The provincial government announced today it recently signed a five-year agreement valued at over $2 million to strengthen the development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology in the province.
The agreement was signed with ESRI Canada under the ESRI Canada Enterprise License Agreement (ELA) program, which provides affordable access to GIS software, maintenance, services and training over the term of the agreement.
GIS software is used to capture, manage, analyze and display geographically referenced data, and has been applied to various projects across government departments for several years. The agreement with ESRI will result in benefits for the provincial government, other local governments, businesses specializing in GIS and the GIS community.
“As part of the Office of the Chief Information Officer’s mandate to foster growth in the local IT industry, this agreement will promote the opportunity for continued development in the area of GIS software in the local IT sector,” said Tom Marshall, minister responsible for the Office of the Chief Information Officer.
“The agreement will enable local vendors to improve their GIS expertise and capacity, and provide a solid platform to leverage this technology to benefit government and industry.”
According to a news release, the provincial government has recently applied GIS to projects such as the water resource portal, a water resource application that provides public access to valuable information including drinking water quality. Departments also use GIS software to locate and manage government information, such as crown lands, provincial parks, protected areas, wildlife species and mineral resources.
Through the ELA, members of the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries (NATI), whose primary business is GIS-related, will receive preferential pricing on ESRI Canada solutions for use in the province.
“The GIS community is a growing segment of Newfoundland and Labrador’s advanced technology industry and one that is relevant to many of NATI’s members,” said Ron Taylor, chief executive officer of NATI. “This agreement offers considerable potential for both government and many local companies to expand the GIS side of their businesses, creating potential for partnering on future GIS projects.”