Region of Waterloo wins gold, silver and award of excellence for GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

Waterloo Region – Regional Council was presented with three GIS awards tonight for Best Web GIS, Best Public Sector GIS and for innovation in the field of GIS.

The gold and silver awards, presented by the Urban & Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), recognized the Region’s web applications and internal tools created to improve effectiveness and efficiency. Esri Canada gave the award of excellence for implementing 16 unique applications across the organization enhancing overall customer service.

“We’re pleased to be recognized for innovation,” says Regional Chair Ken Seiling. “The Region has taken bits of data and quickly developed applications and maps - many of which are open to the public - to better serve the needs of citizens and staff alike, giving them the answers they need.”

“We have developed tools to solve many business problems like: optimizing public health inspection routes; organizing critical information for emergency response; and helping Children’s services view locations more easily to plan programs and anticipate service needs,” says Arlene McDonald, Director of Information Technology at the Region. The Historic Countryside Tours app finds quickest routes and historical points of interest to help promote tourism.

The Region plans to develop more tools to assist with environmental enforcement, bus stop management, housing inventory, township websites and mobile apps for field data collection.

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For more information, please contact:

Bryan Stortz, Director of Corporate Communications, 519-575-4408 or bstortz@regionofwaterloo.ca

Arlene McDonald, Director, Information Technology 519-575-4570 x3054 or amcdonald@regionofwaterloo.ca