News Roundup – March 2021

March 5, 2021

Dani Pacey

How is a Canadian NGO using Esri technology to talk about their agricultural sustainability work with women in Myanmar? How did Montréal make one of its inspection processes six times faster using an easy-to-use app? And what’s happening on March 30, 2021 that will transform Canada’s emergency response infrastructure? Learn more in the March News Roundup.

Feature Stories

App of the Month: Improving Market Opportunities for Women
In celebration of International Women’s Day, our March App of the Month is Improving Market Opportunities for Women, by Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). Read the blog post to learn how MEDA is using ArcGIS StoryMaps to communicate the work they’re doing with women in Myanmar.

Voice network readiness marks the first NG9-1-1 milestone
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has directed NG9-1-1 network providers to “flip the switch” of a dedicated IP-based network, capable of providing NG9-1-1 voice services, on March 30, 2021. David Hamilton has more about this change’s significance.

Tips for supporting your new Web GIS users across your organization
Got a new crop of non-specialist Web GIS users in your organization? Wondering what the best methods are for getting them comfortable with the software—and for increasing adoption? Carole Arseneau has compiled these tips and resources for you based on her wealth of experience helping GIS users.

Six ways to make geographic thinking part of your company culture
The most successful organizations ingrain geospatial thinking into their culture. So how do they do it? Use these six keys across your organization to make geo second nature—and reap the rewards.

The GIS Roundtable: Women in GIS
Esri Canada’s Young Professionals Network (YPN) hosted this roundtable discussion about women in GIS. Discussion topics included work-life balance, career hurdles, mentorship and networking. Read more to see what our four guest GIS professionals had to say about these key career topics.

Improving public works ticket response times by 33% using ArcGIS
Read this blog post to learn more about how the City of West Jordan, Utah and the City of Memphis are using ArcGIS to address their public works challenges. Memphis in particular has used these strategies to reduce ticket closing time by 33 percent!

How Montréal used a field inspection app to save money, paper, gas and time
If you could save millions of dollars over the coming years just by switching technologies, would you do it? Learn how the City of Montréal’s Geomatics Division used a map, an app and a database to automate the inspection of over 6,800 geodetic and altimetric points on the Island of Montréal, and realized big long-term savings in the process.

Why do we need better civic address management?
The current lack of data standards for addresses creates data discrepancies, which can affect the ability of emergency services to respond to calls in a timely fashion. Read more about the steps municipalities can take to assess the quality and management of their existing address data, and the ways in which Esri technology can help.

Esri News

Esri Federal GIS Conference Showcases How GIS Interconnects National Government
February 18, 2021

Esri Releases New Book on Applying GIS to Resiliency Planning
February 16, 2021

Esri Releases Guide Teaching ArcGIS Desktop 10.8
February 16, 2021

Esri Releases ArcGIS Velocity for Analysis of Real-Time IoT Data
February 3, 2021

Resources

ArcNews: In Northern Canada, Winter Timber Operations Go Digital
Learn how Tolko Industries, a leading manufacturer of lumber and sustainable wood products, has driven innovation with geospatial technology for over 20 years. Using geospatial technology like ArcGIS Collector for real-time data collection, Tolko eliminated manual data transfers to and from the field and improved their data quality assurance/quality control process. And thanks to a partner-developed app built on Esri technology, geospatial technology also acts as Tolko’s harvesters’ eyes during 24-hour shifts in high northern areas where sunlight is limited in the winter.

ArcNews: In an Unprecedented Year, US Completes Census Count with Help from GIS
By Census Day on April 1, 2020, most households in the United States had received their invitation to participate in the census. Unfortunately, by this time the first wave of COVID-19 had swept across the nation. Read more about how the Census Bureau deployed GIS apps, which used Esri technology, to streamline every aspect of the 2020 count.

Read the latest issue of ArcNews online.

ArcUser: Taking a Data-Driven Approach to Affordable Housing
Housing affordability is on a decline, which can lead to undesirable sprawl and increased homelessness. How can planning professionals develop a housing policy that is sustainable, affordable and equitable? Keith Cooke discusses the crucial role of GIS in empowering planners as they work to implement these policies.

Read the latest issue of ArcUser online.

WhereNext: NextTech: Mapping “Human Weather” Patterns with Geospatial Analysis
Geospatial analysis reveals how human weather and customer patterns are changing during the pandemic for big box retailers, restaurants, entertainment venues, malls and other businesses.

Esri & The Science of Where Podcast: Adaptive Resilience: A New Imperative for Business
Alex Martonik, commercial industry specialist at Esri, discusses how climate change and other global challenges have forced businesses to reevaluate their resiliency plans. Esri commercial services lead John Lenahan investigates how geospatial technology and predictive analytics have enabled commercial businesses to fortify themselves against disruptions.

Video: Child Search Network: Help police find missing children in Canada faster – Download MCSC rescu
Over 40,000 children go missing, run away or are abducted in Canada each year, but fewer than one per cent of those cases are broadcast to the public through AMBER Alerts.

Thanks to the Missing Children Society of Canada and to Microsoft and Esri Canada, police services and the public now have the MCSC Child Search Network -- a Canadian-made tool developed in consultation with, and pilot tested by, police services. It provides police services with a quick, easy, and cost-effective way to share information and collaborate with one another, as well as with the general public, to find missing children more quickly and reunite them with their families.

Download the MCSC rescu app from https://rescu.mcsc.ca/ or Google Play or the Apple App Store and register to receive alerts and share any information you may have regarding a missing child or youth.