ESRI Around the Globe brings you news about how ESRI and its Corporate Alliance partners deliver customer solutions for GIS across the enterprise. If you know people who would like to subscribe, send them to www.esri.com/esriaroundtheglobe
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In This Issue
ESRI Corporate Alliance News
NAVTEQ Signs ESRI Enterprise License Agreement
Collaboration has been a trademark of the relationship between ESRI and NAVTEQ for more than 20 years. NAVTEQ's recent signing of an enterprise license agreement (ELA) for the ArcGIS suite of software products will ensure the continued development of superior solutions to meet the existing and changing demands of our customers.
Information Builders and ESRI Solution Helps Erlanger, Kentucky, Police Fight Crime
The Erlanger, Kentucky, Police Department knew that a GIS system would be a great asset in many law enforcement activities, but it had trouble finding what it needed: a single product to automate the entire crime mapping and analysis process. Then the local planning department stepped in with an offer to use its GIS tools from ESRI and WebFocus business intelligence (BI) software from Information Builders. The addition of WebFocus Magnify and an open-source search appliance resulted in a new Web-based BI portal that allows patrol officers to enter data, or even pieces of data such as a few numbers from a license plate, into a simple search interface and retrieve information from their own databases and those of neighboring towns. This new capability makes it possible to make better operational decisions on the front lines.
Citrix/ESRI Webinar
Listen to the archived August 28 webinar to learn best practices from a savvy customer optimizing ESRI's GIS applications with Citrix software to provide fast, secure, and streamlined access for its employees and mobile workforce. Senior IT professionals from the Southwest Florida Water Management District host a "deep dive" into the Citrix implementation for GIS and share key strategies for improving performance, security, and productivity within the IT infrastructure. The webinar includes a live demonstration of a GIS production environment running Citrix.
IBM Podcast: Storage and Management of Spatial Data on an IBM System z Mainframe
Listen to an interview with Dan Wardman, vice president for Information Management Software, and Frank Butt, manager, DB2 for z/OS Query Runtime, technology search and spatial support for IBM. The topic is the storage and management of spatial data on an IBM System z Mainframe. Spatial support is an important feature available for DB2 9 for z/OS, as it provides the capability to store and retrieve spatial data from any application via standard SQL. Applications and IBM's relationship with ESRI are also discussed. Read more [PDF].
Webcast: Geographic Information System (GIS) and SAP: Integration Touch Points, Benefits, and Approaches
America's SAP Users' Group (ASUG) members can access a recent webcast that addressed how GIS is being used to extend and enhance utility business processes and how it is increasingly becoming a necessary component of the SAP enterprise landscape. GIS has been used at utilities for many years for a wide variety of mission-critical and supportive applications. In many cases, GIS was integrated with multiple stand-alone systems, serving as an integration mechanism and interface to disparate data. In an SAP utility, many of these legacy applications and their data migrate to SAP, which becomes both a source and consumer of data and functionality of the GIS. This session addressed the major business processes and application touch points between SAP and GIS, the benefits derived from integration, and the evolution and future of integration approaches and included examples from the utility industry.
FileNET Lays Foundation for Singapore Land Transport's Business Process Improvement
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) of Singapore was formed in 1995 when four government transport agencies were combined. Operating with disparate systems presented limitations, which the LTA began to address in 2000. By 2003, the need for an integrated GIS with workflow processes built into its framework led the LTA to FileNET to create a workflow engine. There are now more than 70 layers of GIS data used across all functions of the LTA and shared with other land use organizations.
SQL Server 2008 Offers Highly Demanded Access to Spatial Data Types
Microsoft's SQL Server 2008 allows storage of spatial data in SQL tables, which means that a geodatabase implemented on SQL Server 2008 will be able to store vector geometry in either Geography or Geometry spatial type. This new functionality is the result of a close, multiyear collaboration between ESRI and Microsoft and a solution to the most highly demanded user request over the last two years.
Microsoft Virtual Earth Offered with ESRI's ArcGIS Online Services
ESRI and Microsoft recently announced the availability of ArcGIS Online Virtual Earth Maps Collection. A result of the two companies' long-standing history of collaborating to bring users complete geographic information system solutions, this new integration includes high-resolution street maps, imagery, and hybrid maps. Street map coverage is available for more than 60 countries and regions including North America, Europe, South America, the Asia Pacific region, and Northern Africa. Some of the more popular applications are land planning, site selection, crime analysis, road network analysis, and delivery network management, to name a few. The Virtual Maps Collection is available as part of ArcGIS 9.3 Online Premium Services. Trial subscriptions for both Online Premium Services and Virtual Earth Maps Collection are now available.
SAS Offers New e-Lectures on BI and ArcGIS
In response to user requests SAS has created three new e-Lectures on integrating ArcGIS with SAS Business Intelligence applications. The courses are Installing and Configuring the ESRI and SAS® Components, Building OLAP Cubes to Surface ESRI Geographical Information, and Surfacing ESRI Geographical Information in SAS Web Report Studio.
The e-Lectures are pre-recorded discussions and demonstrations available "on demand" 24/7. For an overview of the e-Lecture series and to enroll for the new e-Lectures go to www.support.sas.com/selfpaced and select Business Intelligence from the Find an e-Lecture category in the left side navigation panel. The SAS 9 Intelligence Platform is required for taking the classes.
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Alliance Events
ESRI at IBM Information On Demand 2008
Visit ESRI at IBM Information On Demand, October 26-31, in Las Vegas, Nevada, to learn more about ESRI and IBM technology integration with IBM DB2, Informix, FileNET, and Cognos business intelligence software. For more information or to schedule an appointment to meet with ESRI representatives during the show, contact Jennifer McCarthy.
ESRI to Exhibit at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference
ESRI will be exhibiting in booth #1119 at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, October 27-30, in Los Angeles, California. This event is designed to provide architects and developers with deep-dive technical training, information, and community resources. Learn how ESRI provides developer opportunities for creating custom mapping and GIS applications for Windows desktops, servers, or mobile devices. Please contact Diana Dittemore for more information or if you would like to schedule an appointment to meet with an ESRI representative at the conference.
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Product News
Business Analyst Desktop 9.3 Solution Now Available
This extension to ArcGIS Desktop 9.3 allows businesses, organizations, and government agencies of all sizes to answer location-related site selection and marketing questions. Improved functionality at 9.3, based on client feedback, promotes user productivity through a variety of general enhancements; streamlined software installation and better documentation are also featured. Business Analyst is available with U.S. and Canadian data. Learn more.
ArcGIS Online Premium Services Now Available
The following new ArcGIS Online Premium Services are now available for evaluation and purchase: USA Prime/World Bundle, USA Prime Imagery, and Virtual Earth Maps. ArcGIS users can evaluate these services for 14 days or purchase annual subscriptions. Please note that ArcGIS 9.3 is required to connect to premium services.
BusinessMAP Financial 2 Offers Updated Maps and Financial Services Data
Designed to address the specific needs of financial services professionals, BusinessMAP Financial 2 includes both data and feature updates and allows users to perform tasks such as ring studies and drive-time and demographic analyses, which help them visualize demographics and market potential better than with conventional databases and spreadsheets. Additionally, the 25 report templates that are included allow users to understand demographics and market potential like never before.
ESRI Offers a Free ArcGIS 9.3 Seminar for Improving an Entire GIS Workflow
From now through November, GIS users across industries will be able to get a jump-start on what's new in the ArcGIS software suite. Attendees will learn directly from ESRI staff how the latest version of ESRI software improves an organization's entire GIS workflow. Offered in 42 U.S. cities and many other locations worldwide, this all-day seminar is a convenient and valuable way for users to get together and explore how ArcGIS 9.3 provides a comprehensive system that enhances an organization's operations.
2008 ESRI International User Conference Proceedings Now Available
The Proceedings of the 28th Annual ESRI International User Conference is a compilation of professional abstracts and papers presented by ESRI software users at the 2008 ESRI International User Conference (ESRI UC), August 4-8, 2008. These papers comprise a fundamental part of the conference by providing examples of how GIS is used in diverse ways.
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GIS in Action
Using GIS to Study Sports
We don't typically think of most sports as being geographic activities, but are they? It turns out that, indeed, they are. Whether it is education about sports or the business of sports, GIS has a great deal to offer. You may never look at a game quite the same way again.
California Lake Threatened by Pike
For more than 10 years, the California Department of Fish and Game has been trying to eradicate Lake Davis of northern pike, an invasive species illegally introduced to this large Sierra Nevada reservoir. Previous attempts, employing a variety of techniques, have proved unsuccessful. Now, a piscicide treatment alternative has been employed using GIS and GPS technology as integral parts of project planning, implementation, and post-treatment monitoring. If successful, portions of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the Feather, Sacramento, and San Joaquin river systems and other waters in California will be spared irreversible damage to their native fish populations.
Search and Rescue Teams Rely on GIS to Locate Lost Hikers
The San Bernardino County Search and Rescue (SAR) team relies heavily on GIS in its mission. The technology is increasingly being adopted by SAR teams worldwide, as its effectiveness has proved invaluable in successfully completing the hard work these teams face. Search management is also greatly improved with GIS applications, positively impacting searcher safety, documentation requirements, and tracking search assets.
Nashua, New Hampshire, Uses Capturx and GIS on Earth Day
This year, the City of Nashua brought its sophisticated GIS mapping system out of the office to turn untrained Earth Day volunteers into GIS analysts. They worked with Capturx for ArcGIS Desktop, digital pen-and-paper collaboration software from Seattle, Washington-based Adapx. The software lets users of ESRI ArcGIS Desktop software collect GIS data with a digital pen and paper. They use the pen to make field annotations on paper maps and then upload that information, via computer, directly into ESRI's ArcGIS software. The digital pen stores data and, once docked in its station, transforms it into geodatabase features. This makes handwritten GIS information instantly available in a digital format and ready to share.
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ESRI in the News
GIS Helps Bolster Hurricane Preparation and Response
Using ArcGIS software and Web GIS services from ESRI, federal, local, and state agencies were able to more effectively prepare for the impact of Hurricane Gustav, which recently tore through Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas. GIS enabled more thorough understanding of what was happening both before and after the hurricane hit land, enabling staff to make critical decisions for responding most effectively.
CCIM Selects ESRI to Deliver New Commercial Property Information Exchange Portal
When Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM) Institute leaders sought a way for CCIM members to more easily share property information, repurpose data through innovative means for marketing and analytic purposes, and collaborate more effectively on property decisions, they turned to ESRI. The revolutionary property portal is the first open-standards, data-neutral repository of its kind and will allow CCIM members to successfully complete thousands of transactions annually, representing more than $200 billion in value. CCIM has signed a 20-year contract with ESRI to create, manage, and maintain major portions of the property portal.
Colonial Pipeline Uses ESRI GIS to Study Delivery of Ethanol by Pipeline
A mandate by the federal government for ethanol fuel production gave rise to Colonial Pipeline's interest in determining whether alternative fuels might be delivered by pipeline shipments. The company currently maintains a 5,500-mile underground network of pipelines from Houston, Texas, to New York through which it delivers refined petroleum products. Ethanol's properties lead to questions as to the suitability of a pipeline delivery system over the existing rail and road alternatives. Colonial, already a user of GIS software by ESRI, recognized the opportunity it provided to create a framework for understanding every element of a particular situation to determine the feasibility of delivering ethanol by pipeline.
2008 ESRI International User Conference Plenary Opening 
Hear Jack Dangermond, president of ESRI, welcome attendees to the 28th Annual ESRI International User Conference, which took place August 4-8 in San Diego, California. Illustrating the conference theme GIS: Geography in Action, Dangermond talked about the importance of GIS as part of the solution to the challenge of living in a sustainable world and highlighted the works of GIS users around the world. Dangermond presented GIS awards to the State of Qatar, Centre for GIS; the City of Philadelphia; and Rosario Giusti de Pérez and Ramón A. Pérez, Venezuelan architects and urban planners.
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Marketing Opportunities
Call for Presentations for 2009 ESRI UC
It's time to start planning for the 2009 ESRI International User Conference. Abstracts are being accepted for the conference, scheduled for July 13-17, 2009, in San Diego, California. Collaborating with your customers on a paper submission provides a unique way to showcase your products and services to the more than 14,000 attendees expected at next year's conference. Abstracts are also now being accepted for the ESRI Education User Conference and the ESRI Survey & Engineering GIS Summit, which will take place concurrently, July 11-14, in San Diego. The submission deadline for all abstracts is November 7, 2008. For more details, contact papers@esri.com.
2009 ESRI Federal User Conference Deadlines Approaching
There's still time to submit an abstract for the 2009 ESRI Federal User Conference (ESRI FedUC). With more than 1,900 federal GIS users expected to attend, a paper on which you have collaborated with your customer(s) is an excellent forum to introduce and highlight your products and services. The submission deadline is November 7, 2008. Sponsor and exhibitor opportunities are also available. A platinum sponsorship affords many marketing benefits including a podcast interview promoting your products and services that's posted to the ESRI Speaker Series and ESRI FedUC Web pages!
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