Awards
Congratulations to the Esri award recipients
Read about the coveted awards and recipients from the 2023 Esri User Conference
Awards
President’s Award
This year's recipient
NYPD—Information Technology Bureau
About the award
The President's Award is personally chosen by Esri president and founder Jack Dangermond. It is the highest honor given to an organization, for it recognizes one that uses data-driven decision-making to impact the world in a positive way. Past recipients include smaller organizations that create answers for their communities through resource allocation, larger organizations that build systems to reach millions of people in times of need, and groups that protect and conserve our natural environment—all through the use of GIS.
Making a Difference Award
This year's recipients
The Netherlands’ Cadastre
Land Registry and Mapping Agency (Kadaster)
Paulette Brown-Hinds, PhD
Founder, Voice Media Ventures & Mapping Black California (Black Voice News)
About the award
The Making a Difference Award honors organizations or individuals who, through their use of GIS, have made a positive impact in their community. Decided on by Dangermond and Esri leadership, the Making a Difference Award recognizes the use of GIS to contribute to a better world. Past recipients for the Making a Difference Award include nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); nonprofit organizations; and local, regional, and national governments, as well as educators and thought leaders, all whose use of GIS has created a positive impact on society.
Enterprise GIS Award
This year's recipient
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
About the award
The Enterprise GIS Award recognizes organizations that have seen increased efficiency, greater collaboration and transparency, and engagement from its internal and external stakeholders. Decided on by Dangermond and Esri leadership, the Enterprise GIS Award honors those who have excelled in their implementation of an enterprise-wide GIS. Past recipients of the Enterprise GIS Award include city, state, and regional governments and international organizations that have effectively deployed an enterprise solution to achieve results across their geography.
Special Achievement in GIS Awards
About the award
Esri users are nominated by Esri leadership and distributor organizations, with finalists selected by Jack Dangermond. These organizations set new standards throughout the GIS community.
The Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Awards were announced during the Plenary Session on July 10, 2023.
Map Gallery Awards
About the awards
The Map Gallery is central to this conference because it's one of the most wide-ranging and comprehensive collections of GIS work in the world and can indicate trends and shifts in technical and cartographic practice. Every year, our users' works inspire, move, and challenge us to try new things and be innovative. Visually stunning maps are selected as winners in each category. These maps exemplify overall excellence.
The winners were announced on Friday, July 14, 2023, at the conference closing.
Young Scholars Award
This year's recipients
| Winner's name | Country/Region |
|---|---|
| Zih-Hong Lin | Australia |
| Kailey Nichols | Canada |
| Yang Zhao | China |
| David Enrique Valdelamar Martínez | Colombia |
| Simon Lützhøft Laursen | Denmark |
| Jefferson Alfredo Revelo Gutiérrez | Ecuador |
| César Gabriel Linares | El Salvador |
| Mihkel Paal | Estonia |
| Oliver Scholz | Germany |
| Cheung Chi Cho, Evan | Hong Kong |
| Radhakrishnan Thulasi | India |
| Agnezte Berthryvena | Indonesia |
| Alessia Mangano | Italy |
| Hayato Imai | Japan |
| Jiwoo Seo | Korea |
| Asnate Egle | Latvia |
| Hassan Abou Daher | Lebanon |
| Raigardas Sinkevičius | Lithuania |
| Nurul Amirah Zulkipli | Malaysia |
| Abe Wichers | The Netherlands |
| Rachel Lawson | New Zealand |
| Ajeyomi Adedoyin Samuel | Nigeria |
| Alessandra Ramírez | Panama |
| Vanessa Alexandra Conceiҫão Ferreira | Portugal |
| Tania Elena Crișan | Romania |
| Aleix Batlle Sureda | Spain |
| Virginia Alissa Molin | Switzerland |
| Yigit Can Yavuz | Türkiye |
| Vincent Nguyen | United Kingdom |
About the award
Esri constantly works to develop the next generation of GIS leaders. The Young Scholars Award program allows Esri, its international distributors, and the international education team to recognize the exemplary work of current undergraduate and graduate students majoring in geospatial science disciplines at international universities. Winning entries come from all over the world and are selected by a university panel formed by Esri’s distributor in the recipient’s respective country. The Esri Young Scholars Award recipients also display their work in the Map Gallery. This program was launched in 2012, and this year will be the twelfth year that Esri supports it.
Esri Innovation Program Student of the Year Award
This year's recipient
Luke Zaruba
University of Minnesota
About the award
The Esri Innovation Program (EIP) confers special status and benefits on select university programs with demonstrated excellence in geospatial research and education. These programs challenge students to develop innovative applications based on the ArcGIS system and related elements of the geospatial technology ecosystem.
Tribal ArcGIS StoryMaps Challenge Awards
This year's recipients
Casey Palmer-McGee
First Place
Nikki Bass
Second Place
Clifford Thornton
Third Place
Antoine Day
Student Winner
About the award
Tribal communities around the world have remarkable stories to tell, from cultural preservation to keeping their communities safe and healthy to promoting tourism and recreational activities. Each year Esri invites tribal communities to participate in the Tribal ArcGIS StoryMaps Challenge to help raise awareness of the great work being done in their communities. This is the fourth year of this competition; we encourage you to view the previous year's winner and submissions.
Esri Community Contest—MVP Awards
This year's recipients
Joshua Carlson
First Place
Jayanta Poddar
Second Place
Dan Patterson
Third Place
About the award
The Esri Community Contest—for our Most Valuable Participant (MVP)—is designed to reward users for their technical expertise, spirit of community, and their willingness to help their peers by providing helpful and useful information in Esri Community. Within Esri Community, users can post questions, start discussions, share valuable knowledge, and collaborate with other members of the community. The MVP winners are chosen based on the number of solutions they provide to their peers in the community.
