Esri Canada

Esri Canada
Private
Industry Software
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Founded Toronto, (1984)
Headquarters Toronto, Ontario, Canada43°43′48.6804″N 79°19′42.74″W / 43.730189000°N 79.3285389°W / 43.730189000; -79.3285389
Key people
 Alex Miller, Founder/President
Products ArcGIS, ArcView, ArcGIS Server, ArcGIS Mobile, ArcPad
Number of employees
 300
Website esri.ca

Esri Canada is the Canadian distributor of enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions from Esri. The company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. GIS takes information on spreadsheets and databases and puts them on a map. It helps users find patterns and trends that are not easily seen in tables and charts, and allows them to intersect numerous datasets and analyze them visually.

Esri Canada’s solutions are based on Esri's ArcGIS technology, an integrated suite of GIS software that can be deployed throughout the enterprise on desktops, servers, mobile devices and in the Cloud. The company also distributes vertical-focused solutions developed by other technology partners, such as the ArcFM utilities solution by Telvent and CityWorks for asset, property and work management. These solutions are built on Esri technology and help users to further extend the ArcGIS platform throughout their enterprise. The company also provides a broad range of professional services, support programs and training solutions.

In 2010, the company was first named into the Branham300, a listing of key players in the Canadian information technology industry by revenue. The list is compiled annually by analyst firm Branham Group. Esri Canada ranked #67 in the Top 250 Canadian IT Companies list and was named one of the Top 25 IT Professional Services Providers in Canada.[1]

History, Expansion and Growth

Esri Canada was founded in 1984 by Alex and Mary-Charlotte Miller, the company’s president and vice president of corporate policy respectively. Esri Canada’s GIS solutions have been traditionally used for land-use planning and natural resource management. Early users of Esri technology in Canada include forestry giant J.D. Irving, Limited [2] and Oxford County, Ontario[3]

Esri Canada helped design the County of Oxford’s pioneering GIS model in 1985, called the Land Related Information System (LRIS), which integrated information such as property and infrastructure data from various government systems. The LRIS received the prestigious Exemplary Systems in Government Award from the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) in 1988.[4] The system continues to be used by the County today and has been expanded to support numerous business processes including administering building permits, civic addressing and emergency preparedness planning.[5]

Advancements in GIS technology fuelled the growth of Esri Canada. The use of GIS for digital mapping or electronic cartography, geographic analysis and data management expanded into other industries including business, government, education, defence, public safety, public works, transportation, telecommunications, utilities and health care.

GIS Applications Across Industries

In addition, many organizations are turning to GIS technology as they strive to become more productive. Rona (company), Canada’s largest home renovation products retailer, uses Esri technology to plan flyer distribution. They incorporate data from loyalty programs with other socio-economic data to obtain a picture of customer spending around each store. The same data now helps the retailer in locating new stores.[6]

Utilities are also looking at GIS to help them reduce costs, increase productivity and achieve greater accuracy in recording and retrieving field asset data. Power Stream, the second largest municipally-owned electricity distribution company in Ontario, integrated numerous disparate enterprise systems following several mergers and acquisitions, and established a central repository of network asset data using the Esri-based ArcFM solution by Telvent. The application has provided all users in the organization with access to GIS data and functionality, improving productivity and efficiency. It has enhanced mapping, engineering design and outage management at the utility, as well as mobile computing and smart grid operations.[7]

St. Michael’s Hospital (Toronto) used Esri technology integrated with other systems to create [BIO.DIASPORA] which predicts the global spread of infectious diseases by analyzing commercial air travel.[8] The system was used to accurately predict the spread of the H1N1 virus around the world in early 2009,[9] and also analyzed potential health threats during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.[10] BIO.DIASPORA was named a Laureate winner in the 2011 Computerworld Honors program, which recognizes outstanding use of information technology to benefit society.[11]

With the strong demand for GIS solutions, the company’s workforce has grown to 300 employees by 2010, serving more than 10,000 customers.

Community Maps Program

To foster innovation and enhance the development of GIS applications, Esri Canada launched its Community Maps Program in June 2010. It intends to facilitate sharing of geographic data between governments and the public, and provides free access to online community basemaps that governments, businesses and the public can use to develop GIS applications. Natural Resources Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada contributed national basemaps, while the City of Toronto was the first municipality to contribute its geographic data through the program.[12]

Local governments can augment their initiatives promoting Open Data in Canada by contributing their geographic data and community maps through the program, to be integrated into a World Topographic Map in Esri's ArcGIS Online portal. Other Canadian municipalities that have joined the program include St. Albert, Alberta; Nanaimo, British Columbia; Kamloops, British Columbia; Surrey, British Columbia; District of Oak Bay, British Columbia; Township of Langley, British Columbia; Moncton, New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick; and St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.[13]

Environmental Stewardship

Inspired by the Ryerson University study “The Environmental Benefits and Costs of Green Roof Technology” that showed widespread greening of commercial building rooftops in Toronto could reduce the urban heat island effect, Esri Canada completed the installation of a 704-square metre green roof in its Toronto headquarters in 2009.[14]

The rooftop garden has provided numerous environmental and business benefits such as reduced storm water runoff, heating and cooling costs; additional habitat for urban wildlife; and additional meeting space.[15] The green roof has won several awards such as the Green Toronto Awards, Design Exchange Awards [16](honourable mention) and named one of North America’s Green Roofs for Healthy Cities .[17] It received the most number of public votes at Greenroofs.com’s inaugural Love the Earth, Plant a Roof! Earth Day photo contest in 2010.[18] The company also received a certificate of merit for service to the environment from the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects.

In 2010, Esri Canada was named into the Diamond Legacy League of Ducks Unlimited Canada for contributing more than $1,000,000 in technology and services in support of wetland conservation. WWF-Canada also presented the company with an award in 2006 for its support of the organization in protecting Canada’s biodiversity.

References

  1. ↑ Anderson, Darren and O'Shea, Christina. “Branham300 2010 - Top Canadian Technology Companies: The year of opportunity and hardship” (http://www.backbonemag.com/Magazine/2010-04/Top300-2010/default.aspx) Backbone Magazine, April 1, 2010
  2. ↑ “J.D. Irving recognized for enhancing forest management” (http://www.workingforest.com/jd-irving-recognized-enhancing-forest-management/) The Working Forest Newspaper, November 4, 2010
  3. ↑ Kelly, Barry. “County of Oxford, Ontario – Integration Saves Time, Money, and Effort” (https://www.esri.ca/downloads/InPrintJuly10_OxfordCounty.pdf ) Cityworks InPrint, July 2010
  4. ↑ “More than 20 Years of ESIG Award Winners” (http://www.urisa.org/awards/esig/previous) URISA
  5. ↑ Rodrigues, Hugo. “County recognized for use of GIS software” (http://www.woodstocksentinelreview.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=2114230 ) Oxford Sentinel-Review, October 13, 2009
  6. ↑ Blackwell, Richard. “Digital age mapping delivers productivity gains” (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/growth/digital-age-mapping-delivers-productivity-gains/article1691975/) Globe and Mail, August 31, 2010
  7. ↑ “Ontario Municipal Wins Special Achievement in GIS Award” (http://tdworld.com/smart_utility/intelligent_decisions/powerstream-gis-award-0710/ ) Transmission & Distribution World, August 1, 2010
  8. ↑ Graff, Amanda. “Predicting the Spread of Infectious Disease in a Globalized World” http://www.esri.ca/en_resources/files/Predicting_the_Spread_of_Infectious_Disease_in_a_Globalized_World.pdf
  9. ↑ CTV.ca News Staff. “Air traffic patterns used to predict H1N1 spread” ( http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20090629/H1N1_spread_090629/) CTV.ca, June 29, 2009
  10. ↑ Agrell, Siri. “Olympic visitors bring lots to BC – including disease” (http://www.stockhouse.com/Bullboards/MessageDetailThread.aspx?sv=2&p=0&m=27963358&r=3&s=BCRX&t=LIST ) Stockhouse.com (Originally published in The Globe and Mail), February 25, 2010
  11. ↑ CanHealth.com News staff, "St. Michael’s Hospital wins award for GIS application"(http://www.canhealth.com/News1673.html) Canadian Healthcare Technology, May 5, 2011
  12. ↑ “Esri Canada's Community Maps Program Promotes Broad Sharing of Geographic Information” (http://spatialnews.geocomm.com/dailynews/2010/jun/17/news5.html) GeoCommunity’s Spatial News, June 17, 2010
  13. ↑ Contributors, World Topographic Map (http://resources.arcgis.com/content/community-maps/world-topographic-map ) Esri ArcGIS Resource Center
  14. ↑ Allen, Mary. “Esri Unveils Green Roof” (http://www.itincanada.ca/index.php?cid=325&id=10677 ) IT in Canada, September 16, 2009
  15. ↑ Senger, Emily. “Officeland: Esri Canada” (http://www.unlimitedmagazine.com/2010/04/officeland-esri-canada/ ) unlimited magazine, April 1, 2010
  16. ↑ Connelly, John T. “Esri Canada: Recognized at the Green Toronto Awards” (http://www.businessreviewcanada.ca/news/gis-software/esri-canada-recognized-green-toronto-awards ) Business Review Canada, April 26, 2010
  17. ↑ “Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Awards of Excellence Winners Announced” (http://www.greenroofs.org/index.php/mediaresource/grhc-news-releases/3463-green-roofs-for-healthy-cities-awards-of-excellence-winners-announced ) Greenroofs.org, November 8, 2010
  18. ↑ Velasquez, Linda. “GPW: Esri Canada’s Garden in the Sky” (http://www.greenroofs.com/blog/2010/05/19/gpw-esri-canadas-garden-in-the-sky/ ) Greenroofs.com, May 19, 2010

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