Summers, President of Harvard Univeristy in remarks made at the opening of Harvard’s Center for Geographic Analysis, in a video clip presented by Dr. Peter Bol, director of the new center.

"GIS is a technology and also a way of thinking."- Dr. Peter Bol, Harvard.

"As someone new to government, when I look at an overview of the city, I can’t understand how anyone operated without it." - John Hickenlooper, Mayor of the city and county of Denver, USA, speaking about the use of GIS in his organization.

"The “wow” factor for the average underwriter was the ability to show information on a map." Graham Heale, Underwriting General of the Royal & SunAlliance Insurance company,  United Kingdom.

"When I started in 2000, it was important that OS went through change. I was fortunate to be a customer of OS and had written them nine complaint letters… (It was) necessary to articulate to the entire staff why we are doing it (going through organizational change). "It’s about getting that vision to everybody." - Vanessa Lawrence, Director General and CEO, Ordance Survey, United Kingdom speaking about cultural change in an organization.

"Harvard is finally catching up! They feel that geography is important. That they have not been doing something for a long time is significant." Roger Tomlinson referring to the new Center for Geographic Analysis at Harvard, recently opened in March.

John Hickenlooper: Another GIS Visionary at the Helm of City Government

In 2005, Time Magazine named John Hickenlooper one of the top five large city mayors in the United States. It is easy to see why from the vision he espouses in using GIS to manage city government, an endeavor he admits is a fundamentally geographic phenomenon. Presenting at the ESRI Senior Executive Seminar yesterday, [Denver Colorado Mayor] Hickelooper landed in government to find the proverbial islands of automation. He promptly hired a CIO, and proceded to create an enterprisewide geospatial database from which the islands became what he calls "centralized/de-centralized" or a means whereby city departments, responsible for their own needs, can share a central data store of geographic information. I had a chance to speak with Hickenlooper who admitted that it was easier for him to work with the various departments to deliver his vision because as a self-described "recovering geologist" they new of his appreciation for mapping technology. I asked him if he saw other mayors who understood the potential of managing a city with GIS and his unfortunate reply was that there weren’t many who did. Luckily there are a few like Hickenlooper who "get it" as their city’s will reap the benefits from a geospatial visionary.

San Diego Mayor Points to Major Economic Boon from ESRI UC

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders briefly addressed the Senior Executive Seminar, which precedes the ESRI UC, to thank ESRI for the economic boon that befalls the city during the week that the user conference is held in the city. “o us it means $46 million in economic activity and $1 million in tax revenue…thanks!” He mentioned that ESRI had committed to hosting the UC at the convention center through 2015. He expressed his personal thoughts to the audience that he appreciates their attendance and that he did not want them to think that he took them for granted. The mayor said that 62 people at the city are using ESRI technology for a variety of applications including an electronic alert system for citizens who can automatically receive information on crime activity.

ESRI and Organization of American States

Some pre-conference events are underway today (Sunday) before tomorrow’s big opening of the ESRI User Conference, but big news is already out of the newswire. ESRI is working with the Organization of American States to grow GIS use in Latin America.

In the initial phase of the agreement, ESRI will support two critical SEDI projects: the Municipal Development Program (MuNet) and the Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) project.

ESRI will provide software and online training while OAS finds longterm funding.