Canada’s Largest City Uses ESRI Technology to Enhance Municipal Service Delivery and Open Data Initiative
TORONTO – October 6, 2010 – ESRI Canada today presented the City of Toronto with an Award of Excellence for its outstanding achievements in the application of geographic information system (GIS) technology. The award was presented at the 2010 ESRI Canada User Conference in Toronto. Since 1985, GIS has been an integral part of many of Toronto’s business processes – from map production to advanced business analysis, and to direct services to the public. Recently, as a part of its open data initiative, the City has used GIS to provide municipal information to the public.
“The City of Toronto has done an exceptional job of opening its data to the public using GIS,” said Alex Miller, president, ESRI Canada. “They’ve established a cost-effective system for managing, and serving information to their stakeholders. This has helped them become more transparent and accountable, while supporting efficient operations throughout the City. Their GIS implementation has improved how the community accesses and uses data, and allows the City to be better connected with citizens.”
In 2009 the City launched Toronto.ca/open, a Web site offering Toronto’s municipal information to the public. Available datasets include public transportation routes, priority investment neighbourhoods, commercial sites, municipal boundaries and utility permits. The bulk of the data is in geospatial context and formats that allow the development of GIS applications.
Going forward, the City will continue building a more comprehensive and integrated geospatial information environment that is open to municipal users, external organizations, other levels of government and the public. Toronto has also joined other Canadian municipalities in contributing their data to a global community map program initiated by ESRI. The program provides free public access to detailed, authoritative base maps, promoting the exchange of information and creation of innovative GIS applications.
“GIS is a catalyst for innovation,” said Dave Wallace, Chief Information Officer, City of Toronto. “It supports Toronto’s vision of becoming an enabled City, where information technology is integrated with City services to provide effective local government anywhere, anytime, for everyone.”
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About ESRI Canada
Founded in 1984, ESRI Canada provides enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower businesses, governments and educational institutions to make timely, informed and mission-critical decisions by leveraging the power of geography. The company distributes the world’s leading GIS software from ESRI, Telvent, Azteca Systems and other technology partners. Headquartered in Toronto, the company serves over 10,000 customers from 16 regional offices across Canada and has been named as one of the top 250 Canadian IT companies and top 25 IT professional services providers in Canada by the Branham Group. Information about ESRI Canada can be found at esricanada.com.