FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 28, 2017
David Miller, City Engineer (417) 337-8559
City of Branson Honored for Special Achievement in GIS
Geographic Information System Provider ESRI Awards City of Branson at Annual User Conference
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (July 12, 2017) – ESRI, the global leader in spatial analytics presented the City of Branson GIS Division of the Engineering Department with ESRI's Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award on July 12 at the annual ESRI User Conference. Selected from over 300,000 eligible candidates, the City of Branson received the award for its innovative application of technology, data collection, geospatial information visualization, and thought leadership through GIS in the field of mapping technology.
"The SAG Awards provide a great opportunity to showcase all the outstanding achievements of our users," said Jack Dangermond, ESRI founder and president. "The Special Achievement in GIS Award recognizes exemplary organizations implementing spatial analytics technology to change the world. Highlighting the good work of users—in industries ranging from commerce to government—benefits the entire GIS community, and that's very valuable."
A geographic information system (GIS) lets us visualize, question, analyze, and interpret data to understand relationships, patterns, and trends. GIS benefits organizations of all sizes and in almost every industry. There is a growing interest in and awareness of the economic and strategic value of GIS. The City of Branson, GIS Division has been in place since 1994 and has been a centralized department. In order to add a greater structure for data migration and accessibility for all departments, the City authorized the GIS division to enter into an Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) in 2015. This technology enhanced the efficiency of the data provided and also provided spatial data access to our citizens and visitors alike.
The GIS division migrated the legacy information and mapping data already maintained by the city and trained employees from other departments (Fire, Police, Parks, Utilities, Planning, etc.) in the uses of the software and tools available through the license. For instance, the Utilities Department creates and maintains water and wastewater features either through a desktop application that is readily available to them.
Multiple version of data and multi-editor issues were solved effectively by migrating all digital mapping features to an Enterprise Geodatabase. The Enterprise Geodatabase is the data source for web map applications that exhibit immediate changes in mapping features made by various City Departments. It is also the mapping data source for a "My Address" web application that is rich with information for citizens. A web map for Monarch Butterfly Gardens and an Adopt-A-Street web map application was developed to promote environmental preservation. All three of these useful web mapping applications are available through the City of Branson website.
“It was truly an honor to accept the award for the City of Branson, GIS Division, and to meet the president and founder of ESRI, Jack Dangermond. ESRI has been the GIS and mapping software the City of Branson has used for almost 25 years, and the software, along with our staff, has served all City Departments, our citizens, local, State, and Federal government agencies, emergency management and our visitors on a daily basis for over two decades. There are thousands of both public and private entities worldwide with fantastic GIS programs in place…it’s truly exciting that the City of Branson was chosen from such an outstanding field of professionals.” – Curtis Copeland, GIS Coordinator, City of Branson.
The City of Branson was one of 180 organizations in areas such as agriculture, defense, transportation, nonprofit work, telecommunications, and local and state government to receive a SAG Award. ESRI staff annually nominate hundreds of candidates from around the world for consideration, and Dangermond selects the finalists.
For more information on how The City of Branson is innovating through the application of GIS, visit the following links:
Media inquiries related to this content may be directed to Jennifer Langford, Communications Manager, City of Branson at JLangford@BransonMO.gov or by calling 417.337.0017.
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About ESRI
ESRI, the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, offers the most powerful mapping and spatial analytics technology available. Since 1969, ESRI has helped customers unlock the full potential of data to improve operational and business results. Today, ESRI software is deployed in more than 350,000 organizations including the world's largest cities, most national governments, 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI engineers the most advanced solutions for digital transformation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and location analytics to inform the most authoritative maps in the world. Visit us at ESRI.com.
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About the City of Branson, Missouri: Located in Southwest Missouri, the City of Branson is committed to its citizens and to those who visit here, to ensure a safe and environmentally sound community. We will work as a team to maintain and promote the growth of our City, and to provide professional, courteous service to all through fair and open communication. We look to tomorrow, remembering yesterday, dedicated to excellence today.